2014 Science News Review

Nikola Kostic

Science, 9E

Mr. Youell

27.03.2015

2014 Science News Review

Throughout the year of 2014, Science has made a progress regarding medicine, technology, historic discoveries, and some either bad or good news were shared across the world. As the technology is improving every year, it is easier for scientists to predict, and accurately find solutions to the problems regarding our everyday lives. This being said, most of the news, and discoveries regarding the year of 2014 were involving later technology. Some products have been improved, and some new products were created. More important news that happened in 2014 were due to the technology improving. 

Speaking of the technology improving, car that runs on air has been made. New, Peugeot 2008 needs nothing more than air to run, and it is greener than the other electric cars. According to the mailonline.com, the car has conventional engine, where the fuel is burned within the engine, and the product serves as thermodynamic fluid, fluid that is converted from heat to mechanical energy, or the other way around. For years, car makers had been searching for an environment friendly vehicle, Peugeot seemed to have found an answer. The company promises car to be ecologically sound, and the car will be hybrid, combining electrical and traditional engine, as seen in figure one. While the car is moving, it is using the surplus, more energy than needed, energy and heat from wheels and brakes to pump the air out of the car. The new technology allows the car to run on air, petrol, or the combination of the two. While the car is moving, air is pumped into a cylinder; it could be compared to inflating a balloon. The car will be able to use zero emissions power for driving under 43 miles per hour for the lower speed driving in the cities, which means, during low speeds, car will not pollute the air. Current hybrid cars, including well-known Toyota Prius, require and rely on heavy and very expensive batteries, but the Peugeot doesn't need one. The new Peugeot Hybrid will be available in 2016 for about 16,000 pounds.  For past few years, scientists have been working on air powered car with Peugeot, and finally they have come to a solution. This car will be a model for the cars in the future. Car makers will create and produce more of the cars that run on air, and over time the air will be less polluted. 

Figure 1. The picture shows the characteristics of the vehicle 

                           and how the engine works. 

Not only car technology has been improved, the top of the 22 year old woman's skull has been replaced with a 3D customized skull. With new 3D printing technology, 3D printers are much more accurate, and affordable, and scientists were able to construct top of a skull through a printer. According to gizmag.com, the patient has been suffering from a condition that caused the thickening of the skull. 3D printing has already been used in medicine to produce lower jaw implants, cells, and prostheses, but it is believed that this procedure was the first of its kind. Dr. Bon Verweij and his team from University Medical Center carried out the procedure. The skull has often been removed to reduce the pressure from patient's brain. After the pressure has gone, the same skull, or an implant would go back into the patient's body. As shown in figure 2, the skull had to be modeled first and then printed. According to Dr. Bon Verweij, cement skull is not always a perfect fit for a human's brain; therefore, with 3D printing, doctors can construct a skull with a perfect fit. He explained "This has major advantages, not only cosmetically but also because patients often have better brain function compared with the old method". The surgery ended in a success. The surgery has allowed the patient to return to work with almost no trace of a surgery. This technique could be used in patients with skull defects, and this is the first hospital with this technique worldwide. With the new technique, more lives will be saved, and as 3D printing is more precise, it will probably be used for more body parts, and 3D printing in medicine will be more efficient. 

Figure 2. Dr. Bon Verweij first had to learn about 3D printing, 

       and then model, and construct a 3D printed skull

Regarding medicine, scientists can now control microscopic rocket-shaped minerals inside human cells, sciencetimes.com reports. Scientists are launching second generation of nanomotors, nanobots. With ultrasonic waves, scientists from Penn State and University of Maryland make rocket shaped, gold ruthenium particles move in a strange way, spinning against the cell membranes. The first generation of nanomotors were developed 10 years ago in Penn State, but the first generation of nanomotors used toxic fuel and they were not sustainable for the use in cells. The second generation of nanomotors uses ultrasonic-wave powered minerals, which are safe for the living cells.  One of the researchers, Tom Mallouk, said "We might be able to use nanomotors to treat cancer, and other diseases by chemically manipulating cells from the inside". As seen in figure 3, nanomotors can deliver drugs noninvasive to living tissues. Scientists tested the first and second generation of nanomotors on HeLa cells, a line of human cancer cells. HeLa cells ingested the first generation, but when scientists used ultrasonic waves, nanomotors were able to spin and whip contents off the cell. I think this is a great step toward more easily finding the cells with cancer. With nanomotors, scientists hope in the future to find cancer cells, and discover the places where it hurts the most.

Figure 3. Nanomotors could pinpoint cancer cells and treat them.

With the technology improving from day to day, people make our lives easier. With the three articles above, technology regarding both, cars, and medicine has been improved. Now, less air will be polluted by the car that runs on air, and more lives will be saved with the printed 3D skull, and with nanomotors that can pinpoint cancer cells and treat them. Thus far, technology had reached a long way, and at this rate, I think, science will be able to reach immortality, and make a whole industry of cars that run only on air to make our air less pollutant, which will reduce the amounts of acid rains, which is caused by sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide released by cars and factories, and with this we are not only helping us, but also helping living organisms around us.