The
Mega Foundation
Science News
July
29, 2004
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Tiny Hot Spot Found on City-Sized Star - Space.com Astronomers have detected a hot spot about the size of a football field on a city-sized star that is 500 light-years away. It is the smallest physical structure found beyond the solar system, astronomers involved in the work said, though another recent study claimed to find beach-ball-sized structures in the picturesque Crab Pulsar. The star is called Geminga. It is a neutron star about 20 kms. in diameter, with about 1.5 times the mass of the Sun. |
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Silicon-Based Photodetector Is Sensitive To Ultraviolet Light - SpaceDaily Left: As will be reported in the August issue of the journal Photonics Technology Letters, the technique behind silicon sensing of ultraviolet light is compatible with conventional integrated circuit technology. Conveniently, both the sensor and the computer could be incorporated on the same chip. By depositing thin films of silicon nanoparticles on silicon substrates, researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have fabricated a photodetector sensitive to ultraviolet light. Silicon-based ultraviolet sensors could prove very handy in military, security and commercial applications. Other applications include ultraviolet-based detectors for missile-warning systems, airborne biological agents, and suntan monitors.. |
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Lab-On-a-Chip: Sampling Mars - SpaceDaily Left: The basic process of proposed lab-on-a-chip. Water drawn through a collected soil sample, extracts amino acids (e.g. phenylalanine), delivering them to the surface-enhanced Raman active micro-channel. Illumination by a laser beam generates scattered light, which is collected by the spectrometer. A filter removes any light that is the same color as the laser beam, letting only the light that has changed color (Raman-shifted light) pass through. The diffraction grating separates the light by color (wavelength). Interferometers can be used for the same purpose. The different wavelengths are collected by a charged couple device (CCD) camera. A computer creates a graph showing the intensity of light at each wavelength. Credit: Real-Time Analyzer. The idea is to measure biosignatures of present or past life in extraterrestrial settings. The lab-on-a-chip will provide the means to extract these signatures from soil or water samples. AM: Would the measurement be elemental, chemical or biological analysis? SF: The signatures of life we are analyzing for are biochemicals, such as the amino or nucleic acids, as well as peptides and nucleotides. These biochemicals could be fragments of proteins or DNA representing the remnants of life, as might be found in martian soil, or building blocks of life representing formative life, as might be found in Europa's ice covered ocean. AM: How will your lab-on-a-chip perform these measurements? SF: In the case of measurements on Mars, a drop of water would be added to a collected soil sample, an actuator would then draw approximately 100 nanoliters of this solution into our lab-on-a-chip. Then it would first pass through a filter to remove particulate matter, then pass through a capillary containing a material to separate the amino acids from other organics, if they are present, and then deliver the pristine amino acids to our surface-enhanced Raman-active sol-gel, where it would be measured by a Raman spectrometer. The sol-gels serve two purposes, they immobilize the silver nanoparticles that enhance Raman scattering, and they separate the amino acids as they pass through, to simplify and enhance identification.. |
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Alzheimer's Disease: :
Biosciences:
7/29/2004: Japan Science Council OKs Human Cloning -
ABC
7/29/2004: Judge Blocks Miss. Late-Term Abortion Law -
ABC
7/29/2004: World's tiniest fish identified -
BBC
7/29/2004: Researchers Uncover Surprising Degree Of Large-scale Variation In The Human Genome - Science
Daily
Climate, Environment:
7/29/2004: Cicadas Are Bad News for Peach Growers -
ABC
7/29/2004: Pentagon Finds Contamination at 14 Bases -
ABC
7/29/2004: UI Experts Fault Insecticide Practices -
ABC
7/29/2004: Zap! -
ABC
7/29/2004: Lightning Victim Feels ‘100 Years Younger’ -
ABC
7/29/2004: High-altitude light show in focus -
BBC
7/29/2004: Plan to save Iraq's marshlands -
BBC
7/29/2004: Lightning 'capital' hit by 7,377 strikes during storm -
BBC
7/29/2004: Dead whales found after military exercises - MSNBC
7/29/2004: Whaling ban safe for now - Nature
7/29/2004: Bid to lift whaling ban blocked - New
Scientist
Computers:
Devices
7/29/2004: Potter magic helps EA to prosper -
BBC
7/29/2004: Review: 'Symphonia' a top adventure - CNN
Communications
7/29/2004: Net phone providers losing battle of the bundle - Business
Week
7/29/2004: Verizon's Net phone service takes wing - C/Net
7/29/2004: Voice and data come
together: but why? - USA Today
7/29/2004: Verizon unveils Internet phone service - CNN
Technology
7/29/2004: Intel fills in more details on Itanium family - Business
Week
7/29/2004: Researchers Overcome Barrier To Shrinking Wireless Devices - Science
Daily
7/29/2004: Breakthrough Yields Simple Way To Make Microscopic Electronics - Science
Daily
PC's
Internet
7/29/2004: Texting passion sets new record -
BBC
7/29/2004: Blinkx debuts new search technology - C/Net
7/29/2004: ICANN readies for next-generation Net - C/Net
7/29/2004: Hotmail slip improves members' memory - C/Net
7/29/2004: 'Bin Laden suicide' virus hits Web - CNN
Miscellaneous
7/29/2004: MP3 creator tunes in 3D - C/Net
7/29/2004: Blog's the word in big business - C/Net
7/29/2004: eDonkey carts load of criticism - USA Today
7/29/2004: First 'black' drug nears approval - Nature
Energy:
Health:
Cardiovascular
Cancer
7/29/2004: The virtuous virus - Nature
Infectious
7/29/2004: Scientists Discover New Intricacies In How Ulcer Bugs Stick To Stomach - Science
Daily
Non-Infectious
Miscellaneous
7/29/2004: ISU Research Says Fat Good With Veggies -
ABC
7/29/2004: Warning of bigger burn for sunbathers - New
Scientist
History, Anthropology:
7/29/2004: Black statesman finds African roots - MSNBC
Miscellaneous:
7/29/2004: Court: Transsexual Is Legally a Woman -
ABC
7/29/2004: US criticised over cyber-security -
BBC
7/29/2004: Cyber Wheels - Business
Week
7/29/2004: Jeff Bezos on Word-of-Mouth Power - Business
Week
7/29/2004: Microsoft puts Slate on the block - C/Net
7/29/2004: The weakest security
link: It's you - C/Net
7/29/2004: Outsourcing: renegotiating for value - C/Net
7/29/2004: Report faults cybersecurity - Washington Post
7/29/2004: Bloggers get convention credentials - CNN
7/29/2004: Microsoft goes on hiring spree - CNN
7/29/2004: Los Alamos scandal fallout spreads - MSNBC
Neurosciences:
7/29/2004: Drug Maker Acknowledges Misleading Claims -
ABC
7/29/2004: Too much
noise: Why one man is shouting about the dangers of loud noise -
BBC
7/29/2004: Drug calms dementia agitation
Physics and Astronomy:
7/29/2004: Tiny Hot Spot Found on City-Sized Star - Space.com
7/29/2004: Cure in sight for 'pink noise' in quantum dots - El.
Engr. Times
7/29/2004: Cosmic Log: Watch out for huge sunspot - MSNBC
7/29/2004: STM turns atoms into ions - PhysicsWeb
7/29/2004: NASA Goes To The 'SORCE' Of Earth Sun-blockers - Science
Daily
Prolongevity
Robotics:
7/29/2004: Robots to put humans to work - Business
Week
Space:
7/29/2004: Lab-On-a-Chip: Sampling Mars - SpaceDaily
7/29/2004: Intelligent life up
there? We could know in 20 years - Business
Week
7/29/2004: NASA turns to deep sea training - CNN
7/29/2004: White House threatens veto over NASA cuts - MSNBC
7/29/2004: Bush's space vision loses focus - Nature
7/29/2004: A waste of space - Nature
7/29/2004: ET first contact 'within 20 years' - New
Scientist
7/29/2004: More Astronauts Approved for Space Station
- NY
Times
7/29/2004: NASA Approves Shuttle Fuel Tank Redesign -
ABC
7/29/2004: Date set for space prize attempt -
BBC
7/29/2004: The search for life on Mars - Nature
7/29/2004: Fractured crater near Valles Marineris on Mars ... - FirstScience
7/29/2004: China to scour high schools for women astronauts next year ... - FirstScience
7/29/2004: NASA Approves Shuttle Fuel Tank Redesign ... - FirstScience
7/29/2004: Financial Request for NASA's Centennial Challenge Goes Back to Congress ... - FirstScience
7/29/2004: NASA selects Philips' advanced MIFARE DESFire Contactless Smart Card Chip Technology ... - FirstScience
7/29/2004: Space Science Pioneer Van Allen Questions Human Spaceflight ... - FirstScience
Technology:
7/29/2004: Silicon-Based Photodetector Is Sensitive To Ultraviolet Light - SpaceDaily
7/29/2004: Can Bose Tame Rhythms of the
Road? - Business
Week
7/29/2004: Portuguese pooches to get radio-tagged - C/Net
7/29/2004: Too young for
technology? - CNN
7/29/2004: Bright idea- LEDs poised to replace light bulbs - El.
Engr. Times
7/29/2004: DoD spending bill includes nanotechnology funds - El.
Engr. Times