Media Watch
California is Trying to Jump-Start the Hydrogen Economy
The New York Times -
“Almost any objective analysis for getting to zero emissions includes hydrogen,” said Jack Brouwer, director of the National Fuel Cell Research Center at the University of California, Irvine. Mr. Brouwer does not think hydrogen will become the dominant energy source soon, but he argues that it has great potential as a fuel for vehicles, power plants and appliances. … UC Irvine has experimented with hydrogen for years and formed partnerships with local governments and major corporations to popularize its use in Southern California. [Subscription required, campus-wide access provided by UCI Libraries. Sign-up here: AccessNYT.com] Read More
Startups & Innovations: Incubators & Accelerators
Orange County Business Journal -
The National Institutes of Health has extended its partnership with wet lab incubator University Lab Partners through the end of the year. … ULP and its board of advisors enlisted UCI biomedical graduate students and industry level talent with experience in diagnostic testing from companies such as Beckman Coulter to perform due diligence on companies that applied for funds. [Subscription required, you can request an electronic copy of the article by sending an email to communications@uci.edu.] Read More
This Species Of Beetle Can Survive Being Run Over By A Car
Simplemost -
In a new study published in Nature, researchers from University of California, Irvine, Purdue University and other institutions delve into the material makeup of the beetle’s armor. This mighty tough bug can withstand a force of 39,000 times its body weight, according to the researchers. To put things into perspective, that would be the equivalent of a 200-pound man enduring the crushing weight of 7.8 million pounds (more than six airplanes!) to equal this feat. Read More
5G, 6G: UCI’s Heydari on telecom developments
Orange County Business Journal -
Payam Heydari, a UCI professor of electrical engineering and computer science and a leading research in millimeter-wave integrated circuits design for 6G, says it’s a work in progress. … Heydari and his team are working with an updated version of a chip they developed last year that they hope will eventually lead to 6G breakthroughs. [Subscription required, you can request an electronic copy of the article by sending an email to communications@uci.edu.] Read More
We should all channel this 'super-beetle,' which can survive getting run over by a car
Jezebel -
Might I suggest we all try to bring the same energy to the next few days as this beetle, which can survive getting run over by a car? The beetle is the subject of a study being conducted by Purdue University and the University of California, Irvine, where researchers are trying to figure out why this tiny insect is so strong. … Researchers hope to use the beetle’s virtually ironclad armor to learn how to engineer structures that require connecting different materials, like aircraft turbines, for example. Read More
Strong beetles and stronger sandwiches
Chemical & Engineering News -
The diabolical ironclad beetle … can withstand 39,000 times its own body weight, comparable to the force of being run over by a car on a dirt road. So what’s the secret to their superstrength? A collection of jigsaw-like joints and exoskeleton-adjacent support structures, an exoskeleton composed of three layered cuticles, and helically arranged proteins that together give the bugs multilayered protection, according to new work by David Kisailus at the University of California, Irvine, and colleagues …. Read More
This beetle can be driven over by a car and will still survive
ED Times -
“This study really bridges the fields of biology, physics, mechanics and materials science toward engineering applications, which you don’t typically see in research,” said lead author David Kisailus, a UCI professor. While at present, engineers do have the materials required to create innovative aerospace and infrastructural designs, there are still problems in joining various materials together without making them vulnerable to fracture. This is where the research on the diabolical beetle comes in. Read More
UC Irvine researchers study beetle that can survive being run over by a car
Daily Pilot -
The experiment it was involved in was part of a years-long study by UCI professor and principle investigator David Kisailus, who has been seeking to identify what makes the beetle so strong. “This diabolical ironclad beetle is not able to fly away, so it’s adapted to living on the ground,” Kisailus said. … After determining the cause of the beetle’s strength, Kisailus’ lab is working on applying the biological structure of the beetle to things humans engineer. [Subscription required, you can request an electronic copy of the article by sending an email to communications@uci.edu.] Read More
Can't crush this: Beetle armor gives clues to tougher planes and buildings
Houston Herald (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
The diabolical ironclad beetle's super-tough shell can even resist being run over by a car
CBC Radio -
David Kisailus, a professor of materials science and engineering at the University of California, Irvine, was part of a team that launched a study to find out how the beetle could be so tough. Listen Now