carbon tagged posts

After 100 years, scientists finally uncover hidden rule behind cosmic rays

A mysterious new cosmic pattern discovered by the DAMPE space telescope may finally crack the century-old mystery of cosmic rays. Scientists studying mysterious ultra-powerful cosmic rays have uncovered a surprising hidden pattern that could finally help explain where these particles come from. Using the DAMPE space telescope, researchers found that cosmic ray particles—from tiny protons to heavy iron nuclei—all begin fading away more sharply at the exact same point, hinting at a universal rule governing their behavior across the galaxy.

For more than 100 years, scientists have been trying to understand cosmic rays, incredibly powerful particles that travel across the universe at extreme energies...

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Adding a Small Amount of Solid Carbon to Copper Boosts its Conductivity

Keerti Kappagantula and her colleagues developed highly conductive copper wire in bulk, as shown here. (Photo by Andrea Starr | Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

A common carbon compound is enabling remarkable performance enhancements when mixed in just the right proportion with copper to make electrical wires. It’s a phenomenon that defies conventional wisdom about how metals conduct electricity.

The findings, reported in the journal Materials & Design, could lead to more efficient electricity distribution to homes and businesses, as well as more efficient motors to power electric vehicles and industrial equipment. The team has applied for a patent for the work, which was supported by the Department of Energy (DOE) Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Technologies Office.

Ma...

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New Research adds a Wrinkle to our Understanding of the Origins of Matter in the Milky Way

This image combines data from four space telescopes to reconstruct all that remains of the oldest documented example of a supernova, which was witnessed in 185 A.D. by Chinese astronomers. Supernovae are understood to be important sources of cosmic rays arriving at Earth. Image credit: NASA

New findings published this week in Physical Review Letters suggest that carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen cosmic rays travel through the galaxy toward Earth in a similar way, but, surprisingly, that iron arrives at Earth differently. Learning more about how cosmic rays move through the galaxy helps address a fundamental, lingering question in astrophysics: How is matter generated and distributed across the universe?

“So what does this finding mean?” asks John Krizmanic, a senior scientist with UMBC’s...

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A New Form of Carbon Opens Door to Nanosized Wires

Rakennekuvan yläosassa näkyvät hiiliatomien säännönmukaisesti muodostamat neli-, kuusi- ja kahdeksankulmiot. Alaosa on atomivoimamikroskooppikuva keinotekoisesti valmistetusta materiaalista. Kuva: Marburgin yliopisto, Aalto-yliopisto
Structure of the new network. The upper part schematically shows how the carbon atoms link as squares, hexagons, & octagons. The lower part is an image of the network, obtained with high resolution microscopy. Credit: University Marburg & Aalto University

New type of atomically thin carbon material. Researchers at the University of Marburg in Germany and Aalto University in Finland have now discovered a new carbon network, which is atomically thin like graphene, but is made up of squares, hexagons, and octagons forming an ordered lattice. They confirmed the unique structure of the network using high-resolution scanning probe microscopy and interestingly found that its electronic properties are very different from those of graphene.

In contrast to graphene and other forms of carbon, ...

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