Physics & Mathematics

Astronomers Get Ultrasharp Images With Large Telescope

Astronomers have successfully tested a new method to remove atmospheric blurring from large ground based telescopes. The experiments were made in November 2002 and January 2003 at the 6.5-meter (21-foot) telescope at the MMT Observatory on Mount Hopkins, Ariz. The project is a collaboration of the University of Arizona’s Steward Observatory and Italy’s Osservatorio Astrofisico di Arcetri in Florence. It uses revolutionary new technology developed with support from the U.S. Air Force.

Nano Breakthrough May Make Ultra-High Density Storage Possible

A simpler and more reliable manufacturing method has allowed two materials researchers to produce nanoscale magnetic sensors that could increase the storage capacity of hard disk drives by a factor of 1,000. Building on results obtained last summer, the new sensors are up to 100 times more sensitive than any current alternative technology, according to researchers Harsh Deep Chopra, University Buffalo associate professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering, and Susan Hua, director of UB’s Bio-Micro-Electro-Mechanical-Systems Facility and adjunct professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering.

Flash! Lightning emits X-rays

Anyone who has heard a radio crackle during a storm knows lightning emits radio signals. But in a series of unique experiments that involved firing wire-trailing rockets into storm clouds, a team of Florida researchers has found that “triggered” lightning also emits waves of energy much higher up the frequency scale – X-rays, or possibly gamma rays or relativistic electrons.

NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe's Statement

As my press officer indicated earlier, we will make a statement now and a little later this afternoon, about 3 o’clock eastern time, there will be a full technical briefing conducted from the Johnson Space Center. So at this point, we?re just going to give you the circumstances, as we understand them, leading up to this particular tragedy today. We will not take questions from the media.

Nanodevice breaks 1-GHz barrier

Nanoscientists have achieved a milestone in their burgeoning field by creating a device that vibrates a billion times per second, or at one gigahertz (1 GHz). The accomplishment further increases the likelihood that tiny mechanical devices working at the quantum level can someday supplement electronic devices for new products.

Surfactant curtails nanotube clumping in water, removing barrier to applications

Scientists have long touted carbon nanotubes as a futuristic means of delivering drugs, fortifying brittle materials and conducting current in miniaturized circuits. But attempts to introduce actual nanotubes into these roles have often been stopped in their tracks by the slender filaments’ stubborn and unhelpful tendency to clump together in solution. Now scientists at the University of Pennsylvania have found that a readily available chemical, a surfactant called sodium dodecylbenzene sulfonate (NaDDBS), disperses nanotubes in water with remarkable efficiency. The discovery, described in a paper published this month in the journal Nanoletters, represents an important step towards wider applications of nanotubes.

Telescope follows trail of neutrinos into deepest reaches of the universe

A unique telescope buried in Antarctic ice promises unparalleled insight into such extraordinary phenomena as colliding black holes, gamma-ray bursts, the violent cores of distant galaxies and the wreckage of exploded stars. An international team of physicists and astronomers report that the AMANDA telescope is capable of tracking high-energy neutrinos ? elusive subatomic particles ? to their sources, which are emitted by these signature events. Their findings will be published in the Feb. 1. 2003, issue of the Astrophysical Journal.

Astronomers Trace Microquasar’s Path Back in Time

Astronomers have traced the orbit through our Milky Way Galaxy of a voracious neutron star and a companion star it is cannibalizing, and conclude that the pair joined more than 30 million years ago and probably were catapulted out of a cluster of stars far from the Galaxy’s center. The pair of stars, called Scorpius X-1, form a “microquasar,” in which material sucked from the “normal” star forms a rapidly-rotating disk around the superdense neutron star. The disk becomes so hot it emits X-rays, and also spits out “jets” of subatomic particles at nearly the speed of light.

Researchers explore unusual properties of low-resistance ‘nanowire’ systems

Molecular wires are seen by scientists as one key to producing ever-smaller and faster electronic circuits and switches, like those used in computers and complex electronic devices. These “nanowires,” so called because they have dimensions on the order of a nanometer (a billionth of a meter), allow high rates of electron transfer and associated low resistance, or impedance to the flow of current. Now, research focused on finding good candidate materials for these wires is giving scientists a better understanding of how they work.

Vision researchers find that photon receptors pair up in neat rows

Using atomic-force microscopy, vision researchers have taken pictures of some of the eye’s photon receptors in their natural state, and have analyzed their packing arrangement. Their findings, published in the Jan. 9 issue of Nature, offer insight on how light signaling might be controlled in the retina’s outer edge. The retina receives light through rods and cones. Rods, which are most heavily concentrated on the retina’s outer edge, are sensitive to dim light and to movement, but not to color. Rods, like cones, face away from incoming light. Within rods, light causes a chemical reaction with rhodopsin. This begins a chain of stimulation along the visual pathway, which sends information to the brain for interpretation. The brain can detect one photon of light, the smallest unit of energy, when it is absorbed by a photoreceptor.

Deadly coral toxin exposes ion pump’s deepest secret

Right now, in your body, tiny pumps in the fatty membranes surrounding all your cells are hard at work pushing select charged ions, such as sodium, potassium or calcium, through those membranes. Like a water pump in a high-rise apartment building overcoming the force of gravity to move water up to a tank on its roof, these ion pumps work against “electrochemical gradients” to transport ions from one side of the membrane to the other. Now, researchers at The Rockefeller University report using palytoxin, a deadly coral-derived toxin, to pry open perhaps the ion pump’s deepest secret: that it is essentially a more elaborate version of an ion channel.

Research pushes quantum spin technology toward real-world applications

Researchers have provided “proof of concept that quantum spin information can be locally manipulated using high-speed electrical circuits,” according to an abstract of their paper being published on the “Science Express” website. The findings are significant because they demonstrate a solid-state quantum logic gate (i.e, control mechanism) that works with gating technologies in today’s electronics, today’s computers. This research also moves esoteric spin-based technologies of spintronics and quantum computing from the futuristic closer to within reach of present-day possibilities.