#Engineering Plastics Research Report | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

imaginesig · 4 months ago

Text

“I was enchanted to meet you”

Kimi Antonelli x Norris!Reader

SMAU + Written parts

You’re Lando Norris’s little sister (18) and a spark flares up with a notable F2 driver (18) , how does everything go down?

Bonus: “I had the best day with you today”

I wanted to state that as I’m writing this I am 17 years old, on top of that I am an American. I do not know how to be 17/18 as a Brit so I did a bit of research but I’m not 100% confident. I gave Y/n an internship bc I assumed she’d be at the end of her secondary schooling. Sorry if that’s wildly off base.

~~~

A laugh erupted from my chest as a balled up sucky note made contact with Kimi’s forehead. I quickly grab my takeout lid to block his response attack. Only when I heard the ball make contact with the plastic did I relax my shield. On the other side, Kimi laid out on my hotel bed in sleep pants and a racing sweatshirt. His messy curls barely moved as he laughed. The soft light of the hotel lamp illuminated the scene like some kind of dream.

In here, it was a dream. No pressure, loud engines, cruel media, or annoying deadlines tainting the scene. It was authentic; our looks to each other were obvious, no sneaky glances.

In one smooth motion I moved from the desk chair to the opposite side of the bed from him. Propped up on my side, I mustered my best reporter voice, “So Mr. Antonelli, you've touched down in beautiful Barcelona a few hours ago and are gearing up for the weekend. The Spanish Grand Prix is known for its special conditions: corners of varying speeds, high chance of tyre wear, and many openings for overtakes. How confident are you in the car for this weekend? Any good strategies in the works to take advantage of rough tyre conditions the other teams will face?

Kimi and I laughed so hard we both turned red, “Well Ms. Norris it looks like someone’s done their homework.”

“It is my job” I shrug, “I also just love turn 9. I quite literally look forward to it every year.”

“Of course you love the hard one,” Kimi pulled his arm out from under his weight and fell into the bed.

“No sir, you have to go. Dont get comfortable,” I said.

“Y/n” kimi whines.

“No,” I laugh, “you need to go back to your own room.” With a huff and a few more comments Kimi is reminded of the reality outside of the hotel room, one where he has to return to his own room and wake up alone. With a hug and kiss, Kimi is on his way and I turn back to start cleaning up. Next to the takeout trash, my work bag also lays unpacked. I fall into a steady rhythm of tidying before bed while my mind wanders off to my secret relationship.

Kimi and I got together right before this season started. We met last season at a couple of different Motorsport events and spent the season getting closer. Then we spent the offseason working through the new depth added to our friendship. And now, we’re navigating unforgiving media who might not take our relationship too well and potentially ruin it.

With a yawn I finish up my task and head to bed. I go to turn off my bedside lamp and notice a goodnight message from Kimi.

~~~

yn_norris

liked by kimi.antonelli, landonorris, user1, and 918,289 others

yn_norris: Barcelona, you have kept me busy 🥴

tagged: no one

Lilyzneimer my busy bee!! Best gp watch buddy ever, you always keep me updated with the top info 💖💖

yn_norris love you sm 💖💖 thank you for letting the teammates sister join you

user1 my fav intern 😍😍

user2 she always delivers 👏👏

user8 and grinds until the end everyday

landonorris wow I don’t even get shown, I’m hurt

yn_norris I completely flooded my stories with celebrations and you when you won. This is my moment

landonorris proud of your work always!!

yn_norris🫶🫶🫶

martagarcialopez19 pleasure to be interviewed by you!!

maya_weug lovely panel❤️🏎️

hamdaalqubaisi_official women in motorsports forever!!

user3 I love how Y/n and Lando always have 2 comment threads with varying emotions under every post

user4 KIMI IN THE LIKES???

user5 he stays in her likes

user6 tbh most of the F2/F1 academy drivers are, between her being Landos little sister and covering them the most with her job/internship they’ve gotten familiar

user7 exactly, even her and Ollie Bearman have reported they talk and could consider themselves in a friendship

user8 Abbi Pulling and Hamda Al Qubaisi have been known to hang out with Y/n apart from the track

~~~

It was a beautiful sunny day in Barcelona, Spain. I was so thankful I was able to take a few remote work days so I’d be able to stay another day and explore. It all worked out perfectly because both my brother and his teammate invited me to join their exploration and Kimi was able to get a late flight.

With the sun shining and birds singing I made my way down a less crowded street and was met by my boyfriend snapping photos of the scenery around him. I decide to quicken my pace and give him a hug.

“Hello there,” he says surprised. A chuckle escapes his mouth once he’s turned around to reciprocate the affection.

“Hi,” I smile. I look around as he pulled back and saw the iconic kissing mural surrounded by greenery, “wow.”

“Pretty right,” he says.

“Beautiful,” I gush,”let’s get a photo.” Kimi nods and I set my phone up to record a video to screen record to screen shot from since there was no one around at the early hour.

“How do you wanna pose?”

“Let’s kiss and really be that couple, you know,” I joke.

“Come here then,” the warm air and slight breeze made the moment feel like a fairytale. The world melted away as I enjoyed the sweet kiss. For a moment it felt like we were out to the world. But when the kiss ended, I felt disappointment that no one has seen us. Part of me grew restless with the secret keeping, “I found a really cute place for breakfast I think you’ll like it.”

We walked hand in hand down the quiet streets, passing by locals going through their morning chores. Soon enough we arrived at a small restaurant and were sat outside. Concealed by aged buildings, the place itself was low traffic and gave up peace of mind.

“Smile,” I look back towards Kimi from the surrounding scenery to see him holding up his camera. We took a couple of different shots before returning to conversation.

“I had the weirdest feeling earlier,” I start. Kimi looks a little concerned, “when we took that kissing photo I wanted someone to see. I wanted our relationship to get out.”

“I’ve been feeling the same way. It’s been and is so nice to have our little bubble, but part of me just wants to be and not worry about the when and where.”

“Exaclty my feelings. I’m glad we’re talking about this, let’s let the idea sit for a little while longer and then we can come up with a plan. I’m scared to rush into an announcement and not be ready for the outcome.” Kimi agrees and we fall into other topics of conversation over breakfast. After we go to an outdoor market and look around. I purchase some trinkets for other interns at the office who cover other sports. As the air slowly got hotter, Kimi’s time with me got shorter. Eventually it was time to take him back to the hotel to take a ride to the airport. We said our goodbyes and he promised to call me when he landed.

I quickly traveled to the lunch spot my brother informed me to meet the group at. We spent the rest of the day enjoying the scenery, taking cool photos, and just enjoying each others company since extra days like this were scarce.

Too soon the sun went down and our activities ended. Back in my hotel room I worked in the soft lamplight and prepared for my flight back to reality tomorrow.

~~~

oscarpiastri

liked by landonorris, lilyzniemer, user91, and 928,827 others

oscarpiastri: pro tip: never explore with the Norris siblings, they’ll make a scene everywhere

tagged: lilyzneimer, landonorris, yn_norris

yn_norris ummm this is embarrassing you seemed to have misspelled “Y/n thank you so much for the adorable pic of me and Lily! Thankfully your skill is far superior to your brothers so I was able to post one”

landonorris you twat

yn_norris I mean he didn’t post yours so…

oscarpiastri that’s it I’m getting a restraining order on you guys

landonorris we only made a couple…

oscarpiastri yea bc Y/n was only with us a few hours

user1 LMAO THE BIKE PHOTO

user2 they were ready to square up

yn_norris I kicked his ass

user2 OMG SHE REPLIED

user3 everytime I see a Y/n and Lily interaction it always gives little and big sis🥹

user4 omg ikr!! It makes me so happy that even though her bio sisters aren’t able to be with her 24/7 she has someone at gps and such

user5 what I wouldn’t give to explore the world with this group

kimi.antonelli

Liked by user4, yn_norris, olliebearman, and 819,728 others

Kimi.antonelli: Barcelona, beautiful as always 👏

tagged:no one

olliebearman 💪💪

Prema_team glad to see the weekend allowed for relaxation 😎

user1 happy with the results this weekend!!

user2 ok scenic shot

user3 Kimi is coming for Y/n with the digital camera effect

user4 I wonder why it’s only on the last photo tho?

user5 maybe this is where she was when she wasn’t with the McLaren boys…

user6 ok grandma get back to bed

Yn_norris

liked by kimi.antonelli, carlossainz55, abbiepulling, and 718,828 others

Yn_norris: España, mi amor

Tagged: lilyzniemer

oscarpiatri so glad my gf make the post and I didn’t

yn_norris cry me a river

landonorris who took the first pic you don’t have any friends other than me 🤨🤨

yn_norris choke

carlossainz55 always love your love of Spain 🇪🇸♥️

yn_norris with every bit of my heart!!

Riabish gorgeous!!

abbiepulling travel looks gorgeous on you

yn_norris 💋💋

user1 she ate this up

user2 first pic >>>>>

yn_norris posted a story!

Caption: I get door dashed coffee even when he’s thousands of miles away 🫶🫶

Replies:

landonorris

who what when where why

idk, it’s coffee for those of us who don’t have the energy of a seven year old, this morning, my office, bc I’m loved

wdym “idk”

Y/n are you soft launching?? Your own brother doesn’t get to know before Instagram

I have a plan no fear

🙄

Kimi.antonelli

I’ve discovered you can special order a message or simple drawings through the app too

I can see that

so be prepared, there’s so much more where than came from

as much as I love this and would love to see what you come up with, I can get my own coffee

not happening

lmao ok

Not my hill to die on

I love you

I love you too, have a great day

Oscarpiastri

your bother is pacing

Lmao good

Let him squirm

Yes ma’am 🫡

~~~

The smell of exhaust fills my senses and V6s roar across the track. Lando and I were currently camped out in the Prema garage with our eyes glued to the screen. We let out a few comments and had mini conversations throughout.

When Kimi’s car cross the finish line the enter building jumped up. As the crew and engineers all ran out to the baraxade. I decided do lead Lando over where the podium is interviewed before the cool down room so we don’t interrupt team celebrations. We stand meters away so we don’t bother anyone but I still might be able to sent Kimi a thumbs up and a wink.

“I didn’t know you two got so close,” Lando mused as we still admits the buzzing padock.

“Well you know through other friends I’ve made from tagging alone to events and races with you we were bound to meet, especially with him being Ollies teammate this season,” Lando nods at that. “So how are you feeling about your race, the home ones always a big deal.”

“I’m super excited, but the nerves of potentially messing things up are there,” he confesses, “I want to win really bad.”

“Call it reporter’s gut but I feel-“ suddenly I was cut off my someone yelling my name.

“Y/n!” Kimi is sprinting over to us. So much for not making a scene, I think.

“Kimi! You did it!” I yelled back. Soon, he was a meter away and not stopping. I was grabbed along with him and brought a couple steps away as he slowed down. Before I could even comprehend the previous action, Kimi let out another victory cheer, grabbed my face, and kissed me in the middle of the paddock. The adrenaline and joy from his win charged the kiss from both ends. It was like nothing I’d ever experienced before. All those kisses in hotel room or hidden corners of the world were put to shame, this was the kiss. I was so focused on the moment that I didn’t remember that there were eyes on us everywhere, including the eyes of my brother.

“Y/n- I- What!” Lando stuttered with wide eyes. He still stood in our previous spot and seemed to be stuck there. After a moment of staring back, I realized my hands had come up to rest on Kimi’s biceps.

I quickly jumped back before turning to look at Kimi again, “Hey, I’m so proud! We can catch up and all that later. Go do your media stuff, I love you.” I wave him off and walk back to Lando, “before you say anything we need to talk privately.”

Once we find a quiet place I begin explains everything, “And that’s brings us up to now. We had a plan to slow launch and then during that time we hoped to tell family and close friends before anyone else. I swear this weekend was the one-“ he cut me off.

“Y/n don’t worry, I can tell the adrenaline got to him,” he smirks, “I know the feeling well.”

“Ew, ew Lando please stop there,” I cringe. “Are you sure you’re not mad? It wasn’t supposed to come out this way, especially not to you.”

“I’m fine. Granted I only saw a few seconds of that this relationship is but any man who’s gonna come running to you after a race before even heading to a mandatory interview or cool down then he’s a good one. Also you can’t fool me, your eyes lit up and you forgot I was even next to you when he showed up. I’m happy for you,” Lando pulled me into a bear hug.

“I love you Lan.”

“I love you too,” he pulled back and added,” but mum might be so give her a ring before she finds out.”

We both laugh before I FaceTime the family group chats for round 2 of explaining.

~~~

f1updates

Liked by user82, user282, user1, and 173,827 others

f1updates: After his first F2 win, Kimi Antonelli kisses Lando Norris’s little sister in the middle of the paddock! Videos from multiple sources have been reposted on our Twitter account.

tagged: Kimi.antonelli, yn_norris

used1 WHAT

user2 this was not on my 2024 bingo card

used3 after watching the videos it was right out of a romance movie

user4 the way he sprinted to her while ignoring everything else

user5 lando’s face killed me

user6 he was just as shocked as we are

kimi.antonelli

liked by yn_norris, user43, prema_racing, and 918,828 others

Kimi.antonelli: maiden win anyone??

tagged: prema_racing, mercadesamgf1, yn_norris

yn_norris “where’s the trophy? He just comes running over to me” 🤭🤭

Kimi.antonelli ❤️❤️

landonorris 😑

yn_norris fuck off

prema_racing that’s our boy 👏🏆

User1 KIMI IS A RACE WINNER

user2 anyone else absolutely die when he kissed her

user3 yea I think Lando almost did

user4 Y/n’s comment 😭😭

carlossainz55 the last pic 🤨

danielriccardo so it is true

landonorris OF COURSE ITS TRUE A VIDEO HAS BEEN TRENDING ON TWITTER

Carlossainz55 honestly I couldn’t understand half of what you were saying but he could be worse

landonorris mate.

danielriccardo I say shovel talk before his next race see how he celebrates then

yn_norris no no no yall are done scheming in my boyfriends comment section

~~~

The British Grand Prix had been a rollercoaster for the younger Norris who sat in the coverage of the McLaren garage watching the race. Kimi and I had sent a few messages about the race but since Lando lost his lead during his pit in lap 40 I have been zoned in. I’ve been praying since Lewis passed that something would happen, that by a miracle Lando would regain his lead. Unfortunately as the laps dwindled, Lando lost time between the winner and in lap 49 Max had successfully overtaken him. Sighs and cuss words could be heard all throughout the building. My head fell into my hands as I watched the race though hooded eyelids, weight down with sadness.

When the race was over I slowly took the same path Lando and I had taken yesterday towards the media area. I flashed by badge once again and found a stop on the r of the action. Eventually, Lando made his way to Jensen and completed his interview.

“Hey,” I said empathetically as I pulled him into a hug. “I know you hate this and I know you’re upset. Lando, you hold yourself to the highest standard imaginable, but please know you did great. Third place is still a handful of points and now you’ve gotten more experience so you and the team can make better calls in the future. This wasn’t a race that you could predict, you had to roll with the punches and you did. I’m so proud of you and now I have a new trophy I can steal for my future apartments decor!”

Lando let out a loud chuckle before he hit me on the head, “you’re not getting my trophies you muppet.”

“That’s what you think,” I fired back before he pulls me into another hug, this one more playful than the last. I waved him off to the cool down room and said a quick congratulations to Lewis before heading to get a spot with McLaren for the podium ceremony.

~~~

landonorris

Liked by yn_norris, user3, mclaren, and 819,928 others

landonorris: Silverstone I love you, my sister not so much ❤️ congrats on the win @/lewishamilton, we’ll review, do better, and come get you next time 😜

Tagged: lewishamilton

yn_norris I cried real tears @/lewishamilton

yn_norris you fought hard, it was entertaining race. Love you to the moon and back🫶🫶

landonorris love you to the moons and back twice 🫶

user1 HELLO?? THIS IS TO SWEEET

used2 with no warning either 😭😭

yn_norris also for the record I did nothing

Kimi.antonelli ok now I said I was sorry

user3 why war McLarens strategy all messed up this week

Kimi.antonelli great driving today 💪

landonorris 😑

yn_norris lando try that again.

landonorris 👍

user4 you still did great!!

user5 lmao the jab at Y/n 😭😭

yn_norris

liked by danielriccardo, olliebearman, user88, and 198,828 others

yn_norris big weekend :)

tagged: landonorris, kimi.antonelli

landonorris big weekend? BIG WEEKEND? THATS ALL YOU HAVE TO SAY??

yn_norris I mean a lot happened

danielriccardo I think that trophy was kissed better than you

yn_norris 🙄✋

Kimi.antonelli love you ♥️

yn_norris love you too ♥️

user1 her and Lando 🥹🥹

olliebearman thanks for the support on your off weekend 👏👏

yn_norris anytime care bear

user2 “care bear” IM CRYING YN YOU CANT DO MY MAN LIKE THAT

user3 the McLaren flag slays so hard

kimi.antonelli

Liked by yn_norris, landonorris, used928, and 727,828 others

Kimi.antonelli: I owe an apology to Y/n for ruining our soft launch on a whim, Lando for doing it front of you, and my family for not telling you guys sooner. But that’s all besides the point because I can finally say LOOK AT MY GIRLFRIEND

tagged: yn_norris

yn_norris omg I love you ♥️

Kimi.antonelli I love you more ♥️

user1 the uppercase at the end he’s so cute 😭😭

user2 you can tell he’s so excited

oscarpiastri so does the Barcelona photo prove that’s who Y/n was with that morning?

landonorris no shot they snuck around right under my nose

Kimi.antonelli no comment

yn_norris not my fault you’re an idiot who doesn’t ask enough questions

landonorris oh just you wait for my questions now

Oscarpiastri oh look now you’ve opened Pandora’s box y/n

carlossainz55 I guess I like you

Kimi.antonelli that’s comforting?

Carlossainz55 be happy it’s not hate

yn_norris he’s a tad bit overprotective

danielriccardo you’ve got balls kid, I respect it

Kimi.antonelli thank you 😁

user3 pls not this summoning all of Landos old teammates

user4 guess he’s not the only one they’ve grown attatched to

landonorris this is cute ig

Kimi.antonelli I’m taking this as a win

yn_norris don’t act all grumpy on main

yn_norris

liked by Danielriccardo, user817, Kimi.antonelli, and 817,828 others

yn_norris: “this night is sparkling, don’t you let it go”

tagged: Kimi.antonelli

Kimi.antonelli fav taylor song 🫶🫶

yn_norris see aren’t you glad I made you listen to it

user1 Kimi is an Enchanted stan???

landonorris wtf is that last picture

yn_norris 🤷🏼‍♀️

user2 I love them so much 😭😭

User3 she dedicated Enchanted to him?? Girlie is in deep

Carlossainz55 does he make you happy?

danielriccardo this is is a very important question

yn_norris very 🥰

landonorris cancel the plans guys

Kimi.antonelli I’m scared

yn_norris

Liked by lilyzniemer, user4, carlossainze55, and 981,828 others

yn_norris: he’s family approved ☀️😌

tagged: Kimi.antontelli

Kimi.antonelli Aunt Y/n 😍

landonorris absolutely not

danielriccardo I’m watching you

carlossainz55 stop right there

yn_norris do you guys always materialize in time to ruin the fun 😒

oscarpiastri 👶🚫

yn_norris OSCAR YOU TOO???

Landonorris take that helmet off her now, Uncle Lala’s is the only one allowed

yn_norris possessive much

user1 I can never tell how Lando feels about Kimi

user2 right mixed signals much? He bullies him in insta comments but openly supports him irl

user3 speaking from personal experience, that’s just him being an annoying older brother

lilyzniemer the matching outfits 🥰🥰

abbiepulling they are too cute!!!

yn_norris I love you both 🫶🫶

#f1 #f1 imagines #f2 #f2 x reader #formula 2 #kimi antonelli x reader #kimi antonelli imagine #kimi antonelli #formula 1 smau #formula 1 imagine #formula 1 imagines #f1 imagine #lando norris #lando norris x reader

511 notes · View notes

nardo-headcanons · 9 months ago

Text

Writing Scientist Characters

this post is mainly an excuse to post a certain list of lab supplies I've made for a friend and infodump about lab work. but feel free to use this as a little resource when writing characters who are scientists and/or lab nerds. who knows, maybe it'll be of use.

General thoughts

Many people think it's a stereotype that scientist or nerd characters talk using complex technical jargon. While that is true to an extent, there actually is some kind of lab jargon. It varies across different labs and fields, but one thing they have in common is that it seeks to simplify, not the other way around.

gelelectrophoresis becomes elpho

microbiology becomes mibi

deioninized water becomes aqua dist

biochemistry becomes BC

sodium hydroxide becomes NaOH

They will probably not call a glass of water "silicon dioxide and h2o".

...and more. feel free to get creative. If you're writing in any other language than English, you can throw in one or two anglicisms as well. Also, most scientists will never gatekeep their work, and in an opposite fashion, will not shut up about it unless you make them. And no, most chemists do not know the entire periodic table by heart, only the most relevant elements. (main groups and a few commonly used metals of the subgroups) When it comes to characters doing the lab work, keep in mind that there are a lot more people involved than the scientist themself. Most scientists are more occupied with paperwork and data analysis, it is the laboratory technicians and assistants that do most of the practical work. They often have more lab experience than the scientists themselves.

Things you can have your lab nerd character do instead of making random chemicals explode

writing a lab report (and losing their mind over excel)

degreasing the glass bevel stoppers

removing the permanent marker from beakers (labeling is important)

complaining about the lack of funding of [their field] research

cleaning glassware

preparing specimen for examination

googling the most basic equations for their report

checking if the glassware and utensil collections are complete

steal single use plastic pipettes from their lab

pirating expensive textbooks

A list of laboratory supplies and utensils you can have them work with

Laboratory general (chem + bio)

Erlenmayer flasks, beakers, precision scales (3 digits), glass rods, metal spoons/spatulas, screw on glass flasks (autoclave compatible) test tubes, stopcock grease, dispensers with sanitizer and hand cream, gas burners, heating plates, eppendorf pipettes, pipette tips, Peleus pipetting aids, squirting bottles, liquid and powder funnels, incubator/drying chamber, round watch glasses, magnet stirring plates.

Microbiology Autoclave, petri dishes, agar plates, innoculation loops (reusable and metal), clean bench, microscope slides, microscope, drigalski-spatula, test tubes with clamping lids

Histology

Paraffin bath, water bath, scalpels, scissors, razor blades, microtomes (rotating microtome, slide microtome and freezing microtome), histocinette, tweezers (various kinds), ocular

Biochemistry

Sequencing robots, eppendorf tubes, gelelectrophoresis chambers, centrifuge

Analytical Chemistry

Photometer, kuvettes, burettes, mass spectro meters, UV bank (for chromatogrophies), pyknometers, melting point meter, porcelain mortars, pH paper, analytical scales (4 or more digits)

Prep Chemistry

Tripod/standing material, miniature lifting platforms, spiral condenser, colon condenser, round bottom flask (three necked and y- necked), filtration material, Separating funnel

Electrical engineering

Electric generators, Soldering iron, Clamp connectors, plugin connectors, ohm’s resistors, plug in lamps, condensers, transistors, PCBs, amperemeters, voltmeters, multimeters

Mechanics

Tripod/standing material, metal hooks, metal rods, mechanical stop watches, marbles, metal springs, Newton meters, laser motion detectors

Optics

Prisma (various kinds), various glass lenses (concave, convex, biconcave, biconvex), laser pointers, optical bench, mechanical iris diaphragm, looking glasses, monochrome lamps, lamp filters

Most used chemicals

Deionized water, ethanol, NaOH, HCl, H3PO4, NaCl (+ physiological NaCl solution 0.9)

Useful websites for writing science stuff

DNA sequence generator (simple): http://www.faculty.ucr.edu/~mmaduro/random.htm

DNA, RNA and protein sequence generator: https://molbiotools.com/randomsequencegenerator.php Annealing temperature calculator: https://tmcalculator.neb.com/#!/main

Medicine name generator: https://www.fantasynamegenerators.com/medicine-names.php Anything chemistry related: https://www.wolframalpha.com/input?i=chemistry

Commonly used software:

MS Excel

Yenka

CASSY Lab

LabView

SpectraLab

LIMS

LaTex

Slack

Scientist friends, feel free to add onto this.

Have fun writing!

#creative writing #writing #resource #writing resources #science #biology #chemistry #physics #writing guide #writers on tumblr #writeblr #rp #rp resources

104 notes · View notes

reflective-leaf · 1 year ago

Text

The Climate Movement Needs Your Creativity, Not Your Guilt

(This is an annotated transcript of the TEDx talk I gave in April 2023. It’s 10 minutes long. I’d suggest watching it first and then coming here for supporting materials.)

youtube

Does climate action feel impossible?

When I was a kid, I was interested in everything. I’d need about 10 careers to do it all. So I got out my green and blue markers and made a calendar to keep track of which job I’d have on which day of the week. On Monday, I’d be a scientist, on Tuesday, a painter. Friday — some kind of explorer, because I loved nature documentaries. I related to how animals seemed fascinated by whatever was right in front of them.

Every documentary ended with a reminder that these animals needed our help, and all the ways they were threatened by human activity. I couldn’t believe no one had managed to do something about this. But I figured I would know how when I grew up.

So, though I kept changing my mind about what I would be, the one constant was that it would have something to do with climate and conservation.

Years later, I was working as an engineer and plugging away at my art and writing. I didn’t tell anyone about my master plan to connect it all to climate, but I hadn’t forgotten it. I kept looking for ways to make my engineering work overlap with climate science or renewables.

Still, I avoided climate news. I didn’t need to hear over and over that climate change REALLY WAS real to motivate me to take action. I didn’t need to see a picture of an animal choking on plastic; I already had the master plan. Meanwhile, I kept circling climate action from a distance without taking the plunge.

But that changed in 2020. The United Nations issued a report giving us a deadline of 2030 to make steep emissions cuts.

Taking action couldn’t stay theoretical and future tense any longer. So I dove into the research to catch up on what I had missed. And I started — tentatively — talking to people about climate change and my intentions.

And I got wave after wave of bad news. It wasn’t just the tight deadlines, scale of changes needed, and years of deadlock.

It was also the confusing responses I was getting in my conversations about climate change. I’d bring up something I found fascinating, people’s faces would drop. The’d say “Yeah… I should be doing more.” And the conversation stopped there.

We’d all finally grown up! and I was ready to jump into the master plan, but I hadn’t factored in when I was 10 that no one would want to jump with me.

And it was 2020, and the air in California was full of wildfire smoke — a constant reminder of what was at stake.

Defeatism had hijacked the climate conversation and it was everywhere.

Eventually, the gloom shifted just enough for me to start wondering. Maybe we were all so bummed because we couldn’t see through the haze. We’ve all been peppered with directives — reduce, reuse, recycle. Drive less. Fly less. Turn off lights. Don’t buy plastic.

And we try, pushing against a system that wasn’t set up for any of that. But we don’t have a clear picture of how this helps.

We may have a vague idea of our individual reductions adding up to collective reductions — but then, every single one of us would have to cut our individual emissions by over half, and then to zero. We can’t imagine the effort it would take to scale up our reductions by that much. And convincing every single human to do the same? Impossible.

This picture doesn’t add up because it requires us all to be perfect. And worse, it makes us feel like we are failing, every single day.

But let me paint you a different picture. If change could only happen with 100% participation and perfection, change would never happen. But I think we can all agree that sometimes change does happen, even positive change. So — how?

For one thing, you can move society in a positive direction without being perfect. Think of it like electric current. We are the electrons.

When we imagine current flowing through a wire, we might imagine an orderly stream of electrons all moving in the same direction.

But actually, even before the current starts, the electrons are moving — randomly, at high speeds, in all directions.

And when we apply a voltage to create current, it still looks like they’re moving at random, except there’s a change you can only see when you look at the wire as a whole.

Each electron shifts its velocity a tiny bit, all in the same direction. You don’t need perfect electrons to create current.

Society is a bit more complicated than electric current. Still, it doesn’t matter that we aren’t each moving in a perfectly sustainable direction as long as our changes line up. And more importantly, pick up speed.

So what’s the voltage that directs us? I called it “the system,” and what I mean is the way all the organizations that touch our lives are set up — what they prioritize and where they get their materials.

We are constantly pushing against the system while trying to influence “our” consumption. What if we tried influencing the system instead?

So how do systems change? I found the answer in one of my math textbooks. Transformation builds under the surface as ideas brew, minds change, and small clusters of supporters gather — all while progress appears to be slow or non-existent, until suddenly, the support reaches a critical mass, and the system transforms rapidly in an emergent process.

Nearly every social movement that succeeded followed this pattern of slow, then all at once. To get to that point, a certain percentage of people need to participate (estimated variously as 3.5%, to 25%), but importantly, it’s not 100%.

So don’t think of the climate movement as something you’re guilted into. You can choose to be one of the 25% who become early adopters of change.

And you don’t have to worry about the people you can’t convince. They will change when the system changes because that comes first.

Changing the system requires creativity. The first act of creativity is to imagine the possible paths to transformation.

The second act of creativity is to imagine where you can fit into that picture. Old ideas need to be replaced by new ones — about everything from technology to our day-to-day lives. The new ideas spread through you.

To make that happen, ask yourself these three questions.

One. What is a movement you want to throw your weight behind? Pick a trend or organization that’s already building, and that you can help accelerate. You can be another piece of its critical mass.

Two. What’s a practical obstacle that’s been keeping you from participating? Anything from not knowing what a word means, to having trouble deciding where to volunteer.

If you have this obstacle, others do too. So brainstorming a solution will help more than just you. That obstacle doesn’t stand a chance against your formidable skills at creative problem solving!

Question Three. What social circles that you’re already a part of, can you share your solutions and experiences with? Sharing in the circles where you can be heard is how your solutions amplify and ripple outward.

We’re facing unprecedented challenges, so our imaginations need to be nimble — zipping like a hummingbird — from the big picture, to our immediate surroundings. From where we’re starting from — to where we want to get to.

We can’t be nimble like this if we’re stuck in guilt and perfectionism, and gazing endlessly within our own homes and wallets at all the things we’re doing wrong.

No movement in history has been made up of perfect people, so stop worrying about the ways you’re not perfect. Perfect people are not required.

Instead, think of all the ways your creativity could accelerate us in the right direction.

If you haven’t already, check out the recording of my TEDx talk! And you can hit ‘like’ on the video if you want to help get the YouTube algorithm to distribute it.

88 notes · View notes

materialsscienceandengineering · 4 months ago

Text

Researchers at Princeton and UCLA have developed a passive mechanism to cool buildings in the summer and warm them in the winter. In an article published June 27 in the journal Cell Reports Physical Science, they report that by restricting radiant heat flows between buildings and their environment to specific wavelengths, coatings engineered from common materials can achieve energy savings and thermal comfort that goes beyond what traditional building envelopes can achieve. "With the increase in global temperatures, maintaining habitable buildings has become a global challenge," said researcher Jyotirmoy Mandal, an assistant professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Princeton. "Buildings exchange a majority of heat with their environment as radiation, and by tailoring the optical properties of their envelopes to exploit how radiation behaves in our environment, we can control heat in buildings in new and impactful ways."

17 notes · View notes

sonicskullsalt · 1 month ago

Text

shared with the Good News App // goodnews.eu

Plastic pollution is everywhere, and a good amount of it is composed of polyethylene terephthalate (PET). This polymer is used to make bottles, containers and even clothing. Now, researchers report in Environmental Science & Technology that they have discovered an enzyme that breaks apart PET in a rather unusual place: microbes living in sewage sludge. The enzyme could be used by wastewater treatment plants to break apart microplastic particles and upcycle plastic waste.

...

Other bacterial species, including the common E. coli, have previously been engineered to turn plastic into other useful molecules. However, C. testosteroni naturally chews up polymers, such as those in laundry detergents, and terephthalate, a monomer building block of PET. So, Ludmilla Aristilde and colleagues wanted to see if C. testosteroni could also produce enzymes that degrade the PET polymer.

...

When the gene encoding for this key enzyme was placed into a microbe that doesn't naturally degrade PET, the engineered microbe gained the ability to do so, proving the enzyme's functionality. The researchers say that this work demonstrates C. testosteroni's utility for upcycling PET and PET-derived carbons, which could help reduce plastic pollution in wastewater.

#good news #microplastics #science #my post #nature

5 notes · View notes

wumiings · 3 months ago

Text

See You Space Knight

Fill for @merlinmicrofic prompt ‘Shipwreck’ | Arthur&Gwen&Merlin | Teen | WC: 498

——

The cockpit is half-lost in a gray haze. Every inhale itches at Arthur’s throat, tasting of burnt hair and plastic.

The goddamn alarm finally cut off a few minutes ago, at least, though his ears have continued to ring.

“I thought the- cough- the one benefit of taking this miserable post was that it would be sa- cough- safer than combat,” he complains, futilely attempting to wave away the smoke. “Yet here we are, crashed on some fucking moon.”

Anywhere else in the galaxy, he might have expected a modicum of sympathy. But, of course, that’s too much to ask aboard the H.M.S. Emrys.

<If it’s such a hardship to captain a lowly research vessel—> The even, mechanical voice of the ship’s AI emanates from all sides, drowning Arthur in its contempt. <—Then why not put in for transfer? Surely someone with your lofty connections could net a command posting on one of those grand Dragon-class warships you admire so much.>

By now, Arthur has leveraged himself out of his seat despite the ache of his battered muscles. (Christ, he’s going to be one giant bruise by tomorrow.)

He scoffs. “Someone’s got to put up with you, don’t they?”

The ship is predictably unsatisfied with this argument. <I hear that charming Lt. Gwaine of the Lothian is up for promotion soon. Isn’t that right, Gwen?>

The Emrys’s engineer looks up from the open wall panel where she’s been crouched trying to reset the internal filtration system for the past quarter hour. She gives the nearest overhead camera a look.

“Leave me out of this, ship,” she says with faux-sternness and affection more transparent than the air they’re currently breathing.

Arthur barely resists the urge to roll his eyes. “You think an officer of Gwaine’s caliber would pass on the flagship of the Orkney fleet to captain a Merlin?”

Immediately, Guinevere bristles. “And what’s wrong with a Merlin, exactly, sir?”

He holds up his hands in an appeasing gesture. “Nothing, nothing.” When she doesn’t look convinced, he redirects: “Er, do you need some help with that?”

He’s pleased to see her soften at the offer.

“No, I’ve almost got it, Captain. But if you can move around alright now, could you maybe go see what’s taking Elyan and Percival so long? They went down to fetch the med kit and evac suits, but it’s been a while and they’re still not back.”

<Storage compartment door is jammed,> the ship reports, managing to sound amused. <Magnetic fasteners knocked out of alignment in the collision. Percival tried yanking on it and broke off the handle. He’s too embarrassed to come back up and tell you.>

“Oh, great.”

Arthur takes a deep breath and lets it out again.

He is going to go figure out how to open the stupid compartment. He is going to get them off this useless hunk of space rock as soon as possible.

And then, God willing, he is going to apply for a transfer.

#bbc merlin #fic #my writing #does gwaine still flirt w/ ai!merlin? yes. yes he does #it’s a disembodied voice but it’s still a cutie

4 notes · View notes

umichenginabroad · 4 months ago

Text

Week 6: The Setting Sun

Howdy y'all, it me Connor back after the final week of navigating around Nagoya!

This is going to be a mostly writing focused blog as I do not have a ton of photos as this week was cut short as I had a flight to catch back to the good ole US of A.

First up, I passed all my finals, I think.

I got a perfect score on my speaking section on the speaking section of my Japanese final and I passed the written portion. So yeah I'm basically fluent. Learning the language was definitely way tougher than I thought it would be, but it gave me confidence to at least try and continue learning it in the future.

In addition my engineering final presentation went so well that my group won overall best presentation. We won a set of diecast Honda NSXs which is a car I have fawned over in previous blogs. I was super happy with my research surrounding modern plastic alternatives used in dashboards and the real cost of fabric vs. leather car seats. This program has given me a refreshed sense of enthusiasm in regards to the automotive industry. I have experienced the industry in a way completely unique to Japan and have now seen aspects of automotive culture inaccessible anywhere else.

Sadly though the time has come for me to leave the country. I still have quite a sizable lab report I have yet to really dive into so my studies have yet to stop but I no longer will be able to experience the wonders of Japan. But here are the last couple photos of my shortened week.

This is me standing in front of the Nagoya University sign (Holding up the classic UMich M, GO BLUE!). It is in front of the main yard where we often saw students throwing balls, sunbathing, and just generally having a good time.

This selfie was taken on the way to the farewell party hosted by the NUSIP program. You can see most of my roommates pictured. These guys really made my time in Japan special and I cannot thank them enough. The farewell party was super sweet and everyone was super sad to leave.

A photo of my room taken on the day of my departure. You all would not believe how long it took me to clean it up. It felt just like yesterday that I walked into this room exactly how I saw it leaving. I almost cried as I had my bags packed and was walking out the door.

After a couple hours of traveling, and one too many trains, I took this photo at the airport right before going through security. Although I was smiling that was only because I took the wrong train and still made it to the airport on time. But oh boy did I have a massive journey ahead of me. My parents were worried sick because of the windows outage causing may flights to be cancelled. Luckily all of my planes arrived and I only suffered an hour delay.

I landed at Boston Logan Airport quite late Friday night after almost 30 hours of traveling. The one thing I was looking forwards to coming back for was that my family was about to take a nice long beach vacation in Cape Cod. I was so happy to see them, and even better I got possibly the greatest welcome back breakfast in the world. Nothing could stop me from demolishing these biscuits and home fries topped with sausage gravy, because you could never find something that good in Japan.

Until next time, さようなら, また来週

Connor Gilfillan

Mechanical Engineering

NUSIP Automotive Engineering in Nagoya, Japan

#umichenginabroad #IPENagoya #ConnorGilfillan #IPESummer24 #Japan

2 notes · View notes

formsofcontinuity · 2 years ago

Text

chapters 1, 2, and 3 (or, all earlier chaps on AO3)

chapter 4: calling birds

Lena wakes up the morning of Wednesday, December 28th with two hundred and twenty-seven new Twitter followers and over three thousand mentions. There’s also a 2am text from Kara, just Good night, Lena <3, which does nothing to explain Lena’s sudden surge in social media popularity but does serve to warm her cheeks for a minute or two. She's a fool. A simple good night, and it has her blushing like a schoolgirl.

It takes a little digging, Lena still propped in bed in soft pajamas under an even softer duvet, but eventually she finds the source, a tweet from Kara's official publicity account, timestamped 2:17am:

@therealsupergirl: Always happy to serve the people of NC ofc, but have you checked out what @lenaluthor is doing lately @LLFoundation #lenaluthorfoundation? Low-cost water purifiers? High efficiency solar power generators? Safe plastics recycling? She's the real MVP--show her some love! 💙♻️❤️

What follows is a collection of some of the kindest tweets she's ever had directed towards her, most from complete strangers. Sure, there's a wayward screed or two, but of the few dozen she reads before she looks at the time and realizes she has to get up so she can be ready for an 8am Zoom call with a coalition of East Coast investors, eager to donate prior to the New Year for the tax write-off, the vast majority are complementary.

@piratelifeforme: Wow! I spent all morning reading about what @LLFoundation is up to and I had NO IDEA. Do yourself a favor and check it out, then get on board this train. Superheroes are one thing, but humans have the power to help fix this mess we made, too.

@greenplanetnow: yes @therealsupergirl, you're right! The #lenaluthorfoundation cleaned up a massive water contamination issue in my town after months of unanswered calls to the gov. They did it without asking for a cent, but almost no one reported on it. Not all heroes wear capes. 🙏🏾

@drclimatewatch: As one of the scientists following @lenaluthor 's work, I can verify: her Foundation's charter and her team's innovations truly can revolutionize environmental science. We've wasted too much time on petty rumors when we should be supporting her as a brilliant engineer.

Even Sam has retweeted Kara's message, absent her usual snark.

@samarias: Damn straight, @therealsupergirl! @lenaluthor is not only the smartest woman on the planet, but also a great boss and a true friend who will go to hell and back to do the right thing no matter what people think of her.

The investors on the 8am call are more generous than Lena expected, having thoroughly read her Foundation's report and expressing genuine excitement over the work she's doing. They don't mention Supergirl's tweet, but Lena knows it influenced their level of enthusiasm.

Daniel, her Foundation's head of publicity, calls at 9:30, barreling past Lena’s apologies to assure her that he's thrilled to trade in a couple of his vacation days to help navigate this sudden windfall. After that, she migrates from her home office to the Foundation office and spends the next few hours on the phone with department heads and her research team strategizing ways to capitalize on the good press wrought by Kara's tweet. By noon, Daniel has fielded calls from twenty-six news outlets, local, national and international, and issued a press release thanking Supergirl for her generous endorsement and directing interested parties to the Foundation's robust website, white papers, and quarterly reports.

"Want me to help craft your personal response?" Lena's social media manager, Rochelle, is on the phone now. Lena's name is trending, for a good reason for the first time in forever, and she's long since stopped trying to keep track of her mentions.

"Pardon?"

Rochelle had been typing in the background of their call, but now the clacking pauses. "I had your Foundation account respond several hours ago, but I imagine you want to respond personally, too. Right?"

Oh. Of course, Lena wants to respond personally, but none of the things she's thinking are fit for public consumption. She's pretty sure a declaration of love would shift the conversation in counterproductive ways, for example. Same with asking Kara via tweet about last night's kiss. And then there are the things she wants to say but can't put into words. A wellspring of gratitude. Overwhelming affection. Anxiety about living up to Kara's public declaration of support. Confusion over Kara's decision to tweet that support to the world and to call on her followers to do the same.

"Thanks, Rochelle. Everything you're doing is great. I've been swamped, but I absolutely plan to respond. I think I can manage to come up with something on my own. Is there anything else? I have another call."

"All good, Ms. Luthor. Let me know if you change your mind."

It's a lie. There's no other call, but she needs a moment to think. She needs to talk to Kara. Not tweet at her, just talk.

Almost immediately, she loses her nerve, the possibilities of all the directions their conversation could go swirling in her mind. Texting seems like a safe compromise, although she bungles it pretty much out of the gate.

Sorry I didn’t message before now. I’m being besieged with tweets for some reason....

The reply is immediate. Oh no. Are you mad? 🥺 I just wanted everyone to know how awesome you are. And I wanted you to hear it from them, too, since you never believe me when I say it.

Lena is not very good at this–gratitude or friendship or whatever social minefield this is that Kara is clearly so much better at navigating. The idea that Kara could possibly think she’d be mad for something so sweet hurts her heart.

Not mad at all! Sorry. That text was supposed to be – What? Coy? Flirtatious? Funny? It was clearly none of those things; she lands on – thankful. I was just so surprised.

A good surprise?

A lovely surprise, yes.

Lena allows herself a few minutes, then, just to sit and text her best friend, without worrying too much about everything else. She tells her about waking up to the Twitter mentions, about the new investments, about how Daniel and Rochelle were so excited they both offered independently to defer part of their vacation time to help her wrangle media requests and publicity. She doesn't tell her how warm the messages from thousands of people made her feel, that those completely unknown to her might be affected by what she’s done, for good this time, that other people might actually have cause to like and respect her.

In the end, she settles for a Streetcar Named Desire joke.

I have never depended on the kindness of strangers, Kara.

Kara doesn’t miss a beat. You don’t strike me as a Blanche anyway. Did it feel good, this one time?

Leave it to Kara to cut to the chase.

It did. Thank you.

My pleasure.

Lena’s phone beeps. Daniel needs her to talk to some new potential investors in a half hour and has sent along their portfolio.

I have to go. I’m so sorry.

It's ok. I know you're busy.

Thanks to you, even more so than usual. 😂

Haha. I didn’t think that one through, did I?

I don’t mind, Kara. I’m thrilled the Foundation is making a difference.

I mind! When are you going to find time for me if you’re mobbed by all your other adoring fans?

Lena looks hard at her phone. All your other adoring fans. She could go for teasing deflection or affectionate sincerity in her response, and vacillates for a moment between the two.

You know you're my favorite. I should have time after tomorrow’s press conference? Coffee?

I’d love that.

Before Lena turns to the files Daniel sent, she pulls up Twitter on her computer, and quickly fires off a response before she can talk herself out of it, posting it, with only a hint of trepidation, for all the world to see.

@lenaluthor: Thank you all. I want nothing more than to work together to save our planet. It's ours, aliens and humans alike. And Supergirl? I couldn't ask for a better ally or partner, one who challenges and encourages me. Not a day goes by I'm not grateful for you, @therealsupergirl

#supercorp #12 days to say i love you #twelve days of Christmas #in which I really take liberty with the meaning of 'calling birds'#kara danvers #lena luthor #supergirl would have so many twitter followers #and lena would definitely buy it from musk and fix everything #publicity fluff #here we go

48 notes · View notes

kmillspeaks · 1 year ago

Text

What's up with the Mississippi River lately?

A look into the current saltwater intrusion affecting Louisiana

*Slight Disclaimer: To be clear, what you are reading now is not expert opinion, rather educated research formulated into my own knowledge and understanding of said subject material. Thank you for listening.

Firstly, I think that it is appropriate to inform ourselves as to what this saltwater intrusion is. According to the U.S Geological Survey, “This interface between freshwater and saltwater is maintained near the coast or far below the land surface. The interface...is a diffuse zone where freshwater and saltwater mix. Under natural conditions, the seaward movement of freshwater prevents saltwater from encroaching on freshwater coastal aquifers. We generally see saltwater intrusions occur in spots where a pumping well (structural device used to extract liquid resources) is operated. To put it into current perspective though, the saltwater intrusion we are recently hearing about is due to a lack of rainfall within the regions that the Mississippi River occupies. Basically, water from the Gulf of Mexico has been invading the supply of water the Mississippi River provides, due to this drought. This has slowed and interrupted the flow of streaming water, enabling the intrusion of salt water to contaminate this freshwater supply.

Hot and dry conditions over the summer seem to have triggered the extreme drought, affecting people not only in Mississippi, but in Southeast Louisiana as well. Residents' kitchen faucets, showers, and other essential water systems are becoming unsafe to utilize. People more at risk include pregnant women, those with kidney disease, high blood pressure, and autoimmune diseases. ABC News provides coverage of the intrusion situation in Louisiana. Following is a quote from Matt Roe, a spokesperson for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in New Orleans, when referring to the current state of the Mighty Mississippi River, “it doesn’t have the mass and velocity needed to push the salt water back down around the mouth of the river.” He is explaining the reason as to why the intrusion is happening.

Because the water has become unsafe, reliance on prepackaged water bottles has become more common. These bottles are necessary to prepare meals in some areas, as well as to drink. A councilman from the Plaquemines Parish (greater southeast New Orleans region) Mark “Hobbo” Cognevich, chimes on the present affairs of the affected areas and says “grocery stores are constantly having to restock plastic water bottles, neighbors have reported getting rashes after showering...We are praying for rain...” It is evident that this water intrusion is a problem and is causing complications for ordinary living in the affected areas. So, how have officials responded to this environmental crisis? One example is the heightening of an existing underwater levee used to block and slow the flow of salt water. Also, millions of gallons of fresh water are being taken by barges to treatment facilities in impacted areas.

All in all, while steps are being taken to aid the plight of residents, there is still a mistrust between residents and officials. I think this is so because Louisiana is a state that has endured prior instances of environmental disaster. The guidance given and availability of resources has not always been equitable or distributed in a timely manner, leaving residents distrusting and insecure in the faith of officials.

I hope this was informative and was able to resonate with you in any way, appreciate the read!

Cline, S. (2023, September 25). What is saltwater intrusion and how is it affecting Louisiana’s drinking water? ABC News. https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/explainer-saltwater-intrusion-affecting-louisianas-drinking-water-103480428

Water Resources Mission Area. (2019, March 2). Saltwater Intrusion. Saltwater Intrusion | U.S. Geological Survey. https://www.usgs.gov/mission-areas/water-resources/science/saltwater-intrusion

#saltwaterintrusion #mississippiriver #gulfofmexico #publichealth #southeastlouisiana

3 notes · View notes

sunaleisocial · 5 hours ago

Text

MIT engineers make converting CO2 into useful products more practical

New Post has been published on https://sunalei.org/news/mit-engineers-make-converting-co2-into-useful-products-more-practical/

MIT engineers make converting CO2 into useful products more practical

As the world struggles to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, researchers are seeking practical, economical ways to capture carbon dioxide and convert it into useful products, such as transportation fuels, chemical feedstocks, or even building materials. But so far, such attempts have struggled to reach economic viability.

New research by engineers at MIT could lead to rapid improvements in a variety of electrochemical systems that are under development to convert carbon dioxide into a valuable commodity. The team developed a new design for the electrodes used in these systems, which increases the efficiency of the conversion process.

The findings are reported today in the journal Nature Communications, in a paper by MIT doctoral student Simon Rufer, professor of mechanical engineering Kripa Varanasi, and three others.

“The CO2 problem is a big challenge for our times, and we are using all kinds of levers to solve and address this problem,” Varanasi says. It will be essential to find practical ways of removing the gas, he says, either from sources such as power plant emissions, or straight out of the air or the oceans. But then, once the CO2 has been removed, it has to go somewhere.

A wide variety of systems have been developed for converting that captured gas into a useful chemical product, Varanasi says. “It’s not that we can’t do it — we can do it. But the question is how can we make this efficient? How can we make this cost-effective?”

In the new study, the team focused on the electrochemical conversion of CO2 to ethylene, a widely used chemical that can be made into a variety of plastics as well as fuels, and which today is made from petroleum. But the approach they developed could also be applied to producing other high-value chemical products as well, including methane, methanol, carbon monoxide, and others, the researchers say.

Currently, ethylene sells for about $1,000 per ton, so the goal is to be able to meet or beat that price. The electrochemical process that converts CO2 into ethylene involves a water-based solution and a catalyst material, which come into contact along with an electric current in a device called a gas diffusion electrode.

There are two competing characteristics of the gas diffusion electrode materials that affect their performance: They must be good electrical conductors so that the current that drives the process doesn’t get wasted through resistance heating, but they must also be “hydrophobic,” or water repelling, so the water-based electrolyte solution doesn’t leak through and interfere with the reactions taking place at the electrode surface.

Unfortunately, it’s a tradeoff. Improving the conductivity reduces the hydrophobicity, and vice versa. Varanasi and his team set out to see if they could find a way around that conflict, and after many months of trying, they did just that.

The solution, devised by Rufer and Varanasi, is elegant in its simplicity. They used a plastic material, PTFE (essentially Teflon), that has been known to have good hydrophobic properties. However, PTFE’s lack of conductivity means that electrons must travel through a very thin catalyst layer, leading to significant voltage drop with distance. To overcome this limitation, the researchers wove a series of conductive copper wires through the very thin sheet of the PTFE.

“This work really addressed this challenge, as we can now get both conductivity and hydrophobicity,” Varanasi says.

Research on potential carbon conversion systems tends to be done on very small, lab-scale samples, typically less than 1-inch (2.5-centimeter) squares. To demonstrate the potential for scaling up, Varanasi’s team produced a sheet 10 times larger in area and demonstrated its effective performance.

To get to that point, they had to do some basic tests that had apparently never been done before, running tests under identical conditions but using electrodes of different sizes to analyze the relationship between conductivity and electrode size. They found that conductivity dropped off dramatically with size, which would mean much more energy, and thus cost, would be needed to drive the reaction.

“That’s exactly what we would expect, but it was something that nobody had really dedicatedly investigated before,” Rufer says. In addition, the larger sizes produced more unwanted chemical byproducts besides the intended ethylene.

Real-world industrial applications would require electrodes that are perhaps 100 times larger than the lab versions, so adding the conductive wires will be necessary for making such systems practical, the researchers say. They also developed a model which captures the spatial variability in voltage and product distribution on electrodes due to ohmic losses. The model along with the experimental data they collected enabled them to calculate the optimal spacing for conductive wires to counteract the drop off in conductivity.

In effect, by weaving the wire through the material, the material is divided into smaller subsections determined by the spacing of the wires. “We split it into a bunch of little subsegments, each of which is effectively a smaller electrode,” Rufer says. “And as we’ve seen, small electrodes can work really well.”

Because the copper wire is so much more conductive than the PTFE material, it acts as a kind of superhighway for electrons passing through, bridging the areas where they are confined to the substrate and face greater resistance.

To demonstrate that their system is robust, the researchers ran a test electrode for 75 hours continuously, with little change in performance. Overall, Rufer says, their system “is the first PTFE-based electrode which has gone beyond the lab scale on the order of 5 centimeters or smaller. It’s the first work that has progressed into a much larger scale and has done so without sacrificing efficiency.”

The weaving process for incorporating the wire can be easily integrated into existing manufacturing processes, even in a large-scale roll-to-roll process, he adds.

“Our approach is very powerful because it doesn’t have anything to do with the actual catalyst being used,” Rufer says. “You can sew this micrometric copper wire into any gas diffusion electrode you want, independent of catalyst morphology or chemistry. So, this approach can be used to scale anybody’s electrode.”

“Given that we will need to process gigatons of CO2 annually to combat the CO2 challenge, we really need to think about solutions that can scale,” Varanasi says. “Starting with this mindset enables us to identify critical bottlenecks and develop innovative approaches that can make a meaningful impact in solving the problem. Our hierarchically conductive electrode is a result of such thinking.”

The research team included MIT graduate students Michael Nitzsche and Sanjay Garimella, as well as Jack Lake PhD ’23. The work was supported by Shell, through the MIT Energy Initiative.

0 notes

jcmarchi · 6 hours ago

Text

MIT engineers make converting CO2 into useful products more practical

New Post has been published on https://thedigitalinsider.com/mit-engineers-make-converting-co2-into-useful-products-more-practical/

MIT engineers make converting CO2 into useful products more practical

The findings are reported today in the journal Nature Communications, in a paper by MIT doctoral student Simon Rufer, professor of mechanical engineering Kripa Varanasi, and three others.

“This work really addressed this challenge, as we can now get both conductivity and hydrophobicity,” Varanasi says.

The weaving process for incorporating the wire can be easily integrated into existing manufacturing processes, even in a large-scale roll-to-roll process, he adds.

The research team included MIT graduate students Michael Nitzsche and Sanjay Garimella, as well as Jack Lake PhD ’23. The work was supported by Shell, through the MIT Energy Initiative.

0 notes

latestmarketresearchnews · 1 day ago

Text

Automotive NVH Materials Market 2030 - In-Depth Analysis on Size, Trends & Prominent Key Players

The global market for automotive noise, vibration, and harshness (NVH) materials was estimated at USD 9.84 billion in 2022 and is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.6% from 2023 to 2030. One of the primary drivers of growth in the NVH materials market is the increased global production and use of heavy commercial vehicles across various end-use industries. These vehicles generate noise and vibrations due to both structure-borne and airborne sources, which can diminish passenger comfort and reduce vehicle longevity. Automotive NVH materials help to mitigate these issues, enhancing ride quality and overall passenger experience. This has created a strong demand for NVH materials in the automotive industry as manufacturers strive to improve the comfort and durability of their vehicles.

The focus on managing acoustic properties, vibration, and harshness in both passenger and commercial vehicles has increased among automotive manufacturers. This focus on NVH control is essential not only for enhancing passenger comfort but also for improving fuel economy and cabin sound levels, which boosts the durability of vehicle components. Changes in consumer preferences toward vehicles with better acoustic management and comfort are expected to further drive the demand for NVH materials in the automotive industry. Additionally, the increasing adoption of active noise control systems in cars, which cater to consumer demands for quieter and safer rides, along with evolving regulatory standards, are further fueling growth in the automotive NVH materials market.

The value chain in the NVH materials market includes suppliers of raw materials, manufacturers, converters, distributors, and end-users. Converters play a pivotal role, transforming raw materials into final products such as foam laminates and molded rubber components that reduce noise and vibration. Manufacturers may either sell NVH materials directly to consumers through their own brands or supply them to third-party distributors and dealers.

Gather more insights about the market drivers, restrains and growth of the Automotive NVH Materials Market

Regional Insights:

Asia Pacific Automotive NVH Materials Market Trends

Asia Pacific dominated the automotive NVH materials market in 2022, accounting for about 47% of total market revenue. Emerging economies in the region, including India, China, and Indonesia, have witnessed rapid economic growth, driven by industrialization, urbanization, and population growth. As living standards in these countries rise, the demand for enhanced ride quality, comfort, and safety in vehicles has increased. Growing disposable incomes have led to a preference for vehicles that offer better acoustic insulation and overall comfort, spurring demand for NVH materials in the region.

China

China, the world's largest automobile producer, has experienced significant urbanization and industrial growth, fueling a demand for personal vehicles. The trend of rural-to-urban migration in China, coupled with higher disposable incomes, has bolstered the demand for passenger cars, which in turn drives the demand for automotive NVH materials.

North America Automotive NVH Materials Market Trends

In North America, the automotive industry saw a production increase of about 5% over recent years. The region benefits from the presence of key domestic automotive manufacturers, which are influenced by strict fuel economy regulations. These regulations necessitate the use of NVH materials to optimize vehicle performance. North America’s abundant supply of raw materials, such as engineering plastics and rubber, further supports the growth of the NVH materials market.

Browse through Grand View Research's Category Advanced Interior Materials Industry Research Reports.

The global machine tools market size was estimated at USD 97,927.5 million in 2024 and is and is projected to grow at a CAGR of 7.0% from 2025 to 2030.

The global scissor lift market size was valued at USD 3.43 billion in 2024 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 7.1% from 2025 to 2030.

Key Companies & Market Share Insights

The global NVH materials market is highly competitive due to the presence of numerous sellers and the potential for differentiation in product types and prices. Key players in the market focus on innovation and custom application development to remain competitive. Customized materials, tailored to meet specific noise and vibration reduction requirements, are becoming a key strategy for leading companies. Additionally, mergers and acquisitions are common among industry players seeking to broaden their product portfolios and enhance NVH performance, thus securing a competitive advantage.

By investing in innovative NVH solutions and pursuing strategic acquisitions, companies aim to meet evolving customer needs while addressing regulatory requirements and market demands for quieter, safer, and more comfortable vehicles.

Key Automotive NVH Materials Companies

Creative Foam Corporation

BRC Rubber & Plastics Inc.

Wolverine Advanced Materials

ElringKlinger AG

Hoosier Gasket Corporation

Industry Products Co.

Interface Performance Materials

Hematite

Plastomer Corporation

Rogers Foam Corporation

Swift Components Corp

Unique Fabricating Inc.

Avery Dennison

KKT Holding GmbH

Nicholson Sealing Technologies Ltd.

KOPP GmbH & Co. KG

Janesville Acoustics

Order a free sample PDF of the Automotive NVH Materials Market Intelligence Study, published by Grand View Research.

#Automotive NVH Materials Market Research #Automotive NVH Materials Market Forecast

0 notes

researchreportinsight · 2 days ago

Text

Automotive NVH Materials Market Comprehensive Analysis and Future Estimations by 2030

Gather more insights about the market drivers, restrains and growth of the Automotive NVH Materials Market

Regional Insights:

Asia Pacific Automotive NVH Materials Market Trends

China

North America Automotive NVH Materials Market Trends

Browse through Grand View Research's Category Advanced Interior Materials Industry Research Reports.

The global machine tools market size was estimated at USD 97,927.5 million in 2024 and is and is projected to grow at a CAGR of 7.0% from 2025 to 2030.

The global scissor lift market size was valued at USD 3.43 billion in 2024 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 7.1% from 2025 to 2030.

Key Companies & Market Share Insights

Key Automotive NVH Materials Companies

Creative Foam Corporation

BRC Rubber & Plastics Inc.

Wolverine Advanced Materials

ElringKlinger AG

Hoosier Gasket Corporation

Industry Products Co.

Interface Performance Materials

Hematite

Plastomer Corporation

Rogers Foam Corporation

Swift Components Corp

Unique Fabricating Inc.

Avery Dennison

KKT Holding GmbH

Nicholson Sealing Technologies Ltd.

KOPP GmbH & Co. KG

Janesville Acoustics

Order a free sample PDF of the Automotive NVH Materials Market Intelligence Study, published by Grand View Research.

#Automotive NVH Materials Market Research #Automotive NVH Materials Market Forecast

0 notes

materialsscienceandengineering · 1 year ago

Text

Plastic-eating bacteria turn waste into useful starting materials for other products

Mountains of used plastic bottles get thrown away every day, but microbes could potentially tackle this problem. Now, researchers report in ACS Central Science that they've developed a plastic-eating E. coli that can efficiently turn polyethylene terephthalate (PET) waste into adipic acid, which is used to make nylon materials, drugs and fragrances. Previously, a team of researchers including Stephen Wallace engineered a strain of E. coli to transform the main component in old PET bottles, terephthalic acid, into something tastier and more valuable: the vanilla flavor compound vanillin. At the same time, other researchers engineered microbes to metabolize terephthalic acid into a variety of small molecules, including short acids. So, Wallace and a new team from the University of Edinburgh wanted to expand E. coli's biosynthetic pathways to include the metabolism of terephthalic acid into adipic acid, a feedstock for many everyday products that's typically generated from fossil fuels using energy-intensive processes.