Nano-Iron

Iron that is made up of nanoscale crys­tals are far stronger and harder than its traditional counterpart, but the benefits of this "nano-iron" have been limited by the fact that its nanocrystalline structure breaks down at relatively modest tem­peratures. According to Dr. Carl C. Koch, Professor at National Carolina State Uni­versity of materials science engineering who worked on the project, the alloy essentially consists of 1 % zirconium and 99% iron. The zirconium allows the alloy to retain its nanocrystalline structure un­der high temperatures -1,300 degrees Celsius - approaching the melting point of iron. The new alloy is also economically vi­able, since "it costs virtually the same amount to produce the alloy" as it does :0 create nano-iron.

Plastic red blood cells

Red blood cells travel through the blood­stream delivering vital oxygen to body tissues and taking away unwanted car­bon dioxide - and they have to squeeze through blood vessels as thin as 3 rni­crometres across to do it. But in some diseases, such as malaria and sickle cell disease, red blood cells lose this ability to deform.

Now, Joseph DeSimone, a chemi­cal engineer at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, US, has created tiny sacks of the polymer polyethylene glycol just 8 micrometres across - in the range of human red blood cells - that are capable of deforming in a way that allows them to pass through the tiniest capillaries. Polyethylene glycol is biologically benign.

'Himadri,' at the Arctic

India has opened a station in the Arctic. Equipped with state-of-the-art facilities for year-round scientific work, the sta­tion is at Ny-Alesund in Norway, which is the northern-most permanent human settlement, 1,200 km from the North Pole. With Himadri, India has become the 11 th country to have established a fullfledged research station here. The others are Britain, Germany, France, Italy, China, Japan, South Korea, The Netherlands, Sweden and Norway. India began its Arctic research programme in August 2007 with five scientists. The National Centre for Antarctic and Ocean Research (NCAOR), an autonomous in­stitution under the Ministry of Earth Sci­ences, based in Goa manages Himadri and has been 'coordinating India's polar research.

Indian designs a 'flying saucer'

A scientist of Indian origin from the Uni­versityof Florida in the US has conceptu­alised the design for a plasma-propelled flying saucer. Subrata Roy, University of Florida mechanical and aerospace engineering associate professor has submitted a patent application for a circular, spinning aircraft design. He calls his design a "wingless electromagnetic air vehicle," or WEAV. The proposed prototype is small - measure less than 15 cm across - and will be efficient enough to be powered by onboard batteries. The propulsion system for Roy's saucer sprouts from his extensive US air force funded plasma actuator research. Ac­cording to Roy the design can be scaled up and theoretically should work in a much larger form.