Breakthrough in Developing Super-Material Graphene
Researchers across Europe, including the UK’s National Physical Laboratory (NPL), have demonstrated how an incredible material, graphene, could hold the key to the future of high-speed electronics, such as micro-chips and touchscreen technology. Graphene is a strong candidate to replace semiconductor chips and will offer the world a faster and cheaper alternative to conventional semiconductors
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/01/100119111057.htm
New Visible Light Photocatalyst Kills Bacteria, Even After Light Turned Off
In the battle against bacteria, researchers at the University of Illinois have developed a powerful new weapon – an enhanced photocatalytic disinfection process that uses visible light to destroy harmful bacteria and viruses, even in the dark. Shang’s research group had previously developed a catalytic material that worked with visible light, instead of the ultraviolet light required by other catalysts. This advance, which was made by doping a titanium-oxide matrix with nitrogen, meant the disinfection process could be activated with sunlight or with standard indoor lighting.
http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1811192/new_visible_light_photocatalyst_kills_bacteria
Optical Refrigeration: Researchers Achieve Milestone in Laser Cooling
Researchers at the University of New Mexico have established a new low in temperature cooling through laser cooling of solids to cryogenic temperatures. Under an AFOSR, MURI grant, a team led by UNM Professor, Mansoor Sheik-Bahae, created the first-ever all-solid-state cryocooler (temperatures that can only be obtained by liquefying gases and mechanical refrigerators) that can be used for a variety of applications ranging from cooling infrared sensors to superconducting electronics.
http://www.physorg.com/news183149527.html
Researchers Detect First Neutrino Events at T2K Facilities in Japan
As part of the experiment, high energy protons were directed onto a carbon target, where their collisions produced charged particles called pions. The pions travelled through a helium-filled volume where they decayed to produce a beam of the elusive neutrinos. These neutrinos then flew 200 meters through the earth to a sophisticated detector system capable of making detailed measurements of their energy, direction and type.
http://www.physorg.com/news183149936.html
Our Memory Of Time Is Shortened When We Believe Products And Events Are Related
People sometimes feel the effect of product consumption almost instantaneously—within an unrealistically short time after consumption. When we believe two events are connected—such as drinking caffeine and getting a burst of energy—we tend to compress time!
http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1811180/our_memory_of_time_is_shortened
Too Many Choices? New Study Says More Is Usually Better
Are we overloaded and paralyzed by too many choices, or is it good to have so many options? A new study in the Journal of Consumer Research says the jury is still out on so-called “choice overload.”
http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1811179/too_many_choices
Novel Zoom Objective With Deformable Mirrors
Unmanned aerial vehicles UAVs deployed on landscape analysis missions carry optical measuring equipment that is required to operate free of chromatic aberration. Researchers have now designed an all-reflective zoom objective with deformable mirrors. Researchers from the Fraunhofer Institute for Photonic Microsystems IPMS are currently working to make it possible to capture images free from chromatic aberration in a number of spectral ranges using a single system.
http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1811173/novel_zoom_objective
Ozone Detection
Researchers in Freiburg have developed a highly-sensitive, miniaturized mobile ozone sensor which can be used not only in air, but also in water and in the vicinity of explosive gases. The ozone sensors currently available on the market employ extremely laborious and complex measuring procedures such as UV absorption and are therefore very expensive. By contrast, the more affordable ozone sensors have to be heated up to 300 degrees Celsius and produce inaccurate readings or only work in limited areas of application. We’ve done away with the need for heating by instead applying blue/violet light radiation to trigger the chemical process necessary for regeneration on the sensor surface – this allows the sensors to operate at room temperature.
http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1811172/ozone_detection/index.html?source=r_science
Electric control of aligned Spins improves Computer Memory
The scientists can use an electric field to switch the insulator in a way that influences the electron spins in the magnetic layers either side of it, thereby influencing the electron tunnelling as well. Since the insulator keeps the same switched state when all current is removed, this model could be used to build Computer Memory that draws very little power and still stores data permanently.
http://www.physorg.com/news183136065.html
Turning Down The Noise In Quantum Data Storage
Researchers who hope to create quantum computers are currently investigating various methods to store data. Nitrogen atoms embedded in diamond show promise for encoding quantum bits (qubits), but the process of reading the information results in an extremely weak signal
http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1811165/turning_down_the_noise_in_quantum
Breakthrough Breast Cancer Therapy Reduces Mastectomies, Saves Breast
A new treatment developed and tested by University of Oklahoma researchers not only killed large cancer tumors, but reduced the need for mastectomies by almost 90 percent. The latest results appear in an upcoming issue of the Annals of Surgical Oncology. In the most recent study, researchers tested the therapy on tumors that were an inch to an inch and a half in size. These large tumors usually require mastectomies. When researchers used the heating therapy within two hours of patients receiving chemotherapy, the tumor was more susceptible to the chemotherapy and shrunk rapidly. The percentage of patients needing mastectomies was reduced from 75 percent to 7 percent.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/01/100119103735.htm
Why Hasn’t Earth Warmed as Much as Expected?
According to current best estimates of climate sensitivity, the amount of CO2 and other heat-trapping gases added to Earth’s atmosphere since humanity began burning fossil fuels on a significant scale during the industrial period would be expected to result in a mean global temperature rise of 3.8°F — well more than the 1.4°F increase that has been observed for this time span.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/01/100119112050.htm
New materials for electronic packaging: Researchers improve energy costs in chip-making
At present, state-of-the-art techniques for making computer chips during the electronic packaging process involve use of hot air convection or the use of infrared ovens. Because heating the chips in these ovens requires significant energy costs and also poses the risk of chip warpage, McHenry’s team worked collaboratively with Intel’s Swaminathan to develop a tool that uses radio frequency coils to heat specially designed magnetic particles that are mixed with solder pastes.
http://www.physorg.com/news183131949.html
Insect Colonies Function Like Superorganisms
Many insect species, including ants and bees, work together in colonies, and their cooperative behavior determines the survival of the entire group. This type of interaction has been likened to that of a single organism, with each individual in a colony acting like a cell in the body, giving rise to the term “superorganism.”
http://www.livescience.com/animals/insect-colonies-superorganism-100119.html