Αναζήτηση αναρτήσεων

Παρασκευή 22 Φεβρουαρίου 2019

Multitasking in biological networks: is there a limit?

Multitasking in biological networks: is there a limit?

21 Feb 2019 Rojin Jafari





We have all heard of multitasking, but did you know that components of your body are also able to do more than one thing at a time? For instance, many proteins in the body are capable of catalyzing more than one reaction, and the system of blood vessels in the brain is able to enhance flow and delivery of oxygen and nutrients to more than one region at once. So is there a limit to this multifunctionality? According to a new study, yes, there is (PNAS10.1073/pnas.1806790116).

Many complex systems in biology can be thought of as networks. These networks perform tasks by controlling connections within the network, called “edges”. This view is useful in understanding biological systems at a fundamental level, which in turn can lead to improved therapeutics and biologically-inspired engineering.

Correlations between protons and neutrons may explain a 35-year-old nuclear mystery

Correlations between protons and neutrons may explain a 35-year-old nuclear mystery

21 Feb 2019




According to the classical model of nuclear structure, the internal structure of nucleons should not change if they are bound into atomic nuclei. But it was discovered 35 years ago that quarks inside free protons and neutrons behave differently to those bound into nuclei – and the cause has remained a mystery ever since. Now researchers have taken a significant step towards solving the puzzle by using two different types of scattering experiments to relate the strength of the effect to the number of high-momentum nucleon pairs in an atomic nucleus.

According to the standard model of particle physics, the energies binding quarks inside protons and neutrons are almost 100 times larger than the energies binding those nucleons inside nuclei.

Gravitational waves could resolve Hubble constant debate

Gravitational waves could resolve Hubble constant debate

22 Feb 2019 Alex Petkov



Simulations by an international team of researchers have shown that new measurements of gravitational waves could finally resolve the discrepancy in Hubble’s constant reported using different measurement techniques. Accumulating gravitational-wave signals from the mergers of 50 binary neutron stars, the scientists found, will yield the most accurate value of the constant to date – which would not only settle the debate but also confirm whether there are issues with the current standard cosmological model.

The Hubble constant represents the rate at which the universe is currently expanding and is vital for calculating both its age and its size. The constant is also widely used in astronomy to help determine the masses and luminosities of stars, the size scales of galaxy clusters, and much more besides.

Hachioji DNA doubles the genetic code

Hachioji DNA doubles the genetic code

22 Feb 2019 Belle Dumé


Researchers in the US have built an “alien” DNA system from eight building block letters, so expanding the genetic code from four and doubling its information density. The new system meets all of the requirements for Darwinian evolution and can also be transcribed to RNA. It will be important for future synthetic biology applications and expands the scope of molecular structures that might be capable of supporting life, both here on Earth and more widely in the universe.

Πέμπτη 21 Φεβρουαρίου 2019

Ultramicroelectrodes deliver reliable neural recording

Ultramicroelectrodes deliver reliable neural recording

16 Jan 2018 Tami Freeman




Implanted cortical microelectrode arrays can be used to record and stimulate neural activity, enabling studies of neural circuit function and treatment of many chronic diseases. The reliability of such arrays, however, is limited by insertion trauma and the foreign body response, which can lead to electrode encapsulation and neuron damage. Minimizing these tissue responses is vital for the future development of brain-machine interfaces.

The impact of such tissue reactions depends upon factors including the electrode materials, and the size and geometry of the implanted microelectrodes. With this in mind, researchers from the University of Texas at Dallas and Boston University are developing microelectrode arrays based on amorphous silicon carbide (a-SiC). The arrays contain shanks (the parts that penetrate neural tissue) with a maximum transverse dimension of 10 µm and a cross-sectional area of below 60 µm2 (J. Neural. Eng. 15 016007).

Τετάρτη 20 Φεβρουαρίου 2019

Quantum effects boost engine performance

Quantum effects boost engine performance

20 Feb 2019



Physicists have in recent years built a number of microscopic heat engines to investigate how the laws of thermodynamics might change on the atomic scale. To date, however, no such machine has demonstrated quantum-mechanical effects. Now, researchers in the UK and Israel have created minuscule engines within a block of synthetic diamond, and have shown that electronic superposition can boost their power beyond that of classical devices.

A heat engine is any device that does work by exploiting a flow of heat between hot and cold baths. Usually, it contains a physical piston that moves up and down like gas or other fluid expands and contracts. But its performance does not depend on any quantum-mechanical property of the gas.

“Grape plasma” phenomenon explained at long last

“Grape plasma” phenomenon explained at long last

20 Feb 2019 Belle Dumé





YouTube videos of grape halves sparking in a household microwave oven and igniting a plasma have amassed millions of views, but the physical mechanisms behind this phenomenon are in fact little understood. Thanks to thermal imaging experiments and finite element simulations, a team of researchers in Canada has now discovered that the grapes form resonant cavities at their centers that concentrate microwaves too much smaller wavelengths, which leads to the creation of the plasma. The observations, which are usually only seen in nanoscale metallic objects, could be useful for experimental research in nanophotonics.

The “grape plasma” phenomenon, as it is commonly known, is usually demonstrated in grapes cut in half but still connected by a thin strip of skin. Until now, a popular explanation was that the skin acted as a short dipole antenna and that the conducting ion-rich skin “bridge” played an important role.

The life ahead is electric

The life ahead is electric

20 Feb 2019 Dave Elliott




It’s full steam ahead for renewables in the DNV-GL consultancy’s latest Energy Transitions Outlook. It looks to wind and solar power having a 29% and 40% share, respectively, of total global electricity generation by 2050, with nuclear stalled and energy demand peaking by 2035. That’s despite there being a boom in electric vehicle (EV) use – renewables can support that, with electrification carrying all before it. “Electrification and its inherent efficiency will contribute to humanity’s energy demand declining from the mid-2030s onwards,” the report says. “Global expenditure on energy, as a percentage of GDP, will fall 44% by 2050.”

However, DNV-GL says it won’t be automatic: “high fractions of solar and wind will create a need for increased use of market mechanisms and changes to the electricity market fundamentals”. So the consultancy wants policymakers to intervene and put in place “measures to incentivize a demand shift towards clean energy, to stimulate innovation in new efficient and clean technologies”

3D printing enables gel dosimetry in complex phantoms

3D printing enables gel dosimetry in complex phantoms

20 Feb 2019 Tami Freeman


Polymer gel dosimeters can measure complex 3D dose distributions for use in patient-specific radiotherapy quality assurance. The gels polymerize upon irradiation as a function of absorbed dose — an effect that can then be measured using MRI.

Polymer gels offer high spatial resolution, enabling measurements in steep dose gradients. However, they react strongly with oxygen and other contaminants, requiring the use of special containers of glass or BAREX, which limits the size and shape of the resulting phantoms. Now, a team from the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) has investigated the use of 3D printing materials and techniques to create polymer gel phantoms with arbitrary geometries (Phys. Med. Biol. 10.1088/1361-6560/aafef0).

“Printing complex shaped gel dosimeters allows us to construct phantoms that have the same shape as organs of real patients,” explains first author Alina Elter.

Flying aircraft can intensify rain and snowfall

Flying aircraft can intensify rain and snowfall

20 Feb 2019


Planes flying through clouds can increase rain or snowfall by as much as a factor of ten, scientists in Finland have discovered. This intensification of precipitation is not caused by emissions, say the researchers, but by ice crystals created as the aircraft’s wings pass though cloud layers above active rain or snow.

Researchers at the University of Helsinki first noticed odd patterns in the data from their weather radar, which monitors clouds and precipitation in the region. “On some days we observed unnatural looking features in the radar observations,” explains Dimitri Moisseev, head of the university’s Radar Meteorology Group. “These features looked like tracks of airplanes approaching or departing from Helsinki-Vantaa airport. So the next natural step was to figure out whether our hypothesis that these radar features are caused by airplanes was correct and to understand the physics behind this phenomenon.”

Τρίτη 19 Φεβρουαρίου 2019

ΦΥΣΙΚΗ Β ΛΥΚΕΙΟΥ ΓΕΝΙΚΗΣ ΠΑΙΔΕΙΑΣ (ΤΟ ΗΛΕΚΤΡΙΚΟ ΠΕΔΙΟ - ΠΡΟΣΟΜΟΟΙΩΣΗ)

ΦΥΣΙΚΗ Β ΛΥΚΕΙΟΥ ΓΕΝΙΚΗΣ ΠΑΙΔΕΙΑΣ (ΤΟ ΗΛΕΚΤΡΙΚΟ ΠΕΔΙΟ - ΠΡΟΣΟΜΟΟΙΩΣΗ)

Japanese spacecraft set to attempt asteroid sample grab

Japanese spacecraft set to attempt asteroid sample grab

19 Feb 2019



There is a scene in the film Hayabusa (2011) that brilliantly gives the audience a tantalizing first-hand experience of a space mission. It’s 20 November 2005 and the Japanese spacecraft Hayabusa (which means peregrine falcon) is attempting to touch down and grab a sample from the asteroid Itokawa. As strings play gently in the background, film director Yukihiko Tsutsumi keeps cutting smoothly between shots of the slow descent of Hayabusa towards the asteroid’s surface, and the intense concentration of scientists and engineers gathered around monitors in mission control.

Then something goes wrong, and the strings are replaced by a low, pulsing synthesizer. And now the director cruelly stops cutting back to show us what is happening with the spacecraft.

Design evolution yields streamlined positioning platform for ultrahigh vacuum

Design evolution yields streamlined positioning platform for ultrahigh vacuum

19 Feb 2019 Sponsored by UHV Design


Manipulator stages are critical components for ultrahigh vacuum (UHV) experiments, providing precise control over the position of the sample for improved measurement accuracy. Coupled with a suitable probe, such positioners can be used, for example, to bring features into focus during high-resolution imaging or to gather chemical and structural data from different surface areas on a sample. Positioning units can be found not just on standalone systems in the lab, but also at synchrotron facilities supporting a raft of end-station instruments.

Conventional solutions involve a coupled arrangement of cross-roller slides and micrometers, but UK-based company UHV Design knew it could squeeze more out of the concept by applying a combination of production experience, design flair and simulation expertise.

Gravitational waves could reveal the birth of a quark star

Gravitational waves could reveal the birth of a quark star

19 Feb 2019 Alex Petkov




Gravitational waves could be the key to detecting a new phase transition to quark matter when two neutron stars merge. In simulations of these explosive events, performed independently by two international research groups, distinct signatures of the phase transition were uncovered in the resulting gravitational wave spectra. Both research teams published their findings last week in Physical Review Letters.

Ruthenium catalyst sets new efficiency record for water splitting

Ruthenium catalyst sets new efficiency record for water splitting

12 Feb 2019 Alex Petkov



An international team of scientists has synthesized a carbon nanowire doped with ruthenium and nitrogen that significantly outperforms conventional platinum-based catalysts for producing hydrogen from water. The team attributes the improved catalytic activity to individual ruthenium atoms embedded in the carbon matrix, rather than the presence of ruthenium nanoparticles.

The ability to generate clean and sustainable energy from hydrogen depends on making electrochemical water splitting cheaper and more efficient. Platinum is currently used as the catalyst of choice for water electrolysis, but it is most efficient in acidic conditions – which are impractical for most applications because they demand expensive proton-exchange membranes. In the preferred alkaline electrolytes, however, the catalytic activity of platinum nanoparticles is some two orders of magnitude lower.

Computational methods lead researchers to more precise chemistry

Computational methods lead researchers to more precise chemistry

14 Feb 2019 Ingrid Paredes





As our global energy demand increases, the need for sustainable routes to sources of energy and industrial chemicals becomes more urgent. Catalysis – the process by which a chemical increases the rate of a reaction – is the key to unlocking such routes. Research has therefore focused on development of new catalytic materials like photocatalysts, nanocatalysts, and electrocatalysts.

But what, exactly, makes a chemical compound a good catalyst?

Scott Denmark’s group at the University of Illinois hopes to answer that question using computer science. In their new paper in Science (DOI: 10.1126/science.aau5631), the group shows the power of information science in chemistry – a field called chemoinformatics – in predicting a compound’s catalytic activity.

Diamond spins come into focus using new measurement technique

Diamond spins come into focus using new measurement technique

15 Feb 2019




A new method to read out the spin states of individual negatively-charged nitrogen vacancy (NV–) centres has been developed by researchers in Europe and Japan. The technique could make today’s bulky read-out systems obsolete and enable new uses of NV– centres in electronic devices. It could also be used to read-out NV- centres that are very close together, which could be useful for developing quantum-information technologies.

Black hole jets create ‘negative energy’ particles, simulation reveals

Black hole jets create ‘negative energy’ particles, simulation reveals

29 Jan 2019





New insights into how luminous jets form around rapidly-rotating black holes have been provided by advanced computer simulations done by astrophysicists in the US and France. Their model could play an important role in interpreting future electromagnetic and gravitational-wave observations of black holes.

Black hole jets are some of the brightest sources of X-ray and radio emissions known to astronomers. These jets are formed when black hole surfaces spinning at relativistic speeds are threaded with magnetic field lines. Interactions with infalling gas cause these fields to become tightly wound into helixes around the black hole’s axis of rotation. Huge amounts of energy within the coiled field lines is dissipated gradually through the creation of electron-positron pairs. A cascade process creates a huge jet of energetic plasma that emits vast amounts of electromagnetic radiation.

LIGO upgrade to allow ‘almost daily’ detection of gravitational waves

LIGO upgrade to allow ‘almost daily’ detection of gravitational waves

15 Feb 2019 Michael Banks






The UK and US have announced a $35m upgrade to the Advanced Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (aLIGO). The improvement will see the twin observatories — located near Hanford, Washington and Livingston, Louisiana in the US – double their sensitivity to gravitational waves. Work on the upgrade will start in 2023 and be complete two years later.

Each LIGO facility works by sending twin laser beams down two 4 km-long tubes – arranged as an L-shape – that are kept under a near-perfect vacuum. The beams are reflected back down the tubes by mirrors precisely positioned at the ends of each arm. As a gravitational wave passes through the observatory, it causes extremely tiny distortions in the distance travelled by each laser beam.

Food webs alter as warmer seas change colour

Food webs alter as warmer seas change colour

15 Feb 2019





The Blue Planet is to get a little bluer as the world warms and climates change. Where the seas turn green, expect an even deeper verdant tint, new research suggests.


Since humans began increasing the levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere – by burning the fossil fuels that have provided the energy for both economic growth and a population explosion – the oceans have warmed in ways that affect marine life. They have grown ever more acidic, in ways that affect coral growth and fish behaviour.

Big questions in astronomy and debating the value of an LHC successor

Big questions in astronomy and debating the value of an LHC successor

07 Feb 2019 James Dacey



In this episode of Physics World Weekly, James Dacey is in conversation with cosmologist Jo Dunkley about her new book, Our Universe, An Astronomer’s Guide. Written for a general audience, the book takes readers on a voyage through some of the biggest questions in modern cosmology. Along the way we encounter the fabric of space–time, physics beyond the Standard Model of particle physics, and the search for life beyond our Earth. Joe also speaks about her own research, testing astronomical models with data from the Atacama Cosmology Telescope in Chile.

Importing maize stabilizes prices at home


Importing maize stabilizes prices at home19 Feb 2019


Importing maize helps stabilize domestic food prices and could help tackle cost increases resulting from rising yield variabilities due to climate change, researchers in the US have found.

Data from 27 net-importers of maize across Africa, Asia and Latin America since the turn of the millennium indicate that the variability in maize price could rise by 10% by mid-century due to climate-induced supply shocks. But this rise could be offset by a 10% boost in those nations’ ratio of imports to total consumption.

Physics World 30th anniversary podcast series – fusion energy

Physics World 30th anniversary podcast series – fusion energy

22 Jan 2019 James Dacey



Physics World has recently turned 30 and we are celebrating with a 5-part series podcast series exploring key areas of physics. This third episode in the series explores the prospects for fusion energy ­­– a carbon-free form of energy generation that may finally be on the cusp of becoming practical.

For the past few decades, the running joke has been that despite the excitement, fusion energy is “always 30 years away.” In the January episode of Physics World Stories, Andrew Glester meets fusion researchers at the UK company Tokamak Energy to learn about the practical challenges and the technology that could make fusion a reality within the next 15 years.

Photonics innovations, carbon continues to amaze, and diversity in the 2D materials community

Photonics innovations, carbon continues to amaze, and diversity in the 2D materials community

14 Feb 2019 James Dacey



In this episode of Physics World Weekly, we start by discussing some of the latest developments in light-based technologies. Susan Curtis discusses her recent trip to San Francisco where she attended a double-header of conferences – BIOS and Photonics West. Hear about photonics technologies in medicine and the hardware being developed Facebookto handle ever-increasing volumes of data.

Superinsulating aerogel resists mechanical and thermal shocks

Superinsulating aerogel resists mechanical and thermal shocks

15 Feb 2019 Belle Dumé




A new mechanically strong, double-pane ceramic aerogel made from hexagonal boron nitride that is resistant to high temperatures could be used in aerospace and industrial applications. The material, which boasts both a negative Poisson’s ratio and a negative thermal expansion coefficient, is very different to typical ceramic aerogels that are brittle and structurally degrade under thermal shocks.

Aerogels are exceptionally lightweight, composite materials containing more than 99% air.

Perovskite homojunction reduces charge carrier recombination

Perovskite homojunction reduces charge carrier recombination

12 Feb 2019 Belle Dumé




Perovskite solar cells (PSCs) made from organic-inorganic halides are a promising photovoltaic technology thanks to their remarkable power conversion efficiency (PCE). Further improvements in these devices is limited, however, by the problem of photoinduced charge carriers (electrons and holes) recombining in the photoactive perovskite layer. A team of researchers at North China Electric Power University and the Chinese Academy of Sciences, both in Beijing, has now made the first ever p-n perovskite homojunction whose built-in electric field reduces the losses from this recombination by orienting the transport of photo-charge-carriers in a particular direction.

Transistor-based DNA sensor detects Down syndrome

Transistor-based DNA sensor detects Down syndrome

18 Feb 2019 Belle Dumé


A new, sensitive field-effect transistor-based biosensor made from 2D molybdenum disulphide could be used in non-invasive prenatal testing for Down syndrome. The device, which is functionalized with gold nanoparticles containing DNA probes that specifically target DNA fragments of chromosome 21, is sensitive to this DNA at concentrations as low as 0.1 femtomoles/litre.

Down, or trisomy 21, syndrome is caused by the presence of an extra copy of chromosome 21 within the genome and is the most common birth defect, occurring in roughly one in 800 births. Current screening techniques include ultrasound scans or indirect biomarkers tests – for example, testing for α-fetoprotein, chorionic gonadotropin and free estriol.

Πέμπτη 14 Φεβρουαρίου 2019

ΦΥΣΙΚΗ Β ΛΥΚΕΙΟΥ ΠΡΟΣΑΝΑΤΟΛΙΣΜΟΥ ΘΕΤΙΚΩΝ ΣΠΟΥΔΩΝ (ΘΕΩΡΙΑ- ΤΟ ΗΛΕΚΤΡΙΚΟ ΠΕΔΙΟ ΜΕΡΟΣ#1), ΦΥΣΙΚΗ Β ΛΥΚΕΙΟΥ ΓΕΝΙΚΗΣ ΠΑΙΔΕΙΑΣ (ΘΕΩΡΙΑ- ΤΟ ΗΛΕΚΤΡΙΚΟ ΠΕΔΙΟ)

ΦΥΣΙΚΗ Β ΛΥΚΕΙΟΥ ΠΡΟΣΑΝΑΤΟΛΙΣΜΟΥ ΘΕΤΙΚΩΝ ΣΠΟΥΔΩΝ (ΘΕΩΡΙΑ- ΤΟ ΗΛΕΚΤΡΙΚΟ ΠΕΔΙΟ ΜΕΡΟΣ#1), ΦΥΣΙΚΗ Β ΛΥΚΕΙΟΥ ΓΕΝΙΚΗΣ ΠΑΙΔΕΙΑΣ (ΘΕΩΡΙΑ- ΤΟ ΗΛΕΚΤΡΙΚΟ ΠΕΔΙΟ)

The Matter Of Antimatter: Answering The Cosmic Riddle Of Existence

                 



The Matter Of Antimatter: Answering The Cosmic Riddle Of Existence



15/2/2019


The Microbiome: Vital Cells of Existence

             



The Microbiome: Vital Cells of Existence



14/2/2019