Steps into Space - Commercialisation, Occupation, Colonization: 05/24/14

Saturday, 24 May 2014

Conducting polymer films decorated with biomolecules for cell research use

The cover image illustrates conducting polymer films, grown in a patterned fashion, that are decorated with variety of biomolecules such as antibodies or proteins (represented by the flowers) to attract cells or other biomolecules (represented by the butterflies). This artistic image, created by SooHyun Park, represents the focus of this article on generating patterned films of conducting polymers with different geometries, surface chemistries, and biomolecules using the novel method of hydrogel-mediated electropolymerization towards the application in biosensing and cell/tissue engineering. Image: SooHyun Park/Penn State The ability to create conducting polymer films in a variety of shapes, thicknesses and surface properties rapidly and inexpensively will make growing and testing cells easier and more flexible, according to a team of Penn State bioengineers. “The ultimate goal of this collaborative project is to be able to create a substrate for growth and manipulation of cells,” said Sheereen Majd, assistant professor of bioengineering. “Cells on a surface need to recognize biomolecules like extracellular matrix proteins to be able to adhere and grow. We ultimately would like to be able to use these polymer films to manipulate adhesion, growth, proliferation and migration of cells.” Majd and her team are creating patterned films of conducting polymers on gold substrates

The post Conducting polymer films decorated with biomolecules for cell research use has been published on Technology Org.

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The 10 most incredible scientific hoaxes of all time

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Pranks are generally limited to benign things like dumb Facebook status changes or stunts involving shaving cream. But there are some enterprising individuals that try to get one over on science, with varying degrees of temporary success.

Here's a rundown of some of the biggest scientific frauds in history — at least, the ones that have been exposed:

1) The made-up missing link

1953: Piltdown Man replicas on display at the American Museum of Natural History. | (AP Photo/Tom Fitzsimmons)

The most famous fake of all time is probably the Piltdown Man, a collection of jaw and skull fragments...

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» see original post http://theweek.com/article/index/261818/the-10-most-incredible-scientific-hoaxes-of-all-time
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Making insects delectable for Western palates

Science Focus

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"It's pretty standard," says designer Búi Bjarmar Aðalsteinsson. "Some wheat, eggs, onion, salt, spices and milk will do the trick." He forgot to mention the larvae—the liquidated larvae are what makes Aðalsteinsson's meat paté sing.

"The biggest factors for insect being super interesting is their abilities to transform almost any feed source into a very nutritious flesh," he explains to us. It's a fact he picked up from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, after reading a newspaper article that said eating insects would reduce hunger and pollution the world over. Naturally, he responded by building a Fly Factory that restaurants can use to grow delicious suppers for their clientele. He has a recipe for larvae pudding, too.

"I was supposed to pick a subject for my graduation project and I knew that I wanted to do something related to living matter and the transforming power that dwells in the nature," Aðalsteinsson tells Wired.co.uk.

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» see original post http://feeds.arstechnica.com/~r/arstechnica/science/~3/qPA0mSMx7sQ/
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Researchers find possible evidence of toroidal magnetic field surrounding magnetar

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Credit: L. Calçada/ESO Space researchers in Japan working at the Suzaku observatory have found possible evidence of the existence of a toroidal magnetic field surrounding the magnetar 4U 0142+61. In their paper published in the journal Physical Review Letters, the research team describe their observation of inconsistent pulses coming from 4U 0142+61, suggesting the presence of an external magnetic field. Magnetars are a class of neutron star—both trace their origins to a supernova. What sets them apart is the strength of their magnetic fields—magnetars, as their name implies, are very strongly magnetic, with some measured at 1011 Tesla, approximately a billion times stronger than anything found on Earth. They are also extremely dense, of course, and somewhat small—generally no more than 20 kilometers in diameter. For some time, space scientists have theorized that magnetars also have a second doughnut-shaped (torus) magnetic field surrounding their equator, perhaps even stronger than the one measured at their surface. In this new effort, the researchers appear to have found evidence for just such a magnetic field surrounding 4U 0142+61. In studying the magnetar, the researchers were analyzing the strong x-ray emissions that come from its poles—pulsating every 8.7 seconds. Read more at: Phys.org

The post Researchers find possible evidence of toroidal magnetic field surrounding magnetar has been published on Technology Org.

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Fires of the Flame Nebula - in Orion Rectangular Sticker

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

Fires of the Flame Nebula - in Orion Rectangular Sticker

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

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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A Circumhorizontal Arc Over Ohio

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New nanowire growth mechanism observed

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Schematic showing the movement of molten barium-rich nanoparticles to the surface of an yttrium- and copper-rich matrix. The transmission electron microscope image confirms that this leads to outgrowth of yttrium barium copper oxide nanowires via the microcrucible mechanism. A mechanism of growth of anisotropic metal oxides that was predicted 20 years ago has been observed for the first time by researchers at the University of Bristol. The work is described in an article published this week in Science. The fabrication of nanowires of ternary and quaternary functional materials has become an important goal for their application in miniaturized circuits as diodes and transistors, coaxial gates and sensors. The growth mechanisms are complex however and invariably proceed via a vapour-liquid-solid process which results in nanowires with a tapering morphology. A nanowire that tapers is undesirable for applications, as functionality would vary along the length, and perhaps even vanish, once a critical size was reached. Dr Simon Hall and Rebecca Boston in the School of Chemistry, along with colleagues in the University of Birmingham and the National Institute for Materials Science in Tsukuba, Japan have successfully grown nanowires of a phase of the superconductor yttrium barium copper oxide that have a constant cross-sectional area. In doing

The post New nanowire growth mechanism observed has been published on Technology Org.

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Failed dwarf galaxy survives galactic collision thanks to full dark-matter jacket

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Like a bullet wrapped in a full metal jacket, a high-velocity hydrogen cloud hurtling toward the Milky Way appears to be encased in a shell of dark matter, according to a new analysis. Astronomers believe that without this protective shell, the high-velocity cloud known as the Smith Cloud would have disintegrated long ago when it first collided with the disk of our Galaxy.

via Science Daily

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Spiral Galaxy - NGC 253 Oval Stickers

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

Spiral Galaxy - NGC 253 Oval Stickers

tagged with: spgxy253, breathtaking astronomy images, galaxies, stars, spiral galaxy, european southern observatory, eso, vista, spiral galactic arms

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