Science

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Finding the nano-needle in the haystack

Norwegian researchers are among the first in the world to use radioactivity to trace nanoparticles in experimental animals and soil. Their findings have made it easier to identify any negative environmental impact of nanoparticles, which are found in an increasing number of products.

Nanotechnology can be used to improve the properties of commercial products, to kill bacteria, fight odours and more. But what happens when these products are discarded and these incomprehensibly small particles are released into the environment? Can these same qualities that kill bacteria in athletic garments, washing machines and refrigerators have an unintended detrimental impact on health and the environment as well?

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Constructive conflict in the superconductor: Charge density waves improve our understanding of the zero-resistance transport of electricity and could explain an unusual interplay of superconducting and magnetic materials

Whether a material conducts electricity without losses is not least a question of the right temperature. In future it may be possible to make a more reliable prediction for high-temperature superconductors. These materials lose their resistance if they are cooled with liquid nitrogen, which is relatively easy to handle. An international team, in which physicists of the Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research in Stuttgart played a crucial role, has now discovered that this form of superconductivity competes with charge density waves, i.e. with a periodically fluctuating distribution of the charges. Since the physicists did not previously take account of this competition in their models, their calculations of the transition temperature, where superconductivity sets in, remained inaccurate. In further work, the researchers at the Stuttgart Max Planck Institute have gained insights into how superconducting materials interact with magnetic ones. They observed that the electronic properties affect crystal vibrations to a greater extent than was to be expected. This effect could help to control material properties such as superconductivity or thermoelectricity.

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Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research have discovered charge density waves in ceramic yttrium and neodymium barium cuprates. They form above the temperature at which the material becomes superconducting and thus loses its electrical resistance, slightly distorting the crystal lattice, as indicated in a layer of the crystal lattice by the irregular distances between the atoms (blue spheres). The superconductivity competes with the charge density waves, and it is probably down to a coincidence that superconductivity prevails at a certain temperature.

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NASA Curiosity Team Pinpoints Site for First Drive

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Glenelg Intrigue
This image shows a closer view of the landing site of NASA's Curiosity rover and a destination nearby known as Glenelg.

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Hubble Watches Star Clusters on a Collision Course

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This is a Hubble Space Telescope image of a pair of star clusters that are believed to be in the early stages of merging. The clusters lie in the gigantic 30 Doradus Nebula, which is 170,000 light-years from Earth.
Hubble's circumstantial evidence for the impending collision comes from seeing an elongated structure in the cluster at upper left, and from measuring a different age between the two clusters.

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Iranian Researchers' Method to Produce Nickel Oxide Nanopowders Receives US Patent

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) recently issued a patent (US 8,110,173) disclosing a new and simple method for fabrication of nickel oxide nanopowders invented by a group of Iranian researchers.

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"So far, I have patented two inventions concerning the production of nickel oxide nanopowders both in Iran and the US in joint collaborations with my colleagues.

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Nature: Electronic Read-out of Quantum Bits: Quantum State of a Single Atomic Nucleus Can Be Controlled and Determined by Simple Electrodes / Basis of Quantum Computers and Nano Spintronics

Quantum computers promise to reach computation speeds far beyond that of today's computers. As they would use quantum effects, however, they would also be susceptible to external interferences. Information flow into and out of the system is a critical point. Researchers from KIT with partners from Grenoble and Strasbourg have now read out the quantum state of an atom directly by using electrodes.

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TbPc2 molecule quantum-bit device. Electrons (red) from the electrodes jump onto the molecule reading out the electronic spin (orange) and the nuclear spin (green)

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Nano-structures to realise hydrogen’s energy potential

For the first time, engineers at the University of New South Wales have demonstrated that hydrogen can be released and reabsorbed from a promising storage material, overcoming a major hurdle to its use as an alternative fuel source.

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Dr Kondo-Francois Aguey-Zinsou from the School of Chemical Engineering

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Vantage LED Announces Continued Commitment to Protecting LED Sign Dealer and OEM Interests with New "Powered by Vantage" Program.

U.S. based LED sign manufacturer, Vantage LED, hopes to bring change to the LED sign industry by reaffirming their commitment to Dealer and OEM protection policies; pointing to real life examples, like OEM partner Dragon Fly Signs.

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U.S. based LED sign manufacturer, Vantage LED, hopes to bring change to the LED sign industry by reaffirming their commitment to Dealer and OEM protection policies; pointing to real life examples, like OEM partner Dragon Fly Signs.

http://www.prweb.com/releases/2012/8/prweb9744039.htm

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Graphene’s behavior depends on where it sits: New findings show that the material beneath the thin carbon sheets determines how they react chemically and electrically

When you look at a gift-wrapped present, the basic properties of the wrapping paper — say, its colors and texture — are not generally changed by the nature of the gift inside.

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An image (made with Raman spectroscopy) of a graphene layer on top of a patterned substrate shows the difference in chemical reactivity of the side opposite the substrate. The wide red stripe is an area over a silicon dioxide substrate, making the top surface of the graphene highly reactive. The narrow blue stripe is graphene over a layer of hydrocarbon (called OTS), and there is almost no reactivity on the side not in contact with the substrate.

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Orbiter Views NASA's New Mars Rover in Color

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This color-enhanced view shows NASA's Curiosity rover on the surface of Mars. It was taken by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.

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