A new device can quickly detect a DNA molecule. The method involves using a microchannel and a nano-electrode. The microchannel causes DNA strand unwinds and passage through a tiny hole that contains electrodes. The electrodes are separated by a distance of a few nanometers, which is used to differentiate electrically tunnel each base that makes up the DNA chain.
The prototype of the article in question does not have the necessary electronic equipment to identify the bases, but according to the authors it can be done using more sophisticated equipment that have been already demonstrated by other researchers.
The potential impact of this technology is that a DNA sequence can be read so much faster so far, possibly in a matter of seconds, bringing to reality the equipment used in the movie Gattaca .
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In the engineering profession within the most important documents are the levels of equipment. The design of any new device usually begins in the form of sketches or building plans a prototype or production. Originally done in pencil and ink, were gradually replaced by computerized CAD tools.
Despite the major modernization no longer useful to know the basics of drawing that can be found in old books. In google books free books are about as follows, by Thomas French.
On a mission called Operation Maracati II, the Brazilian space agency launched a sounding rocket VSB-30 (photo). The same was raised to a height of 242 km and managed to stay one capsule for five minutes in microgravity and then be recovered by parachute. The rocket's payload consisted of several microgravity experiments including the solidification of several alloys, the kinetics of enzyme invertase, deposition of carbon nanotube films, heat disipdores satellites, boiling pentane. Other experiments included the effects of high acceleration on a GPS system as well as other educational experiments. More data (in Portuguese) on the website of the agency.
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Brazil launches spacecraft and computers Julian Assange
great discussion in the media on Wikileaks mentioned much to Julian Assange, but said little about his past in the field of computers. In the blog ALT1040 (Number one ranking Wiki) possess excellent note on the history of this character who some consider an elite programmer, author and contributor to numerous open source projects. Over time devoted to journalism and was co-authored a book on the hacker community in the decade of 80 and 90.
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Machining CNC (Computerized Numerical Control) is ideal for inventors and technologists because it can automate the manufacture of mechanical parts of great complexity. One problem is that many hobbyists necessary machines are expensive, but seems to be a downward trend in prices.
An article on O'reilly mentioned a project to build a kit CNC machining (Computer Numerical Control) for under $ 400 U.S.. Kits like there is a higher price, as this to 600 U.S. dollars.
machines armed and a little more professional include Sherline (1200USD) Taig (2295.00). Non-computer equipment are cheaper, and can be useful for simple pieces.
Moreover, many hobbyists make their own CNC router based on stepper motors and construction materials.
In my experience the more expensive the machine as a whole has the worse the quality in manufacturing, which is critical when one want to build mechanisms or parts that must fit precisely. I think the ideal is that each has its own router hobbyists cheap and use once a year. I think the great revolution would be an easy, quick and cheap to pro-level machines, for example if there are companies that would provide machining services pad on the act within businesses such as Home Depot or similar.
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The private company SpaceX (Partially funded and supported by NASA) towards today's launch and successfully retrieve a space capsule. The project aims at sending supplies and astronauts to the international space station. A
Those interested in this type of I recommend visiting the news page Spaceflightnow . At that site have a section called Mission status center, which chronicle the development of the missions by the minute.
This type of real-time coverage is more exciting when it is a new type of mission as the launch of a new type of vehicle, or fall on Mars, or similar tasks that generate a great suspense.
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In a recent article a reporter interviewed several scientists to know your opinion on a recent NASA u., related to the discovery of bacteria that use arsenic instead of phosphorus. Several scientists cite flaws in the research. The authors declined to respond to criticism by the press, arguing that any discussion of the topic should be limited to peer-reviewed scientific articles. If But this attitude has been harshly criticized since the group used mass media to promote his discovery through many parts of the press.
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In what seems like a joke but it is real, a company called Poopoopaper manufactures paper, notebooks based on elephant feces, cow, horse and giant panda. The company's products can be purchased in some bookstores and consist of a yellow, fibrous material, which according to the manufacturer is perfectly clean and odor free. Explain that to work it takes advantage of the large number of plant fibers found in the droppings of these various animals.
reinvents integration in 1994 and published scientific article
Apparently in 1994 a physician scientist published an article on how to calculate the area under a curve, "reinventing" in effect on the trapeze method for the calculation of integrals, which suggests ignorance of the author and the referees of basic calculus concepts well known elsewhere. Some commentators take this case as an extreme example of the lack of interconnection between disciplines and the need for researchers to learn about issues that go beyond their own area of \u200b\u200bexpertise. Link
a note on slashdot. Link to
abstract of the article in question.
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People who are dedicated to the topic of paints and coatings, may be interested in the research and development center in paint technology CIDEPINT , located in La Plata, Argentina. According to its website conduct research, training, and a long list of laboratory tests which include among others:
testing varnishes, paints work or industrial use, marine paints, flame retardants firearms, paintings and for tagging thermoplastic pavement, envejecimeinto accelerated testing, quality control, chemical analsis, etc.
Photo: Bridge, Santa Fe, Argentina. A structure where corrosion coatings are needed.
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In a recent experiment, Ronald DePinho and other researchers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute Institute and Harvard Medical School, created genetically engineered mice that lack the enzyme telomerase. They had several symptoms of aging. The researchers then reactivated the production of the enzyme by a chemical switch in mice and observed a dramatic recovery of their health.
More information Nature.
is not yet clear whether the mechanism would be useful in healthy mice or humans, it is believed that attempts to rejuvenate through the use of telomerase can cause cancer. Anyway, the discovery received wide publicity.
Photo: Igor Mouse, mascot of the company Carr Valley Cheese Company in Wisconsin.
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The database DDB ( Dortmund Data Bank, Germany ) contains thermodynamic data on many compounds pure and mixed. A small part of the database is available for free. free version to download . Calculation of properties online.
Below we list what properties can be found in the database:
properties of pure compounds - PVT data (vapor pressure, critical properties, density, virial coefficients, and others) - transport properties (viscosity, thermal conductivity, ...) - Enthalpies (phase change training ....) - Heat capacity - Surface tension - etc. Properties
mixtures - Liquid-Vapor Equilibrium - Liquid-Liquid Equilibrium (miscibility) - solid-liquid equilibrium (solubility) - dilution activity coefficient infinite - Solubility of gases - azeotropes Properties - Heats of mixing - Densities, volumes and volumes excess - excess heat of mixing - mixtures critical properties - Solubility of salts - vapor-liquid equilibrium for mixtures with electrolytes - partition coefficient octanol-water - Equilibrium adsorption - Information polymers
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As I wrote here , physics Nobel Prize this year was awarded to Geim and Novoselov by the discovery of graphene. What makes graphene so special that it deserves this distinction?
Graphene is a crystalline form of carbon and one of the few materials that is two dimensional. That means it is very thin and which consists of only one plane of atoms. Like a sheet of paper, extends far into space in two dimensions than in the third dimension. The existence of a two-dimensional material by itself and was received with surprise news in the scientific world when it created the graphene for the first time in 2004. This is due to the fact that it had been shown theoretically that there should be a two-dimensional material. Due to fluctuations in its crystalline structure, resulting in the breaking of the 2D structure, any such fine material should be changed. But to the surprise of everyone if the graphene was stable when its synthesis was achieved. And so it is a very interesting material, although at first the interest was rather academic.
watermark Despite its appearance - the graphene is so thin that it hardly absorbs light and almost transparent - it is very robust. It is very difficult to break and is 200 times stronger than steel.
Another feature of graphene is that it is a good electronic conductor. This is because the organization of electrons in chemical bonds that form the carbon atoms in the plane. Carbon has four electrons that can participate in the formation of these links, but a carbon atom in graphene has only three neighbors. The three links to a carbon atom and its neighbors are called σ bonds (sigma) and are very stable. But since there are only three neighbors, only three electrons in each atom are attached to a link σ. The fourth electron forms a link called π (pi), but not sure which of the three neighbors. The electron is neither located nor attached to any atom. It is these electrons in π bonds responsible for the electronic conductivity of graphene. Like free electrons in a metal move without difficulty and represent the charge carriers in electronic conduction, the π electrons in graphene move easily, thus contributing to driving. Moreover, this complex behavior of electrons in σ and π bonds are responsible flat nature of graphene and its honeycomb appearance.
Graphene also has a wide variety of exceptional features such as high thermal conductivity and a host of interesting quantum effects. Does
graphene practical applications? Maybe in microelectronics and microprocessors such as transistors or integrated circuits, but for this to find everyday life path has yet to spend enough time. Alternatively graphene powder mix with a plastic socket. With a small amount of plastic insulating graphene can be transformed into a driver. And thanks to its transparency can be used as transparent electrode. We'll probably see many applications of graphene, and it therefore deserves the Nobel Prize.
For me the most curious is how it succeeds in producing graphene. Chemical method is not very developed, or need large and expensive instruments. In 2004, Geim and Novoselov used tape to peel layers of a graphite crystal. Paste these films on a silicon oxide surface is eventually in a sheet of graphene on silicon. Easy, right?
For those seeking more detailed information on graphene, there are two texts by Andre Geim and Novoselov Konstantin (free access): The Rise of Graphs: http://arxiv.org/abs/cond- mat/0702595 Graphene: Status and Prospects : http://arxiv.org/abs/0906.3799
announced today that the Nobel Prize in Physics 2010 was awarded to Andre Geim and Novoselov Konstantin University of Manchester for the manufacture of graphene. In the 90 the two managed to peel graphite, the material used as a quarry in pencils, sliced \u200b\u200bso thin that eventually reduced to a single layer of atoms, graphene. Both, graphite and graphene, are pure forms of carbon and only this element is necessary for their synthesis. It is the finest material ever produced and has physical and chemical characteristics very special. For example, although not a metal, is a good electronic conductor. It is also clear because of its small thickness. It really is a unique material that will have a huge impact on technological development.
graphene model, every gray ball represents a carbon atom. Each atom is connected by a chemical bond with three atoms neighborhood, and they form a hexagonal network.
is the second Nobel Prize to be awarded for results related to the pure carbon. In 1996, the Nobel Prize for chemistry was awarded to Robert Curl, Harold Kroto and Richard Smalley for the discovery of the molecule C 60 . It is known as the Buckminsterfulereno and consists of a molecule shaped like a soccer ball made up of 60 carbon atoms. Since there is currently much interest in investigating this type of carbon-based materials, I will write some articles about it here. In four parts, try to explain each of the states in which carbon can be found:
I'm still not entirely sure what order I'm going to write but just start from the No. 2 because it is the most current. So if interested, I invite you to return regularly to read new articles.
Here is a picture that represents the relationship between the buckminsterfulerenos graphene, carbon nanotubes and graphite. Graphene pieces can be curved to mold fullerenes, roll up to create nanotubes or stacked to form graphite. The image is in the publication The Rise of Graphene to Geim and Novoselov , which is freely accessible here.
graphene is the first planet in the habitable zone
Liquid water is a prerequisite essential for life as we know. Almost any kind of life is based to some extent in the presence of this molecule that consists of an oxygen atom and two hydrogen atoms. 50% of the mass of the human body is due to water. To keep liquid on a planet, it requires a proper air pressure and an average temperature suitable. Circling the star Gliese 581 has found a planet that may have just the right values \u200b\u200bof pressure and temperature to hold liquid water, and thus one of the modules necessary for life. The planet named planet G is in the habitable zone, which means, at a distance from the star where temperatures are neither very high nor very low. It also has a mass similar to Earth, allowing an atmosphere similar to ours. These two factors together mean that liquid water can exist on its surface.
Steven Vogt of the University of California Santa Cruz and colleagues describe here the reanalysis of their data. Over 11 years accumulated spectrum of the star Gliese 581, and comparing these with data acquired by other techniques, conclude that there are two additional planets to the four already known. The interesting thing is that for the first time there is a planet right in the middle of the habitable zone. I've written before about the search for exoplanets with the Kepler space telescope, planets that circulate to other stars and not the sun Although Kepler is becoming more exoplanets, these new results were acquired with telescopes stationed on Earth, especially with the WM Keck Observatory Hawaii. Is measured with a spectrometer emititda radiation by the star. Small changes in wavelength of this radiation indicate the presence of planets. The magnitude of the change in wavelength depends on the mass of the planet and its distance from the star.
Image: Comparison of the orbits of Mercury, Venus and Earth in the solar system Gliese 581. The Gliese 581 system is much smaller than our solar system. (Image from Steven Vogt, http://www.ucolick.org/ ~ vogt /)
Planet G has at least three times the mass of Earth. It's enough to trap gas in its surface and create an atmosphere. The moon, by comparison, has no atmosphere because of their small mass, one sixth that of Earth. A year on the planet G has only 37 days and the distance to the sun is about one sixth of the Sun to Earth. In our solar system would mean very high temperatures on its surface. But Gliese 581 is a red dwarf, dimmer and cooler than the Sun to planet temperatures may be similar G to ours. It is also curious that there is no day. As always see the same side of the Moon from Earth, the planet G always shows the same side towards Gliese 581. So on one side is always the other day while in perpetual darkness rules.
course, the results do not confirm the presence of liquid water on the planet. All you can say is that there is some likelihood of its surface. And with the water, extraterrestrial life becomes a real possibility. Steven S.
Vogt, R. Paul Butler, Eugene J. Rivera, Nader Haghighipour, Gregory W. Henry, & Michael H. Williamson (2010). The Lick-Carnegie Exoplanet Survey: A 3.1 M_Earth Planet in the Habitable Zone of the Nearby Star Gliese 581 M3V arXiv arXiv: 1009.5733v1
20 rotations to solve the Rubik cube, and Google helps prove
Rubik's Cube came to light for the first time in 70 years. Since then a community of scientists and enthusiasts looking for the minimum number of rotations that are needed to reach from any initial position to the position with all the colors sorted. This minimum number is called God's number. And it turns out is 20. In any case it takes more than 20 rotations.
The proof of this result is not a lot of mathematical formulas, but a computer program that has all possible initial fixed hub. As stated on the website cube20.org , the official website of the project, current computer would take about 35 years to calculate all the solutions to be waiting a long time. And here comes Google who donated their time free of computers for calculation, reducing their time to a few weeks.
In principle there are 43,252,003,274,489,856,000 different positions of the cube. But some of these are equivalent in the sense that its solution is very similar. For example, an initial position is transformed into another by rotating the cube by 90 degrees, without rotating any of its parts. Although at first view seems to be another problem, the solution is the same. In this way, and other tricks could reduce the number of initial positions 55,882,296, and shortens the computation time tremendously. The vast majority of initial positions can be resolved in less than 20 rotations, some at 20, but there is no position that requires more than 20.
The search for the number of God to the Rubik's cube has come to an end. 30 years, much thought and a high computational capacity were needed to find it.
Some of us spend enough time playing with computer. This coupled with the human ability to solve puzzles could be used to help science: on the website fold.it , protein folding has become a game in which the highest score for the state of lowest protein energy. The player who finds the structure that is closer to its optimal structure of the protein takes the most points and win well. Since there are many who are playing, and all of them now are co-authors of a recent publication in the journal Nature describing the scientific game online Foldit.
Proteins are biomolecules that sustain life functioning of all organisms. Enzymes and hormones, for example, belong to the group of proteins. Hemoglobin, the blood that carries oxygen is too, such as collagen. The function of a protein in a body as our body depends on its shape and structure. This structure is usually quite complicated and difficult to predict. But without knowing the structure, one can not know how the biomolecule. Hence the interest in solving the structure of a protein. Learn how to predict a structure, for example, may be useful in the development and synthesis of new drugs.
In recent years, the use of computers has become very popular for studying protein structure. Given to a program based on a structure of a protein and it tries, based on various chemical and physical rules, search for other structures better. It is a slow process and does not always give satisfactory results. Alternatively, a group of molecular biologists take advantage of our affinity for the game and our ability to solve puzzles. Foldit In the game, the player is confronted with the structure of a protein and have to find another better structure. Bending, folding, twisting, and other movements through parts of the molecule are obtained several protein structures of different energies. The highest score corresponds to the best structure, ie the lowest energy.
turns out that in many cases the structures found players better than computer programs. Sometimes, to reach a new lower energy structure, must pass through structures with very high energies. For a human player does not mean no problem if he thinks that the structure where you want to reach will have a lower energy than the first. These types of software, on the other hand, are not scheduled to undergo high-energy structures. This will not make any major changes in the structure and thus find the optimal structure.
Foldit is a prototype of how to use the tremendous capacity Science and human progress. Besides scientist at universities and other research institutions, forming a kind of scientific citizen, the amateur interested in contributing what they can. Playful, yet learning, supports and contributes to the research process. They conclude: "Our results indicate that scientific progress is possible if you can channel, even a small fraction of the energy spent playing computer games to scientific discoveries."
Cooper S, Khatib F, Treuille A, Barber J, Lee J, Beenen M, Leaver-Fay A, Baker D, Popović Z, & Players F (2010). Predicting Protein Structures with a multiplayer online game. Nature, 466 (7307), 756-60 PMID: 20686574
The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) is a year orbiting the moon. Is a satellite that takes images of the surface of the Moon and, among other things, measure its temperature. And you can find the first images in the website of NASA:
found a place in the Hermite crater where it only -248 ° C, which appears to be the lowest temperature ever measured in our solar system:
Credit: NASA / Goddard / University of California, Los Angeles
also took pictures on the side of the Moon never seen from Earth. In this image, the color indicates the elevation / depression of the lunar surface. Red means high, blue low. The highest point rises over 6,000 meters and lowest point is 6,000 meters below the surface. In comparison, due to their different diameters, a mountain of 6,000 meters on the moon would be one of 22,000 meters on Earth. Only Mount Everest is about 9,000 meters.
Credit: NASA / Goddard
Mountains on the Moon were formed by tectonic movement as on Earth, a process that takes millions of years. On the Moon, asteroid impacts earth move so much in just a few seconds, enough to form peaks and elevations that have nothing to envy to the mountains on Earth.
Credit: NASA / Goddard / Arizona State University
On the other hand, the LRO observed the landing of Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong, where and Buzz Aldrin were the first humans to set foot on soil alien. You can see the landing site where a portion of the lander was left behind. Also are the footprints of the astronauts and the remains of his team.
The proton is a tiny particle with a neutron to form the nucleus of atoms. It turns out that these protons are smaller than previously thought. New measures of the Paul Scherrer Institute in Switzerland as the radius of the proton give a value of 0.84184 femtómetros (an equivalent to a milbillónesima femtómetro of a meter), 4% smaller than previous measured values. (For comparison, the thickness of a sheet of paper in relation to the radius of the Earth does not matter that the radius of the proton in relation to the thickness of the sheet.) does not seem much but it has important implications for physics. You can imagine how extremely difficult it is to measure the size of something so tiny.
The experiment to calculate the range consisted of a hydrogen gas in which electrons are exchanged atoms for muons. A muon is a particle very similar to the electron but 200 times heavier. The important thing here is that they have exactly the same load. It can acquire the site of the electron (driving it) in a hydrogen atom is stabilized by electrostatic interaction between the positively charged nucleus and negatively charged muon. Due to the greater weight of the muon orbits - their way of moving in an atom - are altered compared to the electron. And this change in the movement as accurate a measure faciliti.
In an excited atom, the muon is in an orbit with higher energy orbit in part, its preferred state. Eventually decays, this means that the muon orbit pass high to low, driving down the road a photon. The energy of this photon has the same energy as the difference between the two levels. In addition, energy is characteristic for the proton-muon system and depends on the radius of the proton. By detecting the energy of these photons the researchers could calculate the radius of the proton, which turned out to be smaller than they had expected.
Although a difference of only 4 percent of the above measures not enough, has implications for physics. Unfortunately, even the scientists themselves know the origin of this discrepanica. Maybe the theories used is no longer accurate enough and require further adaptation. Or end up not fully understanding the nature of the muon and the way they interact with the proton. This is one of those cases where en un deja más prequntas experiment by challenging them to solve it originally querían.
Pohl, R., Antognini, A., Nez, F., Amaro, F. Biraben, F., Cardoso, J., Covita, D., Dax, A., Dhawan, S. Fernandes , L., Giesen, A., Graf, T., Hänsch, T., Indelicato, P., Julien, L., Kao, C., Knowles, P., Le Bigot, E., Liu, Y. Lopes, J., Ludhova, L., Monteiro, C., Mulhauser, F., Nebel, T., Rabinowitz, P., dos Santos, J., Schaller, L., Schuhmann, K., Schwob, C. , Taqqu, D., Veloso, J., & Kottmann, F. (2010). The size of the proton Nature, 466 (7303), 213-216 DOI: 10.1038/nature09250
In 79 AD, an eruption of Vesuvius Vulcan completely devastated the Roman town of Pompeii. Hundreds of people died as a result, leaving behind a village destroyed and covered with ashes.
seems that until now there was some controversy about what exactly were the causes of death, especially taking into account the positions where the victims were found.
image: Vesuvius Pompeii ruins (wikipedia)
All the bodies were covered with ash. Some were kept in positions that seem frozen images of normal life, some sleeping and others in positions that indicate a struggle of agony.
The explosion of a volcano, the eruption is accompanied by a mixture of gas, ash and rocks scattered around the mountain at high speed. It is this mixture that we must seek the reason for the deaths and so peculiar posture in which the bodies were. Among the possible causes of death include asphyxiation from lack of oxygen in the smoke, a possible high pressure wave with enough power to destroy buildings or toxic gases that carry a slow death.
Giuseppe
Mastrolorenzo An alternative offer, Pierpaolo Petrone, Lucia Pappalardo and Fabio Guarino in its publication Thermal Lethal Impact at Periphery of Pyroclastic Surges: Evidences at Pompeii. They conclude that probably the inhabitants of Pompeii were killed by high temperatures between 250 ° C and 300 ° C with an exposure time of only a few minutes. So possibly they were surprised by the avalanche hot ashes without time to seek shelter or, or even to change positions.
This explanation is consistent with the positions of the bodies (see image at right, credit: PLoS ONE). The force of the avalanche was not enough to break their bodies, then excluding that possibility. Choking is a slow process, as is death by poisoning, which causes conflict with the positions that look like statues found capturing movement. Exposure of a human body relativamenta high temperatures, on the other hand, explain why human remains are in such good condition.
And so the killings are cleared in Pompeii.
Mastrolorenzo, G., Petrone, P., Pappalardo, L., & Guarino, F. (2010). Thermal Lethal Impact at Periphery of Pyroclastic Surges: Evidences at Pompeii PLoS ONE, 5 (6) DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0011127
In principle, there is no researcher would happen to pull one of their tools down. Normally scientists are careful experiments are their instruments and apparatus. And because these are usually very sensitive and expensive. However, from the tip of a tall tower dropped a tool that is usually fixed in a laboratory and used to generate Bose Einstein condensates. I dropped 146 meters.
A Bose Einstein condensate is a state of matter in which all atoms have the same energy to a very low temperature. This gas is so cold that all the atoms act as a single particle. This state of matter can only be explained with the help of quantum mechanics and has no analogue in classical physics. However, generating this state of matter is quite complicated. In this particular case, scientists used about Theodor Hänsch of rubidium atoms and cool a gas got done for the atoms to less than -273 ° C, very close to zero temperature absoute. After 10,000 atoms trapped in a magnetic field with the help of lasers. Just these atoms form a Bose Einstein condensate. In comparison, an empty cup contains 10 21 air particles, 1 with 21 zeros. In other words, many more.
be bothered to adapt the instrument to be able to throw almost 150 meters so you can observe the effect of weightlessness on the atoms. In a laboratory near the machine always influences the severity measure. In free fall, however, the atoms do not feel the gravitational field. Since the instrument in the laboratory was rather cumbersome, scientists had to minimize it over: vacuum chamber in which there is Bose Einstein condensate with necessary pumps, lasers, electronics and batteries, etc.. Now everything fits into a cylinder of two meters and a diameter of 80 cm. In the chart below you see the tower and capsule:
image: Science
There is also a video of one of the fall of the capsule. At the end comes in a container filled with plastic balls to soften the impact. This braking slows the capsule with an equivalent of 50 times the earth's gravitational acceleration.
Although the results presented in the publication are nothing revolutionary, the experiment looks promising. Testing the effects of gravity on quantum systems such as Bose Einstein condensate can clarify the boundary that still exists between the mechanical quantum theory and general relativity the .
Tv Zoest, N. Gaaloul, Y. Singh, H. Ahlers, W. Herr, ST Seidel, W. Ertmer, E. Rasel, M. Eckart, E. Kajari, S. Arnold, G. Nandi, WP Schleich, R. Walser, A. Vogel, K. Sengstock, K. Bongs, W. Lewoczko-Adamczyk, M. Schiemangk, T. Schuldt, A. Peters, T. Könemann, H. Munting, C. Lämmerzahl, H. Dittus, T. Steinmetz, TW Hänsch, J. Reichel, Bose-Einstein Condensation in Microgravity , Science, June 18, 2010
For readers want more information on the entrance of the artificial cell on the website of El Mundo is an interesting special on the genome called "life map." The tenth anniversary of sequencing the human genome is the origin of this article contains graphic images and interesting background information.
many planets are there? So far we have identified a number of extrasolar planets, called exoplanets, planets beyond our solar system. The account of early June 2010 is 461 as per page exoplanet.eu web. But this has increased dramatically on June 14, when NASA announced the first results of the Kepler space telescope. They identified 706 new candidates. And that will include data from the first 43 days of observation. As you can see, this number is quite larger than all the planets that have been found over the past 15 years since the first was found in 1995.
Kepler telescope and observation area (field of view). Credit: NASA / JPL
The Kepler telescope is similar to the Hubble telescope, floating outside the Earth's atmosphere offers a splendid view to the stars. The advantage is that there are no clouds or bad weather or atmospheric disturbances. Exoplanet candidates detected by measuring the brightness of stars. If the light is changing periodically, possibly there are planets circling the star, taking some of the light reaching the telescope when passing in front of the star.
light curves of transit (transit light curves), when a planet passes in front of a star, the brightness (flux) decreases. Credit: NASA / Kepler Mission
The Kepler aims at all times to a region in the same constellation, Cygnus, Lyra, and has the ability to change their area of \u200b\u200bobservation. But there are many stars in that constellation to be busy for a long time.
The ultimate goal is to find habitable exoplanets. For that several conditions must be met. The star has to be similar to the Sun, the exoplanet of similar size to Earth and must be a planet-star distance similar to that between the Sun and Earth. Only then can we ensure that there is water, the basis of all life as we know it.
The Kepler telescope will be measuring at least 3 ½ years, if not more. Much time to find many more exoplanets. Perhaps some like Earth, and therefore with the potential to harbor life.
