🏎️ World’s 1st plant-powered racing engine oil, students find cancer medicine in poop, world’s smallest walking robots

A Japanese company has released what it claims is the world’s first racing engine oil that uses plant-based raw materials for more than 80 percent of its base oil and has both racing performance and API SP certification.

A market survey on engine oil conducted from December 2023 to February 2024 found that this is the world’s first engine oil for four-wheeled vehicles that combines American Petroleum Institute (API) certification, plant-based oil, and racing performance.

The survey was conducted by Trending Future Research Institute Inc, as per Idemitsu Kosan Company’s press release. Delve deeper into our Must-Read.

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MUST-READ

🏎️ Japan debuts world’s 1st plant-powered racing engine oil with 194% more strength

Idemitsu Kosan Co. Ltd. says that it uses palm oil from raw materials that meet high standards for the Idemitsu IFG Plantech Racing engine oil; the ester comes from rapeseed and sunflower oils.

Moreover, it also states that the carbon footprint of Idemitsu IFG Plantech is 82 percent lower than mineral oil – based on the Japan LP Gas Association estimate of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions per unit of plant-derived base oil during the entire product life cycle.

As per the tests conducted by the company, the new plant-based racing engine oil showed 194 percent improved toughness as compared to other flagship variants.

🤖 World’s smallest walking robots redefine force measurement at microscales

A team of researchers at Cornell University has developed the world’s smallest walking robot. Designed to interact with visible light, the robot moves independently despite its tiny size.

The team claims the robot can navigate specific locations, such as tissue samples, to capture images and measure forces at the scale of the body’s smallest structures.

“A walking robot that’s small enough to interact with and shape light effectively takes a microscope’s lens and puts it directly into the microworld. It can perform up-close imaging in ways that a regular microscope never could,” said Paul McEuen, professor of physical science emeritus in the College of Arts and Sciences (A&S), who led the team, in a statement.

🪿 Middle-school student scientists discover cancer-fighting compound in goose poop

In an extraordinary leap into biomedical science, a group of Chicago middle school students contributed to the discovery of a compound that shows potential in slowing the growth of melanoma and ovarian cancer cells.

This breakthrough was part of a 14-week applied science program designed to address inequities in STEM education by immersing underrepresented students in authentic scientific research.

Led by researchers from the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC), the initiative partnered with a local Boys and Girls Club, empowering middle schoolers to become active participants in cutting-edge antibiotic research. Among their notable finds was a strain of bacteria isolated from an unlikely source: goose droppings at Garfield Park Lagoon.

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