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How a paralyzed man walked again
The breakthrough was the work of a team led by Zoran Nenadic, an associate professor in biomedical engineering at the University of California, Irvine, who took advantage of the fact that while a spinal cord injury severs the neural connection to the legs, it does no damage at all to the region of the brain that is responsible for sending the command that gets the legs moving in the first place.
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How this uncrushable beetle can survive being run over by a car
The scientists who made this discovery—a team from Purdue University and the University of California, Irvine—say the unique strategy employed by the diabolical ironclad beetle could inspire the creation of innovative materials, namely components capable of dissipating energy to prevent catastrophic breakage. David Kisailus, a professor of materials science and engineering at Purdue, led the new research. Read More
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How a Squid’s Color-Changing Skin Inspired a New Material That Can Trap or Release Heat
In the video that set materials scientist and chemical engineer Alon Gorodetsky on the path to his latest invention, an octopus appears from the algae like a jump scare in a horror movie. … That “remarkable” video, says the associate professor at University of California, Irvine, “really changed the trajectory of my career, because I started working on materials inspired by cephalopods.” Most recently, Gorodetsky took inspiration from a squid—specifically its color-changing skin—to create a new material that can keep in or let out an adjustable amount of heat.
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Had enough of winter weather? Sorry SoCal, atmospheric rivers bringing more rain
But with snow from the last storm still piled high in the mountains, concerns are growing about the rain combining with snowmelt to generate flooding, especially in the mountain canyons with creeks that could overflow. "Those collector creeks that are capturing all that snowmelt and rainfall at the same time are going to be seeing some of the highest flows we've seen in some time," said [Professor] Brett Sanders, a climate engineering expert at University of California, Irvine.
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High School Shadow Day
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Here's what Hyperloop pods could one day look like
HyperXite, which hails from University of California, Irvine, is focused mainly on solving rush hour challenges. The team’s design can fit 28 people and will be able to withstand harsh weather conditions. HyperXite was one of three teams who won the Pod Technical Excellence Award at Design Weekend.
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How the diabolical ironclad beetle survives getting run over by a car
What makes the diabolical ironclad beetle (the insect's actual common name) so indestructible? To find out, researchers at the University of California, Irvine and their colleagues repeatedly drove over them with their cars. Yes, the creepy crawlers survived the tire test and countless other more exacting compression tests in the laboratory. After years of research, materials scientist David Kisailus and grad student Jesus Rivera determined that it’s the combination of the material and structure of the beetle's exoskeleton which is different than other beetles.
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How octopus could help us to keep, or lose, our cool
[Alon] Gorodetsky’s lab at the University of California at Irvine (UCI) has been trying to make what he calls “technologically valuable things” based on cephalopods’ camouflaging skills. They’ve finally succeeded in creating a material that will let people, not disguise themselves as rocks and algae, but regulate how warm or cool they feel. … “There’s a world of applications for this material,” Gorodetsky says. “We just have to convince people to wear it and use it.”
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Human cells help researchers understand squid camouflage
For many years, [associate professor] Alon Gorodetsky, Ph.D., and his research group have been working on materials inspired by squid.
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Hats Off Graduates!
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How studying a nearly indestructible beetle could improve aircraft construction
The diabolical ironclad beetle can withstand enormous forces, protecting it from predators — and potentially providing scientists with new designs for materials. … Three different types of supports on the sides of the beetle, where the elytra and the shell on the insect's underside meet, allow the beetle to be compliant so it can squeeze into rocks without crushing its organs, says David Kisailus, a [UCI] materials scientist …. Read More
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Human cells help researchers understand squid camouflage
For many years, Alon Gorodetsky, Ph.D., and his research group have been working on materials inspired by squid. In past work, they developed "invisibility stickers," which consisted of bacterially produced squid reflectin proteins that were adhered onto sticky tape. "So then, we had this crazy idea to see whether we could capture some aspect of the ability of squid skin tissues to change transparency within human cell cultures," says Gorodetsky, who is the principal investigator on the project.
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Heart Imaging
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Hydrogen replacing fossil fuels and becoming new source of power
Jack Brouwer, Professor of Engineering at UC Irvine is ecstatic to see the change. "It's exciting to have this happening in our backyard. It's exciting also to be one of the first in the world to actually adopt this platform," he says. Professor Brouwer says green hydrogen can be used to power not only buildings and cars, but also jets, ships, trains and long haul trucks and its emissions won't harm people or the environment. … “The only emission is water," he says. Read More
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Hackers Listen in on What Synthetic DNA Machines are Printing
“Over the last century, whether it was from computers or mobile phones, stealing data was all about directly stealing zeros and ones,” says Mohammad Abdullah Al Faruque, a computer scientist at UC Irvine whose lab led the latest eavesdropping efforts.
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Hydrogen may help replace fossil fuels in California — but it’s still a greenhouse gas
DWP is hardly the only Californian institution rushing to commit to hydrogen. SoCalGas, one of the state’s largest natural gas utilities, hopes to blend hydrogen into the gas network that supplies homes and businesses across Southern California.
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Hydrogen advocates look to capitalize on California's goal to replace diesel for back-up generation
The key draw of hydrogen is its cost-effectiveness at longer durations. For a completely resilient, 100% renewable data center with zero emissions, using hydrogen would translate to a levelized cost of electricity amounting to $119 per MWh, said Jack Brouwer, a professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at the University of California, Irvine. … "Lithium-ion batteries are cheaper for short-duration storage, and they're more efficient.
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Human cells hacked to act like squid skin cells could unlock key to camouflage
"In general, there's two ways you can achieve transparency," UC Irvine's Alon Gorodetsky, associate professor, chemical & biomolecular engineering], who has been fascinated by squid camouflage for the last decade or so, said during a media briefing at the ACS meeting.