Pauling’s dreams for graphene

Graphene research is probably one of the fastest growing fields in condensed matter physics.

1. The material is one atom thick, albeit it can be seen with an ordinary optical microscope.
2. It has the properties of a good metal, although its electronic properties do not fit the standard theory of metals because its electrons propagate as massless Dirac particles.
3. Graphene is also resistant against extrinsic impurities because its chemical bonding is very specific and consequently graphene conducts electricity better, with less energy loss, than silicon (the platform of all modern electronics).
4. Moreover, graphene is one of the strongest materials ever measured in terms of Young’s modulus and elastic stiffness (the only other material that is comparable in strength is diamond), nevertheless it is one of softest (the only example of a metallic membrane).
5. It can be used as an ultrasensitive nano-mechanical resonator besides being highly impermeable. Hence it is not surprising that so many high-tech industries are interested in developing graphene-based devices for a plethora of applications, from high-frequency transistors to reversible hydrogen storage.

Is a room-temperature, solid-state quantum computer mere fantasy ?

Creating a practical solid-state quantum computer is seriously hard. Getting such a computer to operate at room temperature is even more challenging. Is such a quantum computer possible at all ?. If so, which schemes might have a chance of success ?

The TRUTH about all those dodgy health claims, by one of Britain's top researchers

Now, Professor Regan is applying her trademark scientific training to examine the health credentials of an even wider range of products for her latest BBC2 series. And not only has she discovered some bestsellers have little evidence backing them up, she believes many companies are, in fact, touting spurious claims. Here, she shares a few of her intriguing findings...

To prove this point, I developed my own diet pill and asked 17 overweight people to try it for a month, alongside a balanced diet and a sensible exercise plan. More than 70 per cent of the volunteers lost weight and believed the tablets had worked. Unbeknown to them, though, the tablets were simply sugar, a placebo - which shows the power of mind over matter. Yet I could easily use my results to launch an impressive marketing campaign, - as many companies do.

More Is Difficult

I've remarked several times that I think condensed matter physics gets slighted in public discussions of the field, especially relative to its usefulness. Particle physics gets all sorts of press, but in practical terms, it is essentially useless-- whether CERN or Fermilab locate the Higgs boson or not will make absolutely no difference in the lives of the average person. Condensed matter physics, on the other hand gets basically no press, despite the fact that modern technological civilization would be impossible without an understanding of condensed matter physics.

The Casimir Effect and Nanomachines

Johannes Diderik van der Waals

The Casimir effect can be viewed as a manifestation of the quantum mechanical zero-point energy of the vacuum, and has recently been hyped as if it were something new and mysterious that will assist or maybe ruin advanced nanomechanical systems. It has inflamed the minds of something-for-nothing energy enthusiasts, too.

William F. Loomis: Life as It Is ( book )

This concise, accessible book considers from a biological perspective the controversial issues of our day: Abortion, euthanasia, engineered evolution, cooperativity, and the future of sustainable life on this planet. Exploring in fascinating detail the processes by which cells come into being and multiply, Loomis clearly and simply explains the latest in complex biological research. He reviews recent insights into molecular and human evolution, the role of DNA sequences in determining traits, and the biological basis for consciousness, all of which, he argues, need to be considered when making life-and-death decisions and wrestling with questions about the limits to intervention.

Section of Cell and Developmental Biology, UCSD

La premio Nobel italiana nació en Turín el 22 de abril de 1909

A principios de los 50, junto con el joven bioquímico norteamericano Stanley Cohen, Levi-Montalcini da un vuelco a su carrera: descubre e identifica el NGF, el Factor de crecimiento nervioso. Años después, en 1986, estas investigaciones valdrán a los dos el Premio Nobel de Medicina. Es una etapa particularmente feliz de su vida, llena de satisfacción profesional: la misma que, de haber seguido la

Nana Cadavieco

http://www.enoriente.com/noticias-magazine-105/arte-y-espectlos-magazine-112/14571-karmapa-pablo-dagnino-y-nana-cadavieco-recordaran-a-soda-stereo-en-concierto:

"...Nana Cadavieco es cantautora y para finales de abril 2009 lanzará su primer disco titulado “Exposé”, producido por Erik Aldrey (Le Picó, Londres/Caracas) en Sala de Máquinas y masterizado en 360º Studios, Londres, por Richard Beetham. “Exposé” cuenta con la participación de talentosos músicos venezolanos como Wincho Schäfer (Sentimiento Muerto), Rafael Cadavieco (Zapato 3) y Ezequiel S. Valencia (Cabezon Key - Tribop). También hacen apariciones especiales Gabriel Figueira, Armando Alvarez y Abiram Brizuela, de Gaêlica..."

Females get along fine without males - in the world of tropical ants

The Mycocepurus smithii ant is the first known to be a male-free species.

Experts have discovered a South American species that is exclusively female and reproduces asexually by cloning the queen. Reproduction without sex is fairly common in the ant world, but the Mycocepurus smithii is the first known to be a male-free species. The phenomenon takes the stress out of finding a mate and may help keep the peace in colonies, the scientists believe. The findings run counter to scientific theories that say asexuality is an evolutionary disadvantage because it eliminates mutations and generates genetic diversity more slowly than sexual reproduction.

One possible advantage of asexual reproduction is that it avoids the need to find a mate and the efforts associated with mating, according to the researchers.

Do particles have a free will ?

Mathematicians John H. Conway (inventor of the cellular automaton Game of Life, between many other) and Simon Kochen of Princeton University have proven that if

human experimenters demonstrate 'free will'

in choosing what measurements to take on a particle, then the axioms of quantum mechanics require that the free will property be available to the particles measured, or to the universe as a whole.

Self-Collimation of Light over Millimeter-Scale Distance in a Quasi-Zero-Average-Index Metamaterial

Inspired by the concept of complementary media, we experimentally demonstrate that an engineered metamaterial made of alternating, stripe layers of negatively refracting (photonic crystals) and positively refracting (air) materials strongly collimates a beam of near-infrared light. This quasi-zero-average-index metamaterial fully preserves the beam spot size throughout the sample for a light beam traveling through the metamaterial a distance of 2 mm—more than 1000 times the input wavelength lambda=1.55 µm. These results demonstrate the first explicit experimental verification of optical antimatter as proposed by Pendry and Ramakrishna [J. Pendry and S. Ramakrishna, J. Phys. Condens. Matter 15, 6345 (2003)], using two complementary media in which each neff=-1 layer appears to annihilate an equal thickness layer of air.

ARI FLEISCHER: Everyone Should Pay Income Taxes

In addition to exempting almost 50% of the country from income taxes, today nearly every other social cause is given a loophole -- or a preference -- in the tax code. Want to buy a hybrid vehicle? You get a tax break. Do you own a solar water heater? You get a credit. Want to give to charity? You get a deduction. Own a house? There's another tax deduction for you. How about college savings, certain medical costs, and retirement savings? Yes, yes, and of course yes. Did you move, pay alimony, or "provide housing to a Midwestern displaced individual"? More deductions, credits and exemptions there too, if you qualify.

A very small number of taxpayers -- the 10% of the country that makes more than $92,400 a year -- pay 72.4% of the nation's income taxes.

Girl born a record 22 years after father's sperm is frozen

A former leukaemia patient who had his sperm frozen as a teenager has fathered a baby after doctors successfully thawed his sample a record 22 years later. Chris Biblis was 16 when doctors told him that he needed radiotherapy that would leave him sterile and recommended before going ahead with the life-saving treatment that they put a sample of his sperm into cryogenic storage for future use. Now aged 38, he is celebrating the birth of a healthy baby daughter, Stella, who was conceived after scientists injected a defrosted sperm into an egg from his wife, Melodie, and implanted it in her uterus.

Tireless electrons in mesoscopic gold rings

The surprising prediction that currents can flow forever in small normal metal rings was confirmed almost twenty years ago. Highly precise new experiments find good agreement with theory that was not seen till now.

It is well known that in a superconductor electrons react strongly to a magnetic field, creating currents that try to shield the flux in the bulk case (the Meissner effect) or cause the flux to be quantized in units of the “two-electron flux quantum,” Φs≡h/2e, in a ring-type geometry [1, 2, 3]. This flux quantization forms the basis of the SQUID (Superconducting Quantum Interference Device) magnetometer, which consists of a superconducting loop with two weak links and has a maximum supercurrent that is extremely sensitive to the flux through the loop.

First large superconducting magnet to be launched in space

The recently completed superconducting magnet for the space borne Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS) was designed, modelled and detailed using Solid Edge and supported by Cutting Edge Solutions. The 2tonne magnet has a 3m diameter and was produced by Oxford based Scientific Magnetics. It is the first, large superconducting magnet to be launched into space, where it will reside on the main truss of the International Space Station from 2010.

SICK ASSEMBLED

SICK ASSEMBLED strives to reach their audience on a relative and emotive level. This solid foursome is turning upward in an antithetic way. Strong melodies, powerful hooks & a heavy edge define all that is SICK ASSEMBLED. This heavy music that stands apart from today’s field of cookie-cutter rock bands is a true feast for the senses.

"Music & writing is an outlet shadow of my soul. I sleep for inspiration & find answers in my unhinged dreams & It’s a satisfying feeling to be able to welcome all to share these gifts”

Chelsia Rose (vocalist) met Craig Demsky (guitar) and Brad Pridemore (bass) in 2006, and quickly found a creative chemistry. The "sickness" was forming.

The songs rapidly poured out, and 2007 saw SICK ASSEMBLED’S first self-released EP and live shows.

THIS BAND WAS DESIGNED TO ENHANCE & INFLUENCE YOUR ENVIRONMENT.

Club P.A.N.

In October 2007, a Workshop was hosted by Cristina Gomes, Chloe Cipoletta, Dr. Herbinger, Mr. Guilahoux and Mr. Ouattara in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, where the teachers from the Club P.A.N. schools were introduced to the project. To see a small video please visit the 2007 workshop section.

Cristina Gomes: Chimps compile Nixon-style 'enemies list'

Chimpanzees have at least one thing in common with the late US president Richard Nixon: tracking those who do them favours and putting those who don't come up to scratch on an "enemies list". Nearly 3000 hours of observations of wild chimpanzees show that they keep tabs on which of the troop has groomed them the most - returning the favour to frequent groomers, while freezing out the selfish ones. In a way, grooming works like currency in chimpanzees, says Cristina Gomes, a behavioural ecologist at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany. "If you don't have a set price, then you're susceptible to being cheated and cooperation would probably break down."

Cristina Gomes: Chimpanzees exchange meat for sex

Dra. Cristina Gomes

Chimpanzees enter into "deals" whereby they exchange meat for sex, according to researchers. Male chimps that are willing to share the proceeds of their hunting expeditions mate twice as often as their more selfish counterparts. This is a long-term exchange, so males continue to share their catch with females when they are not fertile, copulating with them when they are. The team describe their findings in the journal PLoS One. Cristina Gomes and her colleagues, from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Germany, studied chimps in the Tai Forest reserve in Ivory Coast.

"The males still share with them - they might share meat with a female one day, and only copulate with her a day or two later." Dr. Gomes thinks that her findings could even provide clues about human evolution.

15 foods that kill fat

How the laws of physics emerged ?

Last year Dr. Laughlin and Dr. David Pines, a theorist at the University of Illinois and Los Alamos National Laboratory, published a manifesto declaring that the “science of the past,” which seeks to distill the richness of reality into a few simple equations governing subatomic particles, was coming to an impasse. Many complex systems — the very ones the solid-staters study — appear to be irreducible. Made of many interlocking parts, they display a kind of synergy, obeying “higher organizing principles” that cannot be further simplified no matter how hard you try. Carrying the idea even further, some solid-state physicists are trying to show that the laws of relativity, long considered part of the very bedrock of the physical world, are not platonic truths that have existed since time began.

Jeanne Calment: A French woman with the longest confirmed lifespan in history at age 122 years 164 days

When asked on one occasion for her prescription for a long life, she mentioned garlic, vegetables, cigarettes, red wine, and avoiding brawls. On another occasion, she ascribed her longevity and relatively youthful appearance for her age to olive oil, which she said she poured on all her food and rubbed onto her skin, as well as a diet of port wine, and nearly 2 pounds of chocolate eaten every week.

Robot achieves scientific first (Adam and Eve)

A laboratory robot called Adam has been hailed as the first machine in history to have discovered new scientific knowledge independently of its human creators. Adam formed a hypothesis on the genetics of bakers’ yeast and carried out experiments to test its predictions, without intervention from its makers at Aberystwyth University.

The team has just completed a successor robot called Eve, which is about to work with Adam on a series of experiments designed to find new drugs to treat tropical diseases such as malaria and schistosomiasis. “Adam is a prototype,” says Prof King. “Eve is better designed and more elegant.”

So You Want to Become a Physicist?

I’ve often been asked the question: how do you become a physicist? Let me first say that physicists, from a fairly early age, are fascinated by the universe and its fantastic wonders. We want to be part of the romantic, exciting adventure to tease apart its mysteries and understand the nature of physical reality. That’s the driving force behind our lives. We are more interested in black holes and the origin of the universe than with making tons of money and driving flashy cars. We also realize that physics forms the foundation for biology, chemistry, geology, etc. and the wealth of modern civilization. We realize that physicists pioneered the pivotal discoveries of the 20th century which revolutionized the world (e.g. the transistor, the laser, splitting the atom, TV and radio, MRI and PET scans, quantum theory and relativity, unraveling the DNA molecule was done by physicists. But people often ask the question: do I have to be an Einstein to become a physicist? The answer is NO. Sure, physicists have to be proficient in mathematics, but the main thing is to have that curiosity and drive. One of the greatest physicists of all time, Michael Faraday, started out as a penniless, uneducated apprentice, but he was persistent and creative and then went on to revolutionize modern civilization with electric motors and dynamos. Much of the worlds gross domestic product depends on his work.