Steps into Space - Commercialisation, Occupation, Colonization: 04/13/14

Sunday 13 April 2014

Synthesizing textiles from sugar

In the future, the clothes you wear could be made from sugar. Researchers at the Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (IBN) have discovered a new chemical process that can convert adipic acid directly from sugar. Adipic acid is an important chemical used to produce nylon for apparel and other everyday products like carpets, ropes and toothbrush bristles. Commercially, adipic acid is produced from petroleum-based chemicals through the nitric acid oxidation process, which emits large amounts of nitrous oxides, a major greenhouse gas that causes global warming. IBN Executive Director Professor Jackie Y. Ying said, “In the face of growing environmental concerns over the use of fossil fuels and diminishing natural resources, there is an increasing need for a renewable source for energy and chemicals. We have designed a sustainable and environmentally friendly solution to convert sugar into adipic acid via our patented catalytic process technology.” Bio-based adipic acid can be synthesized from mucic acid, which is oxidized from sugar; and the mucic acid can be obtained from fruit peels. Current processes are either performed using multiple steps with low product efficiency and yield, or under harsh reaction conditions using high-pressure hydrogen gas and strong acids, which are costly and unsafe. The new chemical catalytic

The post Synthesizing textiles from sugar has been published on Technology Org.

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Pouf - and it's gone

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Pouf - and it's gone
...and I thought "accretion disk" was something thrown by athletes of Crete during their Olympic Games ;)

hehe!

#chandra

NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory originally shared:

This animation shows what happens when matter falls onto the accretion disk around a black hole.
http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2007/gcle/animations.html

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NASAs Black hole Poster

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NASAs Black hole Poster

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This is the latest black hole discovered by NASA. It is absolutely stunning.

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Seismic imaging revisits an old question: What drives continental drift?

Science Focus

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Iceland is a portion of a mid-ocean ridge, where the oceanic plates spread apart and new crust is made in between, that rises above sea level.

Howard Ignatius

Long before geologists worked out the theory of plate tectonics, there was discussion about whether Earth’s continents had moved about. The most detailed, and most famous, case was made by Alfred Wegener after the turn of the 20^th century. The best objection to his idea was that he couldn’t provide a plausible mechanism that could drive this “continental drift."

In a 1928 volume, Arthur Holmes proposed a possible answer: convection of rock in the mantle could drag the plates around. This ended up being the dominant explanation when plate tectonics was accepted. But there have since been some challengers. One alternative that could move plates is the density-driven downward sinking of oceanic plates at subduction zones, which people recognized would exert a force that pulled on the portion of the plate that was still at the surface—what’s known as “slab pull.” Once the plates are moving, they'd simply drag nearby mantle along with them.

Now, thanks to some finely detailed imaging, researchers have come up with evidence that, in at least one location, the mantle drove plate motion, rather than being swept up by it. The results will have to be confirmed at other plate boundaries, but it's a good start toward settling one of the oldest arguments in plate tectonics.

Read 10 remaining paragraphs | Comments

#science
original post: http://feeds.arstechnica.com/~r/arstechnica/science/~3/EK_FsNITZsQ/
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Atoms and light get together to form cool, complex patterns

Science Focus

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The physics behind some of nature’s spectacular sights have been observed at very low temperatures – less than a thousandth of a degree away from absolute zero – by researchers from the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, UK, and the Institut Non Linéaire de Nice in Sophia-Antipolis, France. The scientists are investigating complex structures and patterns, which can emerge from the way natural systems organise themselves. Examples include cellular patterns formed by heated oil in frying pans – and hexagonal patterns on a giraffe’s skin, as well as the highly-sophisticated, laser-driven atomic samples being investigated in the Strathclyde and Nice laboratories. The researchers are seeking to understand the way these structures arrange themselves spontaneously, by studying ultra-cold atomic vapours, and previously developed a theory predicting the conditions under which patterns should emerge. They have now carried out further experiments which have shown that, under these conditions, the light and atoms arrange themselves to form striking hexagon and honeycomb patterns. These self-organised structures of ultra-cold atoms and light may open up new possibilities for manipulating and structuring matter – and could have an impact in various branches of physics, including quantum, nonlinear and condensed-matter physics. The results have been published in

The post Atoms and light get together to form cool, complex patterns has been published on Technology Org.

#physics
original post...
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How much sugar is hiding in your food?

Science Focus

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Why do some foods contain so much?
#science
original post...
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Name, Red Supergiant Star Monocerotis, Outer Space Gift Wrap

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Galaxies, Stars and Nebulae series A gorgeous astronomy picture featuring a distant star, named V838 Monocerotis, in the direction of the constellation of Monoceros on the outer edge of our Milky Way. The image shows the swirls of dust spiralling across trillions of miles of interstellar space, lit mainly from within by a pulse of light from the red supergiant, two years into its journey.
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image code: monocerotis

Image credit: NASA, the Hubble Heritage Team (AURA/STScI) and ESA

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Enlarged Region of The Omega Nebula Rectangle Stickers

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Galaxies, Stars and Nebulae series Like the fury of a raging sea, this bubbly ocean of glowing hydrogen, oxygen, and sulphur gas lies in the extremely massive and luminous molecular nebula Messier 17.
This Hubble photograph captures a small region within Messier 17 (M17), a hotbed of star formation. M17, also known as the Omega or Swan Nebula, is located about 5500 light-years away in the Sagittarius constellation.
Ultraviolet radiation is carving and heating the surfaces of cold hydrogen gas clouds and the warmed surfaces glow orange and red. The intense heat and pressure causes some material to stream away from the surface, creating the glowing veil of even hotter green-coloured gas that masks background structures. The colours in the image represent various gases. Red represents sulphur; green, hydrogen; and blue, oxygen.

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image code: eroton

Image credit: NASA, the ACS Science Team

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Saturn in Blue and Gold

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Sombrero Galaxy in infrared light iPad Mini Cases

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NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope and NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope joined forces to create this striking composite image of one of the most popular sights in the universe. Messier 104 is commonly known as the Sombrero galaxy because in visible light, it resembles the broad-brimmed Mexican hat. However, in Spitzer's striking infrared view, the galaxy looks more like a "bull's eye." Sign up to Mr. Rebates for FREE and save 12% on any zazzle order in addition to a $5.00 sign up bonus All Rights Reserved; without: prejudice, recourse or notice (U.C.C. 1-308) http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sombrero_Galaxy_in_infrared_light_%28Hubble_Space_Telescope_and_Spitzer_Space_Telescope%29.jpg sombrero galaxy infrared space astronomy stars "outer space" sptizer telescope hubble nasa

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Chemical probe profiles live-cell organelle activity, adds to understanding of lysosome dynamics

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Chemical probe profiles live-cell organelle activity, adds to understanding of lysosome dynamics Structured illumination microscopy imaging showing subcellular probe labeling of functionally active enzymes called cathepsins, in the lysosome. The green fluorescence stems from probe-labeled enzymes, and the red fluorescence is from a fluorescent antibody specific for lysosome membranes. Probe-labeling fluorescence is surrounded by the antibody fluorescence, showing lysosomal localization. A team of scientists from Pacific Northwest National Laboratory synthesized a chemical activity-based probe (ABP) that can provide new information about how living cells function. The new ABP is designed to enter a living cell without interacting with anything until it enters a specific organelle: the lysosome. This proof-of-concept ABP then labels only functionally active enzymes called cathepsins, which are cysteine proteases, in the lysosome. Using proteomics and super-resolution microscopy to view these labeled enzymes, the scientists now are able to see organellar activity. Their work, which demonstrates the ability to manipulate chemistry to better understand biology, has been published in Angewandte Chemie International Edition. Why It Matters: Found throughout mammalian cells, lysosomes are important for cell stability as the “housekeepers,” disposing of unnecessary or nonworking components. They also play a role in many different diseases, among them cancer and

The post Chemical probe profiles live-cell organelle activity, adds to understanding of lysosome dynamics has been published on Technology Org.

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copernicus quote poster

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copernicus quote print

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Name, Eagle Nebula, Intriguing Outer Space Wrapping Paper

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Galaxies, Stars and Nebulae series A breathtaking outer space picture showing a spectacular three-colour composite mosaic image of the Eagle Nebula (Messier 16, or NGC 6611). It's based on images obtained with the Wide-Field Imager camera on the MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope at the La Silla Observatory.

At the centre, the so-called “Pillars of Creation” can be seen and this wide-field image shows not only the central pillars, but also several others in the same star-forming region, as well as a huge number of stars in front of, in, or behind the Eagle Nebula.

The cluster of bright stars to the upper right is NGC 6611, home to the massive and hot stars that illuminate the pillars. The “Spire” - another large pillar - is in the middle left of the image.
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image code: eglneb

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

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Crab Pulsar Time Lapse - Neutron Star Stickers

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Galaxies, Stars and Nebulae series

Multiple observations made over several months with NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory and the Hubble Space Telescope captured the spectacle of matter and antimatter propelled to near the speed of light by the Crab pulsar, a rapidly rotating neutron star the size of Manhattan.

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Image code: crbplsr

Image credit: NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory and the Hubble Space Telescope

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Faraway moon or faint star? Possible exomoon found

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Titan, Europa, Io and Phobos are just a few members of our solar system's pantheon of moons. Are there are other moons out there, orbiting planets beyond our sun? Researchers have spotted the first signs of an "exomoon," and though they say it's impossible to confirm its presence, the finding is a tantalizing first step toward locating others. The discovery was made by watching a chance encounter of objects in our galaxy, which can be witnessed only once.

via Science Daily

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Carina Nebula: The Pillar Room Decals

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"This Hubble Space Telescope view of the central region of the Carina Nebula reveals a violent maelstrom of star birth. The fantasy-like landscape of the nebula is sculpted by the intense pressure of starlight from monster stars and their accompanying star clusters, as well as the hydrodynamics of their stellar winds of charged particles."

(qtd. from the HubbleSite.org NewsCenter release STScI-2007-16)

Credit: NASA, ESA, N. Smith (University of California, Berkeley), and The Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)

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