MEDFORD/SOMERVILLE, MASS. -- Tufts University engineers have demonstrated that it is possible to generate nanostructures from silk in an environmentally friendly process that uses water as a developing agent and standard fabrication techniques. This approach provides a green alternative to the toxic materials commonly used in nanofabrication while delivering fabrication quality comparable to conventional synthetic polymers. Nanofabrication is at the heart of manufacture of semi-conductors and other electronic and photonic devices.
Heavens
CAMBRIDGE, Mass-- Light waves can be defined by three fundamental characteristics: their color (or wavelength), polarization, and direction. While it has long been possible to selectively filter light according to its color or polarization, selectivity based on the direction of propagation has remained elusive.
To find out more, the researchers let male and female big brown bats fly alone and in pairs while tempting them with tethered mealworms. Careful analysis of video and audio recordings of the bats' flight paths and calls, respectively, revealed sequences of three to four calls, both longer in duration and lower in frequency than the big brown bats' echolocation pulses. For reasons that the researchers can't entirely explain yet, only males make those calls.
Scientists have for the first time witnessed the mechanism behind explosive energy releases in the Sun's atmosphere, confirming new theories about how solar flares are created.
New footage put together by an international team led by University of Cambridge researchers shows how entangled magnetic field lines looping from the Sun's surface slip around each other and lead to an eruption 35 times the size of the Earth and an explosive release of magnetic energy into space.
NASA released Thursday an image of a comet that, on Oct. 19, will pass within 84,000 miles of Mars -- less than half the distance between Earth and our moon.
The image on the left, captured Mar. 11 by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, shows comet C/2013 A1, also called Siding Spring, at a distance of 353 million miles from Earth. Hubble can't see Siding Spring's icy nucleus because of its diminutive size. The nucleus is surrounded by a glowing dust cloud, or COMA, that measures roughly 12,000 miles across.
Scientists have for the first time witnessed the mechanism behind explosive energy releases in the Sun's atmosphere, confirming new theories about how solar flares are created.
New footage put together by an international team led by University of Cambridge researchers shows how entangled magnetic field lines looping from the Sun's surface slip around each other and lead to an eruption 35 times the size of the Earth and an explosive release of magnetic energy into space.
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Six massive glaciers in West Antarctica are moving faster than they did 40 years ago, causing more ice to discharge into the ocean and global sea level to rise, according to new research.
LAKE ALFRED, FL--Citrus Huanglongbing (citrus greening disease) is highly destructive and fast-spreading, contributing to a reduction in crop yields in Florida and threatening the future of the citrus industry worldwide. Once infected, trees never fully recover and there currently is no cure, although proper nutrient and water management appear to slow tree decline in some situations.
The rings of Saturn are one of the most spectacular sights in the sky, and less prominent rings have also been found around the other giant planets. Despite many careful searches, no rings had been found around smaller objects orbiting the Sun in the Solar System. Now observations of the distant minor planet [1] (10199) Chariklo [2] as it passed in front of a star have shown that this object too is surrounded by two fine rings.
Until now, rings of material in a disc have only been observed around giant planets like Jupiter, Uranus, Neptune and especially Saturn, which is known for its spectacular rings. Now astronomers from the Niels Bohr Institute, among others, have observed the first miniature planet with two rings of ice and pebbles. It is a smaller celestial body, called Chariklo, located two billion kilometers out in the solar system between Saturn and Uranus. The results are published in the prestigious scientific journal, Nature.
Washington, D.C.—The Solar System has a new most-distant member, bringing its outer frontier into focus.
Data from TRMM's Microwave Imager (TMI) and Precipitation Radar (PR) instruments were used to create a rainfall analysis. TRMM PR revealed that Gillian had very intense storms in a well defined eye wall producing rain at a rate of over 100mm/3.9 inches per hour. TRMM PR showed that some of the tall storms on the southwestern side of Gillian's eye were reaching heights of about 14 km/8.7 miles.
Quintessence and phantom fields, two hypotheses formulated using data from satellites, such as Planck and WMAP, are among the many theories that try to explain the nature of dark energy. Now researchers from Barcelona and Athens suggest that both possibilities are only a mirage in the observations and it is the quantum vacuum which could be behind this energy that moves our universe.
COLUMBUS, Ohio – A new study shows that teenagers can be persuaded to cut back on sugary soft drinks – especially with a little help from their friends.
A 30-day challenge encouraging teens to reduce sugar-sweetened drink use lowered their overall consumption substantially and increased by two-thirds the percentage of high-school students who shunned sugary drinks altogether.
NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) have released the first images captured by their newest Earth-observing satellite, the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Core Observatory, which launched into space Feb. 27.