Blog

Date Archive - July 2023

Plastic ‘Muscle’ Pumps Up Soft Robotics

Robots could soon make use of plastic “muscles” thanks to a new ferroelectric polymer that excels at converting electrical energy into motion, according to research led by Penn State. The research, published in the journal Natural Materials, found that ferroelectric polymer nanocomposites can outperform traditional piezoelectric polymer composites to create high-performance motion controllers. Applications could include advanced robotics, medical devices, and precision positioning systems. “Potentially we can now have a…

Read more Leave a comment

Talent Talk: Eye-Popping Data You Probably Didn’t See

Last week we talked about the light at the end of the tunnel for the manufacturing sector, including the plastics industry, and the two major factors that are behind the coming expansion. I will continue a deeper dive into why we are on the brink of something quite remarkable, but that is going to have to wait a week. Due to my business, I have become a data junkie. I…

Read more Leave a comment

Joby eVTOL Certification Marks Another Step Toward Passenger Flights in 2025

Joby Aviation has received a Federal Aviation Administration Special Airworthiness Certificate for the first aircraft built at its pilot production line in Marina, California, allowing Joby to begin flight testing of its first production prototype. This comes on the heels of the extension of the U.S. Air Force’s $131 million Agility Prime contract which is scheduled to see Joby electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft delivered to the Air…

Read more Leave a comment

New Zealand’s Ban on All Single-Use Produce Bags Is a World First

New Zealand has become the first country in the world to ban single-use produce bags at grocery stores. New Zealand shoppers already were expected to bring their own shopping bags to supermarkets. Effective July 1, they also are being asked to carry their own reusable bags for fruits and vegetables. The latest move is part of a wider government campaign against single-use plastics. In July 2019, New Zealand no longer…

Read more Leave a comment

PET Recycling Goes Electric

Everything, it seems, is going electric, from planes, trains, and automobiles to our kitchen stoves. You may be able to add recycling to that list at some point in the future. Chemists at the University of Colorado (CU) Boulder have developed a new way to recycle polyethylene terephthalate (PET) by combining chemical reactions with an electrical charge. In lab experiments, the advanced recycling technology started breaking apart PET within minutes.…

Read more Leave a comment

Call Now Button