Science – Page 227 – Shamskm: A site to exchange knowledge and solutions

Berkeley Lab Researchers Use Metamaterials to Observe Giant Photonic Spin Hall Effect

By Guest PostApril 1, 2013Scienceantenna configurations, arm configuations, artificial nanoconstructs, berkeley lab, ccd, charge coupled device, doe, electron, future of computing, geometry parameters, gold nanoantennas, hall effect, image, junsuk rho, magnetic moment, metamaterials, optical properties, photonic spin, physical motion, physicist edwin hall, quantized angular momentum, quantum measurements, quantum mechanics, scanning electron microscopy, spin, xiang zhang, xiaobo yin, yuan wang, ziliang ye

Researchers with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have once again demonstrated the incredible capabilities of metamaterials – artificial nanoconstructs whose optical properties arise from their physical structure rather than their chemical composition. Engineering a unique two-dimensional sheet of gold nanoantennas, the researchers were able to obtain the strongest signal yet of the photonic spin Hall effect, an optical phenomenon of quantum mechanics that could play a prominent role in the future of computing.

“With metamaterial, we were able to greatly enhance a naturally weak effect to the point where it was directly observable with simple detection techniques,” said Xiang Zhang, a faculty scientist with Berkeley Lab’s Materials Sciences Division who led this research. “We also demonstrated that metamaterials not only allow us to control the propagation of light but also allows control of circular polarization. This could have profound consequences for information encoding and processing.” (more…)

‘Sideline quasars’ helped to stifle early galaxy formation, says CU study

By Guest PostMarch 31, 2013Scienceearly galaxy formation, helium reionization era, intergalactic helium, sideline quasars

University of Colorado Boulder astronomers targeting one of the brightest quasars glowing in the universe some 11 billion years ago say “sideline quasars” likely teamed up with it to heat abundant helium gas billions of years ago, preventing small galaxy formation. (more…)

After Newtown: A new use for a weapons-detecting radar?

By Guest PostMarch 30, 2013Science, Weaponscollision avoidance systems, doppler effect, noisy radar, polarimetric radar, radar polarimetry, remote sensing, weapons detecting radar

ANN ARBOR — In the weeks after the Connecticut school shooting, as the nation puzzled over how it happened and what might prevent it from happening again, Kamal Sarabandi was listening to the news. Talk turned to giving teachers guns, and he paused. (more…)

New Technique Creates Stronger, Lightweight Magnesium Alloys

By Guest PostMarch 29, 2013Scienceaerospace industries, automobile, conventional, gadolinium, hot rolling technology, lightweight magnesium alloys, nano spaced, nc state, new technique, north Carolina, silver, specific strength, stacking faults, state university, suveen mathaudhu, us army research, yttrium, yuntian zhu, zirconium

Researchers from North Carolina State University have developed a new technique for creating stronger, lightweight magnesium alloys that have potential structural applications in the automobile and aerospace industries.

Engineers constantly seek strong, lightweight materials for use in cars and planes to improve fuel efficiency. Their goal is to develop structural materials with a high “specific strength,” which is defined as a material’s strength divided by its density. In other words, specific strength measures how much load it can carry per unit of weight. (more…)

Supercomputer Helps Planck Mission Expose Ancient Light

By Guest PostMarch 27, 2013Scienceamount of time, ancient light, charles lawrence, cosmic microwave background, cray xe6 system, european space agency, grace hopper, hopper, julian borrill, NASA, planck mission, quintillion calculations, roy kaltschmidt, second, supercomputer

Like archeologists carefully digging for fossils, scientists with the Planck mission are sifting through cosmic clutter to find the most ancient light in the universe.

The Planck space telescope has created the most precise sky map ever made of the oldest light known, harking back to the dawn of time. This light, called the cosmic microwave background, has traveled 13.8 billion years to reach us. It is so faint that Planck observes every point on the sky an average of 1,000 times to pick up its glow. (more…)

Prescription for double-dose algebra proves effective

By Guest PostMarch 26, 2013Sciencecps, double dose algebra, double period idea, education policy, elaine allensworth, everyday mathematics, failure rates, k 12 education, martin gartzman, math, melissa roderick, periods of algebra, Science, takako nomi, university of chicago

Martin Gartzman sat in his dentist’s waiting room last fall when he read a study in Education Next that nearly brought him to tears.

A decade ago, in his former position as chief math and science officer for Chicago Public Schools, Gartzman spearheaded an attempt to decrease ninth-grade algebra failure rates, an issue he calls “an incredibly vexing problem.” His idea was to provide extra time for struggling students by having them take two consecutive periods of algebra.

Gartzman had been under the impression that the double-dose algebra program he had instituted had only marginal results, but the study he read indicated otherwise. (more…)

Bio for nano

By Guest PostMarch 26, 2013Sciencebio inspired ideas, biomaterials, biomolecules, inorganic nanoparticles, nanomaterials, nanostructures in water, prototypes

Engineers work to create new biomaterials with energy technology applications

When automotive engineers want to create a new car, they don’t build thousands of prototypes. Instead, they create computer models and run simulations for performance, efficiency and desirability before a model is selected for fabrication. (more…)

Lunar impacts created seas of molten rock

By Guest PostMarch 25, 2013Scienceanalysis of data, apollo moon rocks, apollo program, brown university, crust, differentiation, differentiation processes, fluid rock, geological sciences, james w head, laser altimeter, liquid rock, lola, luna missions, lunar crust, lunar magma ocean, lunar orbiter, magma ocean paradigm, mantle, maunder crater, melt sea, model, molten rock, moon, NASA, orientale basin, orientale melt, planetary geologist, pristine rocks, remote sensing data, rock forming processes, rock layers, russia, william vaughan

A new analysis of data from NASA’s Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter (LOLA) shows that molten rock may have been present on the Moon more recently and for longer periods than previously thought. Differentiation — a settling out of rock layers as liquid rock cools — would require thousands of years and a fluid rock sea at least six miles deep.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — Early in the Moon’s history an ocean of molten rock covered its entire surface. As that lunar magma ocean cooled over millions of years, it differentiated to form the Moon’s crust and mantle. But according to a new analysis by planetary scientists from Brown University, this wasn’t the last time the Moon’s surface was melted on a massive scale. (more…)

Category Archives: Science