Tattoo biobatteries produce power from sweat

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In the future, working up a sweat by exercising may not only be good for your health, but it could also power your small electronic devices. Researchers will report today that they have designed a sensor in the form of a temporary tattoo that can both monitor a person’s progress during exercise and produce power from their perspiration. The team described the approach in one of nearly 12,000 presentations at the 248th National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society (ACS), the world’s largest scientific society, taking place through Thursday. The device works by detecting and responding to lactate, which is naturally present in sweat. “Lactate is a very important indicator of how you are doing during exercise,” says Wenzhao Jia, Ph.D. In general, the more intense the exercise, the more lactate the body produces. During strenuous physical activity, the body needs to generate more energy, so it activates a process called glycolysis. Glycolysis produces energy and lactate, the latter of which scientists can detect in the blood. Professional athletes monitor their lactate levels during performance testing as a way to evaluate their fitness and training program. In addition, doctors measure lactate during exercise testing of patients for conditions marked

The post Tattoo biobatteries produce power from sweat has been published on Technology Org.

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1. Happy face tattoo does serious work

 
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Vintage Astronomy, Phases of the Moon with Sun Print

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

Vintage Astronomy, Phases of the Moon with Sun Print

tagged with: vintage, moon, sun, celestial, sky, nostalgic, retro, earth, nostalgia, americana

Vintage illustration astronomy celestial image featuring the different phases of the moon around the earth and the sun.

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Strong La Niñas recently? Blame the Atlantic—and a volcano

Science Focus

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NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center

Chaos theory is sometimes described with an exaggerated story about the flapping of a butterfly’s wings affecting the formation of a hurricane thousands of miles away. Some “butterflies” flap harder than others, of course—a volcanic eruption can be one hell of a butterfly. According to a new study, the 1991 eruption of Mt. Pinatubo, which made a dent in the average global temperature for a couple of years, may also have a lot to do with the slower surface warming more than a decade after its eruption.

Research has made it clear that a string of La Niñas—where cold water rises to the surface in the eastern tropical Pacific—has pulled down average global temperatures in recent years. The oscillation between La Niña and El Niño conditions is a major factor in the year-to-year variability of average global surface temperatures.

So why has the coin flip come up “La Niña” so frequently lately? It appears that stronger trade winds over the Pacific—which blow westward, pushing warm surface water in the tropical Pacific as they go and bringing up the cold waters of the La Niña—are responsible. And so, you should be asking, why have the trades strengthened?

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 » see original post http://feeds.arstechnica.com/~r/arstechnica/science/~3/1znhj8RrCd8/
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Explaining the shape of freezing droplets

Science Focus

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This image shows the freezing front, resulting in a pointy shape. A water droplet deposited onto an icecold surface clearly has more effect than a drop in the ocean: the droplet will freeze in a peculiar way, forming a pointy tip. Scientists of the University of Twente have, in cooperation with colleagues from Paris, Brussels and Munich, found an explanation for this remarkable shape. They used video images and advanced mathematics for this. Insight into this process is also useful for understanding processes like 3D printing. The results are published in the August 1 issue of Physical Review Letters. It is typically a ‘do try this at home’ experiment that can be performed using a deep-frozen plate (colder than minus 15 degrees Celsius, preferably) and some water at room temperature. A droplet falling on the plate, will freeze starting at the bottom. It will not stay round, but turn into a conical shape. Existing theories could not explain this shape transformation. Read more at: Phys.org  

The post Explaining the shape of freezing droplets has been published on Technology Org.

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 » see original post http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TechnologyOrgPhysicsNews/~3/wynMNL9Z2Iw/
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Tree-hugging snakes put safety first

Science Focus

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For the first time, biologists measure the force applied by climbing snakes and find that they squeeze up to five times harder than necessary. 
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 » see original post http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-28853225#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa
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Carina Nebula - Breathtaking Universe Stickers

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

Carina Nebula - Breathtaking Universe Stickers

tagged with: crnneb, star nurseries, star clusters, galaxies, starfields, awesome astronomy photos, nebulae, carina nebula, eso, european southern observatory, vista

Galaxies, Stars and Nebulae series A fantastic astronomy photograph showing a panoramic view of the WR 22 and Eta Carinae regions of the Carina Nebula.

The picture was created from images taken with the Wide Field Imager on the MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope at ESO’s La Silla Observatory in Chile.

It's a stunning, mind-blowing, fantastic image that reveals a little of the wonder that is our universe.

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image code: crnneb

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

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The Spectre of Veszprem

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The city of Veszprem, Hungary was only briefly haunted by this mysterious spectre. On the morning of August 11, its monstrous form hovered in the mist above municipal buildings near the town center. A clue to its true identity is offered by the photographer, though, who reports he took the picture from the top of a twenty story building with the rising Sun directly at his back. That special geometry suggests this is an example of an atmospheric phenomenon called the Glory or sometimes "the Spectre of the Brocken". Also seen from mountain tops and airplanes when looking opposite the Sun, the dramatic apparition is the observer's shadow on clouds or fog, the small droplets of water scattering light back towards the Sun through complex internal reflections. Careful night sky watchers can also encounter this spectre's analog in astronomy, a brightening of zodiacal light opposite the Sun known as the gegenschein.

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Orion Nebula Hubble Space Wall Decal

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

Orion Nebula Hubble Space Wall Decal

tagged with: orion nebula, nebula, star formation, stars, nasa, astronomy, universe, hubble photo, nature, cool astronomy, milky way, cosmos, esa, outer space, hubble telescope, hubble space telescope, astronomical, cosmology, deep space, space, natural, science, advanced camera for surveys, acs, messier 42, messier 43, space picture, space photo, space image, nebula picture, nebula photo, nebula image, pink, purple, cool space

This Hubble photograph of the Orion Nebula is a great choice for astronomy lovers!

This space photograph shows the massive Orion Nebula, and was taken by the Hubble Space Telescope. The Orion Nebula is the birthplace of many new stars, and over 3000 stars are present in this image, surrounded by swirling clouds of gas and dust. The colours of the original photo have been enhanced slightly, and include rich oranges, pinks and purples.

Credit: NASA, ESA, M. Robberto ( Space Telescope Science Institute/ESA) and the Hubble Space Telescope Orion Treasury Project Team

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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NASA Stormy Colorful Hubble Astronomy Case iPad Cases

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!

NASA Stormy Colorful Hubble Astronomy Case iPad Cases

tagged with: hubble, nasa, space, exploration, astronomy, night, sky, stars, milkyway, psychedelic, trippy

Like the fury of a raging sea, this anniversary image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope shows a bubbly ocean of glowing hydrogen, oxygen, and sulphur gas 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.

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Carbon nanotubes can be specifically produced with a desired structure from suitable precursor molecules

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In future, it will be possible to specifically equip carbon nanotubes with properties which they need for electronic applications, for example. Researchers at Empa in Dübendorf/Switzerland and the Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research in Stuttgart have succeeded for the first time in growing single-walled carbon nanotubes (CNTs) with only a single, prespecified structure. The nanotubes thereby have identical electronic properties. The decisive trick here: The team has taken up an idea which originated from the Stuttgart-based Max Planck researchers and produced the CNT from custom-made organic precursor molecules. The researchers started with these precursor molecules and have built up the nanotubes on a platinum surface, as they report in the latest issue of the scientific journal Nature. Such CNTs could be used in future, for instance, in ultra-sensitive light detectors and very tiny transistors. For 20 years, material scientists working on the development of carbon nanotubes for a range of applications have been battling a problem – now an elegant solution is at hand. With their unusual mechanical, thermal and electronic properties, the tiny tubes with their honeycomb lattice of graphitic carbon have become the embodiment of nanomaterials. They could be used to manufacture the next generation of

The post Carbon nanotubes can be specifically produced with a desired structure from suitable precursor molecules has been published on Technology Org.

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1. Researchers develop method for growing single species of single-walled carbon nanotubes
2. Researchers figure out how to ‘grow’ carbon nanotubes with specific atomic structures
3. Creating synthetic antibodies from carbon nanotubes

 
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Vintage Astronomy, Star Chart, Constellations Map Poster

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

Vintage Astronomy, Star Chart, Constellations Map Poster

tagged with: nostalgia, nostalgic, constellations, retro, antique, americana, vintage, star chart, celestial map, astronomy

Vintage illustration astronomy and celestial star chart featuring five constellations; Lacerta, Cycnus, Lyra, Vulpecula and Anser.

Lacerta (Latin for lizard) is one of the 88 modern constellations defined by the International Astronomical Union. A small, faint constellation, it was created in 1687 by the astronomer Johannes Hevelius. Its brightest stars form a "W" shape similar to that of Cassiopeia, and it is thus sometimes referred to as 'Little Cassiopeia'. It is located between Cygnus, Cassiopeia and Andromeda on the northern celestial sphere. The northern part lies on the Milky Way.

Cygnus (Latin for swan) is a northern constellation. One of the most recognizable constellations of the northern summer and autumn, it features a prominent asterism known as the Northern Cross (in contrast to the Southern Cross). Cygnus was among the 48 constellations listed by the 2nd century astronomer Ptolemy, and it remains one of the 88 modern constellations.

Lyra constellation, its name derived from the lyre, a stringed musical instrument well known for its use in classical antiquity and later. Lyra was one of the 48 constellations listed by the 2nd century astronomer Ptolemy, and it remains one of the 88 modern constellations recognized by the International Astronomical Union today. Lyra is a small constellation, but its principal star, Vega, is one of the brightest in the sky. Beginning at the north, Lyra is bordered by the Dragon Draco, the Greek hero Hercules, the little fox Vulpecula and Cygnus the swan.

Vulpecula (Latin for "little fox") is a faint constellation in the northern sky. It was created in the seventeenth century, and is located in the middle of the Summer Triangle (an asterism consisting of the bright stars Deneb, Vega and Altair). There are no stars brighter than 4th magnitude in this constellation. The brightest star in Vulpecula is α Vulpeculae, a magnitude 4.44m red giant at a distance of 297 light-years. The star is an optical binary (separation of 413.7") that can be split using binoculars. The star also carries the traditional name Anser, which refers to the goose the little fox holds in its jaws.

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Trifid Nebula, Messier 16 Rectangle Sticker

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

Trifid Nebula, Messier 16 Rectangle Sticker

tagged with: breathtaking astronomy images, star forming nebulae, trfdnbl, star nurseries, galaxies, nebulae, star factory, trifid nebula, star clusters, heavens, factories for stars, eso, vista, european southern observatory

Galaxies, Stars and Nebulae series A fantastic picture from our universe featuring the massive star factory known as the Trifid Nebula.

It was captured in all its glory with the Wide-Field Imager camera attached to the MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope at ESO’s La Silla Observatory in northern Chile.
So named for the dark dust bands that trisect its glowing heart, the Trifid Nebula is a rare combination of three nebulae types that reveal the fury of freshly formed stars and point to more star birth in the future. The field of view of the image is approximately 13 x 17 arcminutes.
It's an awe-inspiring, breathtaking image that reveals some of the wonder that is our universe.

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image code: trfdnbl

ESO/J. Emerson/VISTA www.eso.org
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Pink Star Cluster Pacman Nebula Wall Decals

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

Pink Star Cluster Pacman Nebula Wall Decals

tagged with: pacman nebula, astronomy, space, nebulae, nebula photo, spitzer telescope, stars, nasa, universe, nature, star cluster, star formation, infrared, outer space, cosmos, cosmic, astronomical, astrophotography, cosmology, space image, deep space, natural, science, abstract, space picture, space photo, glowing, sparkling, starry, sparkly, gas clouds, fuzzy, hazy, space gifts, astronomy gifts, space products, astronomy products, bright, pink

This is a NASA space photograph of the star cluster NGC 281, which is also known as the Pacman nebula. This infrared image was taken by the Spitzer Space Telescope, and has a bright pink appearance.

Image Credits: X-ray: NASA/CXC/CfA/S.Wolk; IR: NASA/JPL/CfA/S.Wolk

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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Voyager map details Neptune's strange moon Triton

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NASA's Voyager 2 spacecraft gave humanity its first close-up look at Neptune and its moon Triton in the summer of 1989. Like an old film, Voyager's historic footage of Triton has been "restored" and used to construct the best-ever global color map of that strange moon. The map, produced by Paul Schenk, a scientist at the Lunar and Planetary Institute in Houston, has also been used to make a movie recreating that historic Voyager encounter, which took place 25 years ago, on August 25, 1989.

via Science Daily

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