Science

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Activity Continues On the Sun

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NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory captured this image of the X1.2 class solar flare on May 14, 2013. The image show light with a wavelength of 304 angstroms.

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New Stanford Nanoscavengers Could Usher In Next Generation Water Purification

Among its many talents, silver is an antibiotic. Titanium dioxide is known to glom on to certain heavy metals and pollutants. Other materials do the same for salt. In recent years, environmental engineers have sought to disinfect, depollute, and desalinate contaminated water using nanoscale particles of these active materials. Engineers call them nanoscavengers. The hitch from a technical standpoint is that it is nearly impossible to reclaim the nanoscavengers once in the water.

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A dead E. coli bacterium collected in a filter after treatment with the Stanford nanoscavenger.

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Squishy hydrogels may be the ticket for studying biological effects of nanoparticles

A class of water-loving, jelly-like materials with uses ranges ranging from the mundane, such as superabsorbent diaper liners, to the sophisticated, such as soft contact lenses, could be tapped for a new line of serious work: testing the biological effects of nanoparticles now being eyed for a large variety of uses.

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After four days, quantum dots still shine (green) in cells embedded in a hydrogel scaffold.

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High Resolution Quadrupole Mass Spectrometer

The all new Extrel MAXCS-50 Series quadrupole mass spectrometer from Henniker Scientific has been released and directly addresses research applications requiring high sensitivity gas analysis of low molecular weight species.

At the heart of the instrument is a high specification quadrupole mass filter assembly, featuring a precision machined 19mm quadrupole rod set with RF-only pre- and post-filter stages, stabilizing rods and the latest high stability CS Series RF generator that in combination deliver exceptional transmission, resolution and abundance sensitivity characteristics at low masses.

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Perfectly doped quantum dots yield colors to dye for

Quantum dots are tiny nanocrystals with extraordinary optical and electrical properties with possible uses in dye production, bioimaging, and solar energy production. Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago have developed a way to introduce precisely four copper ions into each and every quantum dot.

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Quantum Dots doped with copper.

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Astronauts to Address Leak During Short-Notice Spacewalk

The U.S. space agency, NASA, says astronauts aboard the International Space Station will perform a previously unscheduled spacewalk Saturday to deal with an ammonia coolant leak outside the station. The short-notice spacewalk came together after teams on Earth and in space quickly readied a plan of action.

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New magnetic graphene may revolutionise electronics

Researchers from IMDEA-Nanociencia Institute and from Autonoma and Complutense Universities of Madrid (Spain) have managed to give graphene magnetic properties. The breakthrough, published in the journal 'Nature Physics', opens the door to the development of graphene-based spintronic devices, that is, devices based on the spin or rotation of the electron, and could transform the electronics industry.

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Topographic STM images of a TCNQ monolayer on graphene.

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Flawed Diamonds Promise Sensory Perfection: Berkeley Lab researchers and their colleagues extend electron spin in diamond for incredibly tiny magnetic detectors

From brain to heart to stomach, the bodies of humans and animals generate weak magnetic fields that a supersensitive detector could use to pinpoint illnesses, trace drugs - and maybe even read minds. Sensors no bigger than a thumbnail could map gas deposits underground, analyze chemicals, and pinpoint explosives that hide from other probes.

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Nitrogen-vacancy centers are defects in which a nitrogen atom substitutes for a carbon atom in the lattice and a vacancy left by a missing carbon atom is immediately adjacent, leaving unbonded electrons whose states can be precisely controlled. NV centers occur naturally in diamond or can be created artificially.

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New magnetic graphene may revolutionize electronics

Researchers from IMDEA-Nanociencia Institute and from Autonoma and Complutense Universities of Madrid (Spain) have managed to give graphene magnetic properties. The breakthrough, published in the journal 'Nature Physics', opens the door to the development of graphene-based spintronic devices, that is, devices based on the spin or rotation of the electron, and could transform the electronics industry.

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This is a computerised simulation of TCNQ molecules on graphene layer, where they acquire a magnetic order.

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Scientists demonstrate pear shaped atomic nuclei

Scientists at the University of Liverpool have shown that some atomic nuclei can assume the shape of a pear which contributes to our understanding of nuclear structure and the underlying fundamental interactions.

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The shape of 224Ra deduced from the CERN measurements.

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