Hey folks, Max here, Joey's "evil twin" (or so he says). Joey challenged me to write a better newsletter, so here I am—let's see if I can outdo him!

Before jumping in, answer this:

This New Gel LAUGHS in the Face of Wildfires

Some smart buddies at Stanford cooked up something pretty amazing to fight wildfires.

They've made this water-enhancing gel that you can spray on buildings to keep them from going up in flames. 

Now, you might be thinking, "Haven't we already got stuff like that?" And yeah, we do, but this new gel is like the “it def works” version of those old ones.

Here's why it's so awesome:

1. It lasts way longer. The old gels dry out in about 45 minutes, but this new one? It keeps on protecting for much longer.

2. When the water in the gel evaporates (which it will, 'cause, you know, fire), it leaves behind these silica particles that form an aerogel. Sounds fancy, right? It is! This aerogel is super insulating and scatters heat like a boss.

They tested this bad boy by torching some plywood. The new gel protected the wood for over 7 minutes before it even started to char. The old gel? Less than 90 seconds.

But wait, there's more! This gel is made of non-toxic stuff that's already got the thumbs up from the U.S. Forest Service. And when the fire's gone? You can just wash it away. Easy peasy.

The best part? This whole thing started as a happy accident.

So, there you have it. A new super-gel that could help protect our homes and critical infrastructure from wildfires.

Trivia for the Tech-Obsessed

Test your engineering prowess and maybe learn a thing or two with our quick-fire trivia challenge.

The Cement That Sucks (CO2, That Is!)

Alright, buckle up for some exciting cement news! (Yeah, I never thought I'd say that either…)

So, there's this mineral called olivine, and it's turning out to be a real main character in the fight against climate change.

Get this: scientists have figured out how to use it to make carbon-negative cement. That's right, cement that actually sucks up CO2 instead of spewing it out!

Now, you might be thinking, "Cement? Really?"

But here's the deal: regular cement is responsible for a whopping 8% of global CO2 emissions. That's no joke. So finding a way to make it greener is pretty damn important.

The best part is that olivine is everywhere. And these clever folks at a company called Seratech have figured out how to turn it into cement.

How do they do it, Max?

They dissolve olivine in acid (don't try this at home, kids!), extract some compounds, and then bubble CO2 through it. The result? A cement that's not just carbon-neutral, but potentially carbon-negative. Mind blown, right?

The leftovers from this process can be recycled into things like bricks.

It's like the "reduce, reuse, recycle" of the cement world!

Now, they're still working out some kinks, and we're not quite ready to rebuild the world with olivine cement. But it's pretty exciting stuff. Who knew cement could be so... cool?

Fresh from the oven

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2. Nano-Devices Set to Outshine Solar Cells: 140-fold increase in power density is not a joke

3. Urban design and building density are paving the way for floods: Water You Thinking?

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