Slashdot Mirror
Microcups Made of Nanopaper
Roland Piquepaille writes "Researchers at the University of Arkansas have created long nanowires with titanium dioxide and assembled them into pieces of 'nanopaper.' This flexible paper can fold into 3D nanostructures such as tubes, bowls or cups. This kind of nanopaper could soon be used for applications such as bacteria filters, decomposition of pollutants and chemical warfare agents. But first the University needs to find industrial partners. Read more for additional details and some pictures of these microcups."
I had a story posted on Slashdot's front page yesterday which drove a grand total of 40 visitors to my blog. Page hits galore, I tell you. Why, all that traffic nearly slashdotted Blogger! If I had had Adsense going, that would have been what, four cents? For fifteen minutes of work?
Submit a good story or three yourself if you disapprove of Roland getting onto the front page all the time.
I got my Linux laptop at System76.
From TFA: University of Arkansas researchers have created assemblies of nanowires that show potential in applications such as armor, flame-retardant fabric, bacteria filters, oil cracking, controlled drug release, decomposition of pollutants and chemical warfare agents.
The usefulness of the material extends to the decomposition of chemical agents, not their creation. The sentence could be a little clearer.
Titanium itself in pure, metallic form is very expensive, and is toxic to manufacture, agreed.
But this paper is made of nanowires of titanium dioxide. Titanium is found in nature in the form of rutile. The rutile mineral mainly consists of titanium dioxide, and it's the third most abundant mineral in earth, after iron and aluminium in their natural form.
I believe we can safely consider titanium dioxide (as opposed to pure titanium), as an almost unlimited resource, more abundant than forests and any form of living matter.
We are Turing O-Machines. The Oracle is out there.