Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Kates Playground Uncencored

graphene physics Nobel Prize for

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.

modelo del grafeno: red hexagonal de carbono
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:

0. Buckminsterfulereno
1.
carbon nanotubes 2. Graphene
3. graphite and diamond

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.

imagen que representa la relación entre el grafeno y los buckminsterfulerenos, los nanotubos de carbono y el grafito
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.

Friday, October 1, 2010

What Drinks Are Free On Princess Cruise

graphene is the first planet in the habitable zone

ResearchBlogging.org
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


Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Fatal Zopiclone Overdose

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.