Month: September 2022

LAZER CRYSTAL FABRICATION. "Inspired by the butterfly structures, Mark Turner has used laser beams to 'write' these intricate three-dimensional photonic crystals directly into a commercial light-polymerizable 'photoresist' material." https://lnkd.in/d3_ruXz View in LinkedIn

LAZER CRYSTAL FABRICATION. "Being somewhat 'scaled-up' versions of the natural nanostructures, these had photonic band gaps in the infrared part of the spectrum. Current telecommunications operates mostly at infrared wavelengths, and these structures could find uses there." https://lnkd.in/d3_ruXz View in LinkedIn

BEETLE MIMICRY. "Today, engineers are looking at how these random networks and particle arrays can give rise to strongly colored and high-opacity materials. Pete Vukusic ... (has) mimicked the cuticle of Cyphochilus beetles in random porous networks made from interconnected filaments of the minerals calcium carbonate and titanium dioxide." https://lnkd.in/d3_ruXz View in LinkedIn

A SUPERB ARTICLE on iridescence, coving the subject in sufficient technical detail for all of us to grasp and illustrating the lovely possibilities of learning from nature to create man-made new materials and effects. https://lnkd.in/d3_ruXz View in LinkedIn

LAWSUITS AGAINST GOVERNMENTS. "TTIP (Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership) ... raises the prospect of Big Tobacco and other corporations bringing legal actions against governments that prioritise the health of their citizens over the profits of these companies." https://lnkd.in/dsTub_g View in LinkedIn

LOBBIES OVERTURNING PUBLIC HEALTH POLICY. "Trade bodies can overturn domestic public health and safety policies, in 2011 the WTO ruled against aspects of the U.S. ban against the sale of candy- and other sweet-flavored cigarettes (which often attract children to smoking) contained in the U.S. Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act of 2009." https://lnkd.in/dZRfg_S View in LinkedIn

TOBACCO COAT-TAILING FREE TRADE TALKS. "The tobacco industry has consistently abused international trade and investment rules to stall, block or roll-back implementation of the tobacco treaty. Trade is the strongest arrow in their litigation quiver, and TTIP as it is currently envisioned is a dream come true." https://lnkd.in/dtMxZcK View in LinkedIn

WEAPON OF TRADE LITIGATION. "The tobacco industry need not win trade disputes to achieve their goal. The cost of litigation is a barrier unto itself, and many governments simply cannot afford to win these disputes ... even wealthy countries, have delayed or discarded plans to advance tobacco control legislation due to the threat of trade litigation." https://lnkd.in/dtMxZcK View in LinkedIn

PRIVATE COMPANIES SUING GOVERNMENTS. "Tobacco companies began using trade and investment agreements to file legal challenges to block new cigarette labeling and advertising restrictions. Australia is fighting four different trade and investment cases against its cigarette packaging law (etc)." https://lnkd.in/dDpdMVf View in LinkedIn

INTIMIDATION TACTICS. "Philip Morris is currently suing Uruguay through a bilateral investment treaty between Uruguay and Switzerland. Uruguay ... has an annual GDP less than half of Phillip Morris’s annual sales." https://lnkd.in/d5WRu9r View in LinkedIn