Chamomile train. Free Technical Library News

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Chamomile train

06.07.2015

The history of steam locomotives has more than two centuries, and in our time it is unlikely that anyone would come up with the idea to engage in steam traction. Unless that person is Ozgur Sahin, assistant professor of biology and physics at Columbia University in New York. He once discovered that the contraction and swelling of bacterial spores with changes in humidity could be used to move other objects. Moreover, considering the size of the spores, the energy they produce exceeds the energy of some materials that are used to move objects in the macrocosm.

With his colleagues in the lab, informally called Extreme Bio or "Extreme Biology", Sahin began to study the question of whether the energy of swelling spores could be used to propel microscopic machines with the power of moist air. It turned out that it is possible if you figure out how to collect disputes into a single work team. To do this, the scientists used a flexible tape on which they fixed the spores. Under the influence of dry air, the spores were reduced, and the tape, accordingly, was compressed. Under the influence of moist air, the tape straightened out like an artificial muscle.

To enhance the effect, the researchers came up with a device where the pieces of tape were arranged in a row inside a plastic container, on top of which were louvres. When water was poured into the container, it evaporated, the air became humid, the ribbon lengthened, and the petals opened. Humid air came out, the pores narrowed, the tape contracted, the blinds closed. The air below them became moist again, and the process repeated, demonstrating the motive power of the blinds.

The scientists called the device an "evaporation piston," attached it to a generator, and caused a miniature light bulb to light up. After that, they developed the idea and created a "humidity mill" that used a plastic wheel covered in a ribbon of spores. One half of the wheel was in a humid atmosphere, and the other half was in dry air. Thus, some of the pores swelled, and some did not, which caused a difference in weight in the wheel. As a result, it began to rotate, creating a constant source of energy. Such an engine is still far from a steam locomotive, although, given the huge number of reservoirs on Earth, one can imagine giant "steam" turbines based on this principle.

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The Iron Research Institute in Düsseldorf (Germany) has developed and tested new alloys for car bodies.

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