[Source: tywkiwdbi.blogspot.com]
Showing posts with label Nature. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Nature. Show all posts
3.23.2010
3.12.2010
3.11.2010
1.16.2010
1.14.2010
"Door to Hell" - Derweze, Turkmenistan
http://johnhbradley.com/pictures2.asp?var=070707darvaza
[Sources: johnhbradley.com & en.wikipedia.org]
Derweze (Turkmen language: The Gate, also known as Darvaza) is a Turkmenistan village of about 350 inhabitants, located in the middle of the Kara-Kum desert, about 260 km north from Ashgabat.
The Derweze area is rich in natural gas. While drilling in 1971 geologists accidentally found an underground cavern filled with natural gas. The ground beneath the drilling rig collapsed, leaving a large hole with a diameter of about 60 meters. To avoid poisonous gas discharge, it was decided to burn the gas. Geologists had hoped the fire would go out in a few days but it has been burning ever since [...almost 40 years!]. Locals have named the cavern The Door to Hell.
The Derweze area is rich in natural gas. While drilling in 1971 geologists accidentally found an underground cavern filled with natural gas. The ground beneath the drilling rig collapsed, leaving a large hole with a diameter of about 60 meters. To avoid poisonous gas discharge, it was decided to burn the gas. Geologists had hoped the fire would go out in a few days but it has been burning ever since [...almost 40 years!]. Locals have named the cavern The Door to Hell.
[Sources: johnhbradley.com & en.wikipedia.org]
12.28.2009
Evidence of macroscopic quantum tunneling detected in nanowires
http://news.illinois.edu/news/09/0527tunneling.html
A team of researchers at the University of Illinois has demonstrated that, counter to classical Newtonian mechanics, an entire collection of superconducting electrons in an ultrathin superconducting wire is able to “tunnel” as a pack from a state with a higher electrical current to one with a notably lower current, providing more evidence of the phenomenon of macroscopic quantum tunneling.
Physics professors Alexey Bezryadin and Paul Goldbart led the team, with graduate student Mitrabhanu Sahu performing the bulk of the measurements. Their research was published on the Web site of the journal Nature Physics on May 17.
Quantum tunneling is the capability of a particle to inhabit regions of space that would normally be off-limits according to classical mechanics. This research observes a process called a quantum phase slip, whereby packs of roughly 100,000 electrons tunnel together from higher electrical current states to lower ones. The energy locked in the motion of the electrons as they phase slip is dissipated as heat, causing the nanowires to switch from a superconducting state to a more highly resistive one.
It’s through this switching of states that allows the tunneling of the phase slip to be observed, the researchers say.
Goldbart, who is also a researcher at the university’s Frederick Seitz Materials Research Laboratory, describes a quantum phase slip as a phenomenon that allows the spatially extended structure of superconductivity “to undergo a kind of quantum mechanical rip or tear, one where the entire extended behavior of the superconductivity tunnels its way through a classically forbidden set of configurations.”
“Semiconductors, insulators and metals all hinge upon the ability of particles to make it through classically forbidden regions, despite apparently having negative kinetic energy there, as quantum physics allows,” Goldbart said.
In Newton’s world, according to Goldbart, particles would be reflected from such regions.
Although quantum mechanics governs the realm of atoms and molecules and smaller, quantum phenomena sometimes “leak up” to macroscopic scales, he said.
Read more...
Physics professors Alexey Bezryadin and Paul Goldbart led the team, with graduate student Mitrabhanu Sahu performing the bulk of the measurements. Their research was published on the Web site of the journal Nature Physics on May 17.
Quantum tunneling is the capability of a particle to inhabit regions of space that would normally be off-limits according to classical mechanics. This research observes a process called a quantum phase slip, whereby packs of roughly 100,000 electrons tunnel together from higher electrical current states to lower ones. The energy locked in the motion of the electrons as they phase slip is dissipated as heat, causing the nanowires to switch from a superconducting state to a more highly resistive one.
It’s through this switching of states that allows the tunneling of the phase slip to be observed, the researchers say.
Goldbart, who is also a researcher at the university’s Frederick Seitz Materials Research Laboratory, describes a quantum phase slip as a phenomenon that allows the spatially extended structure of superconductivity “to undergo a kind of quantum mechanical rip or tear, one where the entire extended behavior of the superconductivity tunnels its way through a classically forbidden set of configurations.”
“Semiconductors, insulators and metals all hinge upon the ability of particles to make it through classically forbidden regions, despite apparently having negative kinetic energy there, as quantum physics allows,” Goldbart said.
In Newton’s world, according to Goldbart, particles would be reflected from such regions.
Although quantum mechanics governs the realm of atoms and molecules and smaller, quantum phenomena sometimes “leak up” to macroscopic scales, he said.
“Observing switching events in superconducting nanowires at high-bias currents provides strong evidence for quantum phase slips. Our experiments provide further evidence that the laws of quantum mechanics continue to govern large systems, composed of many thousands of electrons, acting as a single entity.”
7.03.2009
Humans could regrow their own body parts like some amphibians, claim scientists
·Regenerating your own amputated arms and legs, broken spines and even damaged brains is the stuff of superheroes - but it could one day be a reality, claim scientists.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/scienceandtechnology/science/sciencenews/5710718/Humans-could-regrow-their-own-body-parts-like-some-amphibians-claim-scientists.html
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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/scienceandtechnology/science/sciencenews/5710718/Humans-could-regrow-their-own-body-parts-like-some-amphibians-claim-scientists.html
Researchers looking into how salamanders are able to to regrow their damaged bodies have discovered that the "almost magical ability" is closer to human healing than first thought.
[...]
The amphibians are almost unique in that if they lose a limb, a small bump forms over the injury called a blastema. Within about three weeks this blastema transforms into a new, fully functioning replacement limb without any scarring.
[...]
Scientists, studying the Axolotl salamander, native to Mexico, had long thought the amphibious creature's capabilities were down to so-called "pluripotent" cells, which had the uncanny ability to morph into whatever appendage, organ or tissue happens to be needed or due for a replacement.
But a paper in the journal Nature debunks that notion, discovering that the regenerative process is like a much more sophisticated version of healing in humans and other mammals. They found that repairs were down to much more standard stem cells – like those in mammals – but with the ability to reorganise themselves in the correct order to rebuild the body.
Read more...[...]
The amphibians are almost unique in that if they lose a limb, a small bump forms over the injury called a blastema. Within about three weeks this blastema transforms into a new, fully functioning replacement limb without any scarring.
[...]
Scientists, studying the Axolotl salamander, native to Mexico, had long thought the amphibious creature's capabilities were down to so-called "pluripotent" cells, which had the uncanny ability to morph into whatever appendage, organ or tissue happens to be needed or due for a replacement.
But a paper in the journal Nature debunks that notion, discovering that the regenerative process is like a much more sophisticated version of healing in humans and other mammals. They found that repairs were down to much more standard stem cells – like those in mammals – but with the ability to reorganise themselves in the correct order to rebuild the body.
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