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Tag: aluminum

  • Exclusive: Sortera is turning America’s scrap aluminum problem into cash | TechCrunch

    When it comes to recycling, few materials can match aluminum. It can be reused an infinite number of times, and it’s often cheaper to recycle than to produce new aluminum because it requires so much less energy. Yet only about a third of the aluminum used in the U.S. gets recycled.

    The problem lies in sorting mixed aluminum scrap — a challenge that has long stumped the recycling industry.

    Michael Siemer, CEO of Sortera, thinks his company has found the key, though. Sortera says it has developed a system that can separate aluminum grades with over 95% accuracy — a breakthrough that could unlock a massive untapped resource in the recycling industry.

    Here’s how it works: The company uses an AI model that identifies different grades of aluminum based on data from lasers, X-ray fluorescence, and high-speed cameras. The system has to classify each chip — about the size of a large potato chip — in a fraction of a second. “Ten milliseconds is a long time,” Siemer says. Once the vision system identifies the grade, a series of nozzles blow precise puffs of air to flip the chip off the belt and into the correct bin.

    That speed and accuracy matters because other recycling operations must melt the aluminum first before they can tell which type of alloy it is. And if alloys aren’t sorted properly, the mixed heap is worth far less because customers can’t be confident it will have the properties they need.

    “People have been wanting to go after [this unsorted aluminum], and nobody’s been able to unlock it,” says Siemer.

    Sortera’s sorting accuracy has further helped the company unlock something else many startups seek: profitability. “The margin is exponential above 90%, [while] 92% gets you a nice little margin, 95% gets you a big margin, [and] 98% is a really big margin.”

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    That’s helped the company become cash flow positive since August, he says, all based on the operation of a single plant in Indiana. To build a second plant in Tennessee, Sortera recently raised $20 million in equity and $25 million in debt in a round led by VXI Capital and accounts advised by T. Rowe Price, with participation from Overlay Capital and Yamaha Motor Ventures, the company exclusively told TechCrunch. Trinity Capital is providing additional equipment funding.

    The new plant, which is being built near Nashville, will come online in April or May. “It’s a replica of our Indiana plant,” Siemer says. At the Indiana facility, he says, “we run full-tilt, 24-7, and we’re running millions of pounds a month.”

    So where does all that aluminum come from? The scrap aluminum that Sortera receives tends to come from shredded automobiles. Each aluminum grade fractures differently when shredded, and those visual differences help the AI classify the metal. “The chemical differences manifest themselves in the shredding,” Siemer says. Different alloys produce distinctive tears and folds that give the system clues. “You gain these little insights so that in about a 10-millisecond time window, you go, ‘I’m pretty darn sure that’s 356 [grade aluminum],” Siemer says.

    As Sortera expands, much of its aluminum will likely end up back on automotive assembly lines. Automotive manufacturers have been using increasing amounts of the metal to reduce vehicle weight and improve fuel efficiency. “Every auto OEM on the planet has been to Indiana at least twice,” Siemer says.

    Sortera is currently working on ways to process other metals like copper and titanium, but for the near future, the company remains focused on aluminum. “We could instantly sort the 18 billion tons of aluminum made annually in the U.S. Every piece of that, every pound would be sold at a profit in the U.S.”

    Tim De Chant

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  • Why is a metal such as aluminum in some vaccines?

    Trump administration health officials plan to remove a vaccine ingredient that’s been safely in use for decades, aluminum. 

    The Trump administration’s Department of Health and Human Services has reduced some vaccine access. The agency scaled back COVID-19 vaccine recommendations, approved COVID-19 vaccines for fewer people and aimed to remove the preservative thimerosal from U.S. vaccines. Experts told PolitiFact scientific research did not support its removal.

    During a Sept. 22 press conference in which President Donald Trump told people not to take Tylenol during pregnancy, he also mentioned another objective: “We want no aluminum in the vaccine,” he said. The administration was already in the process of removing aluminum from vaccines, he added.

    About two weeks later on Oct. 8, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, or ACIP, announced a new working group focused on the childhood vaccine schedule. Its discussion topics include vaccine ingredient safety and “aluminum adjuvants.” 

    Robert Malone, an ACIP member who has opposed COVID-19 vaccines, told Axios he expected the committee would determine there was “a lot of evidence” of “issues” with aluminum in vaccines. The committee likely would vote to recategorize vaccines containing aluminum adjuvants so that people would have to discuss with their doctor before getting them, Malone told Axios.

    That could have far-reaching ramifications. Here’s what to know about aluminum in vaccines.

    Q: Why is a metal such as aluminum in some vaccines? 

    A: Small amounts of aluminum are sometimes included in vaccines as adjuvants, or substances that boost the body’s immune response to the vaccine to ensure protection from infection. 

    That boost means people can get fewer vaccine doses in smaller quantities. 

    Q: When used, how much aluminum is in a vaccine? 

    A: Vaccines with aluminum adjuvants usually contain less than a milligram of aluminum per dose, according to the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. 

    That’s a pretty abstract number. To help make it more concrete: A milligram is one-thousandth of a gram. One gram is about the weight of a raisin or a stick of gum. Imagine cutting one of those items into 1,000 equal pieces. One of the pieces would be about 1 milligram. 

    Here’s another way to think about it. 

    People come in contact with and consume aluminum all of the time. It is one of the most abundant metal elements in the earth’s crust, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. It’s naturally occurring in soil, air and water. Food is the main way people are exposed to aluminum. The average adult eats about 7 to 9 milligrams of aluminum per day, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 

    A baby in its first six months might receive a total of about 4.4 milligrams of aluminum from recommended vaccines. In the same period of time, a breastfed infant would ingest about 7 milligrams of aluminum from breastmilk and a formula-fed baby would ingest about 38 milligrams from formula. 

    Q: How long have vaccines contained aluminum? 

    A: Aluminum adjuvants have been used in vaccines for more than 70 years, the CDC said. 

    “Aluminum is one of our oldest adjuvants, it’s been used in vaccines since the 1920s,” said Dr. Peter Hotez, a Baylor College of Medicine professor and codirector of Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development. 

    Q: How do we know it’s safe to include small amounts of aluminum in vaccines?

    A: Every vaccine’s safety and efficacy is tested in animal studies and human clinical trials before the U.S. Food and Drug Administration licenses it for public use. Every vaccine containing adjuvants has been tested and health agencies continuously monitor their safety, the CDC said.

    Over several decades of use, vaccines with aluminum adjuvants have been proven safe, the FDA said. 

    Vaccines containing aluminum have been “given to billions of people worldwide now,” said Dr. Kawsar Talaat, a professor at Johns Hopkins’ Bloomberg School of Public Health.

    A growing body of research has also found aluminum adjuvants don’t cause aluminum toxicity or other adverse outcomes.

    Q: Do aluminum adjuvants have any risks? 

    A: Rarely, some people have allergic reactions to aluminum in the same way they might have allergic reactions to other substances, Talaat said.

    In 2022, researchers published a retrospective, observational study on more than 325,000 children that found an association between vaccine-related aluminum exposure and persistent asthma. Association is not the same as causation, meaning the study did not prove a link between aluminum in vaccines and asthma. 

    Experts from the CDC and American Academy of Pediatrics encouraged more research on the subject because the backward-looking observational study didn’t prove causation and also had limitations — including that it excluded many children who developed asthma before they turned 2 years old. 

    A 2025 study found no increased risk of asthma associated with childhood exposure to aluminum-absorbed vaccines.

    Q: Which vaccines contain aluminum adjuvants? 

    A: At least 25 vaccines approved for use in the U.S. have aluminum adjuvants, the CDC says. That includes vaccines that protect against HPV, hepatitis A and B and diphtheria, tetanus, and acellular pertussis (whooping cough). 

    Q: Which vaccines do not contain aluminum adjuvants? 

    The CDC’s list of vaccines without adjuvants includes vaccines against COVID-19, Ebola, meningococcal, polio and rabies. Additionally, most seasonal flu shots and the vaccine against measles, mumps and rubella do not contain aluminum adjuvants. 

    Q: Can we remove aluminum from vaccines? 

    A: Not quickly. If it could be done at all, it would take years to develop, test and license new, aluminum-free vaccines. Many of the vaccines with aluminum adjuvants don’t have aluminum-free formulas.

    “A vaccine is licensed based on all of its ingredients and the exact manufacturing process,” Talaat said. “If you were to take an ingredient out of a vaccine, you would have to start all over with the clinical trials and the manufacturing, and it is highly possible that some of these vaccines wouldn’t work without the aluminum in there.”

    Although other adjuvants exist, they’re newer and often more scarce than aluminum, which is abundant. 

    An immediate ban on aluminum in vaccines would drastically reduce people’s ability to protect themselves and others against numerous diseases. 

    “I think we’d see outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases,” Talaat said. 

    Q: Why do people think aluminum in vaccines is causing autism? 

    A: A 2011 study said vaccines with aluminum adjuvants “may be a significant” contributing factor to the rising number of autism diagnoses in kids, Nature reported. 

    A year later, a World Health Organization vaccine safety committee called the 2011 study “seriously flawed.” The 2011 study and another by the same authors compared vaccines’ aluminum content and autism rates in several countries, the WHO group said, but that cannot be used to establish a causal relationship. 

    “We studied aluminum, and have no link between aluminum and autism,” Talaat said. 

    RELATED: No, vaccines do not contain unsafe amounts of aluminum for infants, research shows

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  • Can We Safely Use Melamine Dishes and Polyamide Plastic Utensils? | NutritionFacts.org

    Can We Safely Use Melamine Dishes and Polyamide Plastic Utensils? | NutritionFacts.org

    I recommend glass, ceramic, porcelain, or stainless steel tableware and wooden or stainless steel cooking utensils.

    Melamine is used to make a variety of hard plastic “food contact items such as cups, plates, bowls, and utensils because they are dishwasher safe, inexpensive, and durable.” If that word sounds familiar, it may be because melamine has also been added illegally to protein products to game the system to make it appear that “food commodities” like pet food contain more protein than they actually do. By 2007, more than a thousand potentially contaminatedpet food products were recalled after “the chemical was found to be a contaminant in wheat gluten used in those products,” but not before it caused disease and death in pets throughout North America. 

    “It is presumed that melamine was intentionally added by suppliers in China to falsely elevate the measured protein content and, hence, the monetary value of these products.” The pet food scandal was just the writing on the wall. The following year, “melamine was discovered to be the cause of an outbreak of urinary tract stones and renal failure” (kidney stones and kidney failure), affecting hundreds of thousands of infants and young children throughout China. “Investigations revealed that the compound was added illegally to powdered milk and baby formulas to falsify protein content.” 

    As I discuss in my video Are Melamine Dishes and Polyamide Plastic Utensils Safe?, in the United States, you can find it in food packaging and sneaking its way into animal feed. However, those using melamine dishware can be exposed directly, as it migrates straight into the food upon exposure to heat. In fact, “cooking spoons and crockery made of melamine resin are not suited for microwaves and cooking,” according to food safety authorities. Okay, but what if you never cook with it, fry with it, or microwave it? What if you just use melamine to eat out of? 

    In “A Crossover Study of Noodle Soup Consumption in Melamine Bowls and Total Melamine Excretion in Urine,” researchers measured the amount of melamine flowing through the study subjects’ bodies compared to eating the same soup out of ceramic bowls. Their findings? “Melamine tableware may release large amounts of melamine when used to serve high-temperature foods”—and not even hot foods. “Melamine migration can be detectable from daily-use melamine-made tableware, even in the low temperatures,” like just warm water. Why do we care? Because the level of melamine you’re exposed to “is significantly associated with kidney function deterioration in patients with early-stage CKD,” chronic kidney disease, in which even relatively “low melamine levels may cause a rapid decline in kidney function.” So, I would suggest glass, ceramic, porcelain, or stainless steel tableware instead. 

    What about polyamide utensils, common black plastic spoons, spatulas, and the like? All sorts of different plastic materials are used in kitchen utensils. Polyamide is “typically used for turners [spatulas] or ladles due to their high heat and oil resistance.” “However, components of this plastic can migrate from the utensils into the food and consequently be ingested by consumers.” Out of 33 utensils tested, nearly 1 in 3 exceeded the upper safety limit. The German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment “recommends that consumers keep contact with food as brief as possible when using PA [polyamide] kitchen gadgets, especially at high temperatures,” such as above the temperature at which we may drink hot tea or coffee. 

    A different survey of black plastic kitchen utensils found about a third contaminated with flame retardant chemicals. Why? Because it may be made from plastic recycled from electronic equipment that was impregnated with the stuff. Then, should you dip the polyamide utensil into oil, the chemicals can trickle out, suggesting that using such “utensils for frying may lead to considerable dietary exposure.”

    The black dye itself in some polyamide utensils can leach out, too. Eventually, with enough use, the levels drop, but it may take the equivalent of boiling the utensils for about a hundred hours before the dye leaking approaches safety levels. It’s probably just easier to use utensils that are wooden or stainless steel.

    This is the last in a three-part series of cookware videos. If you missed the others, check out Are Aluminum Pots, Bottles, and Foil Safe? and Stainless Steel or Cast Iron: Which Cookware Is Best? Is Teflon Safe?.

    It may not be safe to microwave melamine, but what about microwaving in general? See Are Microwaves Safe? and The Effects of Radiation Leaking from Microwave Ovens. 

    Michael Greger M.D. FACLM

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  • Is Stainless Steel or Cast Iron Cookware Best? Is Teflon Safe? | NutritionFacts.org

    Is Stainless Steel or Cast Iron Cookware Best? Is Teflon Safe? | NutritionFacts.org

    What is the best type of pots and pans to use?

    In my last video, I expressed concerns about the use of aluminum cookware. So, what’s the best type of pots and pans to use? As I discuss in my video Stainless Steel or Cast Iron: Which Cookware Is Best? Is Teflon Safe?, stainless steel is an excellent option. It’s the metal chosen for use “in applications where safety and hygiene are considered to be of the utmost importance, such as kitchenware.” But what about studies showing that the nickel and chromium in stainless steel, which keeps the iron in stainless unstained by rust, can leach into foods during cooking? The leaching only seems to occur when the cookware is brand new. “Metal leaching decreases with sequential cooking cycles and stabilizes after the sixth cooking cycle,” after the sixth time you cook with it. Under more common day-to-day conditions, the use of stainless steel pots is considered to be safe even for most people who are acutely sensitive to those metals. 

    A little leaching metal can even be a good thing in the case of straight iron, like a cast iron skillet, which can have the “beneficial effect” of helping to improve iron status and potentially reduce the incidence of iron deficiency anemia among children and women of reproductive age. The only caveat is that you don’t want to fry in cast iron. Frying isn’t healthy regardless of cookware type, but, at hot temperatures, vegetable oil can react with the iron to create trans fats. 

    What about using nonstick pans? Teflon, also known as polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), “is used as an inner coating material in nonstick cookware.” Teflon’s dark history was the subject of a 2019 movie called Dark Waters, starring Mark Ruffalo and Anne Hathaway. Employees in DuPont’s Teflon division started giving birth to babies with deformities before “DuPont removed all female staff” from the unit. Of course, the corporation buried it all, hiding it from regulators and the public. “Despite this significant history of industry knowledge” about how toxic some of the chemicals used to make Teflon were, it was able to keep it hidden until, eventually, it was forced to settle for more than half a billion dollars after one of the chemicals was linked to “kidney and testicular cancers, pregnancy-induced hypertension, ulcerative colitis, and high cholesterol.”

    “At normal cooking temperatures, PTFE-coated cookware releases various gases and chemicals that present mild to severe toxicity.” As you can see below and at 2:38 in my video, different gases are released at different temperatures, and their toxic effects have been documented. 

    You’ve heard of “canaries in the coal mine”? This is more like “canaries in the kitchen, as cooking with Teflon cookware is well known to kill pet birds,” and Teflon-coated heat lamp bulbs can wipe out half a flock of chickens. 

    “Apart from the gases released during heating the cooking pans, the coating itself starts damaging after a certain period. It is normally advised to use slow heating when cooking in Teflon-coated pans,” but you can imagine how consumers might ignore that. And, if you aren’t careful, some of the Teflon can start chipping off and make its way into the food, though the effects of ingestion are unknown.

    I could find only one study that looks at the potential human health effects of cooking with nonstick pots and pans. Researchers found that the use of nonstick cookware was associated with about a 50 percent increased risk of colorectal cancer, but that may be because of what they were cooking. “Non-stick cookware is used in hazardous cooking methods (i.e. broiling, frying, grilling or barbecuing) at high temperatures mainly for meat, poultry or fish,” in which carcinogenic heterocyclic amines (HCA) are formed from the animal protein. Then, the animal fat can produce another class of carcinogens called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH). Though it’s possible it was the Teflon itself, which contains suspected carcinogens like that C8 compound from the movie Dark Waters, also known as PFOA, perfluorooctanoic acid.

    “Due to toxicity concerns, PFOA has been replaced with other chemicals such as GenX, but these new alternatives are also suspected to have similar toxicity.” We’ve already so contaminated the Earth with it, though, that we can get it prepackaged in food before it’s even cooked, particularly in dairy products, fish, and other meat; now, “meat is the main source of human exposure” to these toxic pollutants. Of those, seafood is the worst. In a study of diets from around the world, fish and other seafood were “major contributors” of the perfluoroalkyl substances, as expected, given that everything eventually flows into the sea. Though the aquatic food chain is the “primary transfer mechanism” for these toxins into the human diet, “food stored or prepared in greaseproof packaging materials,” like microwave popcorn, may also be a source. 

    In 2019, Oral-B Glide dental floss was tested. Six out of 18 dental floss products researchers tested showed evidence of Teflon-type compounds. Did those who used those kinds of floss end up with higher levels in their bloodstream? Yes, apparently so. Higher levels of perfluorohexanesulfonic acid were found in Oral-B Glide flossers, as you can see below and at 5:28 in my video.

    There are a lot of environmental exposures in the modern world we can’t avoid, but we shouldn’t make things worse by adding them to consumer products. At least we have some power to “lower [our] personal exposure to these harmful chemicals.”

    This is the second in a three-video series on cookware. The first was Are Aluminum Pots, Bottles, and Foil Safe?, and the next is Are Melamine Dishes and Polyamide Plastic Utensils Safe?.

    What about pressure cooking? I covered that in Does Pressure Cooking Preserve Nutrients?.

    So, what is the safest way to prepare meat? See Carcinogens in Meat. 

    Michael Greger M.D. FACLM

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  • Can We Safely Use Aluminum Foil, Bottles, and Pots?  | NutritionFacts.org

    Can We Safely Use Aluminum Foil, Bottles, and Pots?  | NutritionFacts.org

    DNA damage is assessed in users of aluminum cookware.

    “Over the last decades, the toxicity of aluminum for humans has been heavily discussed and is still not completely clarified.” Those occupationally exposed to aluminum—for instance, in smelter plants—suffer from oxidative stress and free radicals that can damage their DNA. What about just using aluminum cookware? Articles like “Metal Exposures from Aluminum Cookware: An Unrecognized Public Health Risk in Developing Countries,” suggesting an “unrecognized public health risk,” were limited to the developing world where “cookware is made in informal shops by casting liquid aluminum melted from a collection of scrap metal,” including the likes of vehicle radiators, lead batteries, and computer parts, which is how you can get so much lead leaching into people’s food. 

    Then “The Relationship Between Plasma Aluminum Content, Lymphocyte DNA Damage, and Oxidative Status in Persons Using Aluminum Containers and Utensils Daily” was published, suggesting that aluminum itself may be harmful. Most of our aluminum exposure comes from processed junk food containing aluminum additives, “including those within some processed cheeses, baking powders, cake mixes, frozen dough, and pancake mixes.” However, about 20 percent of the daily intake of aluminum may come from aluminum cooking utensils, such as “pans, pots, kettles, and trays.” 

    Might this cause a problem? Researchers took blood from consumers who used aluminum cookware versus those who did not and found that not only did the aluminum users have twice the level of aluminum in their blood, as you can see below and at 1:33 in my video Are Aluminum Pots, Bottles, and Foil Safe?, but they had more free radical damage of their body fats and proteins. What’s more, the total antioxidant capacity of the bloodstream of those using aluminum cookware was compromised, so they suffered significantly more DNA damage. 

    Indeed, as you can see below and at 1:52 in my video, those with the highest levels of aluminum in their blood tended to suffer significantly more damage to their DNA. No surprise, since “aluminum is considered to be a pro-oxidant agent.”

    These folks weren’t just casually using aluminum pots, though. Specifically, they use them every day to cook and store acidic foods, like yogurt and tomato sauce, which can leach out more aluminum. But, even using “camping dishes,” which tend to be aluminum since it’s so light, for just one week, could greatly exceed the tolerable weekly intake guidelines, especially for children, if you incorporated something acidic, like marinating a fresh catch in lemon juice. Once in a while won’t make much difference, but these findings suggest that you may not want to cook in aluminum day in and day out. 

    What about aluminum drinking bottles? They’re nice and light, but children drinking two cups a day of tea or juice from them could exceed the tolerable aluminum exposure limit. So, out of an abundance of caution, safety authorities like the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment “recommend that consumers avoid the use of aluminum pots or dishes for acidic or salted foodstuffs such as apple sauce, rhubarb, tomato puree, or salt herring…thus prophylactically avoiding the ‘unnecessary ingestion’ of aluminum.” 

    What about aluminum foil? Wrapping and baking food in aluminum foil is a common culinary practice. The concern is that this could represent “a potentially hazardous source of aluminum in the human diet.” When put to the test, there was leakage of aluminum from the foil to the food, but the amount was so small that it would be more of an issue for small children or those suffering from diminished kidney function. 

    What about just wrapping food in foil to store it in the refrigerator? Only marginal increases in aluminum are seen—except when the food is in contact with the foil and, at the same time, certain other types of metal, such as stainless steel, which is largely iron. That sets up a battery and “can lead to tremendous food aluminum concentrations.” For example, as you can see below and at 4:34 in my video, the aluminum levels in a ham before and after a day coveredin foil are negligible; there’s hardly a bump in the foil-covered ham. But, if that same foil-wrapped ham sits on top of a steel tray or serving plate for a day, the aluminum levels in the ham shoot up.

    Finally, you know how aluminum foil is often glossy on one side and dull on the other? Which would be worse? Fish fillets were baked and grilled both ways, wrapped with the glossy side out versus the dull side out, and no significant difference was found.

    This is the first in a series of three videos on cookware. Stay tuned for Stainless Steel or Cast Iron: Which Cookware Is Best? Is Teflon Safe? and Are Melamine Dishes and Polyamide Plastic Utensils Safe?.

    I’ve discussed aluminum in antiperspirants, food, medications, and tea. Check out the related posts.

    Michael Greger M.D. FACLM

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  • KiiBOOM Presents a Trailblazer in Customizable Mechanical Keyboards in Loop Series – the Loop75

    KiiBOOM Presents a Trailblazer in Customizable Mechanical Keyboards in Loop Series – the Loop75

    The KiiBOOM team is excited to unveil its latest innovation, the Loop75, a model that marries stunning aesthetics with multi-functionality.


    NEW YORK, August 1, 2024 (Newswire.com)
    –
    KiiBOOM products are committed to meet the needs of both professionals and enthusiasts. The Loop series stayed aligned with the spirit by releasing the new Loop75. The Loop 75 challenges the norms of design and functionality, serving not only as a highly effective tool but also as an inspiring piece of craftsmanship.

    Programmable Functionality with QMK/VIA

    Featuring a compact design, the Loop 75 minimizes desk space usage while maximizing utility. As enthusiasts delve deeper into the world of mechanical keyboards, customization emerges as an essential element that simply cannot be overlooked. The KiiBOOM Loop75 excels in both aesthetic appeal and practical functionality. It supports extensive customization through QMK and VIA, renowned online open-programming platforms, allowing users to modify their keyboard’s features to fit their specific needs perfectly. Moreover, the Loop 75’s design prioritizes a sleek and tidy desk setup, enhancing both the visual and operational aspects of the user’s workspace. With its robust build and versatile features, the Loop75 is ideal for both keyboard enthusiasts and those who appreciate meticulous design in their peripherals.

    Innovative Designed Structure with Annodized Technique

    Crafted from 6063 aluminum and finished with an anodization technique, the Loop75 maintains its metallic texture while increasing durability and color longevity. The Loop75 features a unique block structure with a splicing design, which artfully combines several metal pieces, each with special carvings in various colorways, to form the robust and aesthetically pleasing keyboard case. This innovative design not only adds a touch of enjoyment but also elevates the DIY aspect, making customization both enjoyable and accessible. Tracing back to earlier KiiBOOM products, innovation has always been a cornerstone of the brand. The KiiBOOM team consistently brings creativity and innovation to the forefront of the mechanical keyboard industry. 

    Hot-swappable and Enhanced Acoustic Performance 

    The KiiBOOM Loop75 includes a hot-swappable PCB for easy switch replacements without soldering, accommodating both 3-pin and 5-pin switches. It integrates a gasket structure with a flex-cut Fr4 plate, enhancing both key sound and typing comfort. Packed with sound-dampening materials, it significantly boosts performance, while the cherry profile dye-sub PBT keycaps in a gradient color scheme create a vibrant and distinct appearance.

    Robust Connectivity and Battery Life

    Optimized for multitasking across both Windows and Mac OS, the Loop 75 offers a seamless user experience. It features a robust 4,000mAh battery that supports prolonged use and provides three connectivity modes: wired USB, wireless Bluetooth, and 2.4GHz wireless, with Bluetooth capable of connecting to up to three devices simultaneously.

    Price and availability

    The KiiBOOM Loop75 is fully available on both the official website and Amazon Store. The keyboard has two color options offered. The price goes to $169.99. Different color, same price.

    For more information, please visit:

    KiiBOOM Official Website

    Contact us

    marketing@kiiboom.com 

    Source: KiiBOOM

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  • KiiBOOM Releases Loop65 – an Innovative Designed Customizable Mechanical Keyboard

    KiiBOOM Releases Loop65 – an Innovative Designed Customizable Mechanical Keyboard

    Embracing the aesthetic and functionality, the KiiBOOM team proudly presents its new edition


    NEW YORK, August 1, 2024 (Newswire.com)
    –
    The KiiBOOM team is thrilled to announce its latest masterpiece, Loop65. KiiBOOM products reflect a commitment to pushing the boundaries of design and functionality, ensuring that users have not only a tool that meets their needs but also a piece of art that inspires creativity – the Loop65 is no exception.

    Functional Layout Programmable by QMK/VIA

    The KiiBOOM Loop 65 boasts a compact layout, ensuring a minimal footprint without compromising on functionality. As enthusiasts delve deeper into the world of mechanical keyboards, customization emerges as an essential element that simply cannot be overlooked. The KiiBOOM Loop 65 excels in both aesthetic appeal and practical functionality, particularly through its support for customization via the renowned online open-programming sources, QMK and VIA. This feature allows users to tailor their keyboard’s functionality to suit their specific needs, ensuring that each keystroke is both satisfying and efficient. 

    Anodized Aluminum Case in Splicing Designed Block structure

    The Loop65 is constructed with 6063 aluminum and finished with an anodization technique. This method preserves the natural metallic texture and enhances the durability and color fidelity of the keyboard. The Loop 65 features a unique block structure with a splicing design, which artfully combines several metal pieces, each with special carvings in various colorways, to form the robust and aesthetically pleasing keyboard case. This innovative design not only adds a touch of enjoyment but also elevates the DIY aspect, making customization both enjoyable and accessible. Tracing back to earlier KiiBOOM products, innovation has always been a cornerstone of the brand. The KiiBOOM team consistently brings creativity and innovation to the forefront of the mechanical keyboard industry. 

    Hot-swappability in Gasket Structure with Gradient Keycap 

    The KiiBOOM Loop65 features a hot-swappable PCB, allowing users to effortlessly interchange mechanical switches, whether 3-pin or 5-pin, without the need for soldering. This enhances the customization experience significantly. Additionally, the keyboard integrates a gasket structure with a flex-cut Fr4 plate, providing exceptional key sound and comfort during typing. It is also packed with various sound-dampening materials to notably enhance its performance. Moreover, the keyboard comes equipped with a cherry profile dye-sub PBT keycap set in a gradient color scheme, offering a vibrant and unique appearance.

    Triple-mode Connectivity Accompanied by 4000mAh Battery

    The KiiBOOM Loop65 excels in multitasking across Windows and Mac OS, ensuring a seamless user experience. It features a durable 4,000mAh battery for extended use and offers versatile connectivity options including wired USB, wireless Bluetooth, and 2.4GHz wireless. Its Bluetooth functionality allows simultaneous connection with up to three devices.

    Price and availability

    The KiiBOOM Loop65 is fully available on both the official website and the Amazon Store. The keyboard has two color options offered. The price goes to $159.99. Different color, same price.

    For more information, please visit:

    KiiBOOM Official Website

    Contact us

    marketing@kiiboom.com

    Source: KiiBOOM

    Source link

  • KiiBOOM Unveils Revolutionary New Mechanical Keyboard: Blending Design Innovation With Customizability

    KiiBOOM Unveils Revolutionary New Mechanical Keyboard: Blending Design Innovation With Customizability

    Devoted to bringing fashion and aesthetic products to the world, KiiBOOM launches the latest mechanical keyboard series that embraces the aesthetic and functionality – The Loop series


    NEW YORK, June 20, 2024 (Newswire.com)
    –
    KiiBOOM is excited to announce the launch of its latest innovation, the Loop Keyboard. This groundbreaking product is engineered for avid tech enthusiasts and professionals alike, delivering unprecedented functionality in a compact form.

    Blending Innovation with Aesthetic

    The KiiBOOM Loop series boasts a compact layout, ensuring a minimal footprint without compromising on functionality. Delve into mechanical keyboards, customization is what cannot be overlooked. The KiiBOOM Loop series keyboard embraces the aesthetic and functionality by its availability in compatibility with open-programming source QMK/VIA. KiiBOOM Loop series has Loop 65 and Loop 75 prepared. Being customizable with QMK/VIA, Loop 65 and Loop 75 ensures a seamless workflow while containing the desk setup aesthetic.

    Aluminum Block Structure with Anodized Finish

    The Loop series keyboard is constructed with 6063 Aluminum finished by anodization technique. This finishing maintains the metallic texture while staying true to the original color. The KiiBOOM Loop series keyboard is designed in a block structure, with 2 different color combinations joined together. This aesthetic and innovative design subtly adds enjoyment to the mechanical keyboard. Furthermore, the keyboard is equipped with the cherry profile dye-sub PBT keycap set in a gradient color scheme, creating a lively and distinctive outlook. 

    Hot-swappable PCB in Gasket Structure with Sound Dampening Materials

    Customization is an indispensable feature of a mechanical keyboard. The KiiBOOM Loop series keyboard is undoubtedly equipped with a hot-swappable PCB so that users can easily swap switches to have the customization experience without the soldering issue. Combining the bouncy gasket structure with a flex-cut Fr4 plate, the keyboard offers superior key sound and typing comfort. Filled with various sound-dampening materials, the keyboard performance has been significantly enhanced. 

    Triple-mode Connectivity Accompanied by 4000mAh Battery

    The KiiBOOM Loop series keyboard excels at multitasking across different operating systems, including Windows and Mac OS, offering a seamless user experience. The Loop 65 model features a robust 4,000mAh battery that provides long-lasting power and exceptional endurance. Additionally, the KiiBOOM Loop keyboard offers versatile triple-mode connectivity options: wired USB, wireless Bluetooth, and 2.4GHz wireless. Its Bluetooth capability enables the keyboard to connect with up to three devices at the same time

    Price and availability

    To give back the heartfelt support, the KiiBOOM team has released a $1 Reservation Card for Loop 65. Users who bought the card will get a free puller tool and a voucher that is valued at $10 The voucher can be used to purchase the product when the keyboard is officially launched.

    For more information, please visit:

    KiiBOOM Official Website

    $1 Reservation card

    Contact us

    marketing@kiiboom.com

    Source: KiiBOOM

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  • Key Things To Know About Hemp And Marijuana Drinks

    Key Things To Know About Hemp And Marijuana Drinks

    Hemp and marijuana beverages represent about $4 billion in sales and are only going to get bigger.  Tasty, intoxicating, and available in most states, here are some key things to know about hemp and marijuana drinks. You might enjoy either or both, but where, how and what happens varies between the two.

    RELATED: Are CBD Drinks Legal?

    Hemp or CBD drinks are created by infusing hemp extract, derived from the cannabis plant, into a liquid base. The most popular hemp-infused drinks include water, juice, tea, and coffee. One of the big differences between marijuana and hemp drinks is the “high”. With  Delta-9 hemp, consumers tend to have a more intense experience and comes on faster than THC.  It is a euphoric high when altered sensory perception and a sense of relaxation.

    Photo by MysteryShot/Getty Images

    THC or marijuana drinks require digestion (like an edible) for the THC to hit the bloodstream. It takes between 15-20 minutes to kick in, with the effects peaking after approximately 45 minutes. The high from marijuana beverage can be unpredictable, and potentially more intense.

    Another big difference is 47 of the 50 U.S. states and DC have legalized the sale and use of hemp-derived CBD products. Bayou City in Texas is a huge brand which sales in mainstream retailers.  Cannabis drinks, a growing market but still way behind gummies, can only be purchased in the 24 legal recreational states.

    RELATED: Do CBD Gummies Actually Work?

    Additional scientists determined liners inside aluminum cans cause the drinks to lose their potency. These liners are used for different reasons, among them extending the product’s shelf life, preventing the corrosion of the can and, most importantly, protecting the flavor of the drinks themselves. Without these liners, the natural metallic taste of aluminum would seep into the drinks.

    “Our theory is the cannabis material, the droplets, will stick to the liner and cling on it. When you open the can to take a drink, it will lose its potency,” said Vertosa founder, Harold Han.

    Terry Hacienda

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  • Stylish Rain Gutters in Corten Steel, Aluminum, and Zinc by Jespersen Nødtvedt

    Stylish Rain Gutters in Corten Steel, Aluminum, and Zinc by Jespersen Nødtvedt

    Add this to the long list of small details that, if given some thought, can yield big curb appeal: rain gutters. Chances are you haven’t spent much time Googling cool eavestroughs and downspouts, but perhaps you should. We recently spotted on Instagram super-chic rain gutters—modern, angular, clean-lined, in COR-TEN steel—and decided to do a little digging into the architecture firm behind the design.

    Turns out, those unique rain gutters aren’t a one-off for Jespersen Nødtvedt. The Danish-Norwegian studio always makes sure to pay special attention to the design and placement of these exterior drainage features. When we reached out to founders Emil Jespersen and Marte Nødtvedt Skjæggestad to find out why, their response was simple: “We like gutters a lot. There’s just something magical about working with water and you can articulate certain places in the architecture with a special gesture at the entrance.”

    Here are three of their projects with stylish rain gutters:

    Photography courtesy of Jespersen Nødtvedt.

    COR-TEN Steel Rain Gutter

    This is the image on Instagram that first captured our attention.
    Above: This is the image on Instagram that first captured our attention.

    The COR-TEN steel gutter was designed for a garden shed.
    Above: The COR-TEN steel gutter was designed for a garden shed.

    From the project description: “The corten steel details are welded together with standard flat and U-shaped profiles, with the resulting kinks and overhangs leading the water out over the wood and into the gutter, and finally down the cylindrical downpipe.”
    Above: From the project description: “The corten steel details are welded together with standard flat and U-shaped profiles, with the resulting kinks and overhangs leading the water out over the wood and into the gutter, and finally down the cylindrical downpipe.”

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  • UK finance chief warns Trump: Return to protectionism a ‘profound mistake’

    UK finance chief warns Trump: Return to protectionism a ‘profound mistake’

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    DAVOS, Switzerland — Britain’s top finance minister Jeremy Hunt has warned Donald Trump that a return to U.S. protectionism would be a “profound mistake” if he wins the U.S. election in November.

    Speaking during a press briefing at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Hunt hit out at the Republican party frontrunner’s proposal for a universal tariff on all goods imported into the U.S.

    Asked by POLITICO if he was concerned about the impact on the U.K. economy “if the U.S. elects a protectionist candidate for president like Donald Trump”, Hunt replied: “I don’t support protectionist measures. I think they harm the people who introduce them as much as the people they are aimed at.”

    Hunt argued that a “huge flourishing of global trade” has helped to lessen poverty around the world, adding: “It would be a profound mistake to move back to protectionism.”

    In an interview with Fox News in August last year, Trump floated an automatic 10 percent tariff on all goods imported to the U.S.

    During his first term as U.S. president, Trump imposed tariffs on steel and aluminum imports and declared that “trade wars are good, and easy to win.”

    Hunt’s comments will be seen as a direct rebuke of the U.S. Republican frontrunner, who has had a mixed relationship with senior U.K. politicians in the past.

    Trump was known to hold a low opinion of former PM Theresa May, whom he undermined during her time in Downing Street. The former president was closer to her successor Boris Johnson, however — even giving Johnson his private phone number.

    Zachary Warmbrodt and Andrew McDonald

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  • Alcoa’s stock rocked after unexpected CEO transition

    Alcoa’s stock rocked after unexpected CEO transition

    Shares of Alcoa Corp. slumped to a multiyear low Monday as the aluminum company said that Roy Harvey had been replaced as chief executive officer after seven years in the role.

    The company named William Oplinger as president and CEO, effective Sunday. Oplinger had served as Alcoa’s chief operations officer since February and before that as chief financial officer since November 2016.

    Alcoa’s stock
    AA,
    -5.20%
    dropped 5.1% in morning trading. That put it on track for the lowest close since March 1, 2021. It has tumbled 18% over the past three months and plunged 40.8% year to date, while the S&P 500
    SPX
    has rallied 12.8% this year.

    “In our opinion, investors have expressed concern around cash flow and the company’s medium to long-term outlook,” B. Riley analyst Lucas Pipes wrote in a note to clients. “While the timing of the transition is somewhat unexpected, we believe Mr. Oplinger is the most well-positioned candidate for the CEO role.”

    Harvey had been CEO since the company completed its separation from Arconic Inc. in November 2016. Arconic was acquired by Apollo Global Management Inc.
    APO,
    +1.55%
    in a deal that was completed in August 2023.

    “The transition of the president and CEO roles reflects the company’s succession planning process,” Alcoa said in a statement.

    “Our board believes Bill’s extensive experience with Alcoa makes him well-positioned to carry the company forward,” said Steven Williams, Alcoa’s board chair.

    B. Riley’s Pipes said that as Alcoa has faced challenging aluminum markets in recent quarters, and given the troubles associated with approvals of mine plans in Australia, he believes the change in leadership reflects the company’s desire to reposition its asset base for stronger cash-flow generation.

    “While Mr. Harvey has successfully transformed Alcoa in recent years, particularly as [Alcoa] has aggressively deleveraged, we believe the transition will be viewed favorably by investors,” Pipes wrote.

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