Steps into Space - Commercialisation, Occupation, Colonization: 06/29/14

Sunday, 29 June 2014

Chemical sensor on a chip

Using miniaturized laser technology, a tiny sensor has been built at the Vienna University of Technology which can test the chemical composition of liquids. They are invisible, but perfectly suited for analysing liquids and gases; infrared laser beams are absorbed differently by different molecules. This effect can for instance be used to measure the oxygen concentration in blood. At the Vienna University of Technology, this technique has now been miniaturized and implemented in the prototype for a new kind of sensor. Just a drop is enough to test the chemical composition. Specially designed quantum cascade lasers and light detectors are created by the same production process. The gap between laser and detector is only 50 micrometres. It is bridged by a plasmonic waveguide made of gold and silicon nitride. This new approach allows for the simple and cheap production of tiny sensors for many different applications. Laser and Detector Simple solid-state lasers, such as the well-known red ruby laser, consist of only one material. Quantum cascade lasers, on the other hand, are made of a perfectly optimized layer system of different materials. That way, the properties such as the wavelength of the laser can be tuned. When a voltage is

The post Chemical sensor on a chip has been published on Technology Org.

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In the Shadow of Saturn Poster

Here's a great poster featuring a beautiful image from deep space

In the Shadow of Saturn Poster

tagged with: shadow, saturn, nasa, outer, space, universe, galaxy, astronomy, solar, system, eclipse, sun, cassini, ring, new, rings, earth, color

In the shadow of Saturn, unexpected wonders appear. The robotic Cassini spacecraft now orbiting Saturn recently drifted in giant planet's shadow for about 12 hours and looked back toward the eclipsed Sun. Cassini saw a view unlike any other. First, the night side of Saturn is seen to be partly lit by light reflected from its own majestic ring system. Next, the rings themselves appear dark when silhouetted against Saturn, but quite bright when viewed away from Saturn and slightly scattering sunlight, in the above exaggerated color image. Saturn's rings light up so much that new rings were discovered, although they are hard to see in the above image. Visible in spectacular detail, however, is Saturn's E ring, the ring created by the newly discovered ice-fountains of the moon Enceladus, and the outermost ring visible above. Far in the distance, visible on the image left just above the bright main rings, is the almost ignorable pale blue dot of Earth. Credit: CICLOPS, JPL, ESA, NASA

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Galaxy Cove Vista Revisited

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Learning approaches to efficient solar cells from nature

Science Focus

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Learning approaches to efficient solar cells from nature
As usual, nature already does what we're trying to do for ourselves.
#science

Quantum Coherence: At the Intersection of Quantum Mechanics and Biology
original attached image

» see original post https://plus.google.com/116000959328274308893/posts/4b3tKYBztMt
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Why haven’t we encountered aliens yet? The answer could be climate change

Science Focus

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ESO/L. Calçada, CC BY (The Conversation)

Enrico Fermi, when asked about intelligent life on other planets, famously replied, “Where are they?” Any civilization advanced enough to undertake interstellar travel would, he argued, in a brief period of cosmic time, populate its entire galaxy. Yet, we haven’t made any contact with such life. This has become the famous "Fermi Paradox.”

Various explanations for why we don’t see aliens have been proposed—perhaps interstellar travel is impossible or maybe civilizations are always self-destructive. But with every new discovery of a potentially habitable planet, the Fermi Paradox becomes increasingly mysterious. There could be hundreds of millions of potentially habitable worlds in the Milky Way alone.

This impression is only reinforced by the recent discovery of a “Mega-Earth," a rocky planet 17 times more massive than the Earth but with only a thin atmosphere. Previously, it was thought that worlds this large would hold onto an atmosphere so thick that their surfaces would experience uninhabitable temperatures and pressures. But if this isn’t true, there is a whole new category of potentially habitable real estate in the cosmos.

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» see original post http://feeds.arstechnica.com/~r/arstechnica/science/~3/1iaNpz507l8/
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A virus reveals the physics of nanopores

Science Focus

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Nanopores could provide a new way to sequence DNA quickly, but the physics involved isn’t well understood. That’s partly because of the complexities involved in studying the random, squiggly form DNA takes in solution. Researchers from Brown have simplified matters by using a stiff, rod-like virus instead of DNA to experiment with nanopores. Their research has uncovered previously unknown dynamics in polymer-nanopore interactions. Nanopores may one day lead a revolution in DNA sequencing. By sliding DNA molecules one at a time through tiny holes in a thin membrane, it may be possible to decode long stretches of DNA at lightning speeds. Scientists, however, haven’t quite figured out the physics of how polymer strands like DNA interact with nanopores. Now, with the help of a particular type of virus, researchers from Brown University have shed new light on this nanoscale physics. “What got us interested in this was that everybody in the field studied DNA and developed models for how they interact with nanopores,” said Derek Stein, associate professor of physics and engineering at Brown who directed the research. “But even the most basic things you would hope models would predict starting from the basic properties of DNA — you couldn’t

The post A virus reveals the physics of nanopores has been published on Technology Org.

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Eta Carinae Nebula Wall Skin

Here's a great wall decal featuring a beautiful image from deep space

Eta Carinae Nebula Wall Skin

tagged with: eta carinae nebula, eta carinae, carinae, nebula, carinae nebula, space, astronomy, stars, outer space, wr 22

This spectacular panoramic view combines a new image of the field around the Wolf–Rayet star WR 22 in the Carina Nebula (right) with an earlier picture of the region around the unique star Eta Carinae in the heart of the nebula (left).

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Tarantula Nebula Hubble Space iPad Folio Case

Here's a great iPad case from Zazzle featuring a Hubble-related design. Maybe you'd like to see your name on it? Click to personalize and see what it's like!

Tarantula Nebula Hubble Space iPad Folio Case

tagged with: tarantula nebula, nebula photo, star formation, astronomy, nasa photo, hubble telescope, universe, stars, astronomy products, cool space, 30 doradus nebula, european space agency, hubble photo, outer space, glowing, cosmos, cosmic, astronomical, astrophotography, cosmology, deep space, space, nature, natural, science, abstract, space photo, star birth, astronomy gifts, space gifts, space products, bright, light, sparkling, sparkly, starry sky, twinking, stellar, cool astronomy, cloudy

Cool space / astronomy photograph from NASA. This is a Hubble Space Telescope photograph showing a detailed area of the Tarantula nebula. This nebula is located in the Large Magellanic Cloud galaxy, about 170,000 million light years away. This photo has shades of blue, green and orange, with sparkling stars.

Image Credit: NASA, ESA

You can personalise the design further if you'd prefer, such as by adding your name or other text, or adjusting the image - just click 'Customize it' to see all the options. IMPORTANT: If you choose a different sized version of the product, it's important to click Customize and check the image in the Design view to ensure it fills the area to the edge of the product, otherwise white edges may be visible.

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DNA-linked nanoparticles form switchable ‘thin films’ on a liquid surface

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Brookhaven physicist Oleg Gang and Stony Brook University postdoctoral researcher Sunita Srivastava Scientists seeking ways to engineer the assembly of tiny particles measuring just billionths of a meter have achieved a new first—the formation of a single layer of nanoparticles on a liquid surface where the properties of the layer can be easily switched. Understanding the assembly of such nanostructured thin films could lead to the design of new kinds of filters or membranes with a variable mechanical response for a wide range of applications. In addition, because the scientists used tiny synthetic strands of DNA to hold the nanoparticles together, the study also offers insight into the mechanism of interactions of nanoparticles and DNA molecules near a lipid membrane. This understanding could inform the emerging use of nanoparticles as vehicles for delivering genes across cellular membranes. “Many of the applications we envision for nano particles … require planar geometry. Using DNA linker molecules gives us a way to control the interactions between the nanoparticles.” — Sunita Srivastava “Our work reveals how DNA-coated nanoparticles interact and re-organize at a lipid interface, and how that process affects the properties of a “thin film” made of DNA-linked nanoparticles,” said physicist Oleg Gang

The post DNA-linked nanoparticles form switchable ‘thin films’ on a liquid surface has been published on Technology Org.

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DNA Galaxy Print

Here's a great poster featuring a beautiful image from deep space

DNA Galaxy Print

tagged with: galaxy, milky way, milky way galaxy, space art, astronomical illustration, lynette cook, astronomy, astronomy magazine, dna, dna galaxy, double helix, chromosomes, life in space

A spiral galaxy metamorphoses into the DNA double helix. Chemical structures and chromosomes are visible, symbolic of life in space. From a mixed media illustration created for Astronomy magazine. The original art is in a private collection.

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Discovery of pure organic substances exhibiting the quantum spin liquid state

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Researchers have discovered pure organic substances exhibiting the quantum spin liquid state. Water loses kinetic energy as it is cooled, and when water molecules become unable to move, water becomes solid (ice). Similarly, electron spins in magnetic materials normally align and form a solid state at low temperature. Recent theoretical studies suggest that spins on a triangular lattice maintain their liquid state (quantum spin liquid state) even at an extremely low temperature.

via Science Daily

Planet, stars and Sun in Galaxy Fantasy Art Room Sticker

Here's a great wall decal featuring a beautiful image from deep space

Planet, stars and Sun in Galaxy Fantasy Art Room Sticker

tagged with: planets, galaxy, universe, solar system, fantasy art, nebula, stars, cosmos, sun, astronomy, sci fi, science fiction

Planet, stars and sun in the galaxy fantasy art design with a graphic design of a gas planet with rings in colors of beige against a solar system of pink, mauve, and light purple, and a sun with a solar flare, and a nebula. Stars dot the cosmic sky. This fantasy art of the universe can be printed on many different products.

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Star birth in Carina Nebula from Hubble's WFC3 det iPad Folio Covers

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Star birth in Carina Nebula from Hubble's WFC3 det iPad Folio Covers

tagged with: argo navis, astronomy, carina, celestial bodies, exploration, milky way, natural sciences, natural world, nebula, ngc 3372, nobody, outer space, physical science, sciences, space exploration and research, stars

ImageID: 42-23286264 / STScI / NASA/Corbis / Star birth in Carina Nebula from Hubble's WFC3 detector

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