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Scientists Simulate Seashells’ Structures

By Guest PostSeptember 9, 2011Scienceartificial biominerals, artificial proteins, biological minerals, biominerals, bones, calcite crystals, calcium carbonate, crystal structure, fiona meldrum, hardness, microscopic level, nanoindenter, sea urchin spines, seashells, stephen eichhorn, synthetic crystals, synthetic polymer nanoparticles, teeth, university of exeter

*Scientists have successfully created synthetic crystals whose structures and properties mimic those of naturally-occurring biominerals such as seashells.*

*The findings, published in the journal Nature Materials, could be an important step in the development of high-performance materials, which could be manufactured under environmentally-friendly conditions.*

Professor Stephen Eichhorn, who has just moved to the University of Exeter from the University of Manchester, played a key role in the research. Professor Eichhorn has been appointed to a Chair in Functional Materials, through the University of Exeter’s £230 million investment in science, medicine and engineering. Exeter’s vision is for a multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary approach to the understanding and application of functional materials – from fundamentals to manufacture – exploiting world-leading materials knowledge to deliver new concepts, processes and products. (more…)

Ancient Humans Were Mixing it Up

By Guest PostSeptember 7, 2011Scienceancient humans, archaic dna sequences, hybridization, modern humans, neanderthal genetics, neanderthals

Anatomically modern humans interbred with more archaic hominin forms even before they migrated out of Africa, a UA-led team of researchers has found

It is now widely accepted that anatomically modern humans of the species Homo sapiens originated in Africa and eventually spread throughout the world. Ancient DNA recovered from fossil Neanderthal bones suggests they interbred with more archaic hominin forms once they had left their evolutionary cradle for the cooler climates of Eurasia, but whether they exchanged genetic material with other, now extinct archaic hominin varieties in Africa remained unclear. (more…)

Scientists Observe Smallest Atomic Displacements Ever

By Guest PostSeptember 6, 2011Scienceatomic displacements, atomic magnetic moments, ferroelectric polarisation, multiferroic materials, multiferroics

UCL scientists are part of an international team which has developed a novel X-ray technique for imaging atomic displacements in materials with unprecedented accuracy. (more…)

Computer Helps MSU Researchers Unravel Plants’ Secrets to Survival

By Guest PostSeptember 5, 2011Sciencecis regulatory elements, genes, plants, secrets to survival

EAST LANSING, Mich. — Recent research by Michigan State University scientists has shed more light on how plants are able to cope with extreme environments. (more…)

The Brittleness of Aging Bones – More than a Loss of Bone Mass

By Guest PostSeptember 3, 2011Scienceadvanced light source, age related structural changes in human cortical bone, als, berkeley lab, biological aging, björn busse, bone strength and fracture toughness, bones, brittle, calcium, collagen molecules, concentric rings of lamellae plates, department of energy, doe, elizabeth zimmermann, eric schaible, fracturing, ha, holly barth, hrishikesh bale, human cortical or compact bone, hydroxyapatite, joel ager, lawrence berkeley national laboratory, loss of mass, macroscopic fracture testing, molecular level, nanocrystals, nanoscale, older bones fracturing, peter reichert, robert ritchie, simon tang, tamara alliston, uc, university of california, young human bone

*Berkeley Lab Researchers Show How Loss of Bone Quality Also a Major Factor*

It is a well-established fact that as we grow older our bones become more brittle and prone to fracturing. It is also well established that loss of mass is a major reason for older bones fracturing more readily than younger bones, hence medical treatments have focused on slowing down this loss. However, new research from scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) shows that at microscopic dimensions, the age-related loss of bone quality can be every bit as important as the loss of quantity in the susceptibility of bone to fracturing. (more…)

NASA Gives Public New Internet Tool to Explore the Solar System

By Guest PostSeptember 3, 2011Scienceblaine baggett, Environment, eyes on the solar system, jim green, jupiter, kevin hussey, nasa data, planetary science division, solar system, spacecraft, virtual environment, Washington, web application

PASADENA, Calif. –– NASA is giving the public the power to journey through the solar system using a new interactive Web-based tool.

The “Eyes on the Solar System” interface combines video game technology and NASA data to create an environment for users to ride along with agency spacecraft and explore the cosmos. Screen graphics and information such as planet locations and spacecraft maneuvers use actual space mission data. (more…)

Innovation Served on a Napkin: How GTRI Moved a Simple Idea From Inspiration to Fabrication

By Guest PostSeptember 3, 2011Science3 d cell, adrenaline, air-conditioning, bloo solar of west sacramento, boeing, boston in 2003, dna replicating process, georgia, georgia tech research institute, gtri, horizon, ip2biz, jack flicker, jud ready, kevlar, larry bawden, micro scale manhattan, microelectronics, nanotechnologies, napkin, octagonal, pcr, polymerase chain reaction, powerpoint presentation, prototypes, solar energy, xcor, yellow jacket flying club

A ground-breaking innovation, birthed in a sudden flash of insight, is the stuff of legend. Air conditioning, Kevlar, the DNA-replicating process known as PCR (polymerase chain reaction) — each was the product of a Eureka! moment. The list may soon be longer by one, thanks to a wandering mind and a napkin.

When Jud Ready attended an academic conference on materials science in Boston in 2003, he didn’t plan on coming home with the idea for a three-dimensional solar cell, but that’s what happened. (more…)

Aquarius Makes First Ocean Salt Measurements

By Guest PostSeptember 2, 2011Scienceaquarius instrument, ocean salt measurements, salinity, saltiness of earth

PASADENA, Calif. – NASA’s Aquarius instrument has successfully completed its commissioning phase and is now “tasting” the saltiness of Earth’s ocean surface, making measurements from its perch in near-polar orbit. (more…)

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