top of page

News Releases

Search
Writer's picturePanakeia

Here's an Idea: How 'Simple' Sponges Are Solving Complex Problems

JUNE 7, 2018 | MATERIALS | MEDICAL


Source: https://www.techbriefs.com/component/content/article/tb/webcasts/podcasts/29149



After a disaster like the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf coast, what if a giant sponge could clean up the area and the wildlife around it?

What if a bunch of tiny sponges could quickly save gunshot victims?

In this episode of Tech Briefs' podcast series, Here's an Idea™, we look at how researchers are doing just that, and expanding the sponge concept to entire cities. You can listen to the episode below, and subscribe here.

Episode highlights include:

  • John Steinbaugh, a former Special Operations medic who served over 20 years in the Army, talks about creating XSTAT, a device that injects rapidly-expanding sponges into an injury like a gunshot wound to stop bleeding almost instantly.

  • Researcher Ed Barry of Argonne National Laboratory shares his team's process of chemically engineering a sponge that can grab oil molecules from water after an oil spill. The "Oleo" material can be wrung out and used again and again.

  • Michael Berkowitz, President of 100 Resilient Cities, a non-profit dedicated to strengthening cities around the world, discusses how some cities are absorbing a new concept — the Sponge City — to prepare for flooding.

Access the full-length interviews below.

18 views0 comments

Recent Posts

See All

Comments


bottom of page