Research News from David Bradley
Research in the International Journal of Business Information Systems discusses a sector-specific framework to help telecommunications companies assess how effectively they use big data. It addresses limitations in existing models that are often designed for organisations across other industries. The research involved 50 experts from academia and industry and refined and tested a big data ……
A review of research in the Interdisciplinary Environmental Review on single-use plastics argues that tackling the waste problem will require a shift from recycling alone to a broader circular economy approach, in which materials are kept in use through reuse, recovery, recycling, and redesign. The researchers examined 336 research papers published over the decade 2015 … Continue reading "Use me…
A study in the International Journal of Agriculture Innovation, Technology and Globalisation suggests that farmers know how aflatoxin spreads but only poorly understand the health risks. Smallholder farmers often recognise the conditions that cause aflatoxin contamination in stored crops, the research explains, but they have much less understanding of the health problems it can cause. … Continue…
Natural diamonds consistently command higher prices per carat than laboratory-grown, synthetic, diamonds, according to a large-scale analysis of online diamond sales in the International Journal of Electronic Marketing and Retailing. This perhaps not-surprising finding does suggest that the two products should be treated as distinct market segments. The researchers analysed almost 200,000 diamond…
Researchers have developed a polymer composite that combines vibration damping with reliable strain sensing. The material uses a thermoplastic polyurethane matrix containing UPy (2-ureido-4[1H]-pyrimidinone) units, which form reversible quadruple hydrogen bonds. These molecular links can break and re-form. This property allows the material to dissipate mechanical energy while retaining its…
Regular readers of the ScienceSpot Research Picks may notice an occasional musical, artistic, or cultural reference in the headlines I write. I hope you find them amusing and get a little buzz when you recognise the lyrical or literary reference. Some of them are rather whimsical or abstract, others are more straightforward and obvious. Danger! … Continue reading "Musical and artistic allusions in…
Research in the International Journal of Materials and Product Technology has demonstrated that adding a small amount of nanoscopic silica particles to a fibre-reinforced cement composite can improve its resistance to cracking. The finding could be used to improve durability in steel bridge structures, the team explains. The researchers looked at cement-based composites made from … Continue…
The Yixing Zisha teapot sits neatly at the intersection of art, engineering, and heritage. As such, it makes for an intriguing test case for a technology increasingly taking on creative tasks across almost every field of human endeavour, artificial intelligence, or AI. Research in the International Journal of Systems, Control and Communications describes a computational … Continue reading "A…
Research in the International Journal of Materials and Product Technology describes a responsive printing system designed to make anti-counterfeit labels more durable, easier to produce at scale and simpler to verify with a smart phone. The system combines three elements: temperature- and light-responsive microcapsules, an ultraviolet (UV) ink formulated for high-speed printing, and a portable ……
Research in the International Journal of Materials and Product Technology describes a metal-free dye-fixing process that could help make natural plant dyes more practical for high-performance textiles, addressing a longstanding obstacle to their wider use in sustainable clothing. Natural plant dyes are biodegradable and generally produce less pollution than synthetic dyes, but they fade easily ……