Industrial Waste is Turning Dogs Blue

Industrial dumping is coloring canines. Also, SpaceX's new suit, and making magnesium car parts.

Elon Shows Off SpaceX Spacesuit

This week, Elon Musk shared the first picture of the SpaceX spacesuit.

According to Musk, the suits have already been tested to double vacuum pressure and actually work. In his post, he says, "Worth noting that this actually works (not a mockup)."

According to his post, the design was a difficult balance between aesthetics and function. Of course, it's easy to do both separately.

According to New Atlas, the fact that it had been testing to double vacuum pressure only means that the suit is designed to protect astronauts while they're in the spacecraft, and not meant to be used outside of the vehicle.

It should be noted that developing and maintaining spacesuits can be costly and frustrating work. In April, NASA's own auditor said that the company was not only years away from having a new space suit for deep-space missions, but the agency was running out of its current supply for astronauts on the International Space Station. 

Making Magnesium Car Parts

Researchers at the Pacific Northwest National Lab have developed a new process that could soon make it easier to include magnesium alloys into structural components in your car.

Magnesium is 75% lighter than steel, 33% lighter than aluminum, and the fourth most common element on earth, but until now, car makers have struggled to use the materials in structural car parts without adding rare elements like dysprosium.

The lab’s process in a new twist on extrusion, and they call it ShAPE. It uses a Shear Assisted Processing and Extrusion (ShAPE) machine that pushes billets or flakes of magnesium through a die by spinning the metal.

Because of the linear and rotational forces, the alloys flow through the die in a very soft state, which mean that only one tenth of the force is needed to push the material through a die compared to conventional extrusion.

This significant reduction in force could mean much smaller production machinery, and lower overall operations costs. And manufacturers may want to do it soon, as the car industry wants to use 350 pounds of magnesium per vehicle by 2020. It looks like they are on their way.

Industrial Waste is Turning Dogs Blue

A manufacturing company in Mumbai has been shut down after being accused of dumping industrial waste and dyes into a local river and turning 11 dogs blue.

According to a report in the Hindustan Times, locals reported chemical manufacturer Ducol Organics to the pollution control board for illegally dumping dye and colorant into the air and a nearby river.

The alleged dumping was made apparent when dogs that swim in the river started turning blue.

The pollution board hopes that by closing the plant, they send a message to other problematic plants.

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