What I post on this blog, mostly anything and everything. I am going to try and post more personal things as that is the purpose of a blog after all.
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Collision Science Helps Predict Fusion Chamber Behavior
An international team of physicists has calculated the efficiency of a reaction involving an incoming electron kicking out an electron from the metal beryllium (Be) or its hydrogen compound molecules, in an article about to be published in EPJ D by Springer.
The efficiency, which partly depends on the electron’s incoming speed, is encapsulated in a quantity referred to as electron-impact ionization cross sections (EICS). Electron-molecule interactions matter because they occur in a broad range of applications from the simplest like fluorescent lamps to the most complex, for example, in ionized matter found in plasmas such as latest generation screens, the outer space of the universe, and in fusion reactors.
Read more: http://www.laboratoryequipment.com/news/2013/01/collision-science-helps-predict-fusion-chamber-behavior
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Method Treats Heat Like Light
An MIT researcher has developed a technique that provides a new way of manipulating heat, allowing it to be controlled much as light waves can be manipulated by lenses and mirrors.
The approach relies on engineered materials consisting of nanostructured semiconductor alloy crystals. Heat is a vibration of matter — technically, a vibration of the atomic lattice of a material — just as sound is. Such vibrations can also be thought of as a stream of phonons — a kind of “virtual particle” that is analogous to the photons that carry light. The new approach is similar to recently developed photonic crystals that can control the passage of light, and phononic crystals that can do the same for sound.
Read more: http://www.laboratoryequipment.com/news/2013/01/method-treats-heat-light
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Software Greatly Improves Asteroid Detection
Helping to inform the next phase in asteroid detection, a Univ. of Arizona team has set out to develop new tracking methods and computer algorithms, joining scientists across the nation working to spot asteroids headed for a close pass-by or impact with Earth.
UA computer scientists Jonathan Myers and Alon Efrat will work directly with the Minor Planet Center, the MPC, located at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory in Massachusetts. The two will be improving existing software and algorithms utilized by the MPC, the world’s authority on asteroids and comets in our solar system, providing orbits and observational data to astronomers around the globe.
Read more: http://www.laboratoryequipment.com/news/2012/12/software-greatly-improves-asteroid-detection
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Bionic Eye Lets Blind Woman See Light
In a major development, Bionic Vision Australia researchers have successfully performed the first implantation of an early prototype bionic eye with 24 electrodes.
Dianne Ashworth has profound vision loss because of retinitis pigmentosa, an inherited condition. She has now received what she calls a “pre-bionic eye” implant that enables her to experience some vision. A passionate technology fan, Ashworth was motivated to make a contribution to the bionic eye research program. After years of hard work and planning, Ashworth’s implant was switched on last month at the Bionics Institute, while researchers held their breaths in the next room, observing via video link.
Read more: http://www.laboratoryequipment.com/news/2012/08/bionic-eye-lets-blind-woman-see-light
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Gold Visualized on Nanoscale for the First Time
Scientists at the Univ. of Birmingham have developed a method to visualize gold on the nanoscale by using a special probe beam to image 20 atoms of gold bound together to make a cluster. The research is published in the Royal Society of Chemistry’s journal Nanoscale.
Physicists have theorized for many years how atoms of gold and other elements would be arranged and ten years ago the structure of a 20-atom tetrahedral pyramid was proposed by scientists in the U.S. Birmingham physicists can now reveal this atomic arrangement for the first time by imaging the cluster with an electron microscope.
Read more: http://www.laboratoryequipment.com/news-Gold-Cluster-Visualized-on-Nanoscale-for-First-Time-072712.aspx
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Silicon Sponges Can Make Powerful Batteries
Researchers at Rice Univ. and Lockheed Martin reported this month that they’ve found a way to make multiple high-performance anodes from a single silicon wafer. The process uses simple silicon to replace graphite as an element in rechargeable lithium-ion batteries, laying the groundwork for longer-lasting, more powerful batteries for such applications as commercial electronics and electric vehicles.
A sponge formed from a solid wafer of silicon helps the material realize its potential to hold 10 times the amount of lithium ions than current materials used in rechargeable batteries. Image: Madhuri Thakur
Read more: http://www.laboratoryequipment.com/news-Silicon-Sponges-Can-Make-Powerful-Batteries-071812.aspx
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Coffee May Lower Cancer Risk
Increasing the number of cups of caffeinated coffee one drinks could lower one’s risk of developing the most common form of skin cancer, basal cell carcinoma, according to a study published in Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.
“Our data indicate that the more caffeinated coffee you consume, the lower your risk of developing basal cell carcinoma,” says Jiali Han, associate professor at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School in Boston and Harvard School of Public Health.
Read more: http://www.laboratoryequipment.com/news-Coffee-May-Lower-Cancer-Risk-070212.aspx
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Method May Restore, Repair Severely Damaged Nerves
Engineers at the Univ. of Sheffield have developed a method of assisting nerves damaged by traumatic accidents to repair naturally, which could improve the chances of restoring sensation and movement in injured limbs.
In a collaborative study with Laser Zentrum Hannover (Germany) published in the journal Biofabrication, the team describes a new method for making medical devices called nerve guidance conduits or NGCs. The method is based on laser direct writing, which enables the fabrication of complex structures from computer files via the use of CAD/CAM (computer aided design/manufacturing), and has allowed the research team to manufacture NGCs with designs that are far more advanced than previously possible.
Read more: http://www.laboratoryequipment.com/news-Method-May-Restore-Repair-Severely-Damaged-Nerves-042412.aspx
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Internet Technique Could Make Faster Computer Chips
Computer chips have stopped getting faster. In order to keep increasing chips’ computational power at the rate to which we’ve grown accustomed, chipmakers are instead giving them additional “cores,” or processing units.
Today, a typical chip might have six or eight cores, all communicating with each other over a single bundle of wires, called a bus. With a bus, however, only one pair of cores can talk at a time, which would be a serious limitation in chips with hundreds or even thousands of cores, which many electrical engineers envision as the future of computing.
Read more: http://www.laboratoryequipment.com/news-Internet-Technique-Could-Make-Faster-Computer-Chips-041112.aspx
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Nano-Magnets May Be Key to Better Electronics
Scientists have taken an important step forward in developing a new material using nano-sized magnets that could ultimately lead to new types of electronic devices, with greater processing capacity than is currently feasible, say research in a study published in the journal Science. Many modern data storage devices, like hard disk drives, rely on the ability to manipulate the properties of tiny individual magnetic sections, but their overall design is limited by the way these magnetic ‘domains’ interact when they are close together.
Now, researchers from Imperial College London have demonstrated that a honeycomb pattern of nano-sized magnets, in a material known as spin ice, introduces competition between neighboring magnets, and reduces the problems caused by these interactions by two-thirds. They have shown that large arrays of these nano-magnets can be used to store computable information. The arrays can then be read by measuring their electrical resistance.
Read more: http://www.laboratoryequipment.com/news-Nano-Magnets-Are-Possible-to-New-Electronics-040212.aspx
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Method Converts Polyethylene into Carbon Fiber
Common material such as polyethylene used in plastic bags could be turned into something far more valuable through a process being developed at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory. In a paper published in Advanced Materials, a team led by Amit Naskar of the Materials Science and Technology Division outlined a method that allows not only for production of carbon fiber but also the ability to tailor the final product to specific applications.
Read more: http://www.laboratoryequipment.com/news-Method-Converts-Polyethylene-into-Carbon-Fiber-032812.aspx
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3D Design More Than Doubles Solar Power
Intensive research around the world has focused on improving the performance of solar photovoltaic cells and bringing down their cost. But very little attention has been paid to the best ways of arranging those cells, which are typically placed flat on a rooftop or other surface, or sometimes attached to motorized structures that keep the cells pointed toward the sun as it crosses the sky.
Now, a team of MIT researchers has come up with a very different approach: building cubes or towers that extend the solar cells upward in 3D configurations. Amazingly, the results from the structures they’ve tested show power output ranging from double to more than 20 times that of fixed flat panels with the same base area.
Read more: http://www.laboratoryequipment.com/news-3D-Design-More-Than-Doubles-Generation-of-Solar-Power-032812.aspx
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Miracle Material Graphene Protects Metals from Corrosion
New research has established the “miracle material” called graphene as the world’s thinnest known coating for protecting metals against corrosion. Their study on this potential new use of graphene appears in ACS Nano.
Read more: http://www.laboratoryequipment.com/news-Graphene-Protects-Metals-from-Corrosion-022312.aspx
Conclusion graphene is awesome.
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Proteins Key to Stopping Cancer from Spreading
Cancer cells must prepare for travel before invading new tissues, but new Cornell research has found a possible way to stop these cells from ever hitting the road. Researchers have identified two key proteins that are needed to get cells moving and have uncovered a new pathway that treatments could block to immobilize mutant cells and keep cancer from spreading, says Richard Cerione, a professor of pharmacology and chemical biology at Cornell’s College of Veterinary Medicine.
Read more: http://www.laboratoryequipment.com/news-Proteins-Key-to-Stopping-Cancer-from-Spreading-022312.aspx
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Robot Algorithm Allows Continuous 3D Map Development
Robots could one day navigate through constantly changing surroundings with virtually no input from humans, thanks to a system that allows them to build and continuously update a three-dimensional map of their environment using a low-cost camera such as Microsoft’s Kinect. The system, being developed by researchers at MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL), could also allow blind people to make their way unaided through crowded buildings such as hospitals and shopping malls.
Read more: http://www.laboratoryequipment.com/news-Algorithm-Allows-Robots-to-Chart-Course-Without-Human-Help-021712.aspx
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