{"id":9983,"date":"2015-06-24T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2015-06-23T23:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.processindustryforum.com\/uncategorised\/the-left-handed-mallet-a-tech-round-up-2"},"modified":"2015-06-24T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2015-06-23T23:00:00","slug":"the-left-handed-mallet-a-tech-round-up-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.processindustryforum.com\/technology\/the-left-handed-mallet-a-tech-round-up-2","title":{"rendered":"The Left Handed Mallet: A Tech Round-Up"},"content":{"rendered":"

Welcome to our regular technology round up, \u201cThe Left Handed Mallet.\u201d Whilst the title is a tongue in cheek reference to a very old joke, the subjects of this tech round-up are all seriously innovative engineering solutions<\/strong>. In this instalment PIF <\/a>take a look at wooden semiconductor chips<\/strong>, synthetic ingredients<\/strong> and energy-saving exoskeletons<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\"Energy<\/a><\/center><\/p>\n

Wood chips<\/h3>\n

Researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison have teamed up with the US Department of Agriculture Forest Products Laboratory (FPL) to develop a semiconductor chip made almost exclusively of…wood. The new wood chip, outlined in Nature Communications, uses cellulose nanofibril (CNF) \u2013 an entirely biodegradable and flexible wooden material \u2013 to replace the supporting substrate layer of a computer chip. \u201cThe majority of material in a chip is support. We only use less than a couple of micrometers for everything else,\u201d said project leader professor Zhenqiang \u201cJack\u201d Ma<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Synthetic vanilla and rhino horn<\/h3>\n

Swiss company, Evolva<\/a>, has developed a way to brew the vanilla extract, vanillin, synthetically from yeast. Their scientists employ synthetic biology (synbio) to edit yeast DNA and force it to synthesise vanillin through fermentation and therefore create a sustainable alternative to slow-growing natural vanilla. Elsewhere, tech start-up, Pembient<\/a>, is also developing synthetic ingredients<\/strong> but in their case it’s to ward off illegal wildlife trade. Their aim is to produce rhino horn so biologically similar to wild horn (at around one tenth of the black market costs) that buyers and traders might switch and illegal poaching can be curtailed.<\/p>\n

Unpowered exoskeletons<\/h3>\n