tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-65213442024-03-07T16:27:47.140-05:00Scientific Thoughts<em>The eternal mystery of the world is its comprehensibility</em> - Albert EinsteinSrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04259657832508489336noreply@blogger.comBlogger206125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6521344.post-1124972588911598602005-08-24T08:22:00.000-04:002005-08-26T23:05:36.063-04:00Safest Nuclear Reactor?An indigenous <a href="http://www.ans.org/pubs/journals/nt/va-133-1-1-32">design</a> for a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thorium">Thorium</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_reactor">nuclear reactor</a>, which can produce 600 MWs of power for two years without being replenished, was <a href="http://www.newindpress.com/Newsitems.asp?ID=IEH20050825132047&Title=Top+Stories&Topic=0">unveiled</a> on Thursday by two Indian scientists at an international conference on emerging nuclear energy systems in Brussels (<a href="http://www.sckcen.be/sckcen_en/activities/conf/conferences/icenes2005/index.shtml">ICENES 2005</a>).<br />Designed by scientists (V Jagannathan and Usha Pal) of the <a href="http://www.barc.ernet.in/">Bhabha Atomic Research Centre</a> (BARC), the thorium breeder reactor (ATBR) has been claimed to be far more economical and safer than any other in the world. More importantly, the reactor doesn’t need expensive and scarce <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uranium">Uranium</a><sup>235</sup>. Although it would require <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plutonium">Plutonium</a> initially, the reactor will eventually run entirely on Thorium and Uranium-233, the scientists said.<br /><center><img src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2133/355/1600/00204.jpg" align=bottom><small><br>Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (Courtesy: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/">Wikipedia</a>)</small></center>In the paper, the scientists explained that the reactor, while annually consuming 880 kg of Plutonium for energy production from <em>seed</em> rods, converts 1100 kg of Thorium into fissionable Uranium-233.<br />Nuclear analysts say that it may be possible for India to obtain Plutonium from friendly countries wanting to dismantle their weapons or dispose of their stockpiled plutonium:):).Srayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04259657832508489336noreply@blogger.com35tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6521344.post-1125016450165460752005-08-23T20:33:00.000-04:002005-08-26T17:41:43.116-04:00Model Organism For Humans<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caenorhabditis_elegans">Caenorhabditis elegans</a> is a free-living <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nematode">nematode</a> (a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roundworm">roundworm</a>), about 1 mm in length, which lives in a temperate soil environment. Researchers (<a href="http://www.ucr.edu/">Shou-Wei Ding</a>, <a href="http://faculty.ucr.edu/~mmaduro/">Morris Maduro</a> and others) at the <a href="http://www.ucr.edu/">UC Riverside</a> have discovered that this simple worm makes an excellent experimental host for studying some of the most virulent <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viruses">viruses</a> that infect humans:):). The research is published in the journal <a href="http://www.nature.com/">Nature</a> this month.<br /><center><img src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2133/355/320/00203.jpg" align=bottom><small><br>Caenorhabditis elegans (Courtesy: <a href="http://www.ucr.edu/">UC Riverside</a>)</small></center>For years researchers throughout the world have studied C. elegans because many aspects of its biology, such as genetics, development and the workings of neurons, mirror the biology of humans. However, no viruses were known to infect the millimeter-long roundworm so it was not used as a model for studying viral infections. The researchers have developed a strain of the worm, in which an animal virus could replicate, allowing them to map the delicate dance of action and reaction between virus and host:).<br />When a virus infects a living cell, it produces viral <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RNA">RNA</a>, which allows the virus to replicate inside the host cell. When a virus infects the modified elegans worm however, the worm's DNA triggers an antiviral response known as <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RNAi">RNA interference</a> (RNAi). RNAi specifically breaks down the virus’ RNA:D. The virus responds by producing a protein acting as a suppressor of RNAi to shut down the host’s antiviral response:-SS. When the researchers introduced a mutation in the elegans genome that shuts down this virus protein generation, the worm did not get infected!!<br />By studying this interaction between the virus and the worm RNA/DNA, researchers are able to understand how the virus infection works:), as this process of infection has exact parallel in us humans! Viruses like <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Influenza">Influenza</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HIV">HIV</a> are known to produce RNAi suppressors, and so by using the elegans to generate mutated genes, we might be one day able to conquer these days.<br />On a side-note, we are able to do all this, as we share a lot of our genome with even the lowliest of worms. Another hurrah for evolutionary theory:):).Srayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04259657832508489336noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6521344.post-1124746851244940842005-08-22T17:38:00.000-04:002005-08-25T20:15:37.490-04:00Near Miss, Great GainsFor the first time in history, scientists will be able to <a href="http://www.spacedaily.com/news/asteroid-05f.html">observe</a> how the Earth's gravity will disrupt a massive <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asteroid">asteroid</a>'s spin:). Scientists (<a href="http://www-personal.engin.umich.edu/~scheeres/">Daniel Scheeres</a> and colleagues) at <a href="http://www.umich.edu/">University of Michigan</a> predict a near-miss when Asteroid <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004_MN4">99942 Apophis</a> passes Earth in 2029. An asteroid flies this close to the planet only once every 1,300 years. The chance to study it will help scientists deal with the object should it threaten collision with Earth.<br /><center><img src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2133/355/1600/00202.gif" align=bottom><small><br>Close Encounter of the rocky kind (Courtesy: <a href="http://www.en.wikipedia.org/">Wikipedia</a>)</small></center>Only about three Earth diameters will separate Apophis and Earth when the 400-meter asteroid hurtles by Earth's gravity, which will twist the object into a complex wobbling rotation. Such an occurrence has never been witnessed but could yield important clues to the interior of the sphere:D.<br />Apophis is one of more than 600 known potentially hazardous asteroids and one of several that scientists hope to study more closely. In Apophis' case, additional measurements are necessary because the 2029 flyby could be followed by frequent close approaches thereafter, or even a collision:-SS. If <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/">NASA</a> places measuring equipment on the asteroid's surface, scientists could for the first time study an asteroid's interior, similar to how geologists study earthquakes to gain understanding of the Earth's core:):).<br />The asteroid is relatively small, about the length of three football fields. If it hit it wouldn't create wide-scale damage to the Earth, but would cause major damage at the impact site. But readers need not worry, the chance that it might hit is <a href="http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/risk/a99942.html">1 in 300</a>:):).Srayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04259657832508489336noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6521344.post-1124746945448215682005-08-21T17:41:00.000-04:002005-08-24T19:24:41.590-04:00Magnetic ChickensMany species of birds <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Migration">migrate</a> long distances every year. Not only do they migrate over tens of thousands of miles, they almost always fly an exact route. The route is often independent of the landmarks they might fly over; for example, birds have been found to fly along some ancient riverbed, as if faithfully executing a pattern transferred from generation to generation:).<br /><center><img src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2133/355/1600/00201.jpg" align="bottom"><br><small>Chicken Family :D (Courtesy: <a href="http://www.physorg.com/">PhysOrg</a>)</small></center>It has been known for some time that many species of birds use the Earth's magnetic field to select a direction of movement. However, although such birds clearly have a sense of direction, until now it has not been possible to train birds to move in a certain direction in the laboratory, even if they are motivated by a food reward. The reasons for this failure have been perplexing, but researchers now <a href="http://www.physorg.com/news5947.html%3C/center%3E">report</a> that they have been able to successfully accomplish this training task, providing new insight into the evolution of magnetic sensing and opening new opportunities for further study of magnetoreception:):).<br />In the new work, researchers including Rafael Freire from the <a href="http://www.une.edu.au/">University of New England</a>, Australia, Wolfgang Wiltschko and Roswitha Wiltschko from the <a href="http://www.uni-frankfurt.de/">University of Frankfurt</a>, Germany, and Ursula Munro from the <a href="http://www.uts.edu.au/">University of Technology</a> in Sydney, demonstrated for the first time that birds could be trained to respond to a magnetic direction. The researchers trained domestic chicks to find an object that was associated with imprinting and was behind one of four screens placed in the corners of a square apparatus, and, crucially, showed that the chicks' direction of movement during searching for the hidden imprinting stimulus was influenced by shifting the magnetic field.<br />It is expected that this work will facilitate current efforts to understand how birds detect the magnetic field, because the new approach does not rely on complex behaviors, such as migration or homing, that are difficult to study in the laboratory and are dependent on the time of year. The work also shows that the ability to orient with magnetic cues is not only present in an ancient avian lineage dating back to the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cretaceous">Cretaceous period</a>, but has also been retained in a nonmigrating bird after thousands of years of domestication:):):).Srayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04259657832508489336noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6521344.post-1124747133169218712005-08-20T17:45:00.000-04:002005-08-23T19:17:32.366-04:00Light Controlling LightA team of researchers from the <a href="http://www.epfl.ch/">Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne</a> (EPFL) has successfully <a href="http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/08/050821225731.htm">demonstrated</a>, for the first time, that it is possible to control the speed of light – both slowing it down and speeding it up – in an optical fiber, using off-the-shelf instrumentation in normal environmental conditions. Their results, to be published in <a href="http://apl.aip.org/">Applied Physics Letters</a>, could have implications that range from optical computing to the fiber-optic telecommunications industry.<br /><center><img src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2133/355/1600/00200.jpg" align=bottom><small><br>Let there be light! (Courtesy: <a href="http://www.gu.edu.au/">Griffith University</a>)</small></center>On the screen, a small pulse shifts back and forth – just a little bit. But this seemingly unremarkable phenomenon could have profound technological consequences. It represents the success of <a href="http://nccr-qp.epfl.ch/page49099-en.html">Luc Thévenaz</a> and his fellow researchers in the <a href="http://cmi.epfl.ch/metrology/home_metrology.html">Nanophotonics and Metrology Laboratory</a> at EPFL in controlling the speed of light in a simple optical fiber. They were able not only to slow light down by a factor of three from its well – established speed c of 3x10<sup>6</sup> meters per second in a vacuum, but they've also accomplished the considerable feat of speeding it up – making light go faster than the speed of light:D.<br />The telecommunications industry transmits vast quantities of data via fiber optics. Light signals race down the information superhighway at about 186,000 miles per second. But information cannot be processed at this speed, because with current technology light signals cannot be stored, routed or processed without first being transformed into electrical signals, which work much more slowly. If the light signal could be controlled by light, it would be possible to route and process optical data without the costly electrical conversion, opening up the possibility of processing information at the speed of light!!<br />This is exactly what the EPFL team has demonstrated. Using their <a href="http://www.npl.co.uk/photonics/nonlinear/sbsandsrs.html">Stimulated Brillouin Scattering</a> (SBS) method, the group was able to slow a light signal down by a factor of 3.6, creating a sort of temporary <em>optical memory</em>. They were also able to create extreme conditions in which the light signal travelled faster than light in vacuum. And even though this seems to violate all sorts of cherished physical assumptions, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special_relativity">relativity</a> isn't called into question, because only a portion of the signal is affected:):).Srayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04259657832508489336noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6521344.post-1124448363572141322005-08-19T06:45:00.000-04:002005-08-21T16:13:43.073-04:00Singing Wings<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airplane">Fixed-wing aircrafts</a> generate <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lift_%28force%29">lift</a> by passing air at different speeds above and below the wings. The difference in the wind speed creates the <em>lift</em>, which keeps the wing (and the plane) afloat:). The greater this difference, the more is the lift, which is proportional to the speed of the aircraft; lower the speed, smaller is the lift. Many a small aircrafts stall (lose the lift) when they are moving at slower than recommended speeds or are making sharp turns which reduces the speed.<br />It <a href="http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn7867">seems</a> that when the wings of such airplanes are vibrated using sound-emitting plastic coatings, they stay afloat even at slow speeds! The sound helps control the flow of air over the wings, reducing the chance of the aircraft stalling:):).<br /><center><img src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2133/355/1600/00199.gif" align=bottom><small><br>Aerofoil (Courtesy: <a href="http://www.northsailsod.com">North Sail Sod</a>)</small></center>The research was conducted by <a href="http://www.unsw.edu.au/news/pad/articles/2005/aug/singing_wings.html">Ian Salmon</a>, an engineer with <a href="http://www.qantas.com.au/">Qantas Airways</a> in Sydney, while he was at the <a href="http://www.unsw.edu.au/">University of New South Wales</a>. Tests using a barely audible sinusoidal tone of about 400 Hz (vibrations per second) showed a 22% increase in lift, compared with a standard wing. This could translate into a few extra seconds of time for a pilot to boost a plane’s speed before it stalls!<br />The technique could have other advantages. The size of a small plane’s wings is determined by the need to avoid stalls during take-off and landing. So if you use this device to improve lift at low speed, you can potentially decrease wing size, thereby reducing the plane’s weight and its fuel requirements:):).Srayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04259657832508489336noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6521344.post-1124448432770982112005-08-18T06:47:00.000-04:002005-08-20T19:53:19.526-04:001000th Comet!The <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_and_Heliospheric_Observatory">Solar and Heliospheric Observatory</a> (SOHO) was launched in 1995 and is positioned in a stable orbit at a point between the Earth and the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun">Sun</a>, where the gravitational forces of the two bodies exactly cancel each other. Consequently, the SOHO is fixed in space between Earth and Sun, and thus is at a prime position to monitor the Sun:).<br />As comets orbit around the Sun and once in a while crash into it, the SOHO takes their pictures. Scores of volunteers pore through the videos from the craft, and often are the first to spot new comets. Toni Scarmato, a high school teacher from Italy, <a href="http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=17650">discovered</a> SOHO's 999th and 1000th comet recently, when two comets appeared in the same SOHO image:):).<br /><center><img src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2133/355/1600/001981.gif" align=bottom><small><br>The twin comets (Courtesy: <a href="http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/">SOHO</a>)</small></center>About 85 percent of the SOHO comets discovered so far belong to the <a href="http://www.seds.org/~spider/spider/Comets/kreutz-g.html">Kreutz group</a> of sun grazing comets, named because their orbits take them very close to the Sun. SOHO's 999th and 1,000th comets also belong to the Kreutz group. The Kreutz sun grazers pass within 500,000 miles of the star's visible surface. In contrast, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercury_(planet)">Mercury</a>, the planet closest to the sun, is about 36 million miles from the solar surface.<br />SOHO has also been used to discover three other well-populated comet groups: the Meyer, with at least 55 members; Marsden, with at least 21 members; and Kracht, with 24 members. These groups are named after the astronomers who suggested the comets are related, because they have similar orbits.<br />Almost all SOHO's comets are discovered using images from its <a href="http://lasco-www.nrl.navy.mil/">Large Angle and Spectrometric Coronagraph</a> (LASCO) instrument. LASCO is used to observe the faint, multimillion-degree outer atmosphere of the sun, called the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corona">corona</a>. A disk in the instrument is used to make an artificial eclipse, blocking direct light from the sun so the much fainter corona can be seen. Sun grazing comets are discovered when they enter LASCO's field of view as they pass close by the star.<br />A large animation of the comets can be found <a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2133/355/1600/00198.gif">here</a>.Srayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04259657832508489336noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6521344.post-1124254126905510252005-08-17T00:48:00.000-04:002005-08-20T08:59:53.483-04:00Primordial Hot SoupA new theory that <a href="http://www.bath.ac.uk/news/articles/releases/tripletcode020805.html">explains</a> why the language of our genes is more complex than it needs to be also suggests that the <a href="http://leiwenwu.tripod.com/primordials.htm">primordial soup</a> where life began on earth was hot and not cold, as many scientists believe:D.<br /><center><img src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2133/355/1600/00196.jpg" align=bottom><small><br>Primordial soup (Courtesy: <a href="http://www.spacedaily.com/">SpaceDaily</a>)</small></center><br />Our <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DNA">DNA</a> is made up of four <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nucleotide">nucleotide</a> bases (complex organic molecules called <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adenine">Adenine</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thymine">Thymine</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guanine">Guanine</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cytosine">Cytosine</a>). If you imagine the DNA as a sequence of these molecules, every three of the nucleotides is actually a code for an <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amino_acid">amino acid</a> (a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protein">protein</a> is a sequence of amino acids). Such a triplet is called a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Codon">codon</a>. However, four nucleotides can code for 4<sup>3</sup>, or 64 different amino acids, while in nature, we only have 20 amino acids! This is a puzzle that has baffled scientists for 40 years, and now researchers from the <a href="http://www.bath.ac.uk/">University of Bath</a> describe a new theory which they believe could solve it:).<br />One of quirks of the genetic code is that there are groups of codons which all translate to the same amino acid. For example, the amino acid <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leucine">leucine</a> can be translated from six different codons whilst some amino acids, which have equally important functions and are translated in the same amount, have just one.<br />The new theory extends upon one of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Crick">Crick</a>'s idea, that the three-letter code evolved from a simpler two-letter code. The new theory suggests that the primordial <em>doublet</em> code was read in threes - but with only either the first two <em>prefix</em> or last two <em>suffix</em> pairs of bases being actively read.<br />By combining arrangements of these doublet codes together, the scientists can replicate the table of amino acids - explaining why some amino acids can be translated from groups of 2, 4 or 6 codons. They can also show how the groups of water loving (hydrophilic) and water-hating (hydrophobic) amino acids emerge naturally in the table, evolving from overlapping prefix and suffix codons:).<br />Such a technique ensures that the DNA is error tolerant! An error in one of the three nucleotides in a codon, is not fatal, as the changed codon will often code for the same protein:):).Srayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04259657832508489336noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6521344.post-1124258391784246832005-08-16T01:59:00.000-04:002005-08-20T08:59:37.610-04:00Measuring ProductivityA physicist in the US has <a href="http://physicsweb.org/articles/news/9/8/9/1">proposed</a> a new way of quantifying the scientific output of individual scientists. <a href="http://physics.ucsd.edu/~jorge/jh.html">Jorge Hirsch</a> of <a href="http://www.ucsd.edu/">UC San Diego</a> says that the <em>h-index</em> - which is derived from the number of times that papers by the scientist are cited - gives an estimate of the <em>importance, significance and broad impact of a scientist's cumulative contributions.</em> According to Hirsch the h-index <em>should provide a useful yardstick to compare different individuals" when recruiting new staff, deciding promotions and awarding grants.</em><br /><center><img src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2133/355/1600/00198.jpg" align=bottom><small><br>Nobel laureates in Physics vs. their h-Index (Courtesy: <a href="http://www.physicsweb.org/">PhysicsWeb</a>)</small></center>While the number of papers published by a scientist provides a measure of their productivity, it says nothing about the quality of their work. The number of citations received by a scientist is a better indicator of quality, but co-authoring a handful of articles that are cited widely could <em>inflate</em> the reputation of a scientist. The new technique is supposed to take care of these issues.<br />Hirsch, who has a h-index of 49, says that a "successful scientist" will have an index of 20 after 20 years; an "outstanding scientist" will have an index of 40 after 20 years; and a "truly unique individual" will have an index of 60 after 20 years. Moreover, he goes on to propose that a researcher should be promoted to associate professor when they achieve a h-index of around 12, and to full professor when they reach a h about of 18:-?. I am not too sure about that, though:):).Srayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04259657832508489336noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6521344.post-1124162243598177772005-08-15T23:17:00.000-04:002005-08-17T18:14:17.806-04:00Most Chimps Are LeftiesWe humans show a distinct preference for our right hand. It is a big puzzle for scientists, as no other mammal showed a preference for their left or right limb. Till now that is. It seems <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chimpanzee">chimpanzees</a>, our closest relatives, show a preference for their left hand! Does it say something about our past perhaps? Perhaps when our ancestors split from theirs, ours split with a right-handedness, whereas their ancestors split with a left-handedness:-? It is a mystery:).<br /><center><img src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2133/355/1600/00195.jpg" align=bottom><small><br>My other self:D (Courtesy: <a href="http://www.strangezoo.com/">Strange Zoo</a>)</small></center>A three-year study of 17 wild chimps in <a href="http://www.tanzania-web.com/parks/gombe.htm">Gombe National Park</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanzania">Tanzania</a>, <a href="http://www.livescience.com/animalworld/ap_050815_chimps_lefty.html">found</a> that 12 of them used their left hands when using sticks to probe for termites. Four were right-handed and one was listed as ambiguously handed. The findings (by research team led by William D. Hopkins of the <a href="http://www.yerkes.emory.edu/">Yerkes National Primate Research Center</a> at <a href="http://www.emory.edu/">Emory University</a> in Atlanta) are reported in <a href="http://www.pnas.org/">Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</a>.<br />The paper also looked at previous studies of chimpanzees and found that others had noted a left-handed preference when using sticks to fish for termites, but there had been reports of a right-handed preference when cracking nuts:)).<br /> Because the hands are controlled by opposite sides of the brain, the finding could indicate that this brain division had begun as long as 5 million years ago, prior to the split between humans and chimpanzees:):).Srayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04259657832508489336noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6521344.post-1124162507490061332005-08-14T23:17:00.000-04:002005-08-16T21:57:05.486-04:00NanoTube Transistors<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_nanotube">NanoTubes</a> are traditionally cylindrical <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon">Carbon</a> molecules with properties that make them potentially useful in extremely small scale electronic and mechanical applications. They exhibit unusual strength and unique electrical properties, and are efficient conductors of heat.<br />Scientists <a href="http://maemail.ucsd.edu/~pbandaru/Home.htm">Prab Bandaru</a> and colleagues at the <a href="http://www.ucsd.edu/">UC San Diego</a>, and <a href="http://physicsnt.clemson.edu/nano/nano.htm">Apparao Rao</a>, of <a href="http://www.clemson.edu/">Clemson University</a>, have now <a href="http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn7847">crafted</a> such nanotubes in the shape of a 'Y', which could revolutionise the computer industry, as the nanotubes are easily made and act as remarkably efficient electronic <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transistor">transistors</a>:).<br /><center><img src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2133/355/1600/00194.jpg" align=bottom><small><br>'Y' transistor (Courtesy: <a href="http://www.newscientist.com/">New Scientist</a>)</small></center>Experiments show that applying a voltage to the stem of the Y precisely controls the flow of electrons through the other two branches. The switching capacity of these nanostructures is, in comparable to that of today's silicon transistors.<br />But whereas current silicon transistors have been shrunk to around 100 nanometres, the Y-shaped nanotubes measure just tens of nanometres in size. Eventually, they could even be shrunk to just a few nanometres, the researchers suggest:D:D.Srayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04259657832508489336noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6521344.post-1124164041133917612005-08-13T23:27:00.000-04:002005-08-16T00:08:34.300-04:00Triple Asteroid SystemAn <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asteroid">Asteroid</a> is a small, rocky object (few centimeters to 100s of kilometers in size) that orbits the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun">Sun</a>. Most of the asteroids in the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_System">Solar System</a> inhabit the region between <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars">Mars</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jupiter">Jupiter</a> (forming the so-called <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asteroid_belt">Asteroid Belt</a>), and are suspected to be remnants of a planet that could never form, due to the gravitational pull of the giant Jupiter. Although most of the asteroids are solitary, however, some have moons (binary asteroids). Now for the first time ever, scientists have observed a triple system, an asteroid with <em>two</em> moons:).<br /><center><img src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2133/355/1600/00193.jpg" align=bottom><small><br>Sylvia: Artist's impression (Courtesy: <a href="http://www.eso.org/">ESO</a>)</small></center>Described in a report published today in the journal <a href="http://www.nature.com/">Nature</a>, The asteroid is a 280-kilometer-wide body called <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/87_Sylvia">87 Sylvia</a>, and lies in the asteroid belt. The moons have been named <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romulus_and_Remus">Romulus and Remus</a>, after the children of the mythological <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhea_Silvia">Rhea Silvia</a>:):). Romulus, the first moon, was discovered on February 18, 2001 using the <a href="http://www2.keck.hawaii.edu/">Keck II</a> telescope by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_E._Brown">Michael E. Brown</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Luc_Margot">Jean-Luc Margot</a>. Remus, the second moon, was discovered on images taken starting on August 9, 2004 and announced on August 10, 2005. It was discovered by <a href="http://astron.berkeley.edu/~fmarchis/">Franck Marchis</a> of the <a href="http://www.berkeley.edu/">UC Berkeley</a> and his colleagues, using Yepun, one of the telescopes in the <a href="http://www.eso.org/">European Southern Observatory</a>'s <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yepun_telescope">Very Large Telescope</a> array.<br />Remus, measures seven kilometers across and travels around 87 Slyvia once every 33 hours in an orbit about 710 kilometers from the asteroid. Detailed observations of the paths of the moons around Sylvia allowed the team to calculate its mass and density, which is only 20% higher than that of water, and is mostly empty space:)). This suggests that Sylvia is a so-called rubble-pile asteroid, a patchwork of fragments created from a collision that later joined together. The small moons are most likely debris from the same collision that were later captured by the bigger body's gravitational pull:):).Srayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04259657832508489336noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6521344.post-1123667303654675672005-08-12T05:48:00.000-04:002005-08-15T03:12:10.470-04:00Mars Orbiter Blasts Off<a href="http://www.nasa.gov/">NASA</a>'s <a href="http://marsprogram.jpl.nasa.gov/mro/">Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter</a> (MRO) is finally <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/MRO/news/mro-081205.html">on its way</a>:):). It will inspect the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars">red planet</a> in fine detail and assist future landers. MRO established radio contact with controllers 61 minutes after launch and within four minutes of separation from the upper stage. Initial contact came through an antenna at the <a href="http://www.jaxa.jp/index_e.html">Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency</a>'s <a href="http://www.jaxa.jp/about/centers/usc/index_e.html">Uchinoura Space Center</a> in southern Japan.<br /><center><img src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2133/355/1600/00192.jpg" align=bottom><small><br>Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (Courtesy: <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/">NASA</a>)</small></center>The orbiter carries six scientific instruments for examining the surface, atmosphere and subsurface of Mars in unprecedented detail from low orbit. For example, its <a href="http://www.spacedaily.com/news/mars-mro-05i.html">high-resolution camera</a> will reveal features as small as a dishwasher!. NASA expects to get several times more data about Mars from MRO than from all previous Martian missions combined:D:D.<br />Researchers will use the instruments to learn more about the history and distribution of Mars' water. That information will improve understanding of planetary climate change and will help guide the quest to answer whether Mars ever supported life. The orbiter will also evaluate potential landing sites for future missions. MRO will use its high-data-rate communications system to relay information between Mars surface missions and Earth.<br />On arrival day, the spacecraft will fire its engines and slow itself enough for Martian gravity to capture it into a very elongated orbit. The spacecraft will spend half a year gradually shrinking and shaping its orbit by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aerobraking">aerobraking</a>, a technique using the friction of carefully calculated dips into the upper atmosphere to slow the vehicle. The mission's main science phase is scheduled to begin in November 2006.Srayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04259657832508489336noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6521344.post-1123670529274509142005-08-11T06:41:00.000-04:002005-08-14T00:14:21.153-04:00Remote Controlled HumansNow do not get alarmed! I am talking about zombies here:D. But Japanese researchers have taken the first steps towards controlling a human:-?, which predictably enough, they hope to <a href="http://www.newscientist.com/channel/mech-tech/dn7829">harness</a> into computer gaming!<br />By remotely stimulating a person's <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vestibular_system">vestibular system</a> - the fluid-filled tubes in the inner ear that guide their sense of balance - with electrodes placed on the skin just below the ear, researchers at <a href="http://www.brl.ntt.co.jp/E/">NTT</a>'s research laboratories in Kanagawa have found a way to turn humans into oversized radio controlled vehicles:)).<br /><center><img src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2133/355/1600/00191.jpg" align=bottom><small><br>Let me make you dance! (Courtesy: <a href="http://www.newscientist.com/">New Scientist</a>)</small></center>The technique, known as <a href="http://jp.physoc.org/cgi/content/full/517/3/631">galvanic vestibular stimulation</a> (GVS), unbalances a person so that they automatically veer left or right in an attempt to rebalance themselves. The NTT team developed a headset and a control unit similar to that used with remote-controlled toy cars.<br />The technique could be used in gaming, where a person can remotely control another person, or perhaps more nefariously, an animal. Also, it could provide a more realistic gaming experience in games such as car-racing, where you might be able to feel the car taking a sharp left turn or rolling over:D:D:D. Definitely not for the weak-hearted:)):-$.Srayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04259657832508489336noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6521344.post-1123847724819135032005-08-10T07:55:00.000-04:002005-08-13T13:57:40.856-04:00Incan String TheorySince there have been intelligent humans, there has been a need for secret codes and messages. History is full of instances where secret codes have been used in wars, to send messages to far-flung regions of a kingdom, or for just plain fun:). A string-based cryptic communication system was used by the ancient <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inca">Incan</a> administrators, and at last it might be <a href="http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn7835">unravelling</a>, thanks to computer analysis of hundreds of different knotted bundles:):).<br /><center><img src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2133/355/1600/001901.jpg" align=bottom><small><br>Incan strings (Courtesy: <a href="http://www.sunysb.edu/">Stony Brook University</a>)</small></center>The discovery provides a tantalising glimpse of bureaucracy in the Andean empire and may, for the first time, also reveal an Incan word written in string. Woven from cotton, llama or alpaca wool, the mysterious string bundles - known as Khipu - consist of a single strand from which dangle up to thousands of subsidiary strings, each featuring a bewildering array of knots. Of the 600 or so Khipu that have been found, most date from between 1400 AD and 1500 AD. However, a few are thought to be about 1000 years old.<br />Anthropologist <a href="http://departments.colgate.edu/nast/faculty/urton.html">Gary Urton</a> and mathematician <a href="http://khipukamayuq.fas.harvard.edu/Researchers.html">Carrie Brezine</a> at <a href="http://www.harvard.edu/">Harvard University</a> think they may have begun unravelling the knotty code. The pair built a searchable database containing key information about Khipu strings, such as the number and position of subsidiary strings and the number and position of knots tied in them. The pair then used this database to search for similarities between 21 Khipus discovered in 1956 at the key Incan administrative base of <a href="http://khipukamayuq.fas.harvard.edu/Puruchuco.html">Puruchuco</a>, near modern day Lima in Peru:):).<br />The Khipu were used to collate information from different parts of the empire, which stretched for more than 5500 kilometres. Local accountants would forward information on accomplished tasks upward through the hierarchy, with information at each successive level representing the summation of accounts from the levels below.<br />Completely deciphering the Khipu may never be possible, Urton says, but further analysis of the Khipu database might reveal other details of life. New archaeological discoveries could also throw up some more surprises:):).Srayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04259657832508489336noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6521344.post-1123667603912840072005-08-09T05:52:00.000-04:002005-08-11T21:39:00.343-04:00Prehistoric Killing FieldsThe southern part of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/India">India</a> (the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deccan">Deccan region</a>) is covered with a layer of ancient lava flow, often 100s of meters thick. The volcanic eruption that caused this magma to come out of the Earth's interior, possibly also wreaked havoc with the climate of the ancient Earth. French and Indian geologists have now <a href="http://www.physorg.com/news5705.html">identified</a> a 600 meter thick portion of the lava that may have piled up in as little as 30,000 years - fast enough to have possibly caused a deadly global climate shift:):).<br /><center><img src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2133/355/1600/00189.gif" align=bottom><small><br>Deccan Rocks (Courtesy: <a href="http://www.hawaii.edu/">University of Hawaii</a>)</small></center>According to Anne-Lise Chenet of the <a href="http://www.chile.ird.fr/francais/programmes/annexes/fr_annexe_F104_2_paleo.htm">Laboratoire de Paleomagnetisme</a>, <a href="http://www.ipgp.jussieu.fr/">Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris</a> (IPGP), the majority of the total volume of Deccan lava might have been erupted in only a few major events spread over only a small fraction of millennia. To test that hypothesis, the researchers have combined already known ages of the traps gathered from radiometric dating with magnetic fields frozen in the rocks. Volcanic rocks record information about the Earth's magnetic field with magnetic minerals that align with Earth's field like millions of tiny compasses before the lava cools. When the lava solidifies, the compasses are locked in place.<br />Their study confirms that a rapid eruption did occur, with possibly devastating consequences. It seems that this eruption might weaken the hypothesis that the dinosaurs were wiped out (or in large measure) by a <a href="http://biology.fullerton.edu/courses/biol_404/web/hol/hol_ch18.html">meteorite impact</a>. The time when the meteorite that possibly killed off the dinosaurs crashed into the Earth, is identified by the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cretaceous-Tertiary_extinction_event">Cretaceous-Tertiary</a> (K-T) geological boundary in the rock strata, which is rich in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iridium">Iridium</a>. In the case of the Deccan eruptions, the Iridium layer has been found sandwiched between the lava rocks, suggesting that volcanism started before the impact:).<br />Now the question is: was the meteorite the cause for the dinosaur extinction, or was it merely the straw that broke the poor dino's back?:-?:-?Srayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04259657832508489336noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6521344.post-1123537406139733532005-08-08T17:43:00.000-04:002005-08-10T09:53:21.053-04:00Oldest Bilateral SymmetryWe (as all mammals and many other animals), for the most part, possess <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bilateral_symmetry">bilateral symmetry</a>. This means that our left side and right side of the body are more-or-less identical, when viewed at from outside (symmetric positioning of ears, hands, legs and eyes etc):). Bilateral symmetry is supposed to be an evidence for complex (animal) life, as it requires complex bio-chemical processes to ensure the symmetry.<br />Certain microscopic fossils in China (width of a few hairs pressed together!) have <a href="http://www.usc.edu/uscnews/stories/11494.html">turned out</a> to be the oldest examples of such a bilaterian. The remarkable discovery pushes back the genesis of complex animal life by as many as 50 million years:D:D.<br /><center><img src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2133/355/1600/00188.jpg" align=bottom><small><br>Vernanimalcula fossil (Courtesy <a href="http://pharyngula.org/">Pharyngula</a>)</small></center><a href="http://www.usc.edu/">USC College</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paleontology">paleontologist</a> <a href="http://palaeo-electronica.org/1999_1/books/bottjer.htm">David J. Bottjer</a> was among the group that discovered the fossils - period-sized blobs believed to have skimmed the ocean floor with suction-cup mouths some 580 to 600 million years ago. Looking like teensy gumdrops or squashed helmets, they contain tissue layers, a gut, mouth and anus.<br />Bottjer, in his <a href="http://www.sciam.com/">Scientific American</a> article, describes the fossils, which measure about 200 micrometers across. He and his team sliced the samples into thousands of see-through-thin layers and examined them under a microscope. Finally, among the 10,000 slides, the collaborators discovered 10 examples of the fossil type they had been seeking. After more months of painstaking analysis, the group confirmed the examples were fossils of miniscule bilaterian animals. They named the find <a href="http://pharyngula.org/index/weblog/comments/a_few_more_tidbits_about_vernanimalcula/">Vernanimalcula</a>, meaning small, spring animal. The name refers to the time they lived after glaciers covered the planet.<br />The discovery is crucial. It suggests that the earliest ancestors to modern-day animals developed before the <a href="http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/cambrian/camb.html">Cambrian explosion</a>. That so-called explosion period, 488 to 542 million years ago, envelops the time on Earth when most animal groups first appeared:).Srayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04259657832508489336noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6521344.post-1123537660139077402005-08-07T17:47:00.000-04:002005-08-10T05:05:41.540-04:00Decoding Spider SilkOne of the strongest fibers in nature is the spiders' silk. The silk is composed of a variety of proteins, secreted by the spiders using special <a href="http://www.amonline.net.au/spiders/toolkit/silk/factories.htm">silk glands</a>. The silk threads are spooled out of the external parts of the glands, known as <a href="http://science.howstuffworks.com/spider3.htm">spinnerets</a>. Spiders often have numerous pairs of spinnerets, which they use to produce different types of silk.<br />Scientists have <a href="http://www.livescience.com/animalworld/050805_spidersilk.html">uncovered</a> the genetic sequence for one of the strongest silks that spiders produce, a discovery that could one day be used to make super spider-silk products for humans:).<br /><center><img src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2133/355/1600/00187.gif" align=bottom><small><br>Spider Web (Courtesy: <a href="http://www.earthlife.net/">EarthLife</a>)</small></center>Not all spider silk are created equal. For example, spiders use dragline silk to create the scaffolding for their webs, but another type of silk, known as capture silk, is used to fill out the web. While dragline silk is strong, capture silk is more elastic and also sticky, making it better suited for trapping insects that stray too close.<br />Using molecular biology lab techniques, <a href="http://biology.ucr.edu/people/faculty/Hayashi.html">Cheryl Hayashi</a> (<a href="http://www.ucr.edu/">UC Riverside</a>) and <a href="http://nature.berkeley.edu/~garb/">Jessica Garb</a> (<a href="http://www.berkeley.edu/">UC Berkeley</a>) uncovered the sequence of molecules called <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amino_acid">amino acids</a> (constituents of proteins) for a major protein component in egg case silk (used by certain spiders to encase their eggs) known as Tusp1. Their finding is important because mechanical properties like the strength, elasticity and durability of a silk is determined by its amino acid sequence, and scientists have been successful in discovering only a handful of such sequences.<br />Applications of synthetic spider-silk range from better body armor to better sutures for surgery:):).Srayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04259657832508489336noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6521344.post-1123455811542040222005-08-06T19:03:00.000-04:002005-08-08T23:53:11.733-04:00Primordial ImpactsA cluster of at least three asteroids between 20 and 50 kilometres across colliding with Earth over 3.2 billion years ago caused a massive change in the structure and composition of the earth's surface, according to new research by <a href="http://www.anu.edu.au/">Australian National University</a> earth scientists.<br />According to Dr Andrew Glikson and Mr John Vickers from the <a href="http://ems.anu.edu.au/">Department of Earth and Marine Sciences</a> at ANU, the impact of these asteroids triggered major earthquakes, faulting, volcanic eruption and deep-seated magmatic activity and interrupted the evolution of parts of the Earth's crust.<br /><center><img src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2133/355/1600/00186.jpg" align=bottom><small><br>Impact! (Courtesy: <a href="http://www.thinkquest.org/library/">Thinkquest Library</a>)</small></center>The identification of impact ejecta — materials ejected by the hitting asteroid — is based on unique minerals and chemical and isotopic compositions indicative of extraterrestrial origin, including <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iridium">Iridium</a> anomalies.<br />The impact ejecta from the Barberton region in the eastern Transvaal (of Australia) indicate the formation of impact craters several hundred kilometres in diameter in oceanic regions of the earth, analogous to the lunar maria basins (large dark impressions on the surface of the moon). The seismic effects of the impacts included vertical block movements, exposure of deep-seated granites and onset of continental conditions on parts of the earth surface:).Srayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04259657832508489336noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6521344.post-1123243109019900062005-08-05T07:58:00.000-04:002005-08-07T18:45:06.086-04:00Hydrino State?The <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrogen">Hydrogen</a> atom consists of a single <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proton">Proton</a> at its <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atomic_nucleus">nucleus</a>, and an <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electron">Electron</a> orbiting it. The closer the electron is to the nucleus, lesser the energy it has. The lowest energy state (according to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_mechanics">Quantum Mechanics</a>) that the electron can have, is called its <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ground_state">ground state</a>, when the electron is supposed to be closest to the nucleus.<br />However, according to <a href="http://www.phact.org/e/blp.htm">Randy Mills</a> and co-workers at <a href="http://www.blacklightpower.com/">BlackLight Power</a>, a company based in Cranbury, New Jersey, there <a href="http://physicsweb.org/articles/news/9/8/4/1">might be</a> a still lower energy-state, which they have termed the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrino_theory">hydrino state</a>:-?.<br /><center><img src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2133/355/1600/00185.jpg" align=bottom><small><br>Left: Shrunken Hydrino State, Right: Normal Ground State (Courtesy: <a href="http://www.blacklightpower.com/">Blacklight Power</a>)</small></center>Mills argues that the hydrino state could be used as a new source of energy - a claim that has led to a predictably negative response from other researchers:). Termed it the <a href="http://www.blacklightpower.com/process.shtml">Blacklight</a> process, the claim is that the process allows the electron to move closer to the proton, to which it is attracted, below the prior-known ground state. According to them, this generates power as heat, light, and plasma (a hot, glowing, ionized gas) with the formation of strong hydrogen products that are the basis of a vast class of new chemical compounds with broad commercial applications.<br />Earlier this year, Andreas Rathke of the <a href="http://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> published a paper in which he argued that the theory for the hydrino state put forward by Mills was <em>the result of a mathematical mistake</em>. Now another theorist has joined the debate: <a href="http://rgmia.vu.edu.au/members/Naudts.htm">Jan Naudts</a> of the <a href="http://www.ua.ac.be/main.asp?c=*ENG">University of Antwerp</a> in Belgium argues that the <a href="http://zopyros.ccqc.uga.edu/~kellogg/docs/rltvt/node3.html">Klein-Gordon equation</a> of relativistic quantum mechanics does indeed permit the existence of a low-energy hydrino state!<br />A video explaining the Blacklight process is described <a href="http://www.blacklightpower.com/AVI/Hydrino_Animation.avi">here</a>. Only time will tell. I, for one, am quite skeptical. Another skeptical look is provided <a href="http://www.phact.org/e/z/hydrino.htm">here</a>.Srayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04259657832508489336noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6521344.post-1123205077231820532005-08-04T21:24:00.000-04:002005-08-06T19:38:24.376-04:00Galactic Zoo<a href="http://www.hubblesite.org/">Hubble</a> is still going strong:). Gazing deep into the sky, it has <a href="http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=17552">located</a> a school of galaxies located within a tiny region of space. They are all very different: some are large, some are small. Some are old, and some are new. Most of them have never been seen before, until now:).<br /><center><img src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2133/355/1600/00184.jpg"><small><br>Galactic Find (Courtesy: <a href="http://www.hubblesite.org/">HubbleSite</a>)</small></center>A handful of large fully formed galaxies are scattered throughout the image. These galaxies are easy to see because they are relatively close to us. Several of the galaxies are spirals with flat disks that are oriented edge-on or face-on to our line of sight, or somewhere in between. Elliptical galaxies and more exotic galaxies with bars or tidal tails are also visible.<br />Many galaxies that appear small in this image are simply farther away. These visibly smaller galaxies are so distant that their light has taken billions of years to reach us. We are seeing these galaxies, therefore, when they were much younger than the larger, nearby galaxies in the image. One red galaxy to the lower left of the bright central star is acting as a lens to a large galaxy directly behind it. Light from the farther galaxy is bent around the nearby galaxy's nucleus to form a distorted arc.<br />This image is a composite of multiple exposures of a single field taken by the <a href="http://acs.pha.jhu.edu/">Advanced Camera for Surveys</a>. This image took nearly 40 hours to complete and is one of the longest exposures ever taken by Hubble:):).Srayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04259657832508489336noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6521344.post-1123205031953574862005-08-03T21:23:00.000-04:002005-08-06T06:43:52.613-04:00Negative InformationWhat is information? According to the <a href="http://www.webster.com/">Webster dictionary</a>, it is the <em>knowledge obtained from investigation, study, or instruction</em>. In our everyday world, when we gain information, that means we have learnt something new to <em>add</em> to our existing knowledge. It seems things are a bit murkier (as usual!) in the world governed by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_mechanics">Quantum Mechanics</a>:). Quantum Mechanics describes the world of the smallest, of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proton">Protons</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neutron">Neutrons</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electron">Electrons</a>, and it is possible to have something called <em>Negative Information</em> in that world:)).<br /><center><img src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2133/355/1600/00183.jpg" align=bottom><small><br>Electron Cloud around a Sugar Molecule (Courtesy: <a href="http://www.actuality-systems.com/">Actuality Systems</a>)</small></center>So what is <em>Negative Information</em>? According to the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heisenberg_Uncertainty_Principle">Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle</a>, at the quantum level, we cannot accurately compute <em>both</em> the position and the velocity of a particle (say, an electron). When we try to accurately find the position, there will be a large error in (our knowledge of) the velocity, and vice-versa. That is how the sub-atomic world works, and there is no way around it. Thus, there is a fundamental limit on <em>how much we can know</em> about a particle, and therefore about any set of particles. Since we cannot pin-point the electrons (or any other particle), we can only estimate their probabilities of being at any place at any given time, and can visualize this probability as a electron cloud.<br />However, there are situations when one might be able to know more than they are supposed to:D. The Uncertainty Principle, that stops us from knowing too much, also allows us to know too much for a while, and then let us know <em>too less</em>:)). So, over time, the principle is satisfied, but for small durations of time, you might be able to know more than you are supposed to know. The principle cancels out this <em>extra</em> knowledge by providing misleading, or <em>negative</em> information. Funny thing is: since you do not know when the system is providing accurate or inaccurate information, you do not know if you are getting more, or less:D:D.<br />This <a href="http://www.physorg.com/news5621.html">discovery</a>, that quantum knowledge can be negative was made by three researchers, Drs Michal Horodecki, Jonathan Oppenheim and Andreas Winter, of the Universities of <a href="http://www.pg.gda.pl/eng.html">Gdansk</a>, <a href="http://www.cam.ac.uk/">Cambridge</a> and <a href="http://www.bris.ac.uk/">Bristol</a>. Their work was published in <a href="http://www.nature.com/">Nature</a> in August 2005:):).Srayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04259657832508489336noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6521344.post-1123205002204826692005-08-02T21:20:00.000-04:002005-08-05T06:09:06.783-04:00Robotic CatcherRobots have a big step at kicking us humans into the dustbin of history;);). They have learnt how to catch!! A robotic catcher, <a href="http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn7790">developed</a> by scientists at the <a href="http://www.u-tokyo.ac.jp/index_e.html">University of Tokyo</a>, Japan, can comfortably grab a ball careering through the air at 300 kilometres per hour, or 83 metres per second, according to its creators, <a href="http://www.k2.t.u-tokyo.ac.jp/members/namiki/namiki-e.html">Akio Namiki</a> and his colleagues:).<br /><center><img src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2133/355/1600/00182.jpg"><small><br>Robotic Hand (Courtesy: <a href="http://www.newscientist.com/">NewScientist</a>)</small></center>he robot does not even need a catching mitt. It resembles a single metallic claw, with just three fingers instead of the human complement of five. An array of 32 by 48 individual photo detectors in its “palm”, tracks a ball's trajectory at high speed. And a series of specialised image processing circuits recognise this movement almost instantly.<br />An approaching ball triggers the robot's three fingers into action. Actuators embedded in each joint use a burst of high current to move through 180 degrees in less than one tenth of a second. This enables the machine to snatch the ball in the split second it takes to arrive.<br />A video of the robotic hand catching the ball can be seen <a href="http://www.k2.t.u-tokyo.ac.jp/fusion/MiraikanCatching/demo.wmv">here</a>:):).Srayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04259657832508489336noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6521344.post-1122929339872197222005-08-01T16:48:00.000-04:002005-08-03T03:56:30.843-04:00Discoveries At ParionParion (also known as Parium) is an ancient city (3000 years old) in western <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkey">Turkey</a>. The city was named after the famed warrior <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris_%28mythology%29">Paris</a>, son of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Priam">King Priam</a> of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troy">Troy</a> (in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iliad">Iliad</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homer">Homer</a>'s epic):):). There were a number of architectural structures, towers and four temples in the city. Recently, archaeologists <a href="http://www.turkishpress.com/news.asp?id=63399">unearthed</a> a number of works of art including crowns of a prince or a king under that city, which were buried in four sarcophagi (stone coffins bearing sculpture and inscriptions).<br /><center><img src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2133/355/1600/00181.jpg" align=bottom><small><br>Ancient Parion Coins (Courtesy: <a href="http://www.snible.org/">Snible</a>)</small></center>Inside the coffins, there were two crowns of a prince or a king who was believed to have lived some 2000 years ago, two golden coins bearing figure of the sun god and several other pieces of jewelry. Also unearthed were 150 pieces of works of art during the excavations. All these findings reveal the importance of Parion in ancient times.<br />The findings will be exhibited in the <a href="http://www.mondial-tour.com/canaktroyassos.htm">Canakkale</a> <a href="http://www.istanbulportal.com/istanbulportal/Canakkale.aspx">Museum of Archaeology</a>. Also, the ancient city of Parion is expected to be opened to tourism like famous ancient city of Efes (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ephesus">Ephesus</a>):):).Srayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04259657832508489336noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6521344.post-1122892463981136882005-07-31T06:33:00.000-04:002005-08-01T19:55:46.986-04:00Faster DNA SequencingOnce it was in the realm of science-fiction. Yes, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DNA">DNA</a> sequencing (and its associated field, called <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bioinformatics">Bioinformatics</a>) has come a long way:). The first attempt at sequencing begun in 1990, and it took nearly 14 years to complete. Now scientists are getting much better at it, and faster and more accurate <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genome">genome</a> deciphering techniques are on the horizon. A report published online by the journal <A href="http://www.nature.com/">Nature</a> <a href="http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?chanID=sa003&articleID=0009203E-8866-12EA-886683414B7F0000">describes</a> one such method that is 100 times faster than conventional ones:):).<br /><center><img src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2133/355/1600/00180.jpg" align=bottom><small><br>Microscopic Image of human <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chromosome">chromosomes</a> (Courtesy: <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/">BBC</a>)</small></center>The new technique has been developed by <a href="http://www.454.com/bio/rothberg.html">Jonathan M. Rothberg</a> of <a href="http://www.454.com/index2.html">454 Life Sciences Corp.</a> in Branford, Connecticut and his colleagues. The technique uses tiny <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiber_optic">fiber-optic</a> vessels (55 <A href="http://www.thefreedictionary.com/micrometer">microns</a> x 50 microns) to detect and sequence hundreds of thousands of DNA molecules simultaneously. The results indicate that the setup can sequence 25 million <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Base_pair">base-pairs</a> (each human chromosome is about 51 to 245 million base-pairs long, and we have 46 chromosomes) in a single four-hour run with greater than 99% accuracy:):).<br />A single such run of the system was able to sequence <a href="http://www.tigr.org/tigr-scripts/CMR2/GenomePage3.spl?database=gmg">entire genome</a> of the parasitic <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bacterium">bacterium</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mycoplasma_genitalium">Mycoplasma genitalium</a> (one of the organisms with the smallest genome), which includes 580,069 base-pairs!! And with an accuracy of 99.96%, that is just plain astounding:).Srayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04259657832508489336noreply@blogger.com5