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Post by fr33ksh0w2012 on Oct 28, 2009 16:38:43 GMT 4
Puzzled Researchers Vet BlackLight’s Physics-Defying Hydrogen Power2008-10-21, New York Times www.nytimes.com/external/gigaom/2008/10/21/21gigaom-blacklight-validat... BlackLight Power, the company that has pulled in $60 million for its seemingly physics-defying fuel cell, is back with an announcement about an independent validation of its technology. A team of engineers, headed by Dr. Peter Jansson at Rowan University, have tested BlackLight’s prototypes and found that the devices perform as BlackLight claims, ambiguously concluding that “there is a novel reaction of some type causing the large exotherm which is consistently produced.” To translate: There’s definitely lots of energy being produced. They’re just not sure why. BlackLight says its technology can push an electron closer to the nucleus by way of a catalytic reaction, resulting in a huge amount of clean energy. The company describes the reaction as “somewhere between a nuclear and a chemical reaction,” but without any of the messy fallout. The team at Rowan tested BlackLight’s 1,000- and 50,000-watt reactors over three months and were able to replicate BlackLight’s energy claims, saying that the energy produced “cannot be explained by other known sources like combustion or nuclear energy.” The company says a complete verification of the whole process will likely happen within a year. BlackLight tells us it is now in the process of licensing its technology to power producers. The company says it has enough capital to get through commercialization and plans to have its reactors in a power plant in the next two years. Note: For a seven-minute video demonstrating this amazing new energy source click here blacklightpower.com/Documentary%20Video/blacklight_experiment_video_v2.wmvThese results have been published in dozens of peer-reviewed scientific journals. See list with links by clicking here www.blacklightpower.com/techpapers.shtmlExciting news!
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Post by fr33ksh0w2012 on Nov 6, 2009 12:18:32 GMT 4
Damage to DNA inside cells
Friday, November 06, 2009 » 11:06am
Scientists report that nano-particles used in medical applications can indirectly damage DNA inside cells.
Scientists have reported that nano-particles used in medical applications can indirectly damage DNA inside cells by transmitting signals through a protective barrier of human tissue.
The stunning discovery adds to a growing body of research highlighting proven and potential health hazards from the rapidly expanding universe of engineered objects measured in billionths of a metre.
Nano-scale products already widely in use range from cosmetics to household cleaning products to sporting goods.
But the new findings, reported in the British journal Nature Nanotechnology, could also point to new ways in which nano-therapies might zero in on disease-causing tumours, the researchers said.
They could even shed light on how poorly understood pathogens penetrate into human organs.
In laboratory experiments, scientists led by Charles Case of Southmead Hospital in Bristol, Britain, grew a multi-layer 'barrier' of human cells to mimic specialised protective tissues found in the body.
One such barrier, for example, separates blood from the brain.
Underneath this layer three-to-four cells thick, they placed human fibroblast cells, which play a key role in the formation of connective and scar tissue.
And on top they put nano-scale particles of cobalt-chromium, an alloy that has long been used in the making of hip- and knee-replacement joints, and more recently in drug-delivery mechanisms used inside arteries.
Earlier studies had shown that direct exposure to large quantities of the alloy could severely damage DNA is some cells, and the researchers wanted to find out how well the lab-grown barrier would protect the fibroblast cells below.
'We never imagined that it wouldn't,' Case told journalists by phone.
'But to our great surprise, not only did we see damage on the other side of the barrier, we saw as much damage as if we had not had a barrier at all,' he said.
At first, the researchers speculated that the tiny particles - barely 30 billionth of a metre in diameter - had slipped through microscopic cracks in the cellular blockade.
But there was no sign of the alloy on the other side, and when the experiment was repeated with far larger particles, the result was essentially the same.
'We could only conclude that the DNA damage occurred after indirect exposure depending on a process of signalling between cells rather than the passage of metal through the barrier,' said Gevdeep Bhabra, a surgeon at Southmead and a co-author of the study.
For Jim Thomson of the Canada-based technology watchdog ETC Group, the findings 'expand significantly the hurdles that any theoretical nano-safety assessment would need to clear.' |
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Post by emeraldsun on Nov 6, 2009 22:25:41 GMT 4
Birds reaking havoc everywhere   The Large Hadron Collider, the world's most powerful particle accelerator, just cannot catch a break. First, a coolant leak destroyed some of the magnets that guide the energy beam. Then LHC officials postponed the restart of the machine to add additional safety features. Now, a bird dropping a piece of bread on a section of the accelerator has, according to the Register, shut down the whole operation. The bird dropped some bread on a section of outdoor machinery, eventually leading to significant over heating in parts of the accelerator. The LHC was not operational at the time of the incident, but the spike produced so much heat that had the beam been on, automatic failsafes would have shut down the machine. This incident won't delay the reactivation of the facility later this month, but exposes yet another vulnerability of the what might be the most complex machine ever built. With freak accident after freak accident piling up over at CERN, the idea of time traveling particles returning from the future to prevent their own discovery is beginning to seem less and less far fetched www.popsci.com/science/article/2009-11/bread-loving-bird-shuts-down-lhc
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Post by fr33ksh0w2012 on Nov 7, 2009 1:03:03 GMT 4
Birds reaking havoc everywhere The Large Hadron Collider, the world's most powerful particle accelerator, just cannot catch a break. First, a coolant leak destroyed some of the magnets that guide the energy beam. Then LHC officials postponed the restart of the machine to add additional safety features. Now, a bird dropping a piece of bread on a section of the accelerator has, according to the Register, shut down the whole operation. The bird dropped some bread on a section of outdoor machinery, eventually leading to significant over heating in parts of the accelerator. The LHC was not operational at the time of the incident, but the spike produced so much heat that had the beam been on, automatic failsafes would have shut down the machine. This incident won't delay the reactivation of the facility later this month, but exposes yet another vulnerability of the what might be the most complex machine ever built. With freak accident after freak accident piling up over at CERN, the idea of time traveling particles returning from the future to prevent their own discovery is beginning to seem less and less far fetched www.popsci.com/science/article/2009-11/bread-loving-bird-shuts-down-lhc AGH HA HA HA HA Idiots the idiots don't understand the implications of what they are doing! O.K IF WE WANT SCARY ZOMBIES AND OTHER FREAKS OF NATURE RUNNING THE STREETS EATING PEOPLE THEN THE LHC WOULD HAVE BEEN SUCCESSFUL. YOU DO NOT WANT THE PAST,PRESENT AND FUTURE PILING UP ON TOP OF EACH OTHER MIXING WITH EACH OTHER LIKE A C.O.C.KTAIL DRINK NOW DO YOU. THEY WILL MELT INTO EACH OTHER THERE WILL BE MELT-THROUGHS THESE "TIMESLIPS" PEOPLE HEAR ABOUT ARE FROM WHAT HAPPENED LAST TIME THEY WERE SUCCESSFUL WITH THE LHC. THEY DON'T REALIZED THEY UNLEASHED HELL ON THE FACE OF THE PLANET AND THE BEINGS IT WILL MUTATE IS BEYOND HELL. WE'LL IT WOULD SERVE THEM RIGHT IF THEY SUCCEEDED WE'LL IT WOULD BRING PEOPLE TOGETHER NOW WOULDN'T IT. REMEMBER CHUPACABRAS PEOPLE HAVE SEEN THEY ARE THE BABY ONES GOT IT!! THE PEOPLE FROM THE FUTURE ARE STILL TRYING TO CLEAN UP THE BLEED-THROUGHS THESE IDIOTS ("SCIENTISTS") HAVE CAUSED!! |
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Post by fr33ksh0w2012 on Nov 7, 2009 2:34:44 GMT 4
The Maggots in Your MushroomsEWWWWWW........... Published: February 12, 2009 THE Georgia peanut company at the center of one of our nation’s worst food-contamination scares has officially reached a revolting new low: a recent inspection by the Food and Drug Administration discovered that the salmonella-tainted plant was also home to mold and roaches. You may be grossed out, but insects and mold in our food are not new. The F.D.A. actually condones a certain percentage of “natural contaminants” in our food supply — meaning, among other things, bugs, mold, rodent hairs and maggots. In its (falsely) reassuringly subtitled booklet “The Food Defect Action Levels: Levels of Natural or Unavoidable Defects in Foods That Present No Health Hazards for Humans,” the F.D.A.’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition establishes acceptable levels of such “defects” for a range of foods products, from allspice to peanut butter. Among the booklet’s list of allowable defects are “insect filth,” “rodent filth” (both hair and excreta pellets), “mold,” “insects,” “mammalian excreta,” “rot,” “insects and larvae” (which is to say, maggots), “insects and mites,” “insects and insect eggs,” “drosophila fly,” “sand and grit,” “parasites,” “mildew” and “foreign matter” (which includes “objectionable” items like “sticks, stones, burlap bagging, cigarette butts, etc.”). Tomato juice, for example, may average “10 or more fly eggs per 100 grams [the equivalent of a small juice glass] or five or more fly eggs and one or more maggots.” Tomato paste and other pizza sauces are allowed a denser infestation — 30 or more fly eggs per 100 grams or 15 or more fly eggs and one or more maggots per 100 grams. Canned mushrooms may have “over 20 or more maggots of any size per 100 grams of drained mushrooms and proportionate liquid” or “five or more maggots two millimeters or longer per 100 grams of drained mushrooms and proportionate liquid” or an “average of 75 mites” before provoking action by the F.D.A. The sauerkraut on your hot dog may average up to 50 thrips. And when washing down those tiny, slender, winged bugs with a sip of beer, you might consider that just 10 grams of hops could have as many as 2,500 plant lice. Yum. Giving new meaning to the idea of spicing up one’s food, curry powder is allowed 100 or more bug bits per 25 grams; ground thyme up to 925 insect fragments per 10 grams; ground pepper up to 475 insect parts per 50 grams. One small shaker of cinnamon could have more than 20 rodent hairs before being considered defective. Peanut butter — that culinary cause célèbre — may contain approximately 145 bug parts for an 18-ounce jar; or five or more rodent hairs for that same jar; or more than 125 milligrams of grit. In case you’re curious: you’re probably ingesting one to two pounds of flies, maggots and mites each year without knowing it, a quantity of insects that clearly does not cut the mustard, even as insects may well be in the mustard. The F.D.A. considers the significance of these defects to be “aesthetic” or “offensive to the senses,” which is to say, merely icky as opposed to the “mouth/tooth injury” one risks with, for example, insufficiently pitted prunes. This policy is justified on economic grounds, stating that it is “impractical to grow, harvest or process raw products that are totally free of non-hazardous, naturally occurring, unavoidable defects.” The most recent edition of the booklet (it has been revised and edited six times since first being issued in May 1995) states that “the defect levels do not represent an average of the defects that occur in any of the products — the averages are actually much lower.” Instead, it says, “The levels represent limits at which F.D.A. will regard the food product ‘adulterated’ and subject to enforcement action.” Bugs in our food may not be so bad — many people in the world practice entomophagy — but these harmless hazards are a reminder of the less harmless risks we run with casual regulation of our food supply. For good reason, the F.D.A. is focused on peanut butter, which the agency is considering reclassifying as high risk, like seafood, and subjecting it to special safety regulations. But the unsettling reality is that despite food’s cheery packaging and nutritional labeling, we don’t really know what we’re putting into our mouths. Soup merits little mention among the products listed in the F.D.A.’s booklet. But, given the acceptable levels for contaminants in other foods, one imagines that the disgruntled diner’s cri de coeur — “Waiter, there’s a fly in my soup!” — would be, to the F.D.A., no cause for complaint. E. J. Levy is a professor of creative writing at the University of Missouri. I'm GONNA PUKE!!! 
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Post by galaxygirl on Nov 11, 2009 16:33:59 GMT 4
Early life stress 'changes' genes
By Victoria Gill
Science reporter, BBC News
A study in mice has hinted at the impact that early life trauma and stress can have on genes, and how they can result in behavioural problems.news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8346715.stmScientists described the long-term effects of stress on baby mice in the journal Nature Neuroscience.
Stressed mice produced hormones that "changed" their genes, affecting their behaviour throughout their lives.
This work could provide clues to how stress and trauma in early life can lead to later problems.
The study was led by Christopher Murgatroyd, a scientist from the Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry in Munich, Germany.
He told BBC News that this study went into "molecular detail" - showing exactly how stressful experiences in early life could "programme" long-term behaviour.
To do this, the researchers had to cause stress to newborn mouse pups and monitor how their experiences affected them throughout their lives.
"We separated the pups from their mothers for three hours each day for ten days," Dr Murgatroyd explained.
"It was a very mild stress and the animals were not affected at a nutritional level, but they would [have felt] abandoned."
The team found that mice that had been "abandoned" during their early lives were then less able to cope with stressful situations throughout their lives.
The stressed mice also had poorer memories.
Programming genes
Dr Murgatroyd explained that these effects were caused by "epigenetic changes", where the early stressful experience actually changed the DNA of some of the animals' genes.
"This is a two-step mechanism," Dr Murgatroyd explained.
When the baby mice were stressed, they produced high levels of stress hormones.
These hormones "tweak" the DNA of a gene that codes for a specific stress hormone - vasopressin.
"This leaves a permanent mark at the vasopressin gene," said Dr Murgatroyd. "It is then programmed to produce high levels [of the hormone] later on in life."
The researchers were able to show that vasopressin was behind the behavioural and memory problems. When the adult mice were given a drug that blocked the effects of the hormone, their behaviour returned to normal.
This work was carried out in mice, but scientists are also investigating how childhood trauma in humans can lead to problems such as depression.
Professor Hans Reul, a neuroscientist from the University of Bristol, UK, said that this was "a very valuable addition to the body of work on the long-term effects of early-life stress"."There is strong evidence that adversities such as abuse and neglect during infancy contribute to the development of psychiatric diseases such as depression," he told BBC News."This underscores the importance of the study of epigenetic mechanisms in stress-related disorders."[/color]
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Post by ninathedog on Nov 12, 2009 19:24:15 GMT 4
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Post by fr33ksh0w2012 on Nov 17, 2009 22:22:30 GMT 4
World's largest atom smasher to restart
Wednesday, November 18, 2009 » 03:35am
The European Organisation for Nuclear Research says it expects to restart the world's largest atom smasher by this weekend after more than a year of repairs.
Spokesman James Gillies says scientists have refrained from setting an exact date for sending beams of protons around the 27-kilometre circular tunnel housing the Large Hadron Collider, or LHC.
He says the organisation known as CERN is taking its time with the sophisticated equipment, which is much more powerful than any such machine in the world.
The machine was launched with great fanfare last year before suffering a spectacular failure from a bad electrical connection, damaging 53 of the smasher's 9,300 superconducting magnets.
(LET THE LOSERS TRY!! ;D ;D)
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Post by fr33ksh0w2012 on Nov 24, 2009 7:24:45 GMT 4
Big Bang atom smasher getting closer
Tuesday, November 24, 2009 » 08:04am
Scientists say they are getting closer to their goal of simulating conditions after the Big Bang.
Scientists working on the world's largest atom smasher say they're closer to their goal to simulate conditions after the Big Bang, and help them discover the nature of matter itself.
The atom smasher is now circulating beams of protons in opposite directions at the same time in the 10 billion dollar machine, after more than a year of repairs.
The European Organisation for Nuclear Research says this brings the Large Hadron Collider closer to full operation.
The aim is to hurl protons into each other at close to the speed of light, in order to simulate conditions shortly after the Big Bang, which scientists believe marked the creation of the universe billions of years ago.
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Post by fr33ksh0w2012 on Dec 3, 2009 18:12:56 GMT 4
Patients vision in high definition
Thursday, December 03, 2009 » 08:20pm
Patients are having their eyes fitted with an artificial lens that allows them to see in high definition.
Surgeons begin the process by implanting the lens into the eye using the standard procedure for cataracts.
Then, for the first time in Britain, they can fine-tune the focus of the lens several days later.
The technique gives patients vision so sharp that it is even better than 20/20 - the best an adult can usually hope for.
Bobby Qureshi, the first ophthalmic surgeon in the UK to use the lens, described it as 'a hugely significant development'.
It can correct both cataracts and the long-sightedness that usually comes with age.
The lens is made from a special light-sensitive silicone.
By shining ultraviolet light on specific parts of the lens, surgeons can change its shape and curvature, sharpening the image seen by the patient.
Mr Qureshi told Sky News: 'We have the potential here to change patients' vision to how it was when they were young.
'The change is so accurate that we can even make the lens bifocal or varifocal, so as well as giving them good vision at distance we can give them good vision for reading.
'They won't need their glasses at all.'
The technique can overcome tiny defects in the eye that cause visual distortions.
The lens can be adjusted several times over a period of days until patients have perfect vision.
A final blast of light then permanently fixes the lenses' shape.
Gill Balfour was one of the first patients to be fitted with the new lens at the Spire Gatwick Park Hospital.
She had the first signs of cataracts and other vision problems.
She said: 'It's absolutely incredible. To think it's been tailor-made for you, matching any imperfections. It's the way forward, isn't it?'
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Post by nodstar on Dec 8, 2009 12:58:05 GMT 4
STAR TRAK for December: Geminid meteors flash in December skies[/size] www.physorg.com/news179085646.html2009-12-06 The annual Geminid meteor shower, which will reach its maximum on the night of Dec. 13-14, usually offers the best show of the year, outperforming even the Perseid shower of August. This year the Geminids will peak three days after new moon, so viewing conditions should be favorable. In a clear sky, observers may see more than 100 meteors per hour. Some meteors will appear as soon as the sky is completely dark, and the numbers will increase as the evening advances. The nights before and after the peak should also provide good viewing opportunities. These "shooting stars" will seem to be coming from a point called the radiant near the bright stars Castor and Pollux in the constellation Gemini the Twins, which gives the shower its name. The radiant will be well above the eastern horizon a few hours after sundown and will remain high in the sky for the rest of the night. The higher the radiant is above the horizon, the more meteors there will be. Try facing southeast if you have a clear view in that direction, though meteors will be visible in all parts of the sky. For details about the Geminid shower, see www.amsmeteors.org/showers.html#geminids . To stay comfortable in the frigid night, wear several layers of your warmest clothing and keep a thermos of hot coffee, tea or chocolate handy. A sleeping bag or blankets also will help. No special equipment is needed to watch a meteor shower -- a reclining lawn chair will work fine. Try facing in different directions and see how the meteors vary in appearance. The ones closer to the radiant will be short, because they will appear to be coming toward you. Those farther from the radiant will be longer. If the Geminid meteors are overwhelmed by moonlight, you'll have another opportunity when the Ursid shower peaks before dawn on Dec. 22. The Ursid radiant is near the bright star Polaris, the north star, which is above the horizon and visible all night. The usual rate is about 10 meteors per hour, but sometimes there are bursts of 30 or more per hour. The Ursid shower will be active from Dec. 17 to Dec. 26, and moonlight won't be much of a problem after midnight. Planets Jupiter will be fairly high in the south-southwest as darkness falls at the beginning of December. Observers with telescopes should view it as early in the evening as possible, before it sinks too low. Jupiter will descend toward the sun's afterglow as the month advances, eventually setting as early as 8:30 p.m. EST. Mercury will probably be too low to see without binoculars at the start of the month, but by Dec. 12 it should be fairly easy to spot above the southwestern horizon a half hour after sunset. It will be visible for about three weeks before it sinks rapidly into the solar glare near month's end. Mars will rise before 10 p.m. local time at the beginning of December and two hours earlier by month's end, among the stars of the constellation Leo the Lion. The orange planet will double in brightness as the month progresses. The only brighter objects in the sky at that time of night will be Jupiter and the bright star Sirius. Saturn will climb into the eastern sky about four hours after Mars, appearing high in the south shortly before dawn, the best position for viewing with a telescope. Saturn's famous rings are now easily visible again, after being tilted close to edgewise. Titan, its brightest moon, will be near Saturn the mornings of Dec. 1, 9, 17 and 25 and will show up in any telescope. Venus will be barely visible near the eastern horizon at the start of December, and it will disappear into the bright glow of dawn well before month's end. Solstice The sun will be farthest south in Earth's sky on Dec. 21 at 12:47 p.m. EST (17:47 Universal Time), marking the beginning of winter in the Northern Hemisphere and summer in the Southern Hemisphere. For the next six months in the Northern Hemisphere the days will be getting longer. "Blue moon" December will offer something unusual -- a "blue moon." The moon will be full on Dec. 2 and then full again on Dec. 31. The second full moon in a month is traditionally called a blue moon. This last happened on April 30, 2007. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the first reference to a blue moon was in a proverb recorded in 1528, and it meant an obvious absurdity. Since then other meanings have emerged, ranging from the ecclesiastical calendar's name for the 13th moon in a year to the modern phrase "once in a blue moon," meaning very rarely. Blue moons are really not that uncommon, happening about once every three years. The moon actually has appeared blue at times, because of smoke or dust particles in the atmosphere from huge forest fires, for example. More information is available at www.inconstantmoon.com/cyc_blue.htm . Moon phases The moon will be full on Dec. 2, at third quarter on Dec. 8, new on Dec. 16, at first quarter on Dec. 24 and full again (a "blue moon") on Dec. 31.
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Post by nodstar on Dec 8, 2009 13:03:32 GMT 4
A sinking continent?[/size] click here for video of Sydney Harbor residential areas flooding www.globalpost.com/dispatch/asia/091203/australia-environment-sinking-continent2009-12-08 A new report has parts of coastal Australia falling into the ocean, unless a little political will — and finance — is employed. GOLD COAST, Australia — The prediction is dire.[/size] Coastal towns will be left to fall into the sea by governments in Australia that won’t cough up the money to combat rising sea levels over the next 50 years. Billions of dollars will be wiped from the value of almost 250,000 homes at risk of flooding by the end of this century, including some of the most exclusive addresses in the country. Property-owners could face the prospect of selling their land to governments in cut-price deals and leasing it back while they make alternative arrangements to move to safer areas in five- or 10-year relocation plans. A bleak report by the Department of Climate Change has predicted a 1.1-meter sea level rise around the coast of Australia over the next 100 years. The study outlines the stark dangers of climate change. About 80 percent of the Australian population lives near the coast, and more people continue to move closer to the ocean as global warming raises temperatures, making a beach lifestyle even more attractive. As President Barack Obama made the historic step of visiting China in his first term and the two nations agreed to cooperate on climate change in next week's crucial U.N. summit in Copenhagen, are the Australians finally taking global warming seriously? Australia’s Labor government headed by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd wants a 40 percent carbon reduction target set for 2100, but Climate Change Minister Penny Wong has denied claims that she is mounting a fear campaign to pressure the opposition into a carbon-trading deal. The destruction of picturesque coastlines and tourist trade aside, sea level rises and storm surges will have a huge impact on infrastructure for trade, transport and industry. Planning for those changes will require huge capital investments. Tropical cyclones and storms are also expected to intensify, which could lead to major destruction — and cost. Geoff Withycombe, of Sydney Coastal Councils, which represents 15 local governments, says property-owners have to accept that no investment is guaranteed and that multi-million dollar values for beachfront property will be unrealistic in the future. He said some small coastal towns would inevitably have to be left to be reclaimed by the sea. “In a changing climate, nothing is certain. The problem with a lot of private and public properties at the moment is their values do not reflect the risk in terms of climate change. “We need to make a comprehensive assessment of the hazards and risks involved with rising sea levels and set those out to the stakeholders. “Let’s use the coastal zone while we can. We can’t sterilize land. In a country like Australia, we can’t afford to compensate everyone and we have 60,000 kilometers of coastline, so we can’t put sea walls up around the country.” The report’s recommendations are cold comfort to homeowners who have spent millions buying prestigious beachside properties. They can look forward to little or no compensation for their losses. Protection for private property would only be considered as a long-term option and part of a wider management plan. The report suggests private property owners “withdraw, relocate or abandon assets that are high risk." Residents on the east coast of the United Kingdom, in Norfolk, are also feeling the sting of abandonment from local and national governments in some coastal areas, which have been deemed too costly to protect. More than 15 million people live near the U.K. coastline, but Britain’s Environment Agency has already said that the area known as the Norfolk Broads will probably be left to be reclaimed by the sea. The question being asked by residents in small coastal communities is this: Why are millions being spent on protecting big cities when small towns — many of which provide services and goods to neighboring towns — are deemed to costly to protect? The Australian government report calls for a complete overhaul of building codes and planning for development. What this means is that in the future, developers will have to take into account the risks involved with climate change, including rising sea levels and more intense storm weather, before their developments are approved. Further research will be undertaken to decide how to reduce uncertainty about the risks of rising sea levels in coastal areas. The report also cited a huge environmental impact from rising sea levels. Coastal ecosystems likely to be most at risk include estuaries, coral reefs and beaches. In Sydney, councils are considering dredging sand from deep water areas and dumping it on eroded beaches to keep tourists and locals happy. According to the Australia and New Zealand Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, beyond 2100 looks similarly bleak. Even if greenhouse gases are stabilized, predictions are that sea levels will continue to rise for hundreds of years due to the slow but continual warming of the deep oceans. Polar ice sheets will continue to react to climate change for the next several thousand years, even if the climate stabilizes.
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Post by nodstar on Dec 8, 2009 13:05:53 GMT 4
Single-atom transistor discovered[/size] Helsinki University of Technology TKK www.tkk.fi/en/current_affairs/news/view/yhden_atomin_transistori_loydetty/2009-12-06 Researchers from Helsinki University of Technology (Finland), University of New South Wales (Australia), and University of Melbourne (Australia) have succeeded in building a working transistor, whose active region composes only of a single phosphorus atom in silicon. The results have just been published in Nano Letters. The working principles of the device are based on sequential tunneling of single electrons between the phosphorus atom and the source and drain leads of the transistor. The tunneling can be suppressed or allowed by controlling the voltage on a nearby metal electrode with a width of a few tens of nanometers. The rapid development of computers, which created the present information society, has been mainly based on the reduction of the size of transistors. We have known for a long time that this development has to slow down critically during the future decades when the even tighter inexpensive packing of transistors would require them to shrink down to the atomic length scales. In the recently developed transistor, all the electric current passes through the same single atom. This allows us to study the effects arising in the extreme limit of the transistor size. “About half a year ago, I and one of the leaders of this research, Prof. Andrew Dzurak, were asked when we expect a single-atom transistor to be fabricated. We looked at each other, smiled, and said that we have already done that”, tells Dr. Mikko Möttönen. “In fact, our purpose was not to build the tiniest transistor for a classical computer, but a quantum bit which would be the heart of a quantum computer that is being developed worldwide”, he continues. Problems arising when the size of a transistor is shrunk towards the ultimate limit are due to the emergence of so-called quantum mechanical effects. On one hand, these phenomena are expected to challenge the usual transistor operation. On the other hand, they allow classically irrational behavior which can, in principle, be harnessed for conceptually more efficient computing, quantum computing. The driving force behind the measurements reported now is the idea to utilize the spin degree of freedom of an electron of the phosphorus donor as a quantum bit, a qubit. The researchers were able to observe in their experiments spin up and down states for a single phosphorus donor for the first time. This is a crucial step towards the control of these states, that is, the realization of a qubit.
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Post by nodstar on Dec 8, 2009 13:16:36 GMT 4
Will fusion fade ... or finally flare up?[/size]
MSNBC
2009-12-08
Is nuclear fusion the ultimate energy source, or the ultimate pipe dream? Millions upon millions of dollars are being spent to find out which answer is the right one. For some technologies, the answer could come sooner than later. For others, it may be later rather than sooner.
The easiest way to access fusion power is to go outside on a sunny day: Nuclear fusion is the reaction that powers the sun, by crushing hydrogen atoms into helium atoms and converting the small blips of extra mass into energy. Hydrogen bombs, tested by the world's armies but never used on the battlefield, do the same thing.
For decades, scientists have been trying to figure out how to harness the fusion reaction to generate electrical power. A key milestone would be passing the "break-even" point, at which a controlled fusion reaction produces more energy than it consumes. Research aiming toward that goal is moving along three main routes, and the pace of progress can vary, depending on which road you're traveling down. Here's a status report on the fusion race:
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Laser fusion: On the rise
The biggest buzz is being generated at the National Ignition Facility, the $3.5 billion laser research site at California's Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. NIF is designed to produce fusion power on a small scale by aiming 192 laser beams simultaneously at a hydrogen target the size of a pencil eraser for a burst lasting just a few billionths of a second.
In the shorter term, the experiment will help the U.S. military simulate how thermonuclear warheads work so that the strategic arsenal can be kept up to date. In the longer term, the laser-blaster could point the way toward commercial power-generating schemes.
NIF was certified for operation in March, and last month officials reported that the laser beams could generate enough X-ray energy during the initial testing phase to ignite the fuel capsules as required. The research campaign is scheduled to begin in earnest early next year, and there's already talk in the fusion community that the reaction could reach the break-even point by the time 2010 ends.
Then what? Such an achievement could clear the way for laser facilities designed for more extended operations, such as the instruments pioneered by the Livermore Lab's Mercury laser project. NIF researchers are also looking at a plan to use neutrons from a fusion reaction to boost the efficiency of a nuclear fission reactor — a hybrid concept known as Laser Inertial Fusion-Fission Energy, or LIFE.
Inertial electrostatic fusion: Moving quietly
The dark horse in the fusion race is an approach known as inertial electrostatic confinement fusion, or Polywell fusion. This method, pioneered by the late physicist Robert Bussard, involves designing a high-voltage cage in such a way that atomic nuclei slam into each other at high speeds, sparking fusion.
Bussard claimed that Polywell fusion could lead to low-cost commercial fusion power and usher in a new generation of space propulsion systems as well. After his death in October 2007, his work was carried on by a small team of physicists operating out of Bussard's EMC2 Fusion lab in Santa Fe, N.M.
In September, EMC2 Fusion was awarded a Navy contract, backed by $7.9 million in stimulus funds, to develop a scaled-up version of a Polywell fusion reactor. Development and testing of the device is expected to take two years, and there's an option to spend another $4.4 million on experiments with hydrogen-boron fuel (known as pB11).
In the past, EMC2 Fusion's Richard Nebel has been able to describe the team's progress in general terms, saying that he was "very pleased" with the performance of an earlier test device. But now, with more Navy money on the line, Nebel has been constrained from saying anything about the project. The fact that the research is continuing, however, appears to indicate that the results have been promising enough to keep the Navy interested.
Private-sector ventures are pursuing a range of similarly unorthodox approaches to small-scale fusion — but it's not yet clear how big the payoff might be. Among the ventures that have surfaced so far are Lawrenceville Plasma Physics, Tri Alpha Energy and Helion Energy.
Magnetic fusion: Not so fast
When it comes to fusion research, the road most traveled is the one that features magnetic containment of fusion plasma, usually within a doughnut-shaped chamber known as a tokamak. The current poster child for magnetic confinement fusion is the ITER project, headquartered in southern France.
ITER, which started out as an acronym standing for "International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor," is projected to spend $13 billion over 30 years to demonstrate a break-even fusion reaction in an eight-story-high containment vessel. Components for the device are to be contributed by the ITER consortium's seven parties — the European Union, China, India, Japan, Russia, South Korea and the United States.
The facility is just in the beginning stages of construction, and the current schedule calls for the reactor to start up in 2018. However, Science magazine reported last week that the project's governing council held back its endorsement of the schedule, saying that the proposed startup date did not seem realistic.
"Europe is very concerned about the risk of pushing ahead too fast," Steven Cowley, head of Britain's Culham Center for Fusion Energy, told Science.
So what would happen to the ITER project if it turns out that other, cheaper routes to the break-even point bear fruit on a shorter timetable? That sounds like something worth talking about ...
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Post by nodstar on Dec 11, 2009 7:14:35 GMT 4
Life on Mars theory boosted by new methane study[/size] www.physorg.com/news179499648.html2009-12-10 Scientists have ruled out the possibility that methane is delivered to Mars by meteorites, raising fresh hopes that the gas might be generated by life on the red planet, in research published tomorrow in Earth and Planetary Science Letters. Methane has a short lifetime of just a few hundred years on Mars because it is constantly being depleted by a chemical reaction in the planet's atmosphere, caused by sunlight. Scientists analysing data from telescopic observations and unmanned space missions have discovered that methane on Mars is being constantly replenished by an unknown source and they are keen to uncover how the levels of methane are being topped up. Researchers had thought that meteorites might be responsible for Martian methane levels because when the rocks enter the planet's atmosphere they are subjected to intense heat, causing a chemical reaction that releases methane and other gases into the atmosphere. However, the new study, by researchers from Imperial College London, shows that the volumes of methane that could be released by the meteorites entering Mars's atmosphere are too low to maintain the current atmospheric levels of methane. Previous studies have also ruled out the possibility that the methane is delivered through volcanic activity. This leaves only two plausible theories to explain the gas's presence, according to the researchers behind today's findings. Either there are microorganisms living in the Martian soil that are producing methane gas as a by-product of their metabolic processes, or methane is being produced as a by-product of reactions between volcanic rock and water. Co-author of the study, Dr Richard Court, Department of Earth Science and Engineering at Imperial College London, says: "Our experiments are helping to solve the mystery of methane on Mars. Meteorites vaporising in the atmosphere are a proposed methane source but when we recreate their fiery entry in the laboratory we get only small amounts of the gas. For Mars, meteorites fail the methane test." The team say their study will help NASA and ESA scientists who are planning a joint mission to the red planet in 2018 to search for the source of methane. The researchers say now that they have discovered that meteorites are not a source of Methane on Mars, ESA and NASA scientists can focus their attention on the two last remaining options. Co-author, Professor Mark Sephton, Department of Earth Science and Engineering at Imperial College London, adds: "This work is a big step forward. As Sherlock Holmes said, eliminate all other factors and the one that remains must be the truth. The list of possible sources of methane gas is getting smaller and excitingly, extraterrestrial life still remains an option. Ultimately the final test may have to be on Mars." The team used a technique called Quantitive Pyrolysis-Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy to reproduce the same searing conditions experienced by meteorites as they enter the Martian atmosphere. The team heated the meteorite fragments to 1000 degrees Celsius and measured the gases that were released using an infrared beam. When quantities of gas released by the laboratory experiments were combined with published calculations of meteorite in-fall rates on Mars, the scientists calculated that only 10 kilograms of meteorite methane was produced each year, far below the 100 to 300 tonnes required to replenish methane levels in the Martian atmosphere. More information: "Investigating the contribution of methane produced by ablating micrometeorites to the atmosphere of Mars," Earth and Planetary Science Letters journal, Richard W. Court, Mark A. Sephton
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