Friday 4 August 2017

Dual-surface graphene electrode splits water into hydrogen and oxygen

more »
Scientists have turned laser-induced graphene into a two-sided electrocatalyst that efficiently splits water into oxygen and hydrogen.
via Science Daily

Primordial black holes may have helped to forge heavy elements

more »
Astronomers like to say we are the byproducts of stars, stellar furnaces that long ago fused hydrogen and helium into the elements needed for life through the process of stellar nucleosynthesis. But what about the heavier elements in the periodic chart, elements such as gold, platinum and uranium? Astronomers believe most of these "r-process elements" -- elements much heavier than iron -- were created, either in the aftermath of the collapse of massive stars and the associated supernova explosions, or in the merging of binary neutron star systems.
via Science Daily
Zazzle Space Exploration market place

Newsbook: Missing the Eclipse? Read All About It.

more »
The celestial phenomenon will be fully visible in 14 states across the United States. These books tell you all you need to know.
via New York Times

Lightweight catalyst for artificial photosynthesis

more »
Nanochemistry meets macrostructures: Scientists report the synthesis of a macroscopic aerogel from carbonitride nanomaterials which is an excellent catalyst for the water-splitting reaction under visible-light irradiation. The study adds new opportunities to the material properties of melamine-derived carbonitrides.
via Science Daily

Trilobites: Partial Lunar Eclipse Will Shadow the Moon on Monday

more »
Two weeks before a total solar eclipse crosses the United States, many other parts of the world will witness Earth’s shadow covering part of the moon.
via New York Times

First antiprotons in ELENA

The new deceleration ring ELENA will slow down antimatter particles further than ever to improve the efficiency of experiments studying antimatter. (Image: Maximilien Brice/CERN)

On 2 August, the first 5.3 MeV antiproton beam coming from CERN’s Antiproton Decelerator (AD) circulated in the Extra Low ENergy Antiproton (ELENA) decelerating ring.

ELENA is the new decelerator for antimatter experiments. It has a circumference of just 30 meters and will be connected to the AD experiments to increase the number of antiprotons available to several antimatter experiments. The slower the antiprotons (i.e. the less energy they have), the easier it is for the AD’s antimatter experiments to study or manipulate them. However, the AD decelerator can reliably only slow antiprotons down to 5.3 MeV, the lowest possible energy for a machine of this size. ELENA will reduce this energy by 50 times, to just 0.1 MeV.   In addition, the density of the beams will be improved. The number of antiprotons that can be trapped will be increased by a factor of 10 to 100. The new decelerator will also enable several experiments to receive antiproton beams simultaneously, opening up the possibility for additional experiments, such as GBAR.

This is not the first time that a beam has circulated in ELENA. The first tests began last November, but this is the first time that antiprotons, the particle type this machine has been conceived for, have been injected. The beam of antiprotons has been successfully injected and it has been observed circulating for a few milliseconds (that is, a few thousand turns of the machine).

The commissioning of the machine will continue over the next coming months with setting-up of several systems such as the radio-frequency cavity, which will be used to decelerate the bunches of antiprotons. At that point, the commissioning team will start changing the energy of the beams. At the same time, a series of general adjustments of the beam optics is as well foreseen.

As antiprotons are difficult to produce and they need to be shared among many experiments,  progress in the commissioning of ELENA will also be made using protons and ions coming from a local H ion and proton source.  


via CERN: Updates for the general public
http://home.cern/about/updates/2017/08/first-antiprotons-elena

North North Temperate Zone Little Red Spot

more »
On July 11, the Juno spacecraft once again swung near the turbulent Jovian cloud tops. On its seventh orbital closest approach this perijove passage brought Juno within 3,500 kilometers of the Solar System's largest planetary atmosphere. Near perijove the rotating JunoCam was able to record this stunning, clear view of one of Jupiter's signature vortices. About 8,000 kilometers in diameter, the anticyclonic storm system was spotted in Jupiter's North North Temperate Zone in the 1990s. That makes it about half the size of an older and better known Jovian anticyclone, the Great Red Spot, but only a little smaller than planet Earth. At times taking on reddish hues, the enormous storm system is fondly known as a North North Temperate Zone Little Red Spot.

Zazzle Space Gifts for young and old