According to Covestro, the warmer weather and more relaxed corona restrictions are drawing people outside – and more and more of them onto their bikes. There are plenty of reasons for this: exercise and fitness, fresh air and the opportunity to get out of the house or to avoid having to wear masks on public transport. Going shopping by bike or exploring one's surroundings could be a joy if it weren't for the many stones, shards of glass, nails and other sharp objects that will turn a perfectly good tyre into a flat mess, said the company.

BASF’s Master Builders Solutions brand has launched the colour-stable Ucrete CS heavy-duty polyurethane industrial resin flooring system across Europe. ‘CS’ stands for ‘colour stable’ and describes the system’s new benefit: enhanced colour stability. According to the company, this feature is achieved by advanced UV stability, reducing yellowing, even if the floor is exposed to intensive UV light for many years. In addition, the discolouration of the surface due to chemical stress is minimised. Thanks to the system’s advanced colour stability, Ucrete CS is said to set a new benchmark for aesthetic requirements in highly challenging environments, especially in the food and beverage sector.

The cyber security company Kaspersky has a strong interest in supporting technological solutions and innovations that can help remove debris from low Earth orbit and make space exploration safe for future generations. The company supports StartRocket, a startup developing a technology that can clean up space debris, and aims to draw attention to what is a growing problem.

Arlanxeo announced the successful completion of its first 24-hour online Technical Marathon. 24 Arlanxeo professionals deployed an equal number of presentations during a live interactive discussion with an international audience.

According to Siempelkamp, at the end of April 2019, a US customer placed its first order for an SMC composites press system with the company. The successful acceptance took place on 6 March 2020 – after a project course in record time.

Lita Ocean, a leading shipbuilding and marine services company in Singapore, recently built six patrol crafts ordered by the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore. To efficiently minimise noise and vibrations in the wheelhouses of the 17 m long vessels, the naval architects and engineers relied on the elastic polyurethane material Sylomer from Getzner Werkstoffe.

The demand for test swabs for nasal and throat swab tests continues to grow strongly due to Covid 19. Injection moulding machine manufacturer Engel Austria and Hack Formenbau are jointly providing an integrated system solution and process technology consulting for plastics processors to launch high-volume production of two-component test swabs with a short lead time.

Wanhua Chemical has donated 400 kg TPU materials to produce 3D-printed face-mask holders for the frontline responders, cooperating with Peak Sports.

PolyOne has announced the launch of Barricade elastomers, the newest addition to its specialty elastomer portfolio. Based on Fortrex technology licensed from Cooper Standard, this crosslinkable elastomer offers according to PolyOne high-temperature compression set performance, easier processing, and a lighter weight solution when compared to conventional TPVs, silicones, and thermoset rubbers.

There are numerous methods to measure filler dispersion in rubber compounds. Kylie Knipp from Akron Rubber Development Laboratory has compared three of them in the current issue of RFP Rubber Fibres Platics 02 2020: Phillips Dispersion test, Dispergrader test, and nSpec 3D topography scan. A simple SBR compound was selected and five different fillers were evaluated. The paper will briefly discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the three different dispersion measurement techniques.