Media Watch
This super-beetle can survive being run over by a car -- and help with engineering problems
CNN -
Scientists developing new materials are studying an unlikely source of strength: a beetle that can withstand being run over by a car. Researchers from Purdue University and the University of California, Irvine, studied the aptly named diabolical ironclad beetle -- Phloeodes diabolicus -- to understand the secret behind its strength. Read More
Can’t crush this: Beetle armor gives clues to tougher planes
AP -
The beetle study is part of an $8 million project funded by the U.S. Air Force to explore how the biology of creatures such as mantis shrimp and bighorn sheep could help develop impact-resistant materials. “We’re trying to go beyond what nature has done,” said study co-author David Kisailus, a materials scientist and engineer at the University of California, Irvine. Read More
How the ‘diabolical’ beetle survives being run over by a car
Wired -
For University of California, Irvine, materials scientist David Kisailus, the diabolical ironclad beetle isn’t just a curiosity—it’s inspiration. … Namely, natural selection has invented an ingenious structure that keeps the insect from flattening, a structure that Kisailus has begun to mine for inspiration to engineer new super-strong materials. “We're pretty stoked, because we think we can go to aircraft, automotive, sporting goods industries with this kind of design,” says Kisailus. Read More
Even a car can’t kill this beetle. Here’s why
Science -
When entomologists first told Jesus Rivera that a nondescript black beetle could survive being run over by a car, he was skeptical. Then he tried it, and the insect walked away unscathed (as you can see for yourself in the video below). Now, this newly minted Ph.D. at the University of California, Irvine, has discovered the secret to this bug’s success. Read More
Source of near-indestructible beetle’s toughness discovered
BBC Science Focus -
“The ironclad is a terrestrial beetle, so it’s not lightweight and fast but built more like a little tank,” said David Kisailus, professor of materials science & engineering at UCI and principal investigator on the study. “That’s its adaptation: It can’t fly away, so it just stays put and lets its specially designed armour take the abuse until the predator gives up.” Read More
Meet the diabolical ironclad beetle. It’s almost uncrushable
The New York Times -
In 2015, Jesus Rivera filmed a very unusual science experiment for posterity. On the asphalt of a sun-soaked parking lot, he placed a mottled black beetle on a pillow of dirt and had a colleague run it over with a Toyota Camry. Twice. Just about any other bug would have died. This one, a species called Phloeodes diabolicus, did not. … “That would jellify a human,” said David Kisailus, an engineer at the University of California, Irvine, who mentored Dr. Rivera’s work. [Subscription required, campus-wide access provided by UCI Libraries. Sign-up here: AccessNYT.com] Read More
To batteries and beyond: With seasonal storage potential, hydrogen offers 'a different ballgame entirely'
Utility Dive -
Jack Brouwer started thinking about the potential of using hydrogen to store massive amounts of energy around 12 years ago. … Brouwer, a professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at the University of California, Irvine, took the idea to the U.S. Department of Energy … But the agency didn’t move forward with the idea so Brouwer and a group of his students began researching the issue. In 2013, they published a paper … That paper caught the attention of some people at Southern California Gas Company (SoCalGas) — the nation’s largest gas utility …. The discussion led to a demonstration project that was set up at UC Irvine’s campus in 2016, Brouwer said, that made renewable hydrogen from solar power using an electrolyzer. Read More
New lab-on-a-chip can help reduce resistance to cancer therapies
AZoNano -
“Our work has potential applications in single-cell studies, in tumor heterogeneity studies and, perhaps, in point-of-care cancer diagnostics—especially in developing nations where cost, constrained infrastructure and limited access to medical technologies are of the utmost importance,” says co-author Rahim Esfandyarpour, UCI assistant professor of electrical engineering and computer science as well as biomedical engineering. Read More
Meet the other kind of electric car: Hydrogen fuel cell EVs
Spectrum News1 -
Hydrogen gas is charged in kilograms, rather than gallons. It currently costs about $12 per kilogram. The equivalent gasoline cost is about $6 per gallon. University of California, Irvine researchers project that hydrogen will be cost-competitive with gasoline by 2030. Read More
Biochip innovation combines AI and nanoparticle printing for cancer cell analysis
Phys.org -
Electrical engineers, computer scientists and biomedical engineers at the University of California, Irvine have created a new lab-on-a-chip that can help study tumor heterogeneity to reduce resistance to cancer therapies. … "Cancer cell and tumor heterogeneity can lead to increased therapeutic resistance and inconsistent outcomes for different patients," said lead author Kushal Joshi, a former UCI graduate student in biomedical engineering. The team's novel biochip addresses this problem by allowing precise characterization of a variety of cancer cells from a sample. Read More