Thursday 12 January 2017

Searching for planets in the Alpha Centauri system

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Astronomers are conducting a search for planets in the nearby star system Alpha Centauri. Such planets could be the targets for an eventual launch of miniature space probes by the Breakthrough Starshot initiative.
via Science Daily
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The moon is older than scientists thought

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The moon is much older than some scientists believe, a research team now reports. Their precise analysis of zircons bought to Earth by Apollo 14 astronauts reveals the moon is at least 4.51 billion years old and probably formed only about 60 million years after the birth of the solar system -- 40 to 140 million years earlier than recently thought.
via Science Daily
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Edge-On NGC 891

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Large spiral galaxy NGC 891 spans about 100 thousand light-years and is seen almost exactly edge-on from our perspective. In fact, about 30 million light-years distant in the constellation Andromeda, NGC 891 looks a lot like our Milky Way. At first glance, it has a flat, thin, galactic disk of stars and a central bulge cut along the middle by regions of dark obscuring dust. But remarkably apparent in NGC 891's edge-on presentation are filaments of dust that extend hundreds of light-years above and below the center line. The dust has likely been blown out of the disk by supernova explosions or intense star formation activity. Fainter galaxies can also be seen near the edge-on disk in this deep portrait of NGC 891.

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Graphenea reduces prices of graphene products for another year in a row

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As it does at the beginning of each year, Graphenea announces another significant price reduction this year as well. The price of CVD films has dropped 15% on average this January, and the price of graphene oxide (GO) is being reduced by 30% on average.

CVD films are being offered on copper substrates that they are grown on, in sizes ranging from 10x10 mm to 4 inch diameter. The same high quality graphene films are also available on SiO2/Si, quartz, PET, suspended on TEM grids and cavities, and on custom substrates as required. For customers wishing to do their own transfer, CVD graphene is also available on polymer films for easy transfer.

GO is available in water dispersions in volumes up to 10 liters and concentrations up to 4mg/mL. The price of GO in solution is now only $18.25 per gram of material. Also, customers can now purchase dry GO powder and make their own dispersions, or get ready-made GO films obtained by filtration of the solutions.

The latest price reduction was made possible by productivity improvements, capacity scale-up, and rising demand, making the company’s materials even more affordable for scientific and industrial customers. CVD graphene growth is now being performed in a larger cleanroom, where a new 8-inch deposition system was installed last year. GO is being produced in volumes up to 1 ton per year in a new industrial scale pilot plant.

Scaling up production, improving the quality of staple products, and limited strategic expansion of the product offering remain key strategies for Graphenea, as the firm participates in the graphene market shift from the lab to consumer products.

Key highlights:

  • Reduced prices
  • New GO plant allows 1 tpa capacity
  • CVD production expanded to new lab and larger system
  • Demand for graphene has risen

About Graphenea:

Graphenea, a leading company in graphene production and a venture backed by Repsol and CDTI, was established in 2010, and has since grown to be one of the world's largest providers of graphene. The company is headquartered at the nanotechnology cluster CIC nanoGune in San Sebastian, Spain and Boston (Cambridge). Graphenea employs 22 people and exports graphene materials to more than 400 customers in 55 countries. The company has focused on constant improvement of graphene quality, becoming a supplier customers can rely on. Graphenea employs a team of skilled laboratory staff who have brought graphene film production techniques to a new level, offering the same high quality films on any substrate. Graphenea produces CVD graphene wafers up to 8 inches (production capacity of 7,000 wafers per annum) and graphene oxide in volumes up to 10 liters per package (production capacity 1 tpa). The company’s processes are protected by 7 patents (6 granted). Graphenea partners with large multinationals to develop custom graphene materials for their applications. Its research agility and ability to keep pace with the progress of graphene science and technology has allowed Graphenea to become the largest graphene supplier in the Graphene Flagship, a ten year project of the European Commission worth a billion euros. The company keeps a close relation with the world's leading scientists, regularly publishing scientific articles of the highest level.

Addresses:

Graphenea
Avenida Tolosa, 76
20018 - San Sebastián
SPAIN

Graphenea Inc.
1 Broadway
Cambridge, MA 02142
USA


via Graphenea

High energy x-rays used to peer beneath the obscuring skin of growing black holes

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A black hole under investigation is so hidden that it requires highly sensitive observations in the highest energy X-rays to classify it as obscured. But they give themselves away when material they feed on emits high-energy X-rays that NASA's NuSTAR (Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array) mission can detect. That's how astronomers used NuSTAR to recently identify a gas-enshrouded supermassive black holes located at the center of a nearby galaxy IC 3639 some 175 million light years from Earth.
via Science Daily
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