This Engineering Newswire looks at sending gas-sensing capsules to your gut, stopping speeding projectiles with a laptop bag and 3D printing a flowery pavilion with a unique cement.
Gas Sensing Capsules Send Data to Your Phone
Got Gas? Good, because it could be the canary in your gut, so to speak. Researchers from RMIT University and Monash University have developed high-tech gas-sensing capsules that can gather information about the gasses in your belly and send that data directly to a smartphone.
Lead investigator, RMIT’s Professor Kourosh Kalantar-zadeh, says that with nearly half of Australia’s population complaining of digestive problems, the technology could be a simple tool to tailor individual diets and improve digestive health.
Bulletproof Laptop Bag Stops Speeding Projectiles
If you need to stop speeding projectiles but bulletproof vests are just too bulky, maybe a bulletproof laptop bag is the next best thing. The MTS Multi-Threat Shield by Force Training Institute should have you covered, literally. It’s a three-foot ballistic shield that protects against most gunfire as well as blunt objects and edged weapons.
It’s a single piece of laminated Kevlar with water-repellant ballistic nylon wrapped around it. If you need to defend against high-powered rifles, an extra insert is available. When opened up, it turns into a hardcore 639 square-inch security blanket.
World’s First Powder-Based 3D Printed Cement Structure
It appears that the next big application for 3D printing is architecture, and a team at the University of California – Berkeley wants to take this technology to the next level. Associate Professor of Architecture, Ronald Rael, and his team created a free-standing pavilion called Bloom to showcase their method of 3D printed construction.
Instead of extruding wet cement, Rael and his team print thin layers of a unique dry cement powder. Each layer is them sprayed with water to stiffen the structure.
