My Knowledge

Week in Review
PUBLISHED 12/05/2007

Bag it!: Richmond environmentalists shun plastic bags

Plastic bags at the checkout aisle used to be a choice. Now they're at the center of a public debate. Widely denounced as "Earth's nemesis" because they're made from oil and threaten wildlife, the ubiquitous bag has become the latest test of the environmental mettle for grocery shoppers. The solution for many is to bring their own bags to market...Richmond Times-Dispatch 1.3.0
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Inventors picture success for multi-purpose 'film' technology

When liquid crystal display televisions first came out, and disappointed viewers found they could only see ghostly images when seated to the side, a pair of University of Akron polymer professors came to the rescue.Frank Harris and Stephen Cheng developed a "compensation film" that increased the viewing angle. Their invention, patented by UA, is still the dominant technology used on modern LCD screens but the company Harris and Cheng formed in 2002 to supply the film to the industry never took off....Akron Beacon Journal 12.31.07
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PLA resin technology: A competition yields products that can benefit both consumers and the environment

Recycling and its importance are talked about a lot, but many experts believe the rate of recycling is actually dropping every year as total consumption increases. That outlook was behind Ying-Hao's entry in this year's Electrolux Design Lab competition: the Return Pot, which will turn plastic bags made from polylactic acid (PLA) resin into compost for plants. The 2007 design lab, the fifth edition of the annual competition sponsored by the Swedish-based conglomerate, challenged students to devise "environmentally sound, commercially viable products and solutions that would enable consumers to live in greater harmony with the environment," according to Electrolux spokesman Tony Evans. The prototypes were judged last month in Paris. ...The Philadelphia Inquirer 12.30.07
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Sabic Innovative Plastics plans ‘green’ car design contest

Sabic Innovative Plastics and Car Design News are teaming up to shake the trees of modern engineering and "green" imagination. The plastics company and the online automotive design magazine are sponsoring the first International Digital Car Design Competition, to be launched in conjunction with the Detroit Auto Show in January. Students and professional designers are invited to create an environmentally friendly vehicle design using the latest inventions in plastics and recycled materials...Berkshire Eagle 12.29.07
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Gadgets to Go Green at Electronics Show

Consumer electronics aren't exactly easy on the environment -- they consume electricity that contributes to global warming, and toxins leach out of them when they end up in landfills. But the industry that's inviting us to get a new cell phone every year and toss out that old TV in favor of a great new flat panel is also trying to show that it cares. At the world's largest trade show for consumer electronics, starting Monday in Las Vegas, manufacturers will be talking not just about megapixels, megahertz and megabytes, but about smart power adapters that don't waste as much electricity, batteries that are easier to recycle, and components made from plants.... Associated Press Online 1.3.08
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NThe NIOSH Nanotechnology Research Program

By Charles Geraci, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
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Impact of RFID and Sensor-Based Network

By Pete Efstathiou and Tim Stojka, Fast Heat, Inc.
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