 |
Nanotech Self-Healing Houses
A "self-healing" house is under construction on a Greek mountainside. Leeds NanoManufacturing Institute will take the lead in a EU-funded project by developing special walls with nano polymer particles. The intent is that when squeezed under pressure (during a quake), the nano polymer particles will flow into cracks and harden to form a solid material.
This house will have more going for it than nanotech. The house walls will be built from unique load-bearing steel frames. But the house will also contain wireless, battery-less sensors and RFID tags to collect data over time - information about stresses and vibration, temperature and humidity.
The idea of a house that constantly monitors itself and can actually repair itself - and even change its own shape - is found in the remarkable story The Thousand Dreams of Stellavista by the British writer J.G. Ballard. He describes a psychotropic house that changes its shape, protects itself and even heals itself.
As far as interior space is concerned, the secret lies in the walls - which were made of substance called "plastex", which sounds like the Leeds nano polymer particle walls on steroids:
If real-world buildings with a science-fictional twist appeal to you, take a look at these:
Read more about ‘Self-healing’ house in Greece will dare to defy nature.
NMI chief executive Professor Terry Wilkins said: “What we’re trying to achieve here is very exciting; we’re looking to use polymers in much tougher situations than ever before on a larger scale. If there are any problems, the intelligent sensor network will alert residents straightaway so they have time to escape."
As it responded to me, the ceiling lifting slightly and the walls growing less opaque, reflecting my perspective-seeking eye, I noticed that curious mottled knots were forming, indicating where the room had been strained and healed faultily. Deep hidden rifts began to distort the sphere, ballooning out one of the alcoves like a bubble of overextended gum.
(Read more about plastex)
Engineers get out from behind their laptops and shake up a real 275-ton building.
Watch it print out your new house in less than a day.
This house is a remarkable set of instruments - and that's not even counting the musical road up to the house.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 4/16/2007)
Follow this kind of news @Technovelgy.| Email | RSS | Blog It | Stumble | del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit |
Would
you like to contribute a story tip?
It's easy:
Get the URL of the story, and the related sf author, and add
it here.
Comment/Join discussion (Back On) ( 0 )
Related News Stories - (" Living Space ")
Sky City's 220 Stories Are Go
'It rested among green parklands and... stood in total isolation, a glittering block of whites and flashing windows dotted with colors.'- Pournelle and Niven, 1981
Very Large Structure - A Megamachine
'Soon the city was lumbering in hot pursuit, a moving mountain of metal which rose in seven tiers like layers of a wedding cake...'- Philip Reeves, 2003
Ten SF Houses Of The Future
Ten science fiction classics from ten science fiction authors.
Blueseed Offshore Floating Corporation Ready By 2014
'...new islands bringing life to a watery desert.'
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
Current News
MIT Robot Cheetah Video Shows Gait Transition
'The legs are long, curled way up to deliver power, like a cheetah's.'
TrackingPoint Smart Rifle
Not your typical 'smart bullet' approach.
'Hello, Computer!' Google Now Highlighted at IO13
'Hello, computer!'
Sky City's 220 Stories Are Go
'It rested among green parklands and... stood in total isolation, a glittering block of whites and flashing windows dotted with colors.'
CARMAT Bioprosthetic Total Human Heart Replacement
'George Walt's corporate existence proved the workability of wholly mechanical organs...'
Personal Sniffer Robots
'...The ticking combinations of the olfactory system of the hound.'
Physical Exam? We've Got Apps
See the future of handheld, personal medical devices.
The Interplanetary Internet, Vint Cerf Speaking
'This was the center of Interplanetary Communications.'
Drosophila Robotica, The Mechanical Fly
'... the Scarab [flying robot] buzzed into the great workroom as any intruding insect might...'
Robo-Raven Flapping Wing Robot Bird
'When he had first built them, they had been crude indeed, flying mechanisms with little more than a reflex-response unit.'
Japan's Nursing Home Robot Plan
Let's make the Roujin Z-0001 Robotic Bed!
Samsung Smart TVs With Gesture Control
'He waved his hand and the circuit switched abruptly.'
Swiss HCPVT Giant Photovoltaic 'Flower'
'...leaning against one of the slender stalks of a sunshade-photocell collector.'
Mini-Livers Made By 3D Printer
Organleggers may experience an employment downturn.
Smartphone Sensor System Tracks Gunfire
'Sound trackers on the roof could zero in on weapons action...'
Bacteria Now Make Biofuel Like Oil
'They have ... germs that eat pretty near anything, and produce oil as a waste product.'
