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    Modern Alchemy creates Luminescent Iron Molecules

    March 30, 2017, Categories  Health/Medical, Biology/Biotechnology

    iron complex [Fe(btz)3]3+

    iron complex [Fe(btz)3]3+

    A group of researchers have made the first iron-based molecule capable of emitting light. This could contribute to the development of affordable and environmentally friendly materials for e.g. solar cells, light sources and displays. For over 50 years, chemists have developed metal-based dye molecules for a wide range of different applications, such as displays and solar cells. This would ideally involve common and environmentally friendly metals like iron, but despite a number of attempts no one has been able to develop an iron-based dye molecule that can emit light until now. Researchers around the world have therefore instead largely had to resort to various rare and precious metals, such as ruthenium, which have more easily provided the desired properties.

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    Controlling Soft Robots using Magnetic fields

    March 30, 2017, Categories  Physics, Technology/Electronics

    Researchers at NC State University have created several soft robot devices that make use of a fundamental advance in controlling soft robots. The new technique uses magnetic fields to remotely manipulate microparticle chains embedded in soft polymers. Credit: Joe Tracy

    Researchers at NC State University have created several soft robot devices that make use of a fundamental advance in controlling soft robots. The new technique uses magnetic fields to remotely manipulate microparticle chains embedded in soft polymers. Credit: Joe Tracy

    A team of engineering researchers has made a fundamental advance in controlling so-called soft robots, using magnetic fields to remotely manipulate microparticle chains embedded in soft robotic devices. The researchers have already created several devices that make use of the new technique. “By putting these self-assembling chains into soft robots, we are able to have them perform more complex functions while still retaining relatively simple designs,” says A/Prof Joe Tracy, North Carolina State University ...

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    Sun: Igniting a Solar Flare in the Corona with Lower-Atmosphere Kindling

    March 30, 2017, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    Recent images captured by NJIT's 1.6-meter New Solar Telescope at Big Bear Solar Observatory (BBSO) have revealed the emergence of small-scale magnetic fields in the lower reaches of the corona the researchers say may be linked to the onset of a main flare. Credit: NJIT

    Recent images captured by NJIT’s 1.6-meter New Solar Telescope at Big Bear Solar Observatory (BBSO) have revealed the emergence of small-scale magnetic fields in the lower reaches of the corona the researchers say may be linked to the onset of a main flare. Credit: NJIT

    Scientists from NJIT’s Center for Solar-Terrestrial Research are providing some of the first detailed views of the mechanisms that may trigger solar flares, colossal releases of magnetic energy in the Sun’s corona that dispatch energized particles capable of penetrating Earth’s atmosphere within an hour and disrupting orbiting satellites and electronic communications on the ground.

    Recent images captured by the university’s 1...

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    How a young-looking Lunar Volcano hides its True Age

    March 30, 2017, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    1. A relief image (red and yellow indicate higher elevation) shows Ina's volcanic mounds rising from the caldera floor. Credit: NASA/GSFC/ASU 2. The feature known as Ina, as seen by NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, was likely formed by an eruption of fluffy 'magmatic foam,' new research shows. Credit: NASA/GSFC/ASU 3. An eruption at Kilauea Iki in 1959 was probably similar to the eruption that formed Ina on the Moon. Credit: USGS

    1. A relief image (red and yellow indicate higher elevation) shows Ina’s volcanic mounds rising from the caldera floor. Credit: NASA/GSFC/ASU 2. The feature known as Ina, as seen by NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, was likely formed by an eruption of fluffy ‘magmatic foam,’ new research shows.
    Credit: NASA/GSFC/ASU
    3. An eruption at Kilauea Iki in 1959 was probably similar to the eruption that formed Ina on the Moon. Credit: USGS

    A young-looking volcanic caldera on the Moon has been interpreted by some as evidence of relatively recent lunar volcanic activity, but new research suggests it’s not so young after all...

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