Bill Gates charity challenges scientists to make better condoms

Graphene could be mixed with the latex used in standard condoms to make a stronger and far more pleasurable model, scientists believe. Photograph: Getty Photos

The “wonder material” graphene faces its stiffest challenge nevertheless in delivering thinner, more powerful, safer and far more desirable condoms.

A research group from the University of Manchester has received a Grand Difficulties Explorations grant of $ one hundred,000 (£62,123) from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to develop new composite nano-components for next-generation condoms.

The challenge is to create new technology that can make the condom much more desirable to use, which could lead to far more folks utilizing them.

Composite resources are composed of a mixture of two materials, in this case graphene and an elastic polymer such as the latex employed in classic condoms.

Graphene is the world’s thinnest, strongest and most conductive material, and promises a huge variety of varied applications from smartphones and ultrafast broadband to laptop chips.

It was 1st isolated by Sir Andre Geim and Sir Kostya Novoselov at the University of Manchester in 2004 and earned them the Nobel prize for physics in 2010.

The study will be carried out beneath the leadership of Dr Aravind Vijayaraghavan at the newly established Nationwide Graphene Institute at Manchester.

Vijayaraghavan explained: “This composite material will be tailored to increase the normal sensation throughout intercourse even though employing a condom, which should encourage and market condom use.

“This will be achieved by combining the power of graphene with the elasticity of latex to produce a new material which can be thinner, more powerful, far more stretchy, safer and, maybe most importantly, more pleasurable.”

He continued: “Because its isolation in 2004, men and women have wondered when graphene will be used in our everyday lifestyle. Presently, individuals picture employing graphene in mobile-telephone screens, meals packaging and chemical sensors.

“If this venture is effective, we might have a use for graphene which will practically touch our every day lifestyle in the most intimate way.”

Dr Helen Meese, head of resources at the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, stated: “The prospective of graphene is limitless, and the grant to the University of Manchester to seem at worldwide wellness troubles underlines just how ground-breaking this wonder material could be.

“As properly as condoms, graphene could possibly be used in every little thing from batteries which charge in seconds to photovoltaic windows which make electricity.

“However, despite the United kingdom getting at the very forefront of graphene research, the country’s commercialisation of the materials has been woeful.

“Of the 7,500 graphene-based mostly patents filed throughout the world by 2013, only 54 are from the United kingdom, or significantly less than one%. In comparison, over two,200 are held by China and one,754 by South Korea.

“As it stands, the Uk is failing to harness the amazing potential of the material it has led the globe in creating.”

Bill Gates charity challenges scientists to make better condoms

Global health group takes on new name, new challenges

In an work to expand its mission and broaden outreach, the student-run Yale-Ecuador HIV Initiative is in the approach of renaming itself and incorporating more global wellness options to its scope.

The group — which was founded in 2011 and has not too long ago modified its name to Student Partnerships for International Wellness — has organized trips to Ecuador for students to carry out survey-primarily based analysis on HIV and other medical topics. In accordance to Adam Beckman ’16, co-director of the group, a lot of of the students in last summer’s system wondered if they could increase beyond an HIV-centric system, which led the organization to increase the purview of the plan to other medical issues in Ecuador this kind of as hypertension and teenage pregnancy. Next summer season, the group will increase its perform to a clinic in Nicaragua, and group members explained they also hope to emphasis on a better number of overall health concerns in a wider selection of nations in the future.

According to Nora Moraga-Lewy ’16, the group’s other co-director, the name alter from Yale-Ecuador HIV Initiative to Student Partnerships for Worldwide Overall health is emblematic of the program’s commitment to worldwide health at massive.

“The title before restricted us to carrying out a single specific point, and we recognized following this past summer time based on some require assessment surveys that working on HIV in Ecuador exclusively was not the greatest use of our resources,” Moraga-Lewy mentioned.

Magdalena Wilson SPH ’14, who was with the group in Ecuador for ten weeks doing work with the other students on mixed strategy research, health schooling in local higher schools and local HIV testing, stated she is employing analysis that she collected on the trip for her thesis at the College of Public Well being.

The group was initially established in 2011 by Sam Vesuna ’12, who invested a summer time in Ecuador working in a government-run hospital. Vesuna worked with non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to set up an HIV testing clinic, and he started the group in an attempt to have Yale students travel to the clinic each and every summertime for research. As of this summer time, the group has partnered with NGOs Long term Valdivia and Ayuda, amongst other people.

Beckman stated he has substantial hopes for expanding the group’s wider emphasis on global overall health.

“An overarching theme has been these collaborative pupil teams and these extended-term partnerships — a worldwide overall health venture need to only be as excellent as the partnership you have with the men and women in the country,” Beckman stated.

Searching beyond worldwide well being, Moraga-Lewy mentioned she is optimistic about the prospective of setting up interdisciplinary teams to do study.

Such a setup may possibly yield productive investigation in other fields even beyond international well being, she additional, this kind of as environmental studies or microeconomics.

“There is a whole lot that can come out of these multidisciplinary groups of college students performing guided and related research in distinct locations,” she mentioned.

According to the group’s web website, college students can receive person funding for the trips from Yale fellowships, such as the Yale-Collaborative Action Project and the Yale University Fellowship for Investigation in Worldwide Health Scientific studies.

Global health group takes on new name, new challenges