Sunday 11 May 2014

A new approach to engineering the materials of the future

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Transmission electron microscope (TEM) images and GISAXS paEerns (insets) of two giant surfactant thin­‐film samples. The TEM images show ordered nanoscale paEerns. Some of the most interesting and fascinating electronic devices that will someday be available to consumers, from paper-thin computers to electronic fabric, will be the result of advanced materials designed by scientists. Indeed, some remarkable discoveries have already been made. To innovate further, scientists must learn how to precisely engineer the chemical structures of materials at the nanoscale in such a way as to yield specific macroscopic properties and functions. A research group, jointly working at theNational Synchrotron Light Source, has found a new way to do just that. They have synthesized a new class of macromolecules that organize themselves, or “self-assemble,” into various ordered structures with feature sizes smaller than 10 nanometers. Called “giant surfactants,” these large molecules mimic the structural features of small surfactants (substances that significantly lower the surface tension between two liquids, such as detergents), but have been transformed into functional molecular nanoparticles by being “clicked” with polymer chains. The resulting materials are unique because they bridge the gap between small molecule surfactants and traditional block copolymers and thus possess an interesting “duality” in

The post A new approach to engineering the materials of the future has been published on Technology Org.

 
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Flexible supercapacitor raises bar for volumetric energy density

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Scientists have taken a large step toward making a fiber-like energy storage device that can be woven into clothing and power wearable medical monitors, communications equipment or other small electronics.



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Center of Milky Way in Sagittarius Print

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ImageID: RR016935 / Roger Ressmeyer / CORBIS / Center of Milky Way in Sagittarius /

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How does the body fight off a virus?

Science Focus

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How does the body fight off viruses? 
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 » see original post http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/0/22028517
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Orion Nebula and Trapezium Stars Sticker

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tagged with: envelope sealers, ornebcsfr, awesome astronomy images, orion nebula, emission nebula, trapezium stars, emission nebulae, hot young stars, star nursery, new born stars, dust clouds

Galaxies, Stars and Nebulae series A gorgeous picture from the deep universe featuring the bubbling, seething mass of gas and dust that is the Orion Nebula, 1500 light years away and the closest star-forming region to us. The nebula is a star nursery in which there are birthing, new-born, young and adult stars. Look carefully in the brightest central region and you'll see the Trapezium, four of the most massive stars in Orion.

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image code: ornebcsfr

Image credit: NASA, ESA, M. Robberto (Space Telescope Science Institute/ESA) and the Hubble Space Telescope Orion Treasury Project Team

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Valles Marineris: The Grand Canyon of Mars

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Star birth in Carina Nebula from Hubble's WFC3 det Posters

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ImageID: 42-23286264 / STScI / NASA/Corbis / Star birth in Carina Nebula from Hubble's WFC3 detector

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Astronomers find sun's 'long-lost brother,' pave way for family reunion

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Astronomers have identified the first "sibling" of the Sun -- a star that was almost certainly born from the same cloud of gas and dust as our star. The newly developed methods for locating the Sun's 'siblings' will help other astronomers find other "solar siblings," work that could lead to an understanding of how and where our Sun formed, and how our solar system became hospitable for life.

via Science Daily

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Helix Nebula, Galaxies and Stars Star Stickers

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Galaxies, Stars and Nebulae series A fantastic colour-composite image of the Helix Nebula (NGC 7293). It was created from images obtained using the Wide Field Imager (WFI), an astronomical camera attached to the 2.2-metre Max-Planck Society/ESO telescope at the La Silla observatory in Chile.

The blue-green glow in the centre of the Helix comes from oxygen atoms shining under effects of the intense ultraviolet radiation of the 120 000 degree Celsius central star and the hot gas.

Further out from the star and beyond the ring of knots, the red colour from hydrogen and nitrogen is more prominent. A careful look at the central part of this object reveals not only the knots, but also many remote galaxies seen right through the thinly spread glowing gas.
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image code: helixneb

ESO/J. Emerson/VISTA www.eso.org
Reproduced under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license.

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30 Doradus Nebula Wall Graphic

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"NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has snapped a panoramic portrait of a vast, sculpted landscape of gas and dust where thousands of stars are being born. This fertile star-forming region, called the 30 Doradus Nebula, has a sparkling stellar centerpiece: the most spectacular cluster of massive stars in our cosmic neighborhood of about 25 galaxies."

(qtd. from HubbleSite.org NewsCenter release STScI-2001-21)

Credit: NASA, N. Walborn and J. Maíz-Apellániz (STScI, Baltimore, MD), R. Barbá (La Plata Observatory, La Plata, Argentina)

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