Science

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Disks Don't Need Planets to Make Patterns

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Debris disks around stars naturally form complex structures without the presence of a planet. This image shows the dust density and the growth of structure in a simulated disk, which extends about 100 times farther from its star than Earth's orbit around the sun. At left, the disk is seen from 24-degree angle; at right, it's face-on. Lighter colors show greater dust concentrations.

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NGC 2392: A Beautiful End to a Star's Life

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NGC 2392 is a planetary nebula, a phase that results when a star like the sun becomes a red giant and sheds its outer layers.

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ESO’s Very Large Telescope probes growth of galaxies

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Astronomers using ESO’s Very Large Telescope have spotted a distant galaxy hungrily snacking on nearby gas. Gas is seen to fall inwards towards the galaxy, creating a flow that both fuels star formation and drives the galaxy’s rotation. This is the best direct observational evidence so far supporting the theory that galaxies pull in and devour nearby material in order to grow and form stars.

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Antifreeze, cheap materials may lead to low-cost solar energy

A process combining some comparatively cheap materials and the same antifreeze that keeps an automobile radiator from freezing in cold weather may be the key to making solar cells that cost less and avoid toxic compounds, while further expanding the use of solar energy.

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Nanoparticles, made to order — inside and out: New research enables high-speed customization of novel nanoparticles for drug delivery and other uses

A new coating technology developed at MIT, combined with a novel nanoparticle-manufacturing technology developed at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, may offer scientists a way to quickly mass-produce tailored nanoparticles that are specially coated for specific applications, including medicines and electronics.

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Researchers at MIT and the University of North Carolina created these coated nanoparticles in many shapes and sizes.

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Stuttgart researchers coordinate major EU project to clean up soil and ground water: Pollution control with nanoparticles

In the remediation of pollutions in the soil and groundwater, minute nanoparticles are being increasingly used that are to convert resp. break down pollutants on site. The process, often somewhat mistakenly described as "nano-remediation", can also be used with contaminations that have been hard to fight up to now, for example through heavy metals or the notorious, carcinogenic softener PCB. Yet how do the various nanoparticles behave in the earth, are they in turn harmless for humans and the environment and how can they be produced at a favourable price? These questions were investigated by scientists from the Research Facility for Subsurface Remediation (VEGAS) of the University of Stuttgart together with 27 partners from 13 countries in the framework of EU project "NanoRem", planned to last four years. For this purpose the European Union is providing around 10.5 million Euros from the 7th research framework programme.

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Carbo-Iron: combination of nano-iron and active carbon particles – a development by the project partner UFZ – are being tested at VEGAS on a large scale.

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Researchers build an all-optical transistor: An optical switch that can be turned on by a single photon could point toward new designs for both classical and quantum computers

Optical computing — using light rather than electricity to perform calculations — could pay dividends for both conventional computers and quantum computers, largely hypothetical devices that could perform some types of computations exponentially faster than classical computers.

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The Butterfly Nebula

The bright clusters and nebulae of planet Earth’s night sky are often named for flowers or insects. Though its wingspan covers over 3 light-years, NGC 6302 is no exception. With an estimated surface temperature of about 250,000 degrees C, the dying central star of this particular planetary nebula has become exceptionally hot, shining brightly in ultraviolet light but hidden from direct view by a dense torus of dust.

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Nanoparticles Utilized to Improve Cancer Treatment

Iranian researchers at Tarbiat Modarres University used nanoparticles containing anti-cancer medicine to produce a new targeted drug delivery system to deliver drug to the damaged tissue.

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NASA Decommissions Its Galaxy Hunter Spacecraft

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This image from NASA's Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX) shows Messier 94, also known as NGC 4736, in ultraviolet light. It is located 17 million light-years away in the constellation Canes Venatici.