Wednesday 30 August 2017

Environmental chemist flashes warning light on new nanoparticle

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Layered BP's cytotoxicity is based on the fact that it generates reactive oxygen species (ROS), scientists have found. ROS are among the most potent cell-damaging agents known. Layered BP also disrupts cell membrane integrity in a particle-size-dependent manner.
via Science Daily

Trilobites: Casting Light on Mystery of a Star That Vanished After 14 Days

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First spotted by Korean astronomers in 1437, scientists have found it again in the form of a violent star system that experienced a nova explosion.
via New York Times

Artificial intelligence analyzes gravitational lenses 10 million times faster

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Researchers have for the first time shown that neural networks -- a form of artificial intelligence -- can accurately analyze the complex distortions in spacetime known as gravitational lenses 10 million times faster than traditional methods.
via Science Daily
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Scientists recover nova first spotted 600 years ago by Korean astrologers

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A new study pinpoints the location of a nova first spotted by Korean astrologers almost 600 years ago that now undergoes smaller-scale 'dwarf nova' eruptions. The work supports that idea that novae go through a very long-term life cycle after erupting, fading to obscurity for thousands of years, and then building back up to become full-fledged novae once more.
via Science Daily
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Chemist synthesizes pure graphene

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A chemist has patented a one-of-a-kind process for exfoliating graphene in its pure (unoxidized) form, as well as manufacturing innovative graphene nanocomposites that have potential uses in a variety of applications, including desalination of brackish water.
via Science Daily

Silicon solves problems for next-generation battery technology

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Silicon -- the second most abundant element in the earth's crust -- shows great promise in Li-ion batteries, according to new research. By replacing graphite anodes with silicon, it is possible to quadruple anode capacity.
via Science Daily

Huge hidden reservoirs of turbulent gas in distant galaxies

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ALMA has been used to detect turbulent reservoirs of cold gas surrounding distant starburst galaxies. By detecting CH+ for the first time in the distant universe this research opens up a new window of exploration into a critical epoch of star formation. The presence of this molecule sheds new light on how galaxies manage to extend their period of rapid star formation.
via Science Daily
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What lit up the universe? Black holes may have punctured darkened galaxies, allowing light to escape

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Researchers have a new explanation for how the universe changed from darkness to light. They propose that black holes within galaxies produce winds strong enough to fling out matter that punctures holes in galaxies, allowing light to escape.
via Science Daily
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NASA's Lunar mission captures solar eclipse as seen from the moon

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LRO captured an image of the Moon's shadow over a large region of the United States, centered just north of Nashville, Tennessee.
via Science Daily
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Space-inspired Star Storm to premiere next month

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Star Storm, an explosive performance inspired by stellar processes in the Universe, will be premiered at the 2017 Ars Electronica Festival in Linz, Austria, on 10 September.


via ESA Space Science
http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Science/Space-inspired_Star_Storm_to_premiere_next_month

Forty Years of Voyager

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Long after they have stopped communicating with Earth, the twin Voyager spacecraft will forever drift among the stars.
via New York Times

Panoramic Eclipse Composite with Star Trails

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What was happening in the sky during last week's total solar eclipse? This featured little-planet, all-sky, double time-lapse, digitally-fused composite captured celestial action during both night and day from a single location. In this 360x180 panorama, north and south are at the image bottom and top, while east and west are at the left and right edges, respectively. During four hours the night before the eclipse, star trails were captured circling the north celestial pole (bottom) as the Earth spun. During the day of the total eclipse, the Sun was captured every fifteen minutes from sunrise to sunset (top), sometimes in partial eclipse. All of these images were then digitally merged onto a single image taken exactly during the total solar eclipse. Then, the Sun's bright corona could be seen flaring around the dark new Moon (upper left), while Venus simultaneously became easily visible (top). The tree in the middle, below the camera, is a Douglas fir. The images were taken with care and planning at Magone Lake in Oregon, USA.

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Tuesday 29 August 2017

Scientists move graphene closer to transistor applications

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Scientists were able to successfully manipulate the electronic structure of graphene, which may enable the fabrication of graphene transistors -- faster and more reliable than existing silicon-based transistors.
via Science Daily

SpaceX Unveils Sleek, White Spacesuit for Astronaut Travel

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SpaceX has unveiled a sleek white spacesuit for astronauts on its crewed flights coming up next year.
via New York Times

Webcast: Gravitational waves give new window to cosmos

Saturn in Blue and Gold

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Why is Saturn partly blue? The featured picture of Saturn approximates what a human would see if hovering close to the giant ringed world. The image was taken in 2006 March by the robot Cassini spacecraft now orbiting Saturn. Here Saturn's majestic rings appear directly only as a thin vertical line. The rings show their complex structure in the dark shadows they create on the image left. Saturn's fountain moon Enceladus, only about 500 kilometers across, is seen as the bump in the plane of the rings. The northern hemisphere of Saturn can appear partly blue for the same reason that Earth's skies can appear blue -- molecules in the cloudless portions of both planet's atmospheres are better at scattering blue light than red. When looking deep into Saturn's clouds, however, the natural gold hue of Saturn's clouds becomes dominant. It is not known why southern Saturn does not show the same blue hue -- one hypothesis holds that clouds are higher there. It is also not known why Saturn's clouds are colored gold. Next month, Cassini will end its mission with a final dramatic dive into Saturn's atmosphere.

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George A. Keyworth II, Reagan Science Adviser, Dies at 77

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In the face of stiff opposition, Dr. Keyworth was a strong advocate of the antimissile plan known as Star Wars.
via New York Times

Monday 28 August 2017

Black hole models contradicted by hands-on tests

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Models of black holes that rely upon an assumption made 20 years ago need revision, explain investigators.
via Science Daily
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Galaxy 5 billion light-years away shows we live in a magnetic universe

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A chance combination of a gravitational lens and polarized waves coming from a distant quasar gave astronomers the tool needed to make a measurement important to understanding the origin of magnetic fields in galaxies.
via Science Daily
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A Fleeting Double Eclipse of the Sun

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Last week, for a fraction of a second, the Sun was eclipsed twice. One week ago today, many people in North America were treated to a standard, single, partial solar eclipse. Fewer people, all congregated along a narrow path, experienced the eerie daytime darkness of a total solar eclipse. A dedicated few with fast enough camera equipment, however, were able to capture a double eclipse -- a simultaneous partial eclipse of the Sun by both the Moon and the International Space Station (ISS). The Earth-orbiting ISS crossed the Sun in less than a second, but to keep the ISS from appearing blurry, exposure times must be less than 1/1000th of a second. The featured image composite captured the ISS multiple times in succession as it zipped across the face of the Sun. The picture was taken in a specific color emitted by hydrogen which highlights the Sun's chromosphere, a layer hotter and higher up than the usually photographed photosphere.

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Construction begins for the protoDUNE detectors

Cassini closes in

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Space Science Image of the Week: Cassini is making its final dives between Saturn and its rings before the mission’s grand finale next month
via ESA Space Science
http://www.esa.int/spaceinimages/Images/2017/08/Saturn_s_rings_and_Prometheus

Sunday 27 August 2017

The Heart Nebula in Hydrogen, Oxygen, and Sulfur

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What powers the Heart Nebula? The large emission nebula dubbed IC 1805 looks, in whole, like a heart. The nebula's glow -- as well as the shape of the gas and dust clouds -- is powered by by stellar winds and radiation from massive hot stars in the nebula's newborn star cluster Melotte 15. This deep telescopic image maps the pervasive light of narrow emission lines from atoms of hydrogen, oxygen, and sulfur in the nebula. The field of view spans just over two degrees on the sky, so that it appears larger than four times the diameter of a full moon. The cosmic heart is found in the constellation of Cassiopeia, the boastful mythical Queen of Aethiopia .

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Saturday 26 August 2017

Hurricane Harvey Strengthens

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A large and dangerous hurricane has developed in the Gulf of Mexico. The featured time-lapse video shows Hurricane Harvey growing to Category 4 strength over the past few days, as captured by NASA and NOAA's GOES-East satellite. Starting as a slight dip in air pressure, hurricanes swell into expansive spiraling storm systems, complete with high winds and driving rain. Hurricanes are powered by evaporating ocean water, and so typically gain strength over warm water and lose strength over land. Much remains unknown about hurricanes and cyclones, including details of how they are formed and the exact path they will take. Hurricane Harvey, accompanied by a dangerous storm surge, is expected to make landfall sometime today in Texas.

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Friday 25 August 2017

Faster, more precise, more stable: Study optimizes graphene growth

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Each atomic layer thin, tear-resistant, and stable. Graphene is seen as the material of the future. It is ideal for e.g. producing ultra-light electronics or highly stable mechanical components. But the wafer-thin carbon layers are difficult to produce. Scientists have manufactured self-supporting graphene membranes, and at the same time systematically investigated and optimized the growth of the graphene crystals.
via Science Daily

'Spectacular' imagery of total solar eclipse over U.S.

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Telescopes with sensitive, high-speed, visible-light and infrared cameras flew aboard NASA WB-57F research aircraft to gather data during the total solar eclipse.
via Science Daily
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Pleiades star cluster: Surprising variability

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The Seven Sisters, as they were known to the ancient Greeks, are now known to modern astronomers as the Pleiades star cluster – a set of stars which are visible to the naked eye and have been studied for thousands of years by cultures all over the world. Now astronomers have demonstrated a powerful new technique for observing stars such as these, which are ordinarily far too bright to look at with high performance telescopes.
via Science Daily
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Diamond Ring in a Cloudy Sky

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As the Moon's shadow swept across the US on August 21, eclipse chasers in the narrow path of totality were treated to a diamond ring in the sky. At the beginning and end of totality, the fleeting and beautiful effect often produces audible gasps from an amazed audience. It occurs just before or after the appearance of the faint solar corona with a brief ring of light and glimpse of Sun. In this scene from the end of totality at Central, South Carolina, clouds drift near the Sun's diamond ring in the sky.

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Thursday 24 August 2017

NASA's Webb Telescope will study our solar system's 'ocean worlds'

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NASA's James Webb Space Telescope will use its infrared capabilities to study the "ocean worlds" of Jupiter's moon Europa and Saturn's moon Enceladus, adding to observations previously made by NASA's Galileo and Cassini orbiters. The Webb telescope's observations could also help guide future missions to the icy moons.
via Science Daily
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Phoenicid meteor shower from dead comet arises again after 58 years

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Astronomers have observed the elusive 'Phoenicid meteor shower' and have determined that it was spawned by the now vanished Comet Blanpain. They also found that Comet Blanpain was active, though only weakly, in the early 20th Century. This is the first time that researchers could determine the activity of a comet by observing its associated meteor shower. These results are important for understanding the evolution of minor bodies in the Solar System.
via Science Daily
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Exploring the ground truth: NASA's twin study investigates metabolites

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Researchers are integrating multi-omics data for NASA's Twins Study and comparing all the metabolites in retired twin astronauts Scott and Mark Kelly. Experts saw a number of Scott's metabolites increase in levels when he went to space and when he returned to Earth some of those stayed elevated. By integrating data from other Twins Study investigations, they hope they can determine the cause of this elevation.
via Science Daily
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Making better batteries via real-time TEM observation

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Scientists have made a surprising discovery: Making better batteries via real-time TEM observation.
via Science Daily

The Eagle and The Swan

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The Eagle Nebula and the Swan Nebula span this broad starscape, a telescopic view toward the Sagittarius spiral arm and the center of our Milky Way galaxy. The Eagle, also known as M16, is at top and M17, the Swan, at bottom of the frame showing the cosmic clouds as brighter regions of active star-formation. They lie along the spiral arm suffused with reddish emission charactistic of atomic hydrogen gas, and dusty dark nebulae. M17, also called the Omega Nebula, is about 5500 light-years away, while M16 is some 6500 light-years distant. The center of both nebulae are locations of well-known close-up images of star formation from the Hubble Space Telescope. In this mosaic image that extends about 3 degrees across the sky, narrowband, high-resultion image data has been used to enhance the central regions of the Eagle and Swan. The extended wings of the Eagle Nebula spread almost 120 light-years. The Swan is over 30 light-years across.

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GBAR’s antiproton decelerator installed


via CERN: Updates for the general public
http://home.cern/about/updates/2017/08/gbars-antiproton-decelerator-installed

Wednesday 23 August 2017

'Dragonfly’ dual-quadcopter aims to explore Titan, Saturn’s largest moon

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The Dragonfly mission concept would use an instrumented, radioisotope-powered, dual-quadcopter to explore Saturn's largest moon, Titan, one of our solar system’s “ocean worlds.”
via Science Daily
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Best ever image of a star's surface, atmosphere

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Using ESO's Very Large Telescope Interferometer astronomers have constructed the most detailed image ever of a star -- the red supergiant star Antares. They have also made the first map of the velocities of material in the atmosphere of a star other than the sun, revealing unexpected turbulence in Antares's huge extended atmosphere.
via Science Daily
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The Crown of the Sun

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During a total solar eclipse, the Sun's extensive outer atmosphere, or corona, is an inspirational sight. Streamers and shimmering features visible to the eye span a brightness range of over 10,000 to 1, making them notoriously difficult to capture in a single photograph. But this composite of telescopic images covers a wide range of exposure times to reveal the crown of the Sun in all its glory. The aligned and stacked digital frames were taken in clear skies above Stanley, Idaho in the Sawtooth Mountains during the Sun's total eclipse on August 21. A pinkish solar prominence extends just beyond the right edge of the solar disk. Even small details on the dark night side of the New Moon can be made out, illuminated by sunlight reflected from a Full Earth.

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Tuesday 22 August 2017

Hubble's twisted galaxy

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Gravity governs the movements of the cosmos. It draws flocks of galaxies together to form small groups and more massive galaxy clusters, and brings duos so close that they begin to tug at one another. This latter scenario can have extreme consequences, with members of interacting pairs of galaxies often being dramatically distorted, torn apart, or driven to smash into one another, abandoning their former identities and merging to form a single accumulation of gas, dust and stars.
via Science Daily
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Saturn-lit Tethys

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Cassini gazes across the icy rings of Saturn toward the icy moon Tethys, whose night side is illuminated by Saturnshine, or sunlight reflected by the planet.
via Science Daily
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Large asteroid to safely pass Earth on Sept. 1

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via Science Daily
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Brown dwarf weather forecasts improved

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Dim objects called brown dwarfs, less massive than the Sun but more massive than Jupiter, have powerful winds and clouds -- specifically, hot patchy clouds made of iron droplets and silicate dust. Scientists recently realized these giant clouds can move and thicken or thin surprisingly rapidly, in less than an Earth day, but did not understand why.
via Science Daily
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Gravity, 'mechanical loading' are key to cartilage development

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Mechanical loading is required for creating cartilage that is then turned to bone; however, little is known about cartilage development in the absence of gravity. Now, bioengineers have determined that microgravity may inhibit cartilage formation. Findings reveal that fracture healing for astronauts in space, as well as patients on bed rest here on Earth, could be compromised in the absence of mechanical loading.
via Science Daily
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Trace of galaxies at the heart of a gigantic galaxy cluster

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The discovery of numerous ultra-diffuse galaxies is both remarkable and puzzling, explain scientists in a new report.
via Science Daily
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The moving Martian bow shock

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Physicists throw new light on the interaction between the planet Mars and supersonic particles in the solar wind.
via Science Daily
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Stellar Group, Tarantula Nebula outer space image Jelly Belly Tin

Stellar Group, Tarantula Nebula outer space image Jelly Belly Tin
Galaxies, Stars and Nebulae series: Hundreds of brilliant blue stars wreathed by warm, glowing clouds in appear in this the most detailed view of the largest stellar nursery in our…


Turning human waste into plastic, nutrients could aid long-distance space travel

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Imagine you're on your way to Mars, and you lose a crucial tool during a spacewalk. Not to worry, you'll simply re-enter your spacecraft and use some microorganisms to convert your urine and exhaled carbon dioxide into chemicals to make a new tool. That's one goal of scientists developing ways to make long space trips feasible.
via Science Daily
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A Total Solar Eclipse over Wyoming

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Will the sky be clear enough to see the eclipse? This question was on the minds of many people attempting to view yesterday's solar eclipse. The path of total darkness crossed the mainland of the USA from coast to coast, from Oregon to South Carolina -- but a partial eclipse occurred above all of North America. Unfortunately, many locations saw predominantly clouds. One location that did not was a bank of Green River Lake, Wyoming. There, clouds blocked the Sun intermittantly up to one minute before totality. Parting clouds then moved far enough away to allow the center image of the featured composite sequence to be taken. This image shows the corona of the Sun extending out past the central dark Moon that blocks our familiar Sun. The surrounding images show the partial phases of the solar eclipse both before and after totality.

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Graphene for spintronics – electron spin g factor insensitive to external effects

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Researchers have probed the electron spin g factor in graphene and discovered that, surprisingly, this factor is insensitive to external effects such as charge carrier type, density and mobility. The g factor is an important parameter that defines spin properties of electrons in a material, with fundamental implications in spintronic applications.

Their findings published in Physical Review Letters, the scientific team from the University of Hamburg, University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Graphenea used electron spin resonance (ESR) to detect spin flips in monolayer graphene, while operating the device in a field-effect transistor configuration for charge carrier type, density, and mobility tuning. The finding that g is constant at a value of 1.95 regardless of external tuning surprised the researchers, as it indicates that the coupling of spin to the orbital degree of freedom of the electrons in graphene is intrinsic. This finding will have to be taken into account when designing any graphene-based spin-logic device, because the g factor affects all spin behaviour, such as spin lifetime.

Image: The graphene g-factor is constant against changing external factors, such as carrier density. Copyright APS, Phys. Rev. Lett. 119, 066802 (2017).

Spintronics is an emerging technology that, as opposed to electronics on which all our devices rely, manipulates electron spin instead of shuttling charged carriers across devices. Electron spin can have two states, “up” and “down”, analogous to the “0” and “1” bit in digital electronics. Manipulation of spin instead of (or in addition to) charge has several advantages over conventional electronics. Less energy is needed to change spin than to generate a current, thus spintronic devices will last longer and generate less heat than electronic devices. Spin states can be set quickly, allowing faster computing, and the state stays fixed, yielding a long-term memory device. In fact, spin-based memory is already being used in modern magnetic hard drives.

Graphene is an ideal material for spintronics. It has small spin-orbit coupling, weak hyperfine coupling and high mobility keeping the electron spins coherent over microns, enough to build spintronic devices and platforms. Earlier this year researchers demonstrated a room-temperature spin transistor from graphene. Other spin-logic devices will include rewritable microchips, transistors, logic gates, magnetic sensors and semiconductor nanoparticles for quantum computing.


via Graphenea

Solar spectacular seen from Earth and space

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While ground-based observers experienced the awe-inspiring view of a total solar eclipse yesterday, astronauts aboard the International Space Station, and our Sun-watching satellites, enjoyed unique perspectives of this spectacular sight from space.


via ESA Space Science
http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Science/Solar_spectacular_seen_from_Earth_and_space

Solar spectacular

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Images from Earth and space as 21 August’s solar eclipse swept over the globe
via ESA Space Science
http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Science/Highlights/Solar_spectacular

Experience Eclipse Totality

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Squeeze in among the crowds and witness the first total solar eclipse to cross the entire continental United States since 1918. An exclusive video by The New York Times in partnership with NOVA/PBS.
via New York Times

Monday 21 August 2017

Out There: A Reverie for the Voyager Probes, Humanity’s Calling Cards

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Launched 40 years ago, the spacecraft have sailed beyond the solar system, artifacts of a civilization that may be gone before they’re found.
via New York Times

A Total Solar Eclipse Leaves a Nation in Awe

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A total eclipse that crossed the sky from Oregon to South Carolina brought out throngs of spectators, who exulted in seeing the midday sky go briefly dark.
via New York Times

Missed the Solar Eclipse? You’ll Have Another Chance in 7 Years

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On April 8, 2024, a total solar eclipse will traverse the United States from Texas to Maine. After that, your next shot won’t be until 2045.
via New York Times

Analysis of a 'rusty' lunar rock suggests the moon's interior is dry

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The moon is likely very dry in its interior according to a new study analyzing fragments of the 'Rusty Rock,' a rock collected from the moon's surface during the Apollo 16 mission in 1972.
via Science Daily
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No, Seriously, Don’t Look at the Eclipse Without Special Glasses

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Here’s how to ensure the eyeglasses you obtained will offer adequate protection before you look at the solar eclipse.
via New York Times

Scientists create 'diamond rain' that forms in the interior of icy giant planets

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In an experiment designed to mimic the conditions deep inside the icy giant planets of our solar system, scientists were able to observe 'diamond rain' for the first time as it formed in high-pressure conditions. Extremely high pressure squeezes hydrogen and carbon found in the interior of these planets to form solid diamonds that sink slowly down further into the interior.
via Science Daily
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Milky Way over Chilean Volcanoes

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Sometimes, the sky mimics the ground. Taken in 2017 May from the Atacama Desert in Chile, the foreground of the featured image encompasses the dipping edge of the caldera of an extinct volcano. Poetically echoing the dip below is the arch of our Milky Way Galaxy above. Many famous icons dot this southern nighttime vista, including the center of our Milky Way Galaxy on the far left, the bright orange star Antares also on the left, the constellation of the Southern Cross near the top of the arch, and the red-glowing Gum Nebula on the far right. Just above the horizon and splitting two distant volcanic peaks near the image center is the Large Magellanic Cloud -- the largest satellite galaxy of the Milky Way.

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Before the eclipse

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The Sun as seen by SOHO and Proba-2 as astronomers prepare for today’s total solar eclipse
via ESA Space Science
http://www.esa.int/spaceinimages/Images/2017/08/The_Sun_21_August_2017

Sunday 20 August 2017

Photos: The Eclipse Is Coming. Are You Ready?

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Monday the Sun will be blotted out by the moon. Here’s what people are doing to prepare.
via New York Times

Silk could improve sensitivity, flexibility of wearable body sensors

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From smart socks to workout clothes that measure exertion, wearable body sensors are becoming the latest 'must-have' technology. Now scientists report they are on the cusp of using silk, one of the world's most coveted fabrics, to develop a more sensitive and flexible generation of these multi-purpose devices that monitor a slew of body functions.
via Science Daily

Time-Lapse: A Total Solar Eclipse

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Have you ever experienced a total eclipse of the Sun? This time-lapse movie depicts such an eclipse in dramatic detail, seen from Australia in 2012. As the video begins, a slight dimming of the Sun and the surrounding Earth is barely perceptible. As the Moon moves to cover nearly the entire Sun, darkness sweeps in from the left -- the fully blocked part of the Sun. At totality, only the bright solar corona extends past the edges of the Moon, and darkness surrounds you. Distant horizons are still bright, though, as they are not in the darkest part of the shadow. At mid-totality the darkness dips to the horizon below the eclipsed Sun, created by the shadow cone -- a corridor of shadow that traces back to the Moon. As the total solar eclipse ends -- usually after a few minutes -- the process reverses and Moon's shadow moves off to the other side. Tomorrow afternoon's total solar eclipse -- visible as at least a partial eclipse over all of North America -- can be experienced at social gatherings, some of which are being organized by local libraries.

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