It’s possible that I shall make an ass of myself. But in that case one can always get out of it with a little dialectic. I have, of course, so worded my proposition as to be right either way (K.Marx, Letter to F.Engels on the Indian Mutiny)
Saturday, February 24, 2024
Aston University receives nearly half a million pounds to create safer and greener batteries
Researchers to explore the use of gel electrolyte materials to improve lithium-ion batteries • The batteries are the most commonly used in electric vehicles and electronics • Will use non-harmful, non-flammable and renewably sourced materials for next generation battery technologies.
Aston University researchers are to explore the use of gel electrolyte materials to make lithium-ion batteries - the most commonly used for electric vehicles and electronics - safer and less environmentally damaging.
The University has received a grant of £443,058 from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council to develop safe, reliable, sustainable and commercially relevant gel electrolyte materials.
Currently batteries and other energy storage devices are assembled via multiple laborious processing steps and typically use flammable solvents and fossil fuel-derived materials with poor thermal and chemical stability.
The researchers will develop renewable ionogels which conduct electrically charged ions.
The gel electrolyte materials will replace current harmful, flammable components and will help prevent batteries from leaking.
He said: “There is a need to identify new solutions for sustainable energy storage but one of the biggest barriers to the uptake of renewable energy is the lack of scalable methods of storing electrical energy.
“We will create recyclable gel electrolytes using non-harmful, non-flammable and renewably sourced materials for next generation battery technologies.”
He said: “This transformative research programme will deliver new sustainable, responsive ionogel materials which are easier to manufacture.
“The ionogels developed in this project will help to address the significant shortcomings in the underutilisation of renewable energy in the coming years and will contribute to the UK's drive to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
“Given the desperate need for sustainable energy storage solutions, as recognised by the UN with Sustainable Development Goal 7 on affordable and clean energy, the proposed research is timely and impactful.”
As a result of the ongoing research, PhD student Georgia Maitland who contributed to the scientific paper will be employed as a post-doctoral researcher at Aston University.
The research project will end in February 2027.
Common plant could help reduce food insecurity, researchers find
Fast-growing aquatic fern has the nutritional content to serve as a potentially vital food source after a catastrophe and could be relevant now
NATIVE TO THE EASTERN U.S., CAROLINA AZOLLA HOLDS EXCELLENT POTENTIAL FOR USE AS A FAST-GROWING, SHORT-SEASON CROP THAT REQUIRES MINIMAL INPUTS, UPKEEP AND PROCESSING, ACCORDING TO PENN STATE RESEARCHERS. THE PLANT — SOMETIMES REFERRED TO AS MOSQUITO FERN, FAIRY MOSS AND WATER FERN — COULD BE USED TO INCREASE THE FOOD SUPPLY.
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — An often-overlooked water plant that can double its biomass in two days, capture nitrogen from the air — making it a valuable green fertilizer — and be fed to poultry and livestock could serve as life-saving food for humans in the event of a catastrophe or disaster, a new study led by Penn State researchers suggests.
Native to the eastern U.S., the plant, azolla caroliniana Willd — commonly known as Carolina azolla — also could ease food insecurity in the near future, according to findings recently published in Food Science & Nutrition. The researchers found that the Carolina strain of azolla is more digestible and nutritious for humans than azolla varieties that grow in the wild and also are cultivated in Asia and Africa for livestock feed.
“Other species of azolla have been used across the world for several thousand years as a livestock feed and as ‘green manure’ to fertilize crops because of the plant’s ability to fix nitrogen,” Jacobson said. “The use of azolla for human consumption was thought to be limited by its high total polyphenolic content, which interferes with its digestibility. But this research demonstrates that the phenolic content of the Carolina strain is much lower, and cooking the plant diminishes it further.”
Polyphenols, which are naturally abundant compounds found in plants, at lower concentrations are beneficial to human health because of their antioxidant activity, however, high concentrations of polyphenols can limit nutrient absorption in the body and act as antinutritional factors, Jacobson explained. Gallic acid is a stable phenol and has become a standard measurement to determine phenol content in food.
In the study, Carolina azolla — which has been described as having a crisp texture and a neutral taste — was grown in a greenhouse located at Penn State's University Park campus. The researchers determined that Carolina azolla has a total phenolic content of about 4.26 grams, gallic acid equivalents per kilogram dry weight.
This measurement compares with fruits, Winstead pointed out, which generally are between 1.4 and 6.2; beans at 1.2 to 6.6; and nuts, ranging from 0.5 to 19. By comparison, he added, other species of azolla that grow in Asia and Africa are between 20 and 69 grams, gallic acid equivalents per kilogram dry weight — too high for humans to digest comfortably.
The researchers tested three cooking methods — boiling, pressure cooking and natural fermentation — that multiple studies have shown can decrease polyphenolic content in foods, with the aim of reducing antinutritional factors potentially restricting consumption of azolla by both humans and livestock. Tests showed total phenol content was reduced by 88%, 92% and 62% with boiling, pressure cooking and natural fermentation, respectively, compared to the raw plant.
Carolina azolla — sometimes referred to as mosquito fern, fairy moss and water fern — holds excellent potential for use as a fast-growing, short-season crop that requires minimal inputs, upkeep and processing, Winstead noted, adding that the plant could be used to increase the food supply.
“Our study highlights the nutritional value and moderate protein content of Carolina azolla and demonstrates that cooking methods easily and significantly reduce total phenolic content,” he said. “Azolla’s moderate protein and high mineral yields make this species desirable for cultivation.”
The easy, fast-growing nature of azollacultivation makes it an ideal resource during disasters and catastrophes, as well as for regular use by smallholder farms and low-income areas, the researchers said. It is a multipurpose wild edible plant that holds great potential for economic, agricultural, nutritional and resiliency benefits, but needs further development, they said.
“Whether it be for a ‘quick-fix’ solution in catastrophe scenarios or long-term resilience plan, Carolina azolla has the potential to provide large amounts of protein and calories for people and livestock,” he said, noting that the plant has even been considered for inclusion in the U.S. space program. “If systems for azolla cultivation and preparation can be made more efficient, its indoor or outdoor cultivation after natural disasters could provide supplemental nutrient production that are climate resilient.”
This study links to other ongoing systematic reviews by the same Penn State researchers examining regional, resilient, drought-resistant food crops and increased agrobiodiversity in the face of disasters becoming more frequent and often resulting in food-system disruptions. For example, one paper published inFrontiers in Sustainable Food Systems, looks at the plethora of currently seldom-used wild edible plants of North America that once were used abundantly by Native Americans.
“Currently, we are doing reviews in African regions,” Jacobson said. “Hopefully, exposing the viability of the lesser-used plants can help society be more prepared to secure a resilient food system.”
Marjorie Jauregui, doctoral degree student in food science and international agriculture, contributed to this research.
This research was funded by the Food Resilience in the Face of Catastrophic Global Events grant funded by Open Philanthropy and was supported by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture.
The researchers found that the Carolina strain of azolla is more digestible and nutritious for humans than azolla varieties that grow in the wild and also are cultivated in Asia and Africa for livestock feed.
The study was led by Daniel Winstead, pictured here, a research assistant in the labs of Michael Jacobson, professor of ecosystem science and management, and Francesco Di Gioia, assistant professor of vegetable crop science. It is part of a larger interdisciplinary research project called Food Resilience in the Face of Catastrophic Global Events, conducted in the College of Agricultural Sciences.
The researchers tested three cooking methods that multiple studies have shown can decrease polyphenolic content in foods, with the aim of reducing antinutritional factors potentially restricting consumption of azolla — boiling, pressure cooking and natural fermentation, which is shown here.
PENN STATE ASSISTANT PROFESSOR YANG YANG CO-LED A STUDY REVEALING THE INTERACTION BETWEEN SHORT-RANGE ORDER AND PLANAR DEFECTS, WHICH COULD ENHANCE THE MECHANICAL PERFORMANCE OF HIGH- AND MEDIUM-ENTROPY ALLOYS.
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — A new class of metallic materials with potential applications in airplane turbines, nuclear reactors and equipment for space exploration can withstand extreme temperatures and resist fractures, but scientists haven’t understood why until now. According to a new study co-led by Penn State researchers, the answer could relate to the material’s short-range order, or the local arrangement of atoms within a material. This knowledge could lead to further improvement in the mechanical performance and damage tolerance of these materials, the researchers said, leading in turn to advancements in the safety and reliability of next-generation engineering systems for transportation or power plants.
The team developed a new imaging method to study the local atomic arrangement of the metallic materials, called high- and medium-entropy alloys (HEA/MEA), and focused their study specifically on the chromium-cobalt-nickel (CrCoNi) MEA and its impacts on mechanical performance.
“The mechanical performance of the CrCoNi is amazing,” said co-corresponding author Yang Yang, Penn State assistant professor of engineering science and mechanics and nuclear engineering who is also affiliated with the Materials Research Institute. “For example, it has recently been shown to have the highest toughness on earth at nearly -423 degrees Fahrenheit. But people didn’t know why it was so good.”
Some scientists, Yang said, hypothesized that short-range order was responsible for this.
“But because the short-range order is so small and subtle in materials, it’s very challenging to observe or measure it in order to provide experimental proof,” said co-corresponding author Andrew M. Minor, professor of materials science and engineering at the University of California Berkeley (UC Berkeley) and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL).
CrCoNi has three components: chromium, cobalt and nickel. Each element has the same atomic fraction within the alloy, and early studies assumed that each of the three kinds of atoms was randomly distributed within the system, according to Yang. However, Yang said that recent studies show the material actually displays short-range order.
“Let’s imagine that there’s a party with people from Penn State, Ohio State and North Carolina State,” Yang said. “And, ideally, you’d expect everyone to mingle seamlessly, creating a uniform mix of individuals throughout the room. However, in practice, this isn't always the case. Often, people from the same university tend to gravitate towards each other, drawn by shared experiences. This is a kind of short-range order, deviating from the anticipated random distribution.”
In order to study the role of short-range order in CrCoNi, the team designed an experiment using an energy-filtered 4D scanning transmission electron microscopy (4D-STEM) system. In a 4D-STEM experiment, a nanosized electron beam scans on the sample, generating a nanobeam electron diffraction pattern for each point. According to Minor, they were able to capture hundreds of electron diffraction images every second, allowing them to analyze the evolution of material defects under stress with both a large field of view and high resolution.
“Defects are formed during the mechanical deformation process, and we actually found that there's a transition in the formation of a defect,” Minor said, noting that they focused specifically on planar defects, or the “errors” in the stacking sequence of planes of atoms. “We found that the planar defect is fully reversible during the initial cycles. If we deform it and then release the force, it fully recovers. However, after around a thousand cycle of mechanical deformation, this reversibility disappears. At that point the defect tends to stay there after we release the load. And this transition, we think, is actually governed by the short-range order in this system.”
Yang said this is because at the beginning, the system has a lot of short-range order that makes the reversible processes favorable. However, the deformation gradually destroys this small ordering, and that tunes the deformation mechanism towards another one that favors this formation of a planar defect.
“The short-range order is like a moderator,” Yang said. “The local density of it, or the degree of it, controls which mechanism is working, which is not working. The synergy of varied deformation mechanisms is critical for the high damage tolerance in this material class.”
By successfully providing a technique to visualize planar defect evolution in CrCoNi and integrating advanced atomistic modeling, the researchers were able to reveal the interaction between short-range order and planar defects, which could enhance these alloys’ mechanical performance.
The other authors on the paper are Yingxin Zhu, a graduate student in the Department of Engineering Science and Mechanics and the Material Research Institute, both at Penn State; Sheng Yin, Qin Yu and Colin Ophus of the LBNL; Jun Ding of the State Key Laboratory for Mechanical Behavior of Materials, Xi’an Jiaotong University Xi’an, China; Ruopeng Zhang of the Department of Material Science and Engineering at UC Berkeley; and Mark Asta, and Robert O. Ritchie of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at UC Berkeley and of the LBNL.
The U.S. Department of Energy primarily supported this work.
CREDIT: THE BIODESIGN INSTITUTE AT ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY
Parkinson's disease, the second most common type of progressive dementia after Alzheimer's disease, affects nearly 1 million people in the U.S. and an estimated 10 million individuals worldwide. Each year, close to 90,000 new cases of Parkinson’s disease are diagnosed in the U.S.
The research highlights the role of a critical protein called tau in the early stages of the disease. The results suggest that aggregates of the tau protein may jump-start processes of neuronal damage and death characteristics of the disease.
The findings challenge the conventional view of Parkinson’s disease pathology, which typically focuses on the protein alpha-synuclein as the classic diagnostic hallmark of the disease. The new study illustrates how tau pathology could be actively involved in the degeneration of dopamine-producing neurons in the brain, independent of alpha-synuclein. This revelation could shift the focus of Parkinson’s disease research, diagnosis and treatment.
“Currently, a protein called alpha-synuclein is believed to be the main player in Parkinson’s disease pathogenesis,” says Kordower, who is also a professor with ASU’s School of Life Sciences. “This study highlights that misfolded tau may be the first player in causing the cardinal motor symptoms in the disease.”
The study appears in the current issue of the journal Brain.
Shattering progression
The progression of Parkinson’s disease involves distinct stages, and the timeline can vary significantly among individuals. The typical stages of Parkinson's, as outlined by the Parkinson's Foundation, can help patients understand the changes as they occur.
The disease impacts people in different ways, and not everyone will experience all the symptoms or experience them in the same order or intensity. Some may experience the changes over 20 years or more; for others, the disease advances rapidly.
The progression of the disease is influenced by a combination of genetic and environmental factors. Following a diagnosis, many individuals experience a good response to medications such as levodopa, and this optimal time frame can last for many years. Over time, however, modifications to medication are often needed and symptoms may intensify.
The prevalence of Parkinson’s has doubled in the past 25 years, which may be related to population growth, aging, genetic predisposition, lifestyle changes and environmental pollution.
A fresh perspective
The tau protein accumulates in two regions: the substantia nigra and putamen, both part of the basal ganglia in the brain. The substantia nigra is responsible for the production of dopamine, which is critical for modulating movement, cognitive executive functions and emotional limbic activity.
The putamen, a component of the dorsal striatum, is involved in movement initiation, selection and decision-making, as well as learning, memory, language and emotion. Dysfunction in the putamen can contribute to various disorders, particularly those related to motor function.
A wide range of physical and mental symptoms characterize Parkinson’s disease. These include: rhythmic tremors, often beginning in a limb, such as the hand or fingers; slowness of movement, which can lead to difficulty in performing simple tasks; muscle stiffness or rigidity; and difficulties with balance.
In addition to these physical symptoms, Parkinson's disease can also cause various mental and emotional changes, including depression and anxiety, sleep disorders, memory difficulties, fatigue and emotional changes.
Brain traces of disease
The scientists conducted the study using postmortem brain tissue from older adults who had experienced different degrees of motor impairment. The research analyzed brain tissues from individuals with no motor deficits, mild motor deficits with and without Lewy pathology in the nigral region of the brain, and from individuals clinically diagnosed with Parkinson's disease.
Lewy bodies are abnormal aggregates of the protein alpha-synuclein that accumulate in the brain, and they are a hallmark of several neurodegenerative disorders, including Parkinson’s and dementia with Lewy bodies.
In the case of Parkinson’s, Lewy bodies are primarily found in the substantia nigra, a region of the brain that is crucial for movement control, which leads to characteristic motor symptoms such as rigidity, tremors and bradykinesia (slow movement).
The study focused on a cohort of subjects with mild motor impairments — not pronounced enough to diagnose Parkinson’s, but still significant. Dividing these subjects based on the presence or absence of α-synuclein, researchers found that tau pathology was a common denominator.
The researchers observed that the brain tissue associated with minimal motor deficit demonstrated similar accumulations of tau to those with advanced Parkinson’s, suggesting that tau's role occurs early in the disease's evolution. These findings open doors to earlier diagnosis and intervention, potentially slowing or altering the disease's progression.
The research also sheds light on parkinsonism, a condition that mimics Parkinson’s disease symptoms but is distinct in its underlying mechanisms. The study suggests that tau pathology in the nigrostriatal region of the brain is a shared characteristic, offering a new lens through which to view and treat various forms of parkinsonism.
The findings also underscore the potential of targeting tau pathology as a therapeutic approach in Parkinson’s disease. Because tau aggregation correlates with motor deficits and degeneration of dopamine-producing regions of the brain, interventions aimed at reducing tau accumulation could offer new hope for altering the disease's trajectory.
Kordower is joined by researchers from Neurodegenerative Diseases Research Unit, Biogen, Cambridge, Massachusetts; Aligning Science Across Parkinson’s (ASAP) Collaborative Research Network, Chevy Chase, Maryland; Neurology, School of Medicine, Georgetown University Medical Center, Washington, D.C.; Department of Neurology, University of Alabama at Birmingham; and Pacific Parkinson’s Research Centre and Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, University of British Columbia, Vancouver.
A new study highlights the role of misfolded tau proteins in the genesis and trajectory of Parkinson's disease.
RESEARCHER LEONI MARTINS, DOCTORAL STUDENT IN THE DEPARTMENT OF ANIMAL SCIENCE, LED A 10-WEEK EXPERIMENT THAT INCLUDED 48 HOLSTEIN COWS. HE IS PICTURED HERE WITH A COW IN THE PENN STATE DAIRY BARNS
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Supplementing the feed of high-producing dairy cows with the botanical extract capsicum oleoresin, obtained from chili peppers, or a combination of that extract and clove oil resulted in the animals using feed energy more efficiently and emitting less methane from their largest stomach, according to a new study conducted by Penn State researchers.
Adding those substances, sometimes referred to as essential oils, to the cattle’s rations resulted in improved efficiency of energy utilization in peak-lactation dairy cows. According to Alex Hristov, distinguished professor of dairy nutrition, corresponding author of the study, the cattle would use the available energy for body weight gain rather than milk yield or milk components.
The findings, recently published in the Journal of Dairy Science, suggest a potential positive physiological and environmental effect of supplementation with this combination of botanicals. From previous studies, the researchers knew that botanicals have the potential to modify fermentation in the dairy cow’s largest stomach, called the rumen, Hristov explained, adding that he has become increasingly interested in post-ruminal, physiological effects of botanicals.
Hristov’s research group in the College of Agricultural Sciences has experimented with supplementing the feed of high-performing dairy cows, with additives ranging from seaweed to garlic and oregano oils to synthetic additives, in a nearly two-decades-long effort to improve milk production and reduce environmental emissions from dairy farms.
Methane — a potent greenhouse gas released into the atmosphere by the cows belching — results from fermentation occurring in the cow’s rumen. That process allows the animal to consume and utilize fibrous feeds and byproducts that cannot be digested by humans or other simple-stomach farm animals.
Although methane mitigation was not an objective of this research project, the researchers reported that the yield and intensity of methane from cows in the study were decreased by 11% by the combination of capsicum oleoresin and clove oil. The effect was particularly pronounced in first-lactation cows.
“We concluded that capsicum oleoresin may affect energy and nitrogen utilization of the cows, whereas the ruminal fermentation and methane-mitigation effects likely were triggered by an associative effect of capsicum oleoresin and clove oil or clove oil alone,” Hristov said.
Botanicals — plant-derived bio-active compounds also called phytonutrients — have shown a wide range of anti-microbial properties against bacteria, protozoa and fungi, and have been investigated as potential rumen modifiers in ruminants, Hristov pointed out. Studies with non-ruminant species have shown that phytonutrients can trigger, at low doses, specific responses related to gastrointestinal health and immunity in animals.
Various botanicals, with active ingredients such as eugenol, cinnamaldehyde, allicin and capsaicin, can trigger immune responses, reduce oxidative stress and influence insulin secretion and activity, Hristov noted. Other studies have shown that botanicals can regulate pro- or anti-inflammatory responses by increasing or decreasing inflammatory proteins involved in the immune system, white blood cells and oxidative stress in nonruminants and, potentially, in ruminants.
In this 10-week experiment conducted at the Penn State Dairy Barns, led by Leoni Martins, doctoral degree candidate in animal science, 48 Holstein cows were randomly assigned to one of three dietary treatments. The rations of 16 were supplemented with 300 milligrams per cow each day of capsicum oleoresin; 16 received a diet supplemented with 300 milligrams per cow each day of a combination of capsicum oleoresin and clove oil; and a 16-cow control group was fed a diet without supplements.
Throughout the experiment, body weight increased in cows supplemented with capsicum oleoresin and a combination of capsicum oleoresin and clove oil, by 850 and 660 grams per day respectively, compared to a negligible 10 grams per day for the unsupplemented control group. Cows fed diets supplemented by the botanicals also exhibited higher efficiency of energy utilization, revealed by several metabolic measurements.
“The use of rumen-protected capsicum — which partially passes through the rumen without affecting fermentation, but still can be digested in the cow's intestine — represents an interesting approach to improve metabolic status of dairy cows during the transition period of three weeks before and three weeks after giving birth, and early lactation,” Hristov said. “But the mechanism underlying this response remains unclear.”
Contributing to this research were Sergio Cueva, Taina Silvestre, Nadiia Stepanchenko and Derek Wasson, graduate assistants in Hristov’s lab in the Department of Animal Science; and Emma Wall, Department of Technology Deployment, AVT Natural Products, Animal Nutrition & Health.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Institute of Food and Agriculture and AVT Natural Products supported this work.
The botanical supplements studied in the research include combined capsicum oleoresin and clove oil, left, and capsicum oleoresin. Capsicum oleoresin is an extract obtained from chili peppers.
U.S. MARINES INSPECT EQUIPMENT IN THE ONR-SPONSORED EXPEDITIONARY FABRICATION LABORATORY (XFAB) DURING AUTONOMOUS WARRIOR 2023 IN AUSTRALIA. EQUIPPED WITH MULTIPLE 3D PRINTERS, SCANNERS, LASER CUTTERS AND OTHER SUPPORT TOOLS, THE XFAB ENABLES WARFIGHTERS TO FABRICATE AND PRODUCE REPAIR PARTS AND OTHER CUSTOMIZED SOLUTIONS WHILE ON DEPLOYMENT.
ARLINGTON, Va.—The Office of Naval Research (ONR) — and its international arm, ONR Global — participated in the recent Autonomous Warrior 2023 (AW23) exercise, located at HMAS Creswell in Jervis Bay, Australia.
AW23 brought together Australian military allies, as well as industry and international partners, to demonstrate various technologies designed to help the Royal Australian Navy strengthen its capabilities in the area of undersea warfare — including uncrewed (also called unmanned) and autonomous systems, artificial intelligence and machine learning, and logistics, to name a few.
In addition, AW23 represented just one way in which ONR and ONR Global are supporting AUKUS, which is a trilateral security partnership involving the U.S., U.K. and Australia, focused on the Indo-Pacific region.
“There are a number of ways that AW23 could benefit U.S. Sailors and Marines,” said Dr. Knox Millsaps, head of ONR’s Naval Air Warfare and Weapons Department. “For example, we can see and experiment with new technologies being brought to bear in Australia. They’re really developing a lot of cutting-edge technologies that are useful not just for their own forces, but the U.S. can also leverage those capabilities to its advantage.”
One example of collaboration involved the U.S. Navy’s Unmanned Surface Vessel Division One (USVDIV-1), which was created in 2022 to expedite uncrewed vehicles into the fleet. During AW23, USVDIV-1 helped demonstrate the capabilities and interoperability potential of uncrewed surface vessels.
During AW23, ONR and the U.S. Marine Corps engaged in a collaborative approach to facilitate rapid autonomous logistics delivery. This involved the ONR-sponsored Expeditionary Fabrication Laboratory (XFAB).
“The XFAB is an expeditionary capability that provides additive manufacturing,” said Maj. Kyle Holway, an ONR liaison officer. “It enables warfighters to fabricate and produce repair parts and other customized solutions. Marines can use software programs and 3D printers, among other tools, to address supply chain issues that might arise during a mission.”
Encased in a type of shipping container called a conex box, the XFAB is equipped with multiple 3D printers, scanners, laser cutters and other support tools to shrink a unit’s logistical footprint by eliminating the need to transport large amounts of spare parts. During AW23, Marines printed components such as medical tools, latches and hinges, propellers, impellers and antennae.
“In terms of readiness and sustainment, the XFAB will help Marines reduce their logistical impact by enabling that point-of-need manufacturing,” said Dr. Jennifer Wolk, a division director in ONR’s Sea Warfare and Weapons Department. “Sometimes you don’t know what’s going to break or need replacing, so the XFAB can be a true game changer for warfighters in the field.”
The mission of the XFAB aligns with the emerging naval concept known as Expeditionary Advanced Base Operations (EABO), which involves deploying small but highly mobile units to isolated locations. EABO has the potential of quickly getting forces into a strategically vital area, and potentially in an adversary’s weapons engagement zone, in response to an evolving threat when no other U.S. military assets are available.
“In an exercise like AW23, U.S. Marines can conduct training with the XFAB, get more exposure to it and become even more proficient in harnessing its capabilities,” said Durga Nanan, an ONR Global science advisor with III Marine Expeditionary Force. “They also can share tactics, techniques, protocols and lessons learned with their Australian counterparts — most of which are based on commercial and industry standards and are not proprietary.”
ONR Global Country Director (Australia) Wayne Liu said, “One of the most valuable aspects of AW23 is being able to bring ONR-funded technology and work with Australian technologists and scientists. We get a comprehensive evaluation of our technology in a collaborative environment, looking at it side by side under mission scenarios. It engenders strong partnerships among ONR, the U.S. Department of Defense and our Australian counterparts.”
