Thursday 29 May 2014

Novel technique enables air-stable water droplet networks

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A simple new technique to form interlocking beads of water in ambient conditions could prove valuable for applications in biological sensing, membrane research and harvesting water from fog. Researchers at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory have developed a method to create air-stable water droplet networks known as droplet interface bilayers. These interconnected water droplets have many roles in biological research because their interfaces simulate cell membranes. Cumbersome fabrication methods, however, have limited their use. “The way they’ve been made since their inception is that two water droplets are formed in an oil bath then brought together while they’re submerged in oil,” said ORNL’s Pat Collier, who led the team’s studypublished in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. “Otherwise they would just pop like soap bubbles.” Instead of injecting water droplets into an oil bath, the ORNL research team experimented with placing the droplets on a superhydrophobic surface infused with a coating of oil. The droplets aligned side by side without merging. To the researchers’ surprise, they were also able to form non-coalescing water droplet networks without including lipids in the water solution. Scientists typically incorporate phospholipids into the water mixture, which leads to the formation

The post Novel technique enables air-stable water droplet networks has been published on Technology Org.

 
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NASA missions let scientists see moon's dancing tide from orbit

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Scientists combined observations from two NASA missions to check out the moon's lopsided shape and how it changes under Earth's sway -- a response not seen from orbit before. The lopsided shape of the moon is one result of its gravitational tug-of-war with Earth. The mutual pulling of the two bodies is powerful enough to stretch them both, so they wind up shaped a little like two eggs with their ends pointing toward one another. On Earth, the tension has an especially strong effect on the oceans, because water moves so freely, and is the driving force behind tides.

via Science Daily

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Unexpected water explains surface chemistry of nanocrystals

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Danylo Zherebetskyy and his colleagues at the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) found unexpected traces of water in semiconducting nanocrystals.



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They splat, stretching and healing defects in the process

Science Focus

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They splat, stretching and healing defects in the process
This looks promising, as do many other techniques. There's an evolutionary battle going on at the moment for the 'fittest' method.

 #science

 » see original post https://plus.google.com/116000959328274308893/posts/dKxKm1Mp5VF
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VIDEO: Automated braking put to the test

Science Focus

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Insurance companies back plans to implement automated braking which uses new technology to override drivers 
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 » see original post http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-27466684#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa
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Nine Scientists Are Awarded Kavli Prizes

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The scientists will split $1 million prizes from the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters for work in astrophysics, nanoscience and neuroscience.















via New York Times

Initialled Spiral Galaxy - NGC 253 Stickers

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


tagged with: spgxy253, breathtaking astronomy images, galaxies, stars, horsehead nebula, spiral galaxy, initials, initialled, monogrammed, monogram, european southern observatory, eso, vista, monograms

Galaxies, Stars and Nebulae series A gorgeous image that reveals a little of the wonder that is our universe.

Measuring 70 000 light-years across and laying 13 million light-years away, the nearly edge-on spiral galaxy NGC 253 is revealed here in an image from the Wide Field Imager (WFI) of the MPG/ESO 2.2 m telescope at the La Silla Observatory.

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image code: spgxy253

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

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Millions of Stars in Omega Centauri

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Globular star cluster Omega Centauri, also known as NGC 5139, is some 15,000 light-years away. The cluster is packed with about 10 million stars much older than the Sun within a volume about 150 light-years in diameter, the largest and brightest of 200 or so known globular clusters that roam the halo of our Milky Way galaxy. Though most star clusters consist of stars with the same age and composition, the enigmatic Omega Cen exhibits the presence of different stellar populations with a spread of ages and chemical abundances. In fact, Omega Cen may be the remnant core of a small galaxy merging with the Milky Way. This astronomically sharp color image of the classic globular cluster was recorded in March under Chilean skies from Hacienda Los Andes.

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Harvesting fresh water from fog

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Researchers at MIT’s School of Engineering, working with colleagues at the Pontificial University of Chile in Santiago, are harvesting potable water from the coastal fog that forms on the edge of one of the driest regions on Earth. Using a simple system of suspended mesh structures, placed on hilltops in areas with persistent fog and prevailing westerly winds, local Chilean communities collect fog water for drinking and agricultural use. Fog-collecting technology is still in its infancy. But lab experiments have shown that variations in the mesh spacing, as well as the size and the wettability of the mesh fibers, all affect the volume of water that can be collected each day. Through engineering analysis and optimization of the mesh geometry and its surface chemistry, the team — which includes MIT professor of mechanical engineering Gareth McKinley — has been able to increase the fog-collecting efficiency of existing designs by 500 percent. The technology holds great promise as a locally deployable and scalable alternative to other energy-intensive desalination technologies. Mesh-based fog harvesters are passive, inexpensive to fabricate, with almost no operating costs, and can be deployed in similar environments throughout the world. Source: MIT, story by John Freidah

The post Harvesting fresh water from fog has been published on Technology Org.

 
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Altering the energy landscape: fuel cell catalysts could help integrate new power solutions

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MIT’s doctoral candidate Yan Chen wants to improve the world. She doesn’t say this directly, but her five years of research on catalytic surfaces for use in high-temperature fuel cells say it for her. Her work has the potential to create efficient new energy solutions to help curb the world’s appetite for carbon-based fuels. “My objective is to contribute to building an energy landscape including more renewable and clean resources, which is just what is needed the most in China right now,” says Chen, who decided to study nuclear science and engineering because it offers one solution to her native country’s energy needs: China is ramping up its clean energy industry, and she hopes her research will contribute. Earlier this year, Chen received the Chinese Government Award for Outstanding Self-Financed Students Abroad. In April, she was named a Schlumberger Foundation Faculty for the Future postdoctoral fellow. The fellowship will allow her to continue her research at MIT after her graduation in June. Electrochemical energy conversion and storage systems, such as fuel cells, will play an essential role in integrating new energy sources like nuclear, solar, and wind, Chen says, but their implementation requires new materials to make them cheaper and more

The post Altering the energy landscape: fuel cell catalysts could help integrate new power solutions has been published on Technology Org.

 
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Supersonic spray delivers high-quality graphene layer

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A simple, inexpensive spray method that deposits a graphene film can heal manufacturing defects and produce a high-quality graphene layer on a range of substrates.

via Science Daily

Monogram Fires of the Flame Nebula - in Orion Oval Sticker

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


tagged with: breathtaking astronomy images, hfflmnb, star forming, orion constellation, young stars clusters, orion the hunter, flame nebula, awesome space picture, monogram, initialled, heavens, orions belt, european southern observatory, eso, vista, initials, monogrammed, monograms

Galaxies, Stars and Nebulae series A gorgeous outer space picture featuring the spectacular star-forming region known as the Flame Nebula, or NGC 2024, in the constellation of Orion (the Hunter) and its surroundings.

In views of this evocative object in visible light the core of the nebula is completely hidden behind obscuring dust, but in this VISTA view, taken in infrared light, the cluster of very young stars at the object’s heart is revealed. The wide-field VISTA view also includes the glow of the reflection nebula NGC 2023, just below centre, and the ghostly outline of the Horsehead Nebula (Barnard 33) towards the lower right.

The bright bluish star towards the right is one of the three bright stars forming the Belt of Orion. The image was created from VISTA images taken through J, H and Ks filters in the near-infrared part of the spectrum.

The image shows about half the area of the full VISTA field and is about 40 x 50 arcminutes in extent. The total exposure time was 14 minutes and was the first to be released publicly from VISTA, the world’s largest survey telescope.

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ESO/J. Emerson/VISTA www.eso.org
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