Thursday 3 October 2013

Graphene-based discs ensure safe storage

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(Phys.org) —Swinburne University of Technology researchers have shown the potential of a new material for transforming secure optical information storage.



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Astronomers observe distant galaxy powered by primordial cosmic fuel

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(Phys.org) —Astronomers have detected cold streams of primordial hydrogen, vestigial matter left over from the Big Bang, fueling a distant star-forming galaxy in the early Universe. Profuse flows of gas onto galaxies are believed to be crucial for explaining an era 10 billion years ago, when galaxies were copiously forming stars. To make this discovery, the astronomers – led by Neil Crighton of the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy and Swinburne University – made use of a cosmic coincidence: a bright, distant quasar acting as a "cosmic lighthouse" illuminates the gas flow from behind. The results were published October 2 in the Astrophysical Journal Letters.



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Researchers create image of weak hydrogen bond using AFM

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(Phys.org) —Researchers at China's National Center for Nanoscience and Technology and Renmin University have used Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) to create an image of the weak hydrogen bonds present in a molecule. In their paper published in the journal Science, the team describes how they used the non-contact form of AFM to capture an image of weak hydrogen bonds in a 8-hydroxyquinoline molecule (8hq).



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New kind of 'X-ray/CT vision' reveals objects' internal nanoscale structure, chemistry

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(Phys.org) —Nanomaterials made of particles with dimensions measured in billionths of a meter hold enormous promise for creating more efficient batteries, fuel cells, catalysts, and drug-delivery systems. Seeing how the nanostructured materials inside these devices evolve and interact as they operate is essential to gain insight into ways to optimize performance. But most studies have looked at idealized samples of isolated components, not as they function in operating devices.



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Space telescopes find patchy clouds on exotic world

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(Phys.org) —Astronomers using data from NASA's Kepler and Spitzer space telescopes have created the first cloud map of a planet beyond our solar system, a sizzling, Jupiter-like world known as Kepler-7b.



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Researchers find that bright nearby double star Fomalhaut is actually a triple

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(Phys.org) —The nearby star system Fomalhaut – of special interest for its unusual exoplanet and dusty debris disk – has been discovered to be not just a double star, as astronomers had thought, but one of the widest triple stars known.



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Super-earth or mini-Neptune? Telling habitable worlds apart from lifeless gas giants

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Perhaps the most intriguing exoplanets found so far are those bigger than our rocky, oceanic Earth but smaller than cold, gas-shrouded Uranus and Neptune. This mysterious class of in-between planets—alternatively dubbed super-Earths or mini-Neptunes—confounds scientists because nothing like them exists as a basis for comparison in our solar system.



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The intergalactic medium in the young universe

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(Phys.org) —In its earliest years, the universe was so hot that electrons and protons could not bind together in neutral atoms: all of the gas in the cosmos was ionized. Then, after 380,000 years of expansion, the universe cooled enough for hydrogen atoms and some helium (about 25%) to form. Much later in cosmic history—the precise dating is an active area of current research but perhaps after a few hundred million years—the first generation of stars emerged from the vast expanses of atomic gas, and these stars emitted enough strong ultraviolet light to re-ionize the neutral hydrogen in their vicinity. As the universe continued to expand and evolve, newer generations of stars continued to re-ionize the hydrogen until at some time most gas between galaxies (the intergalactic medium) was ionized once again. The epoch of re-ionization is an important diagnostic tool because it traces when the first generations of stars were being made, and it provides crucial details about the early evolution of the universe.



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New microscopy technique allows scientists to visualize cells through the walls of silicon microfluidic devices

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Scientists at MIT and the University of Texas at Arlington (UTA) have developed a new type of microscopy that can image cells through a silicon wafer, allowing them to precisely measure the size and mechanical behavior of cells behind the wafer.



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Improving lithium-ion batteries with nanoscale research

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New research led by an electrical engineer at the University of California, San Diego is aimed at improving lithium (Li) ion batteries through possible new electrode architectures with precise nano-scale designs. The researchers have presented nanowires that block diffusion of lithium across the wire's silicon surface and promote layer-by-layer axial lithiation of the nanowire's germanium core.



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Physicists 'entangle' microscopic drum's beat with electrical signals

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Extending evidence of quantum behavior farther into the large-scale world of everyday life, physicists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have "entangled"—linked the properties of—a microscopic mechanical drum with electrical signals.



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3-D dynamic imaging of soft materials

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Through a combination of transmission electron microscopy and ta unique graphene liquid cell, researchers have recorded the three-dimensional motion of DNA connected to gold nanocrystals, the first reported use of TEM for 3D dynamic imaging of soft materials.

via Science Daily

Scientists generate first map of clouds on an exoplane: Map reveals lopsided cloud distribution on extremely hot planet

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On the exoplanet Kepler 7b, the weather is highly predictable, an international team of scientists has found: On any given day, the exoplanet, which orbits a star nearly 1,000 light-years from Earth, is heavily overcast on one side, while the other side likely enjoys clear, cloudless weather.

via Science Daily

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'Accelerator on a chip' demonstrated

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In an advance that could dramatically shrink particle accelerators for science and medicine, researchers used a laser to accelerate electrons at a rate 10 times higher than conventional technology in a nanostructured glass chip smaller than a grain of rice.



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Scientists directly observe bound states of elementary magnets in ferromagnetic quantum crystals

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Simulating solid state properties with precisely controlled quantum systems is an important goal of the Quantum Many-Body Systems Division at MPQ. Now the team around Professor Immanuel Bloch (Chair for Experimental Physics at the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität Munich and Director at MPQ) has come again a step closer to it – to be precise, to the understanding of processes in ferromagnetic solid state crystals in which elementary excitations, so-called magnons, can emerge. About 80 years ago the German physicist Hans Bethe deduced from a theoretical model that in one-dimensional ferromagnets two of those elementary magnetic excitations can form a bound state. Like two tiny bar magnets, two atoms can stick together and form a new particle that propagates in the crystal. The MPQ team has now succeeded to observe these most elementary mobile magnetic domains, the two-magnon states, directly and to resolve their dynamics with time-resolved measurements. This study complements conventional spectroscopy in solid state crystals which yields information on momentum and frequency of the magnetic excitations. Bound states of excitations can influence the thermal conductance properties of low-dimensional ferromagnets or the propagation speed of quantum information in magnetic wires.



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Observations reveal critical interplay of interstellar dust, hydrogen

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(Phys.org) —For astrophysicists, the interplay of hydrogen—the most common molecule in the universe—and the vast clouds of dust that fill the voids of interstellar space has been an intractable puzzle of stellar evolution.



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A first: Stanford engineers build computer using carbon nanotube technology

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A team of Stanford engineers has built a basic computer using carbon nanotubes, a semiconductor material that has the potential to launch a new generation of electronic devices that run faster, while using less energy, than those made from silicon chips.



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'Jekyll and Hyde' star morphs from radio to X-ray pulsar and back again

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Astronomers have uncovered the strange case of a neutron star with the peculiar ability to transform from a radio pulsar into an X-ray pulsar and back again. This star's capricious behavior appears to be fueled by a nearby companion star and may give new insights into the birth of millisecond pulsars.



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Researchers devise means to combine scanning tunneling microscopy and infrared spectroscopy

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(Phys.org) —A team of researchers at the University of California with members also from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and Stanford University has succeeded in combining tunneling microscopy and infrared spectroscopy to gain a better understanding of how molecules behave when they stick to a surface. In their paper published in the journal Physical Review Letters, the team describes how they used a custom built laser to allow for performing infrared spectroscopy with scanning tunneling microscopy without heating its tip.



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Tiny antennas let long light waves see in infrared

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(Phys.org) —University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign researchers have developed arrays of tiny nano-antennas that can enable sensing of molecules that resonate in the infrared (IR) spectrum.



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Spinning CDs to clean sewage water

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Audio CDs, all the rage in the '90s, seem increasingly obsolete in a world of MP3 files and iPods, leaving many music lovers with the question of what to do with their extensive compact disk collections. While you could turn your old disks into a work of avant-garde art, researchers in Taiwan have come up with a more practical application: breaking down sewage. The team will present its new wastewater treatment device at the Optical Society's (OSA) Annual Meeting, Frontiers in Optics (FiO) 2013, being held Oct. 6-10 in Orlando, Fla.



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Hubble over Earth 3 Covers For iPad

Here's a great iPad case from Zazzle featuring a Hubble-related design. Maybe you'd like to see your name on it? Click to personalize and see what it's like!

could this be the design you've been looking for? It features the creativeness of themilkyway,
another talented creative from the Zazzle community!


tagged with: hubble over earth, hubble telescope, hubble, space, satellite, space exploration, nasa, earth, orbiting, telescope, technology, universe, galaxy, exploration, science

.

»visit the themilkyway store for more designs and products like this
The Zazzle Promise: We promise 100% satisfaction. If you don't absolutely love it, we'll take it back!

Herschel throws new light on oldest cosmic light

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(Phys.org) —Cosmologists have achieved a first detection of a long-sought component in the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB). This component, known as B-mode polarisation, is caused by gravitational lensing, the bending of light by massive structures as it travels across the Universe. The result is based on the combination of data from the South Pole Telescope and ESA's Herschel Space Observatory. This detection is a milestone along the way to the possible discovery of another kind of B-mode signal in the polarised CMB - a signal produced by gravitational waves less than a second after the Universe began.



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Engineers invent programming language to build synthetic DNA

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Similar to using Python or Java to write code for a computer, chemists soon could be able to use a structured set of instructions to "program" how DNA molecules interact in a test tube or cell.



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Scientists create never-before-seen form of matter

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Harvard and MIT scientists are challenging the conventional wisdom about light, and they didn't need to go to a galaxy far, far away to do it.



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How engineers revamped Spitzer to probe exoplanets

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(Phys.org) —Now approaching its 10th anniversary, NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope has evolved into a premier observatory for an endeavor not envisioned in its original design: the study of worlds around other stars, called exoplanets. While the engineers and scientists who built Spitzer did not have this goal in mind, their visionary work made this unexpected capability possible. Thanks to the extraordinary stability of its design and a series of subsequent engineering reworks, the space telescope now has observational powers far beyond its original limits and expectations.



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Simulations help researchers decide which technology would make a better solar collector, quantum dot or nanowire

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A trio of researchers at North Dakota State University and the University of South Dakota have turned to computer modeling to help decide which of two competing materials should get its day in the sun as the nanoscale energy-harvesting technology of future solar panels—quantum dots or nanowires.



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Nanofabrication: Medical sensors improve with holey gold nanostructures

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Recent advances in nanotechnology are providing new possibilities for medical imaging and sensing. Gold nanostructures, for example, can enhance the fluorescence of marker dyes that are commonly used to detect biomolecules and diagnose specific diseases.



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Sensor provides new approach to molecule detection on silicon surfaces

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Alastair McLean and Benedict Drevniok from the Department of Physics, Engineering Physics and Astronomy and their collaborators have found a way to "feel" the surface of silicon molecules at the molecular level.



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Evidence for densest galaxy in nearby universe

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Astronomers using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope and Chandra X-ray Observatory and telescopes on the ground may have found the most crowded galaxy in our part of the universe.



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Physicists use blind quantum computing to verify results of quantum computer

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(Phys.org) —A team of researchers working at the University of Vienna, has developed a technique for verifying results produced by a quantum computer. In their paper published in the journal Nature Physics, the researchers explain how their method uses one simple quantum computer to verify results produced by another that is far more powerful.



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Researchers publish enormous catalog of more than 300,000 nearby galaxies

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More than 83,000 volunteer citizen scientists. Over 16 million galaxy classifications. Information on more than 300,000 galaxies. This is what you get when you ask the public for help in learning more about our universe.



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Researchers make headway in quantum information transfer via nanomechanical coupling

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Fiber optics has made communication faster than ever, but the next step involves a quantum leap –– literally. In order to improve the security of the transfer of information, scientists are working on how to translate electrical quantum states to optical quantum states in a way that would enable ultrafast, quantum-encrypted communications.



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Simulation sets atoms shivering

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(Phys.org) —In "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" (JK Rowling, 1997), Harry, Ron, and Hermione encounter a massive stone chessboard, one of many obstacles in their path. To advance, they must play, and win. Although the board and pieces are much larger than normal, and the circumstances a bit peculiar, one thing remains clear to them—this is a game of chess, with the same rules as always.



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Hubble eyes a smoldering star

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(Phys.org) —This new image, snapped by NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, shows the star HD 184738, also known as Campbell's hydrogen star. It is surrounded by plumes of reddish gas—the fiery red and orange hues are caused by glowing gases, including hydrogen and nitrogen.



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Galaxy winds

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(Phys.org) —The most luminous galaxies in our universe are not particularly bright in the visible. Most of their energy output (which can be hundreds or even thousands of times more than our Milky Way's) is emitted at infrared wavelengths. The power source of these galaxies is hyperactive bursts of star formation and/or activity around a massive black hole at a galaxy's nucleus, a so-called active galactic nucleus (AGN). The radiation from these processes is absorbed by dust that then re-emits it in the infrared. Astronomers suspect that many normal galaxies, even including our own, have undergone a phase of luminous activity at some time in their past.



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Dating our galaxy's dormant volcano

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(Phys.org) —A dormant volcano—a supermassive black hole—lies at the heart of our galaxy. Fresh evidence suggests that it last erupted two million years ago.



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Crystal quantum memories for quantum communication

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Research into the strange phenomenon known as quantum entanglement - once described as 'spooky' by Albert Einstein - could revolutionise ICT over the coming years, enabling everything from ultra-fast computing to completely secure long-distance communications. EU-funded researchers are carrying out cutting-edge work on quantum technologies, with one team recently demonstrating a key breakthrough in extending the range of quantum communications.



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Goodbye Big Bang, hello black hole? A new theory of the universe's creation

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Could the famed "Big Bang" theory need a revision? A group of theoretical physicists suppose the birth of the universe could have happened after a four-dimensional star collapsed into a black hole and ejected debris.



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Researchers reveal Earth's habitable lifetime and investigate potential for alien life

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Habitable conditions on Earth will be possible for at least another 1.75 billion years – according to astrobiologists at the University of East Anglia.



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Beyond quantum simulation: Physicists create 'crystal' of spin-swapping ultracold molecules

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Physicists at JILA have created a crystal-like arrangement of ultracold gas molecules that can swap quantum "spin" properties with nearby and distant partners. The novel structure might be used to simulate or even invent new materials that derive exotic properties from quantum spin behavior, for electronics or other practical applications.



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Young stars cooking in the Prawn Nebula

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The glowing jumble of gas clouds visible in this new image make up a huge stellar nursery nicknamed the Prawn Nebula. Taken using the VLT Survey Telescope at ESO's Paranal Observatory in Chile, this may well be the sharpest picture ever taken of this object. It shows clumps of hot new-born stars nestled in among the clouds that make up the nebula.



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On the road to fault-tolerant quantum computing: High temperature superconductivity in a toplogical insulator

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Reliable quantum computing would make it possible to solve certain types of extremely complex technological problems millions of times faster than today's most powerful supercomputers. Other types of problems that quantum computing could tackle would not even be feasible with today's fastest machines. The key word is "reliable." If the enormous potential of quantum computing is to be fully realized, scientists must learn to create "fault-tolerant" quantum computers. A small but important step toward this goal has been achieved by an international collaboration of researchers from China's Tsinghua University and the DOE's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) working at the Advanced Light Source (ALS).



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Magnetic field may shape 'blooming' star

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(Phys.org) —An old star, IRAS 15445-5449, has begun to push out a jet of charged particles that glow with radio waves.



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Quantum entanglement only dependent upon area

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Two researchers at UCL Computer Science and the University of Gdansk present a new method for determining the amount of entanglement – a quantum phenomenon connecting two remote partners, and crucial for quantum technology - within part of a one-dimensional quantum system.



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Fireballs in Jupiter's atmosphere observed by amateur astronomers

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The solar system is crowded with small objects like asteroids and comets. Most have stable orbits which keep them out of harm's way, but a small proportion of them are in orbits that risk them colliding with planets.



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"Red nugget" galaxies were hiding in plain sight

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In 2005 the Hubble Space Telescope spotted unusually small galaxies densely packed with red stars in the distant, young universe. They were nicknamed "red nuggets," not only because they are small and red but also their existence challenged current theories of galaxy formation, making them precious in astronomers' eyes.



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Qcloud project to allow online users a taste of quantum computing

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Officials with Bristol University in the U.K. have announced at this year's British Science Festival, that they intend to put their two-quantum bit (qubit) processor online for use by some people on the Internet. Called the Qcloud project, the idea is to get scientists, those in academics and even the general public used to the idea of quantum computing so as to be prepared when real quantum computers arrive.



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New biomimetic material to develop nanosensors

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The new features of this biomimetic material will allow us to develop multiple nanometer-sized chemical sensors over the same substrate by electron beam lithography, as a result, multifunctional biochips of major versatility will be developed. The possibility to record at nanometric scale is an essential benefit facing traditional biomimetic materials since this new material developed by researchers at the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM) and the Universidad Complutense (UCM) within the framework of Moncloa campus provides commercial potential applications.



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Researchers apply transmission electron microscopy through unique graphene liquid cell (w/ Video)

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(Phys.org) —Autumn is usually not such a great time for big special effects movies as the summer blockbusters have faded and those for the holiday season have not yet opened. Fall is more often the time for thoughtful films about small subjects, which makes it perfect for the unveiling of a new movie produced by researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)'s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab). Through a combination of transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and their own unique graphene liquid cell, the researchers have recorded the three-dimensional motion of DNA connected to gold nanocrystals. This is the first time TEM has been used for 3D dynamic imaging of so-called soft materials.



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Graphene-based discs ensure safe storage

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(Phys.org) —Swinburne University of Technology researchers have shown the potential of a new material for transforming secure optical information storage.



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Horsehead Nebula Wall Decals

Here's a great wall decal featuring a beautiful image from deep space

here's a cool design that is sure to work out for you. It was created by SayHello,
another talented creative from the Zazzle community!


tagged with: horsehead nebula, nebula, dark nebula, constellation, orion, nebulae, universe, space, astronomy, astronomer

The Horsehead Nebula is a dark nebula in the constellation Orion. Image by NASA and ESA.

»visit the SayHello store for more designs and products like this
Click to customize.
via Zazzle Astronomy market place

Colonization Poster-Map, High Frontier

Here's a great poster featuring a beautiful image from deep space

who do you know that would like one of these? A special design by SierraMadreGames,
another talented creative from the Zazzle community!


tagged with: sierra madre, games, high frontier, colonization, science, fiction, astronomy, rocket science, eklund

Use this map to play the tabletop game High Frontier or High Frontier Colonization, published by Sierra Madre Games. It extends the standard expanded map out to Pluto and beyond, all the way to Sedna and the sunlens point at 550 AU. Includes the newly discovered debris rings of Rhea, the penitentares of Europa, the mysterious featureless moon of Melone, the neutrino sunlens point, and more."I printed the Colonization HF Poster-Map in Large (48.00" x 22.46"), Value Poster Paper (Matte). It is great as long as you have the space for it. Otherwise, I would get the 36” version. If you combine with another Poster-Map (Bios-Origins or Interstellar) then you could do even better on price since you only need to pay for shipping once. The quality on both maps are top notch so I can strongly recommend them." Russell Harley

»visit the SierraMadreGames store for more designs and products like this
Click to customize with size, paper type etc.
via Zazzle Astronomy market place

Butterfly Nebula in Scorpius Constellation Rectangular Sticker

Here's a great sheet of stickers featuring a beautiful image from deep space


tagged with: peel off, galaxies and stars, stellar winds, btbgneb, butterfly nebula, bug nebula, scorpius constellation, ngc 6302, sculptured gas clouds

Galaxies, Stars and Nebulae series NGC 6302, more popularly called the Bug Nebula or the Butterfly Nebula, lies within our Milky Way galaxy, roughly 3,800 light-years away in the constellation of Scorpius.
The central dying star cannot be seen because it's hidden within a doughnut-shaped ring of dust, which appears as a dark band pinching the nebula in the centre. The thick dust belt constricts the star's outflow, creating the classic "bipolar" or hourglass shape displayed by some planetary nebulae.
The nebula's reddish outer edges are largely due to light emitted by nitrogen, which marks the coolest gas visible in the picture. The white-coloured regions are areas where light is emitted by sulphur. These are regions where fast-moving gas overtakes and collides with slow-moving gas that left the star at an earlier time, producing shock waves in the gas (the bright white edges on the sides facing the central star).

more items with this image
more items in the Galaxies, Stars and Nebulae series

image code: btbgneb

image credit: NGC 6302 was imaged on 27 July 2009 with Hubble's Wide Field Camera 3 in ultraviolet and visible light. Filters that isolate emissions from oxygen, helium, hydrogen, nitrogen and sulphur were used to create this composite image.

»visit the HightonRidley store for more designs and products like this
Click to customize.
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Astronaut Filming Cases For iPad

Here's a great iPad case from Zazzle featuring a Hubble-related design. Maybe you'd like to see your name on it? Click to personalize and see what it's like!

after scouring the Zazzle market place for a while, I settled on this as my choice for today. By themilkyway,
another talented creative from the Zazzle community!


tagged with: astronaut taking pictures, astronaut filming, filming, hubble over earth, hubble telescope, hubble, space, satellite, space exploration, nasa, earth, telescope, technology, universe, galaxy, exploration, science

.

»visit the themilkyway store for more designs and products like this
The Zazzle Promise: We promise 100% satisfaction. If you don't absolutely love it, we'll take it back!