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Explosives go 'green'

Certain explosives may soon get a little greener and a little more precise. LLNL researchers added unique green solvents (ionic liquids) to an explosive called TATB (1,3,5-triamino-2,4,6-trinitrobenzene) and improved the crystal quality and chemical purity of the material.

Tiny 3-D ultrasound probe guides catheter procedures

3-D Transducer.An ultrasound probe small enough to ride along at the tip of a catheter can provide physicians with clearer real-time images of soft tissue without the risks associated with conventional...

Scientists reveal effects of quantum 'traffic jam' in high-temperature superconductors

Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory, in collaboration with colleagues at Cornell University, Tokyo University, the University of California, Berkeley, and the University of Colorado, have...

DOE official cites need for major breakthroughs to cope with climate change

Global Challenges logo.Meeting the world's growing energy needs while responding to global warming during the 21st Century will be one of the biggest challenges humanity has ever faced, Raymond L. Orbach, Ph.D.,...

Molecular cubes in the sunlight

A manganese-oxo complex with a cubic {Mn4O4}7+ core catalyzes the electrooxidation of water when suspended within the aqueous channels of a Nafion membrane (see picture). Illumination with visible light under an applied potential of 1.0 V (vs Ag/AgCl) generates current over one thousand turnovers. The catalytically active species arises from photolysis and subsequent dissociation of the manganese complex.This press release is also available in German.

Chips are down as Manchester makes protein scanning breakthrough

Scientists at The University of Manchester have developed a new and fast method for making biological 'chips' – technology that could lead to quick testing for serious diseases, fast detection...

Light touch: Controlling the behavior of quantum dots

Schematic of NIST-JQI experimental set up. Orienting the resonant laser at a right angle to the quantum dot light minimizes scattering.Researchers from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the Joint Quantum Institute (JQI), a collaborative center of the University of Maryland and NIST, have reported a new...

Creating unconventional metals

The magnetic bar magnets (called "magnetic moments") associated with the mobile electrons (red arrows) responsible for electrical conduction and manganese atoms (green arrows) in manganese doped iron silicide (Fe1-xMnxSi). This figure depicts the coupling of the magnetic moments as the temperature is reduced from room temperature (top of the figure) where the magnetic dipoles are independent, to very low temperature (bottom of the figure) where coupling between the dipoles creates regions where the moments add to zero (light blue region). The existence of a population of uncoupled complexes (depicted here in the yellow region) down to the lowest temperatures results in the material being neither a magnet nor common semiconductor. External magnetic fields align these rare yellow regions to the magnetic field, switching on ordinary semiconducting behavior.The semiconductor silicon and the ferromagnet iron are the basis for much of mankind's technology, used in everything from computers to electric motors. In this week's issue of the journal...

Controlling the size of nanoclusters

Melissa Patterson, a W. Burghardt Turner Fellow at Stony Brook University (SBU), will give a talk at the American Chemical Society's national meeting in Philadelphia on controlling the size of...

Chemist travels world to study mysterious properties of neutrinos

In the quest to better understand one of nature's most "ghostly" elementary particles — the neutrino — scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory are spreading...

Large Hadron Collider set to unveil a new world of particle physics

The field of particle physics is poised to enter unknown territory with the startup of a massive new accelerator--the Large Hadron Collider (LHC)--in Europe this summer. On September 10, LHC...

Ceramic material revs up microwaving

Quicker microwave meals that use less energy may soon be possible with new ceramic microwave dishes and, according to the material scientists responsible, this same material could help with organic waste remediation.

Breaking harmful bonds

Everybody loves the way breakfast eggs conveniently slide off of Teflon without leaving any pesky pieces of egg in the pan. Indeed, the carbon-fluorine bond at the heart of Teflon...

Fingerprint analysis technique could be used to identify bombmakers

University of Leicester experts have held discussions with military personnel in Afghanistan following the discovery of new technology to identify fingerprints on metal.

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Bones get mended with high tech glass-of-milk

Magnetic Resonance unit at the University of Warwick have discovered how a high tech glass of milk is helping bones mend.

Future for clean energy lies in 'big bang' of evolution

Amid mounting agreement that future clean, "carbon-neutral", energy will rely on efficient conversion of the sun's light energy into fuels and electric power, attention is focusing on one of the...

Air-purifying church windows early nanotechnology

Associate Professor Zhu Huai Yong, from Queensland University of Technology's School of Physical and Chemical Sciences, said that church windows stained with gold paint purify the air when they are lit up by sunlight.Stained glass windows that are painted with gold purify the air when they are lit up by sunlight, a team of Queensland University of Technology experts have discovered.

New 'nano-positioners' may have atomic-scale precision

This illustration depicts a tiny device called a monolithic comb drive, which might be used as a high-precision "nanopositioner" for such uses as biological sensors, computer hard drives and other possible applications. The device was created by Jason Vaughn Clark, an assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering and mechanical engineering at Purdue University.Engineers have created a tiny motorized positioning device that has twice the dexterity of similar devices being developed for applications that include biological sensors and more compact,...

Fast quantum computer building block created

The fastest quantum computer bit that exploits the main advantage of the qubit over the conventional bit has been demonstrated by researchers at University of Michigan, U.S. Naval Research Laboratory...

A better way to make hydrogen from biofuels

Researchers here have found a way to convert ethanol and other biofuels into hydrogen very efficiently.

Polymer electric storage, flexible and adaptable

The proliferation of solar, wind and even tidal electric generation and the rapid emergence of hybrid electric automobiles demands flexible and reliable methods of high-capacity electrical storage. Now a team...

University of Pennsylvania scientists move optical computing closer to reality

Scientists at the University of Pennsylvania have theorized a way to increase the speed of pulses of light that bound across chains of tiny metal particles to well past the...

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