Category: Technology

GROWING GLOWING PLANTS

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Technology is yet to give a completely new definition to indoor plants. Now, along with lamps, researchers are able to make even the plants glow. Engineers from the MIT have taken a critical first step to turn such a vision into reality. This is done by embedding some specialized nanoparticles into the leaves of the watercress plants. These particles induce the plants to give off dim light for about four hours. These researchers believe that further optimization in this field will make the plants bright enough to illuminate an entire workspace.

To create the illuminated plants, the team:

Selected luciferase, the enzyme that gives the fireflies their glow.

Luciferase acts on a molecule called the Luciferin, making it illuminated.

Another molecule, called co-enzyme A helps this process by removing a reaction by-product that can inhibit luciferase activity.

The MIT team combined these three components into a different type of nanoparticle. These nanoparticles were in turn used in the plants. These plants could easily emit light and glow for 45 minutes. With some further study, the team progressed in this research to extend the time up to 3.5 hours. The light generated by these plants currently is about one-thousandth of the amount required to read. The researchers still believe that they can boost the intensity as well as its duration.

For future advancements in this technology, the researching team is working to develop nanoparticles spray onto the plant leaves. This spray will make the leaves to emit light, transforming the trees and other large plants into light sources. The team is also working on ways that can turn this light off by adding nanoparticles carrying a luciferase inhibitor. This way, the team could eventually create plants that shut off their light emission in response to the environmental conditions such as sunlight.

What’s New In 3DS MAX 2018

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3ds Max 2018 brings several new features for creating visualizations. The 2018 version of the software replaces the metal ray by the Arnold renderer becoming the high-end global illumination render engine for creating 3D visualizations. The application now includes 3ds Max interactive, which is a real-time engine, based on the Autodesk Stingray. This new 3D to VR workflow is specially designed to provide the 3ds Max users a new way to create interactive and virtual reality (VR) experiences. The application has some amazing Modeling and Rendering features as described below:

3D Modeling

The PDF import features, as indicated by the design professionals will help them save a lot of money. The AutoCAD 2018 let you use the SHX text recognition tool to quickly convert the imported PDF geometry to text and Mtext objects. The improvised text and Mtext tools, in turn, lets you convert a combination of single and multi-line text objects into a single multi-line text object automatically predicting the formatting.

3D Rendering

The 3ds Max interactive offer access integrated tools to create VR visualizations without leaving your 3ds Max workspace. Some of its features include:

 

The MAXtoA plug-in integrated into 3ds Max gives the designer’s access to Arnold’s latest features.

 

The application can simulate real-life camera settings such as shutter speed, aperture, depth of field, exposure and some other options. The physical camera integrates framing the scene with exposure control and some other effects.

 

The new controls include a Create Panel, Standard menu, and Enhanced menu. The camera feature lets the designers use photorealistic physically-based rendering techniques.

 

The application also includes some improved active shade rendering. This feature gives the designers a preview rendering that helps the developers to see the effects of changing light or material in the designed scene.

This way the application gives the users more power and flexibility to create images and 3D models. The new 3ds Max also offers advanced user interface capabilities that enable users to access all the content in a single view. The application also has improvements in its pipeline tools integration. It helps designers create, share and update portable assets that are flexible, interconnected and responsive towards changes in the design data. You can run the new 3ds Max on modern HDPI monitors and laptops to get a better view of your designs.

New Techniques in Civil Engineering

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Civil Engineering is evolving every day with the changing technology. Civil Engineers are now using innovations such as suspension systems to build bridges and using the GPS to plot new roads. As the technology brings new techniques, the civil engineering field continues to incorporate creative ways. Here, are four new techniques that are likely to change the construction process:

  • Self- Healing Concrete

Cracks in the concrete is a common phenomenon. The cracks impair the durability of the concrete as they provide an easy path for the liquid and gas containing harmful substances to enter. To avoid this situation, researchers at the Bath University are working on a self-healing concrete that will contain micro-organisms inside microcapsules. According to the researchers, these micro-organisms will release limestone as water enters these splits to prevent the materials from breakage.

  • Warm Bridging

Insulation material has become prominent in the construction industry. For this, Nasa developed material, Aerogel for cryogenic insulation. This material is considered as one of the most effective thermal insulation material. The technology is used to insulate studs, which can reportedly increase the overall wall R-value which is an industry measure of thermal resistance by more than 40 percent.

  • Active Footfall

Researchers are now working out ways that can produce energy from footsteps. The technology used is known as Pavegen Floors. These are rubber tiles that have a spring-like action that generates energy when stepped on. This is a brilliant concept to harness the human energy power. The Pavegen tiles can benefit the most when installed in busy city areas to generate energy.

  • Photovoltaic Glazing

Building structures that have the Building incorporated photovoltaic (BIPV) coating that is capable of producing their own power. The technology transforms the entire building envelope into a sun-powered board. An organization, known as Polysolar is providing photovoltaic glasses as the building materials. These Photovoltaic Glasses also do not cost much over the customary glass.

Apart from these, other technologies are also set to change the civil engineering practices such as Kinetic Roads, Cloud Collaboration, and Asset Mapping.

How Augmented Reality Works?

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Computer graphics have grown to extended levels in the present times. Graphic designers and researchers are now working together to pull graphics out of the screens right to merge with the real-world environments. Commonly known as the Augmented Reality, it is capable enough to blur out the difference that lies between computer-generated graphics and real objects.

Augmented reality aligns with the concepts of virtual reality and generates immersive computer-generated environments similar to the real world. It adds various elements bringing an experience of the natural world. Such elements are:

  • Graphics
  • Sounds
  • Haptic feedback, and
  • Smell of the natural world

The prominent drivers in the development of augmented reality are video games and smartphones. Users and gamers can now visualize themselves walking down a street. Displays in augmented reality look similar to a normal set of glasses, but these glasses display informative graphics in your field of view. In addition, augmented reality also lets you experience sound as well as smell. When you move your head, the setup will refresh all these elements to reflect the movement. Some smartphones, such as iPhone already supports this technology and lets you enjoy games and videos with extrasensory information giving you a whole new experience.

What’s Cooking: How 3D Design Is Changing the Food Industry

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3D printers have marked their presence in most of the industries. Medicine, Aerospace, and the automotive industry have been using 3D printers to develop high-quality designs that deliver high performance. On the way forward, another industry has now started to adopt the 3D printing technology – The Food Technology.

Chefs and researchers collectively suggest that the 3D print technology can help to make the food production faster, more sustainable, and easier. The technology can develop food that is specific to our diet.

Here, are some of the benefits that the 3D printers can bring about:

Personalized Nutrition

As these printers follow strict digital instructions for printing, they are also capable to develop food which is specific to a particular diet. These printers can develop food for people who require certain levels of nutrition for a specific lifestyle or those who are undergoing some medical condition.

Enhanced Food Productivity

3D printers are best known for printing objects with precision, effectiveness and within a short time. Such a technology is estimated to develop food designs that are most complicated and intricate. Chefs will now be able to perform beautiful food garnishing faster. Also, 3D printers will help to develop multiple food items that look alike, ultimately helping chefs to complete more tasks in limited time.

The Space Mouse Enterprise Kit is another addition to this technology. This two-handed workflow is one of the best ways to create the next intricate food design. The kit is a complete package that helps the chefs to create detailed and accurate food design patterns.