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Scientists Create Artificial Bones From Wood
steve_thatguy writes "According to Discovery News, Italian scientists have made artificial bone from wood. Created by blasting wood blocks with heat until they are nearly pure carbon then coating them with calcium, the scientists say the material allows bones to heal faster and more securely. Unlike titanium, the wood-based artificial bones flex slightly much like real bone, and the porous nature of the wood allows for better bio-activity with surrounding tissue. Though human testing is still likely years away, the material is currently being used successfully in sheep and may have other industrial applications."
"Paradoxically, metal or ceramic implants meant to prevent bone breaks can sometimes cause them. Current implants are significantly harder than the bone that surrounds them. Natural bone can flex slightly. In fact, stress helps build stronger bones. However, the harder implants can apply so much stress to a particular area that the bone snaps. Softer wooden implants might cause fewer bone breaks."
Hm, this is like what I learned in Structures: or Why Things Don't Fall Down.
The author noted that insurance companies, finding a weak wall, would often over-retrofit it. Then the building collapses, becase the weight that would have been born by the wall is displaced onto the other walls.
He also wrote about the cult of metal. The only reason engines are made of metal, he explained, is because they have to contain very high temperatures. If it were not for that, they could be made far more efficiently with hoses and bladders. He challenged the readers to come up with ways to make things that are presently made out of metal out of other materials -- such as wood and bird feathers.
I don't know if you were among this particular group of partying nerds, but I seem to remember a website from about 15 yrs ago, built by the faculty of the engineering department of some college. It showed pictures of their annual picnic. Every year, there was a contest to see who could get the briquettes ready the quickest. Year after year, they got more inventive, finally culminating when someone took 1) a grill filled with charcoal, 2) a lit cigarette at the bottom of the pile to act as a source of ignition, and 3) a bucket of liquid oxygen at the end of a long pole. The result (yes, there were pictures) was a 10-foot column of fire, and the total destruction of the el cheapo grill.
I wish I could find that website again. I wonder if they have beaten their old record. They must have by now.
I prefer rogues to imbeciles because they sometimes take a rest.
Sheep die at the slightest insult to their systems. A runny nose is a death sentence. I find it unbelievable that sheep are recuperating on their own with the assistance of some charcoal and calcium