Editor’s notice: Intermedia college students’ nanocellulose artwork can be on public show on Aug. 24 from 4:30–6:30 p.m. on the Wells Convention Heart.
Nanocellulose is a malleable materials. In a mix that’s 97% water, nanocellulose appears to be like like yogurt or paste. When freeze-dried, it has the consistency of Styrofoam. Totally dried, it’s like a plastic tile.
The College of Maine is on the chopping fringe of growing and utilizing nanocellulose for scientific functions on the Course of Improvement Heart. Now, because of a partnership with Intermedia Packages, UMaine is forging a brand new frontier of utilizing nanocellulose in artwork.
Graduate college students in Intermedia Packages have partnered with the Course of Improvement Heart to make use of nanocellulose as materials for artwork and inventive tasks. The collaboration not solely offers artists a unhazardous and modern materials to experiment with — one which may be utilized by much more artists sooner or later — but in addition could assist scientists study extra about this cutting-edge materials.
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Colleen Walker, director of the Course of Improvement Heart, says it began when artists started calling her lab asking if they may purchase nanocellulose. It wasn’t a rare ask; the middle commonly distributes samples like this for analysis functions. Walker says that due to its manufacturing capabilities, the ability is without doubt one of the solely ones on the planet that distributes nanocellulose by the pound (normally at a fee of $75 for a pound’s value in a 5-gallon bucket).
“There are corporations on the business facet that promote know-how so organizations can produce their very own materials. This, nevertheless, is a multimillion greenback funding,” Walker says. “We bridge that hole. We usually make 300 kilos of dry materials in a batch, however will be capable to produce two to 4 tons a day with our new system.”
Nonetheless, Walker began noticing a sample of artists asking for nanocellulose. Even the analysis supervisor on the Course of Improvement Heart, Donna Johnson, had experimented with the fabric in her personal inventive pursuits in jewellery, material artwork and dyes.
Then, one fateful day, in walked Augusta Sparks Farnum, a graduate pupil in Intermedia Research, searching for nanocellulose to make use of in her assignments.
Farnum had been making artwork for many years earlier than she joined the Intermedia Research program, however mentioned she had not too long ago felt jaded concerning the artwork world, particularly the shortage of sustainability of artwork supplies and practices. When she realized about nanocellulose in all its biodegradable, unhazardous glory, she snapped out of that feeling.
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“I may make one thing and if it didn’t work and as an alternative of hauling it round for the remainder of my life I may put it again within the forest and it could decompose,” Farnum says. “Coming from the artwork world, that’s not true of most issues. You’re coping with plastics and chemical substances. Nanocellulose is an excellent reward.”
As a substitute of merely sending Farnum on her approach along with her bucket of nanocellulose, Walker began asking questions on utilizing nanocellulose in artwork — and the way the Course of Improvement Heart may proceed to assist the partnership develop.
Quickly, the Intermedia division was rustling with talks of this new materials. Across the identical time, College of Forest Assets professor Aaron Weiskittel had featured nanocellulose in a presentation he made for sophistication in this system.
“I feel what actually drew us to it was the concept of the historical past of Maine and its hyperlink to forestry,” says Susan Smith, director of Intermedia Packages at UMaine. “We nonetheless have this large potential for a inexperienced economic system for forest merchandise. The concept of chance was actually what attracted us, in addition to the truth that it was a model new materials. Artists naturally wish to play with supplies and experiment.”
Smith formalized the partnership between the Intermedia Program and the Course of Improvement Heart, which donated buckets of nanocellulose to the artists to make use of. Smith thinks that the Intermedia Program is the right place for such experimentation, as its mission is to pursue “research-based artwork.”
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“The main target has actually been on shifting out of our silos and dealing collaboratively throughout campus,” Smith says. “Usually the function of artwork is to visualise science, however that may be reciprocal. We will study from one another. If we’re going to resolve issues we’re going to need to work collectively. It’s nice that individuals now have been open to these collaborations.”
Smith coordinated a tour of the Course of Improvement Heart for Intermedia college students with a purpose to study extra about nanocellulose from the scientists who’re finding out it, like these UMaine researchers who’re creating recyclable meals containers from the fabric.
The artists had been enthralled — and couldn’t wait to get their arms on some nanocellulose for their very own artistic tasks.
“This offers a chance for artwork that’s sustainable, but in addition native,” Smith says. “Our dependence on unsustainable processes should change, and with this analysis, we’re in a position to help the Course of Improvement Heart analysis, but in addition suppose by way of improvements with our personal processes.”
The Course of Improvement Heart donated buckets of nanocellulose to the artists, who all had completely different concepts of what they’d use it for. Smith says that she makes use of it as a unhazardous binder for pure pigment for her printmaking, which is preferable to people who are petroleum-based or made from acrylic polymers. Farnum experiments with cellulose armatures. Utilizing instruments of her artwork follow, she utilized paint, in addition to silver, gold and aluminum leaf. Furthering the fabric’s innate luminosity, she has been including a bi-product of seaweed to the nanocellulose which dries into ethereal shapes that catch the sunshine just-so when held on the wall.
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“If you happen to have a look at it carefully, the nanocellulose appears to be like like pores and skin or bone,” Farnum marvels. “We have now this collaborative relationship. Typically it says, ‘Oh, you thought I used to be completed drying? Effectively, I’m not, and now I’m going to do that.’ I’m nonetheless within the experimenting stage.”
Alex Rose, one other intermedia graduate pupil, has been utilizing nanocellulose as a coating for textiles and fibers. The dried nanocellulose offers recycled T-shirt strips a way of gravity, and makes naturally-dyed materials look foggy and contorts it right into a crispy wafer.
“It’s actually attention-grabbing as a result of it’s very mysterious in how the tip product can be,” Rose says. “There’s a way of childlike shock. It’s form of stepping again all through the method and seeing what the fabric is saying it needs to do. It seems like a discovery each time you attempt one thing new.”
The artists have been in a position to study issues about nanocellulose that they will share with the researchers, too. For instance, although nanocellulose itself doesn’t mildew by itself, whether it is contaminated in any approach, mildew can develop. Farnum realized this firsthand when experimenting with the fabric in a barn at her home with a black mildew infestation.
“An artist is a researcher with a unique algorithm,” Farnum laughs.
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The artists will show their works on the PDC Cellulose Nanomaterials Discussion board Aug. 23–25. Walker sees this as a possible debut for utilizing nanocellulose in artwork extra broadly.
“We hope that sooner or later quickly Maine can be offering this materials to artists all all over the world,” Walker says. “This collaboration is a wonderful solution to broaden the analysis group working with this distinctive materials.”
As for the artists — whether or not they’re sculpting, experimenting with dyes or mixing media — their exploration with nanocellulose has simply begun.
“I’m so in it,” Farnum says. “I’m excited concerning the alternative to indicate the work on the finish of the summer season, however come on — I want 5 extra years! The work retains altering. Simply final evening I used to be researching new recipes and processes. Plenty of them fail and a number of them present me one thing else. I’ve so many extra instructions I wish to go along with it. That is only the start.”
Contact: Sam Schipani, samantha.schipani@maine.edu
Maine State Police responded to more than 50 crashes and road slide-offs Saturday after southern Maine woke up to some light snowfall.
Police were responding to several crashes on the Maine Turnpike (Interstate 95) and Interstate 295 south of Augusta, state police said in a Facebook message posted around 10 a.m. Saturday.
Maine State Police spokesperson Shannon Moss said that as of early Saturday afternoon, more than 50 crashes had been reported on the turnpike and I-295.
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“The Turnpike has seen 24 crashes and slide offs primarily between Kittery and Falmouth with a higher concentration in Saco,” Moss wrote in an email. “The interstate has seen about 30 crashes and slide offs also in the Falmouth area but now in Lincoln and heading north.”
Moss said no injuries have been reported in any of the crashes.
“So far it appears visibility and driving too fast for road conditions are the causation factors,” Moss said.
State police reminded drivers to take caution, especially during snowy conditions, in the Facebook post.
“Please drive with extra care and give yourself plenty of space between you and the other vehicles on the roadway,” the post said. “Give the MDOT and Turnpike plows extra consideration and space to do their jobs to clear the roadway. Drive slow, plan for the extra time to get to your destination and be safe.”
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New rules that went into effect in August changing who pays real estate commissions have resulted in more paperwork and some anxiety for home buyers and sellers but have had little, if any, impact on home prices in the state’s hot real estate market.
The changes, which stem from a settlement in a lawsuit accusing real estate agents of conspiring to keep their commissions high, altered the way commission fees are set nationally.
For decades, most home sales in the United States have included a commission fee, typically between 5 and 6 percent of the sale price.
The typical Maine home went for around $400,000 this fall. A 5 to 6 percent commission on a $400,000 home would be between $20,000 and $24,000, split between the agents for the buyer and the seller.
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Before the changes in August, the split for each agent was predetermined by the seller, who paid the fee for both agents. That usually resulted in fees being baked into the list price of a home.
In some states (although not in Maine) agents were able to search the multiple listing service, a catalogue of homes for sale, by the commission split, which critics said incentivized agents to steer clients toward more expensive properties with higher commissions.
Now, fees are negotiated sale-by-sale. Buyers and sellers are now each responsible for paying their own agents, meaning a buyer may have to come with more cash up front if a seller doesn’t want to pay the commission fee for a buyer’s agent. Sellers are also no longer allowed to include commission fees in their listings.
Tacy Ridlon, a listing agent with Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate The Masiello Group in Ellsworth, who has been in real estate for 32 years, said it is a bit jarring to have a conversation with buyers about whether they are willing to pay part of their agent’s commission.
Once the commission is established and the agreement signed, she said, the buyer’s agent then approaches the seller’s agent to see what part of their commission the seller is willing to cover, if any.
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Ridlon said 3 percent for the buyer’s agent is a typical starting point.
“We have to start high. If the seller is willing to offer 2 percent for the buyer’s agent, then our buyer only has to pay one percent… If the seller is not offering anything, then we ask the buyer to pay a certain amount. Some can pay and some can’t. For some it’s very difficult because they don’t have a lot of money to play around with.”
The change has resulted in some confusion for many buyers and even some agents around the country, as rules differ from state-to-state. Photo by Kate Cough.
Some agents said they found the changes minimal; others find the paperwork and negotiating with buyers daunting. One agency owner said the ruling has done little to bring prices down.
“This ruling has done nothing to save buyers or sellers any money,” said Billy Milliken, a designated broker and owner of Bold Coast Properties, LLC, in Jonesport. “If anything, it’s made the cost of buying a home even more expensive.”
Milliken said his sellers have had no problem agreeing to pay both buyers’ and sellers’ commissions. The cost has been embedded in the price of the property.
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“The real loser is first time home buyers who are not educated in buying a home and also have limited cash resources,” said Milliken. “It puts them at a disadvantage.”
The change has resulted in some confusion for many buyers and even some agents around the country, as rules differ from state-to-state.
People are slowly getting used to the changes, said Monet Yarnell, president of the Midcoast Board of Realtors, who owns her own agency, Sell 207 in Belfast, adding that Maine’s real estate practices were already more transparent than many other areas of the country.
“I think it was a little confusing in the beginning, more doom and gloom,” said Yarnell. But sellers are still incentivized to offer something to the buyers’ agents, she said. And the changes have increased the level of communication between agents and their clients.
“It’s more how the money flows rather than the actual dollars.”
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Ridlon, in Ellsworth, said she has been fortunate that most sellers have offered some compensation toward the buyer’s agent commission. “I have not had a buyer who can’t do the 3 percent.”
Ridlon had one seller who was not willing to pay any part of the buyer’s agent’s commission. The property had a lot of showings, but many of the buyers asked for closing costs to be covered or for concessions in lieu of picking up part of the commission.
“That didn’t really work for my seller either,” she said. “Then he relented and said he would pay one percent.”
The property sold.
Debbie Walter sold her condominium in Stockton Springs via Yarnell and then bought another condominium in New London, N.H., with another real estate agent.
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“We’re kind of guinea pigs,” said Walter. “We were very concerned about that whole piece, both as sellers and buyers.”
Fearful the sale of their house might not proceed smoothly the couple readily agreed to pay a 3 percent commission for the buyer’s agent.
When they made their offer to buy the condominium in N.H., they offered as buyers to cover their buyer’s agent’s commission as well. But the seller in that case took an equally cautious approach and offered to cover 2.5 percent of the buyer’s agent’s commission, which Walters’ agent accepted.
“It was very stressful,” Walter said. Offering to cover their buyer’s agent’s commission, she said, created “one less headache for the whole closing procedure.”
Tom McKee, president of the Maine Realtors Association, said the settlement and new rules have had little impact.
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“It hasn’t changed anything for me,” said McKee, who is with Keller Williams in Portland. Now that the commission split is no longer listed in the M.L.S., said McKee, “there are just more questions in the transaction.”
McKee said there is no set percentage, that everything is negotiable.
“If we do our job right and are meeting with the client first, they already understand.”
The Maine Supreme Judicial Court has proposed new rules governing judicial conduct complaints that would keep members of the high court from having to discipline their peers.
The proposed rules would establish a panel of eight judges — the four most senior active Superior Court justices and the four most senior active District Court judges who are available to serve — to weigh complaints against a justice of the Maine Supreme Judicial Court. Members of the high court would not participate.
The rule changes come just weeks after the Committee on Judicial Conduct recommended the first sanction against a justice on the Maine Supreme Judicial Court in state history.
The committee said Justice Catherine Connors should be publicly reprimanded, the lowest level of sanction, for failing to recuse herself in two foreclosure cases last year that weakened protections for homeowners in Maine, despite a history of representing banks that created a possible conflict of interest. Connors represented or filed on behalf of banks in two precedent-setting cases that were overturned by the 2024 decisions.
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In Maine, it’s up to the Supreme Judicial Court to decide the outcome of judicial disciplinary cases. But because in this case one of the high court’s justices is accused of wrongdoing, the committee recommended following the lead of several other states by bringing in a panel of outside judges, either from other levels of the court or from out of state.
Connors, however, believes the case should be heard by her colleagues on the court, according to a response filed late last month by her attorney, James Bowie.
Bowie argued that the outcome of the case will ultimately provide guidance for the lower courts — a power that belongs exclusively to the state supreme court.
It should not, he wrote, be delegated “to some other ad hoc grouping of inferior judicial officers.”
The court is accepting comments on the proposal until Jan. 23. The changes, if adopted, would be effective immediately and would apply to pending matters, including the Connors complaint.
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