Science

Tags:

NASA Mars Rover Targets Unusual Rock on Its Journey

689736main_pia16155-673_0_0.jpg
The drive by NASA's Mars rover Curiosity during the mission's 43rd Martian day, or sol, (Sept. 19, 2012) ended with this rock about 8 feet (2.5 meters) in front of the rover.

Tags:

Photocatalysis as an energy source: Zn-Ga-O nanocubes improve conversion rate

As global energy demand continues to grow, the need to find a carbon-neutral and sustainable energy source for future generations has become imperative. An especially attractive solution is to store solar energy in the form of chemical fuel via artificial photosynthesis to convert carbon dioxide into hydrocarbons.

46000.jpg
Chinese researchers have developed a new nanomaterial to improve the chemical conversion rate in photocatalytic energy systems.

Tags:

Near-Field Enhancements along Ring-Shaped Nanostructures

Molecules close to metal nanostuctures which are illuminated by light exhibit a complex electic field. They experience electric forces along the field lines, which become very crowded in sharp regions of the nanostructures, such as corners or tips, and in the regions of high electron density. These regions of crowded field lines are called hotspots which are generally localized to small spots. If it would be possible to expand the local field enhancements to the whole sample surface, heating which limits the field enhancement could be avoided and the interaction with molecules would be increased.

46001.jpg
The near-field enhancement on the surface of ring-shaped gold nanostructure becomes homogeneous through circularly polarized light.

Tags:

Dawn Sees Hydrated Minerals on Giant Asteroid

pia16184-43_0_0.jpg
Pitted Terrain in Color
These enhanced-color views from NASA's Dawn mission show an unusual "pitted terrain" on the floors of the craters named Marcia (left) and Cornelia (right) on the giant asteroid Vesta.

Tags:

NASA's Solar Fleet Peers Into Coronal Cavities

689026main1_20120416_174421-670_0_0.jpg
Scientists want to understand what causes giant explosions in the sun's atmosphere, the corona, such as this one. The eruptions are called coronal mass ejections or CMEs and they can travel toward Earth to disrupt human technologies in space. To better understand the forces at work, a team of researchers used NASA data to study a precursor of CMEs called coronal cavities.

Tags:

Iran Urges Asian Nations to Adopt Single Standard for Nanotechnology

The Iranian delegates attending the 9th Asia Nano Forum Summit (ANFoS 2012) proposed establishment of a single code of operation for various fields of nanotechnology among Asian nations, describing it as the most important and effective contributor to market promotion.

45985.jpg

Tags:

Researchers Brew Up Organics on Ice

pia15805-640_0_0.jpg
Researchers are brewing up icy, organic concoctions in the lab to mimic materials at the edge of our solar system and beyond. The laboratory equipment at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., is seen at right, and a very young solar system, with its swirling planet-forming disk, is shown in the artist's concept at left.

Tags:

Newly demonstrated capabilities of low-powered nanotweezers may benefit cellular-level studies

Using ultra-low input power densities, researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have demonstrated for the first time how low-power "optical nanotweezers" can be used to trap, manipulate, and probe nanoparticles, including fragile biological samples.

45970.jpg
Experimental setup schematic showing laser source, microscope, and imaging detector and spectrometer. The inset illustrates the two different sample configurations that were explored; red arrows correspond to the input polarization directions and black arrows depict the propagation vector.

Tags:

Nanobotmodels presents new illustration of drug-delivery technology using nanodiamonds

This image illustrate drug delivery using nanodiamond particles inside cancer cell. This work based on article "Dodging Drug-Resistant Cancer with Diamonds" Timothy J. Merkel1 and Joseph M. DeSimone, Science March 9, 2011 issue. Doxorubicin delivery using nanoparticles can avoid cellular resistance to this drug in oncology.

45966_0.jpg
Doxorubicin (Dox) is a drug used in cancer chemotherapy. It is an anthracycline antibiotic, closely related to the natural product daunomycin, and like all anthracyclines, it works by intercalating DNA, while most serious adverse effect being life-threatening heart damage.

Tags:

Production of Manganite Nanocatalysts for Removal of Air-Polluting Volatile Organic Compounds

Iranian researchers from Tabriz and Mazandaran universities made a breakthrough in eliminating volatile organic compounds that pollute the air by producing manganite nanocatalysts with spinel structure.

45967.jpg
The nanocatalysts can be used in controlling the gaseous pollutants emitted from chemical and petrochemical industries and the exhaust of the automobiles.