20120201014

A new paint made of carbon nanotubes and fly ash is announced as a cheaper and easier way to monitor facilities like bridges, mines and wind turbines. The development is put forward by researchers from the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, who explain that the nanotubes’ conductivity will change if they get bent, and wireless transmitters placed throughout the structure would receive the data and resend it to the system, using the conductivity change as a sign of defect in the structure to alert people of possible dangers. Also, the paint is said to be cheap too, allowing it to be used in a wide range of buildings, bridges, coal mines, etc.