Wednesday 9 April 2014

Scientists watch nanoparticles grow: Analysis allows tailoring materials for switchable windows, solar cells

original post »

Left: This is the structure of the ammonium metatungstate dissolved in water on atomic length scale. The octahedra consisting of the tungsten ion in the center and the six surrounding oxygen ions partly share corners and edges. Right: This is the structure of the nanoparticles in the ordered crystalline phase. The octahedra exclusively share corners. Credit: Dipankar Saha/Århus University With DESY’s X-ray light source PETRA III, Danish scientists observed the growth of nanoparticles live. The study shows how tungsten oxide nanoparticles are forming from solution. These particles are used for example for smart windows, which become opaque at the flick of a switch, and they are also used in particular solar cells. The team around lead author Dr. Dipankar Saha from Århus University present their observations in the scientific journal Angewandte Chemie International Edition.   For their investigation, the scientists built a small reaction chamber, which is transparent for X-rays. “We use fine capillaries of sapphire or fused silica which are easily penetrable by X-rays,” said Professor Bo Iversen, head of the research group. In these capillaries, the scientists transformed so-called ammonium metatungstate dissolved in water into nanoparticles at high temperature and high pressure. With the brilliant PETRA III X-ray light, the chemists

The post Scientists watch nanoparticles grow: Analysis allows tailoring materials for switchable windows, solar cells has been published on Technology Org.


#materials
See Zazzle gifts tagged with 'science'

Build your own backyard SETI, maybe

original post »
Build your own backyard SETI, maybe
...with recording software on your laptop, too! No less :)
  #outerspace  

Zazzle Space Gifts for every occasion

Tiny step edges, big step for surface science

more »

New experiments can explain the behavior of electrons at tiny step edges on titanium oxide surfaces. This is important for solar cell technology and novel, more effective catalysts.

via Science Daily

Graphene nanoribbons as electronic switches

more »

A new theoretical study shows the conductivity conditions under which graphene nanoribbons can become switches in externally controlled electronic devices. One of graphene's most sought-after properties is its high conductivity. Physicists have now successfully calculated the conditions of the transport, or conductance mechanisms, in graphene nanoribbons.

via Science Daily

Milky Way Galaxy Posters

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


tagged with: astronomy, exploration, natural sciences, nobody, outer space, physical science, sciences, space exploration and research, stars

ImageID: 42-20484565 / NASA / JPL-Caltech/Corbis / Milky Way Galaxy

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

Recycling astronaut urine for energy and drinking water

more »

On the less glamorous side of space exploration, there's the more practical problem of waste -- in particular, what to do with astronaut pee. But rather than ejecting it into space, scientists are developing a new technique that can turn this waste burden into a boon by converting it into fuel and much-needed drinking water. Their report could also inspire new ways to treat municipal wastewater.

via Science Daily

Zazzle Space Exploration market place

Chance meeting creates celestial diamond ring

more »

Astronomers have captured an eye-catching image of planetary nebula PN A66 33 -- usually known as Abell 33. Created when an aging star blew off its outer layers, this beautiful blue bubble is, by chance, aligned with a foreground star, and bears an uncanny resemblance to a diamond engagement ring. This cosmic gem is unusually symmetric, appearing to be almost circular on the sky.

via Science Daily

Zazzle Space Exploration market place

Bacteria with “memory construct” snoops on our colon

Science Focus

original post »

If only it were easier to monitor and record what happens in our guts, the source of those feelings we can't explain but know instinctively are right. A wide variety of health conditions, from infections to cancer, take place out of sight in our abdomen. Sure, you could have a capsule endoscopy—swallow a camera-in-a-pill that takes photos of your intestines and sends them to a recorder you wear around your waist—but cameras have limitations. They can only record visuals of what's there, and they can't respond to changes, like the addition of a drug or a toxin.

Now, researchers at Harvard have engineered bacteria that can sense an environmental signal in a mouse gut and then report back about it. They hope that these bacteria will provide a nondestructive way to diagnose, and maybe even treat, intestinal maladies.

Synthetic biologists have generated a number of genetic "memory switches." The one used here relies on the different phases in the lifestyle of a virus that attacks the bacteria, called bacteriophage lambda. The virus has two distinct approaches: lysogenic phase, in which it just lurks in the bacterial cell, co-opting its DNA replication machinery; and the lytic phase, in which the phage destroys the bacterial cell it is infecting.

Read 5 remaining paragraphs | Comments


#science 
original post...
See Zazzle gifts tagged with 'science'

Now it is more likely than ever: There must be particles out there smaller than Higgs particle

Science Focus

original post »

Now it is more likely than ever: There must be particles out there smaller than Higgs particle. Nobody has seen them yet; particles that are smaller than the Higgs particle. However theories predict their existence, and now the most important of these theories have been critically tested. The result: The existence of the yet unseen particles is now more likely than ever. “I gave them a very critical review “, says Thomas Ryttov, particle physicist and associate professor at the Center for Cosmology and Particle Physics Phenomenology (CP ³ – Origins), University of Southern Denmark. He refers to the theories, that over the last app. five years have been put forward ​​for the existence of particles in the universe that are smaller than the Higgs particle. Having given these theories a critical review, he finds no new signs of weakness in them: “There seems to be no new or unseen weaknessess. My review just leaves them just stronger”, he says. Over the past 5-8 years, a handful of theories have drawn particular interest from particle physicists. They all predict that there must be one or more types of particles that are even smaller than the Higgs particle. So far it has however

The post Now it is more likely than ever: There must be particles out there smaller than Higgs particle has been published on Technology Org.


#physics 
original post...
See Zazzle gifts tagged with 'science'

VIDEO: Peake on his preparations for ISS

Science Focus

original post »
Major Tim Peake is due to begin his visit the International Space Station to carrying out scientific experiments at the end of 2015.
#science 
original post...
See Zazzle gifts tagged with 'science'

Star Cluster Pismis 24, core of NGC 6357 Sticker

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


tagged with: stars, galaxies, astronomy, envelope sealers, star cluster, pismis 24, sculpting ultaviolet ionisation, super massive stars, sclustpsms, nebula ngc 6357

Galaxies, Stars and Nebulae series The star cluster Pismis 24 lies in the core of the large emission nebula NGC 6357 that extends one degree on the sky in the direction of the Scorpius constellation. Part of the nebula is ionised by the youngest (bluest) heavy stars in Pismis 24. The intense ultraviolet radiation from the blazing stars heats the gas surrounding the cluster and creates a bubble in NGC 6357. The presence of these surrounding gas clouds makes probing into the region even harder. One of the top candidates for the title of "Milky Way stellar heavyweight champion" was, until now, Pismis 24-1, a bright young star that lies in the core of the small open star cluster Pismis 24 (the bright stars in the Hubble image) about 8,000 light-years away from Earth. Pismis 24-1 was thought to have an incredibly large mass of 200 to 300 solar masses. New NASA/ESA Hubble measurements of the star, have, however, resolved Pismis 24-1 into two separate stars, and, in doing so, have "halved" its mass to around 100 solar masses.

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

image code: sclustpsms

Image credit: NASA/ESA Hubble

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

JILA's short, flexible, reusable AFM probe

more »

(Phys.org) —JILA researchers have engineered a short, flexible, reusable probe for the atomic force microscope (AFM) that enables state-of-the-art precision and stability in picoscale force measurements. Shorter, softer and more agile than standard and recently enhanced AFM probes, the JILA tips will benefit nanotechnology and studies of folding and stretching in biomolecules such as proteins and DNA.



Zazzle Space market place

Images from NASA Mars rover include bright spots

more »

Images taken by NASA's Curiosity Mars rover on April 2 and April 3 include bright spots, which might be due to the sun glinting off a rock or cosmic rays striking the camera's detector.

via Science Daily

Zazzle Space Exploration market place

North America to experience total lunar eclipse

more »

When people in North America look up at the sky in the early morning hours of April 15, they can expect the moon to look a little different. A total lunar eclipse is expected at this time, a phenomenon that occurs when the Earth, moon and sun are in perfect alignment, blanketing the moon in the Earth's shadow.

via Science Daily

Zazzle Space Exploration market place

Two Rings for Asteroid Chariklo

more »



Zazzle Space Gifts for young and old

LHCb confirms existence of exotic hadrons

Real-life CSI: What can investigators really tell from gunshot residue?

original post »

The popular TV series “CSI” is fiction, but every day, real-life investigators and forensic scientists collect and analyze evidence to determine what happened at crime scenes. In a study published in the ACS journal Analytical Chemistry, scientists say they have developed a more rapid and accurate method that could allow crime scene investigators to tell what kind of ammunition was shot from a gun based on the residue it left behind. Igor K. Lednev and Justin Bueno point out that when someone fires a gun, burnt particles from the bullet spray out of the weapon onto a shooter’s hand, clothes, furniture and other surfaces nearby. The presence or absence of that residue says whether a gun was discharged and — based on its location on clothing and other surfaces — who and what was near the weapon when it was fired. But current analysis methods can only re-create a crime scene story in hazy detail. The most widely used technique today specializes in detecting the heavy metals that some ammunition contains. Newer bullets, however, aren’t necessarily made with heavy metals, making analyses much more difficult. Also, existing methods require expensive equipment and a lot of time, luxuries law enforcement can’t afford.

The post Real-life CSI: What can investigators really tell from gunshot residue? has been published on Technology Org.


#materials
See Zazzle gifts tagged with 'science'

M16 Eagle Nebula 'Pillars of Creation' poster

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


tagged with: m16, eagle nebula, pillars of creation, nebula, gas, astronomy, nasa, hubble, space, telescope

This is a dramatic Hubble Space Telescope image of a section of the Eagle Nebula (M16) is known was named the ‘Pillars of Creation’ by the Hubble imaging team.

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

A Starburst Galaxy - Messier 82 (Cigar Galaxy) Stickers

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


tagged with: galaxies and stars, messier 82, cigar galaxy, active galaxies, peel off, starburst galaxy, hubble, nasa esa, sbglxymet

Galaxies, Stars and Nebulae series This mosaic image of the magnificent starburst galaxy, Messier 82 (aka Cigar Galaxy) is a really sharp wide-angle view of M82. It is a galaxy remarkable for its webs of shredded clouds and flame-like plumes of glowing hydrogen blasting out from its central regions where young stars are being born 10 times faster than they are inside in our Milky Way Galaxy.

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

image code: sbglxymet

Image credit: NASA, ESA and the Hubble Heritage Team STScI/AURA). Acknowledgment: J. Gallagher (University of Wisconsin), M. Mountain (STScI) and P. Puxley (NSF).

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

Black Widow Nebula Wall Skins

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


tagged with: le0045, nasa, etoiles, les etoiles, astronomy, science, spitzer, space, nebula, scientific, outer space, deep space, sky, nebulae, emission, sst, spitzer telescope, black widow, infrared, spitzer space telescope, black, blue, red, pretty, beautiful, cool, celestial

"In the constellation Circinus, where previous visible-light observations by the Digital Sky Survey (left) saw only a faint hourglass-shaped patch of obscuring dust and gas, NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope's dust-piercing eyes see a big "Black Widow Nebula" teeming with clusters of massive young stars (right).

"In the Spitzer image, the two opposing bubbles are being formed in opposite directions by the powerful outflows from massive groups of forming stars. The baby stars can be seen as specks of yellow where the two bubbles overlap."

Read more at the JPL/Spitzer website.

Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/E. Churchwell (University of Wisconsin-Madison) and the GLIMPSE Team

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

Monogram Barred Spiral Galaxy NGC 1672 iPad Folio Case

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!


tagged with: monogram initials, star galaxies, deep space astronomy, barred spiral galaxy, starry space picture, galactic arms, supermassive black hole, dust lanes, star forming galaxy, hrbstslr bsgsst

Galaxies, Stars and Nebulae series This NASA Hubble Space Telescope view of the nearby barred spiral galaxy NGC 1672 unveils details in the galaxy's star-forming clouds and dark bands of interstellar dust.
One of the most striking features is the dust lanes that extend away from the nucleus and follow the inner edges of the galaxy's spiral arms. Clusters of hot young blue stars form along the spiral arms and ionize surrounding clouds of hydrogen gas that glow red. Delicate curtains of dust partially obscure and redden the light of the stars behind them by scattering blue light.
Galaxies lying behind NGC 1672 give the illusion they are embedded in the foreground galaxy, even though they are really much farther away. They also appear reddened as they shine through NGC 1672's dust. A few bright foreground stars inside our own Milky Way Galaxy appear in the image as bright and diamond-like objects.
As a prototypical barred spiral galaxy, NGC 1672 differs from normal spiral galaxies, in that the arms do not twist all the way into the center. Instead, they are attached to the two ends of a straight bar of stars enclosing the nucleus. Viewed nearly face on, NGC 1672 shows intense star formation regions especially off in the ends of its central bar.
Astronomers believe that barred spirals have a unique mechanism that channels gas from the disk inward towards the nucleus. This allows the bar portion of the galaxy to serve as an area of new star generation.
NGC 1672 is also classified as a Seyfert galaxy. Seyferts are a subset of galaxies with active nuclei. The energy output of these nuclei can sometimes outshine their host galaxies. This activity is powered by accretion onto supermassive black holes.
NGC 1672 is more than 60 million light-years away in the direction of the southern constellation Dorado. These observations of NGC 1672 were taken with Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys in August of 2005. The composite image was made by using filters that isolate light from the blue, green, and infrared portions of the spectrum, as well as emission from ionized hydrogen.
more items with this image
more items in the Galaxies, Stars and Nebulae series

image code: bsgsst

Image credit: NASA, ESA, and The Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)-ESA/Hubble Collaboration

»visit the HightonRidley 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!