The dishwashing tool we used as children can also power LEDs? | Expo Daily

The dishwashing tool I used when I was a kid.

Can it also power LEDs?

Many electrically insulating materials can generate an electric charge when they are deformed, a phenomenon called piezoelectricity, but the charge is usually very small. A study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences shows that squeezing a loofah can generate enough electricity to power an LED.

The sponge obtained after drying the loofah fruit has a porous shell that can be squeezed to provide a green and cheap power source for small devices, but it is not yet clear whether this sponge can generate enough electricity for practical use.

The researchers chemically treated dried loofahs to remove the lignin and hemicellulose that make up the sponge's structure, leaving only the cellulose in crystalline form.

When a 6-mm-thick loofah sponge is squashed by hand, it generates 8 nanoamps of current. When placed in a circuit with a capacitor, the capacitor can store much of the energy generated by squeezing the sponge and briefly power six light-emitting diode (LED) lights.

The loofah sponge could provide an environmentally friendly and cost-effective small power source for a range of devices, and the natural material could eventually inspire industry to develop easier-to-produce artificial alternatives.

Related paper: https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2311755120

Image source: pixabay

The world's highest power! Made in China!

On September 29, the engineering and technical team of the National Pulsed High Magnetic Field Science Center of HUST successfully achieved the overall magnetization of the rotor of the world's largest single-unit power wind turbine of 20MW, becoming the only technical team in the world that can perform overall magnetization and demagnetization of the entire series of megawatt-class permanent magnet wind turbines. This marks a milestone breakthrough in my country's green wind power manufacturing.

In response to the past manufacturing technology of "magnetizing first and then assembling", Professor Li Liang's team from the National Pulsed High Magnetic Field Science Center proposed the "non-magnetic assembly-overall magnetization" method for large permanent magnet motors for the first time in the world.

This method improves the electrical and mechanical performance of permanent magnet motors, greatly improves production efficiency and safety, and reduces production costs. While achieving rapid magnetization, the overall demagnetization technology also has the ability to quickly demagnetize with low energy consumption.

Data from the National Energy Administration shows that by the end of June this year, my country's total installed wind power capacity will reach 389 million kilowatts. As wind power installed capacity continues to increase, wind turbines put into operation earlier will also usher in a large-scale "retirement wave."

This technology has broad application prospects in the green remanufacturing of retired permanent magnet wind turbines.

Salt-alkali tolerant rice has produced more than 1,000 kilograms per mu for five consecutive years

"The yield per mu is 552.1 kilograms! The yield per mu is ideal!" On the eve of the "Double Festival" holiday, Yuan Dingyang, deputy director of the Hunan Hybrid Rice Research Center, excitedly announced at the fifth anniversary of the establishment of the Academician Yuan Longping Work Station in Xing'an League and the 2023 High-quality Rice Yield Measurement Observation Meeting.

From September 24 to 25, a yield measurement expert group consisting of seven experts from the Chinese Academy of Rice Research, Heilongjiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences and other institutions randomly selected three rice fields at the rice bases in Ulanhot City and Kezuo Zhongqi Banner for actual harvesting and yield measurement.

After calculation, the average yield of fragrant high-quality rice variety "X56" is 594.6 kilograms per mu, and the average yield of salt-alkali tolerant rice variety "Xingjing 17" is 552.1 kilograms per mu. The yield of salt-alkali tolerant rice has exceeded 500 kilograms per mu for five consecutive years, setting a historical record, and exploring a new "rice" path for the ecological management of saline-alkali land in northern Xinjiang.

In 2018, Academician Yuan Longping established an academician expert workstation in Xing'an League. Over the past five years, Academician Yuan Longping's team has successfully completed the technical model of "helping Xing'an League increase rice production by 100 kilograms per mu within three years", creating a new high in rice production in Xing'an League.

Xing'an League strives to select and breed 3-5 more high-quality rice varieties during the 14th Five-Year Plan period, promote a total planting area of ​​700,000 mu of new rice varieties, and build a seed production base of 100,000 mu, so as to promote the scale, branding and integrated development of the rice industry in Xing'an League, drive farmers' income growth with the high-quality development of the entire rice industry chain, and help rural revitalization.

The content is compiled from China Science Expo Weibo, China Science Daily, and Inner Mongolia Daily

This article was first published in China Science Expo (kepubolan)