Scientists led by Martin Burke, an HHMI early career scientist at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, used
The post Update: 3-D printer for small molecules opens access to customized chemistry has been published on Technology Org.
Graph showing the training of LHC magnets to reach their target currents for beams at 6.5 TeV. Colours represent each of the LHC's 8 sectors; x axis is time in days (Image:CERN)
After a shutdown lasting two years, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), the world’s biggest and most powerful particle accelerator, is ready once again for the arrival of particle beams. The teams are completing the final tests after having solved on 31 March the problem that had been delaying the restart of the accelerator. The first beams could be circulating in the machine sometime between Saturday and Monday.
“We are confident of being able to restart the machine over the weekend, as all of the tests performed so far have been successful,” said Frédérick Bordry, Director for Accelerators and Technology at CERN.
When the LHC and the whole accelerator chain are running, operators work in shifts around the clock in the control room. They will attempt to circulate beams in the LHC in both directions, at their injection energy of 450 GeV, as soon as all the lights are green.
Particle collisions at an energy of 13 TeV could start as early as June.
NASA has announced a pair of unusual findings made by its MAVEN mission, which is meant to sample Mars' atmosphere in order to help us understand its evolution. But, by orbiting through the outer edges of the atmosphere, the mission has identified some unexpected features of the area above the red planet.
The first, and easiest to understand, is the auroras. Dubbed the "Christmas Lights" because of their appearance in December of last year, the glow was in the ultraviolet range and spanned the entire Northern Hemisphere of Mars. The source of the energy was electrons accelerated out from the Sun, which were detected by another instrument on MAVEN. Because Mars lacks a magnetic field, the electrons also made it deep into the atmosphere, producing a light show that was close to the surface relative to Earth's auroras.
The dust, however, is not as easy to explain. It's been a constant, present since MAVEN first entered orbit, and ranges between 150 and 300km above the surface, with the density of particles increasing at lower altitudes. Much like the recent dust plume observed above the planet, it's not clear what could be lofting the particles from Mars' surface. "If the dust originates from the atmosphere, this suggests we are missing some fundamental process in the Martian atmosphere," said Laila Andersson of the University of Colorado.
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Using ultracold atoms as a stand-in for electrons, a Rice University-based team of physicists has simulated superconducting materials
The post Simulating superconducting materials with ultracold atoms has been published on Technology Org.
In 2007, Dutch schoolteacher Hanny van Arkel discovered a never-before-seen ghostly structure near a galaxy, while she was participating in an online amateur scientist project called Galaxy Zoo. The galaxy hosts a bright quasar that may have illuminated the apparition by hitting it with a beam of light from hot gas around a central black hole. Astronomers eagerly used the Hubble Space Telescope to do follow-up observations, which revealed knots of dust and gas in the "greenish blob." Assuming that this feature could offer insights into the puzzling behavior of active galaxies, Bill Keel of the University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, initiated a search for other similar phenomenon. After all, where there's one strange blob there could be more. Keel had 200 volunteers look at archival data of 15,000 galaxies hosting quasars. In the end, he found eight other galaxies with bright active nuclei that have illuminated material far outside the radius of the galaxy. The eerie structures have looping, spiral, and braided shapes. Hubble's images show that they are like the remnants of galaxy collisions.
Join Hubble scientists for a live Hubble Hangout discussion at 3pm EDT on Thurs., April 2, to learn even more. Visit: http://hbbl.us/y6c .
They go together beneath the Big Dipper,
If you wonder where they are.
The Galaxy's light shines through the night,
Ten millions of light-years away.
But never fear the Owl is near,
Inside the Milky Way.
A cosmic shroud, the Owl is proud,
its central star a must.
And the spiral Galaxy lies on edge
To show off all its dust,
Its dust,
Its dust,
To show off all its dust.
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Scientists from the University of California in Berkeley claim to have made a leap forward in carbon-capture technology.
The post Update: New carbon-capture technology captures carbon at half the energy cost has been published on Technology Org.
