Patents

Prive Products of Dallas has received a newly granted patent for making degradable drinking straws made of ice or other frozen liquids. Invented by Thomas Surgent, the setup uses tubes extending into a reservoir and a connecting bar that directs hot and cold fluid into the tubes to form an ice straw with a hollow cavity for sipping—cooling the drink as it’s used. [Composite image: Sources, USPTO Patent #12484726, Fig. 5a; DI Studio]

[Image: Visual Generation/istockphoto]

Supernal—the Advanced Air Mobility company of Hyundai Motor Group—has received a newly granted patent (USPTO #12420922) for systems and methods supporting vertical take-off and landing aircraft. The patent, invented by Dallas-based William Kyle Heironimus, describes a craft with tilting proprotors and lift surfaces that transition between vertical and horizontal flight, improving efficiency and stability for electric air mobility. [Image: Supernal AY-24 exterior render, 2024]

Researchers at UT Dallas used an enzyme called TdT to create unique genetic "fingerprints" inside living cells—a breakthrough in biosecurity that could help biotech companies verify cell identity and prevent counterfeiting. The technique, published in Advanced Science, increases randomness in DNA repair to generate one-of-a-kind markers. This cropped image shows a key step—Pol X’s role in the process. [Source: Figure 1, TdT (1D) PUF/Advanced Science]