Physicists 'dissolve' water in an emerald
Moscow, Russia (SPX) Oct 06, 2016 -
Scientists from MIPT and several research teams working in Russia and other European countries have been the first to reliably realize and document the phenomenon of water molecular dipoles ordering by confining water molecules within nanocages in a beryl crystal. The results of their work have been published in Nature Communications.
In solid-state physics, the notion of ferroelectricity ...
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Scientists unveil first tetherless hopping robot
Pittsburgh (UPI) Oct 6, 2016 -
A team of engineers with Disney Research have designed and built the first tetherless hopping robot, capable of bouncing on a single leg without an external power source.
The robot's range of movement - bouncing on a single leg - limits its usefulness in the real world, but researchers believe untethering the robot will allow the battery-powered mechanism to be more easily incorporate ...
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More stable qubits in perfectly normal silicon
Delft, Netherlands (SPX) Oct 07, 2016 -
The power of future quantum computers stems from the use of qubits, or quantum bits, which do not have to be either 0 or 1, but can also be 0 and 1 at the same time. It is not yet clear on which technology these qubits in quantum computers will be based, but qubits based on electron spins are looking more and more promising.
It was thought that these could only be produced in the expensive ...
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Electrons in graphene behave like light, only better
New York NY (SPX) Oct 07, 2016 -
A team led by Cory Dean, assistant professor of physics at Columbia University, Avik Ghosh, professor of electrical and computer engineering at the University of Virginia, and James Hone, Wang Fong-Jen Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Columbia Engineering, has directly observed--for the first time--negative refraction for electrons passing across a boundary between two regions in a conduct ...
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New insights into how black carbon aerosols impact the atmospheric boundary layer
Reno NV (SPX) Oct 07, 2016 -
It is widely known that black carbon, or soot, aerosol particles emitted from South Asia are spread across the northern Indian Ocean during the winter monsoon season. These masses of air pollution adversely affect human health and have been shown to play a significant role in regional and global climate change, second only to carbon dioxide.
New research led by Eric Wilcox, Ph.D, an atmosp ...
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How evolution has equipped our hands with 5 fingers
Montreal, Canada (SPX) Oct 07, 2016 -
Have you ever wondered why our hands have exactly five fingers? Dr. Marie Kmita's team certainly has. The researchers at the Institut de recherches cliniques de Montreal and Universite de Montreal have uncovered a part of this mystery, and their remarkable discovery has just been published in the prestigious journal Nature.
We have known for several years that the limbs of vertebrates, inc ...
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Ice cores reveal slow decline in oxygen over past 800K years
Princeton NJ (SPX) Oct 07, 2016 -
Princeton University researchers have compiled 30 years of data to construct the first ice core-based record of atmospheric oxygen concentrations spanning the past 800,000 years, according to a paper in the journal Science.
The record shows that atmospheric oxygen has declined 0.7 percent relative to current atmospheric-oxygen concentrations, a reasonable pace by geological standards, the ...
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Case of the missing continental crust solved: It sank
Chicago IL (SPX) Oct 07, 2016 -
How do you make half the mass of two continents disappear? To answer the question you first need to discover that it's missing. That's what a trio of University of Chicago geoscientists and their collaborators did. Their explanation for where the mass went significantly changes prevailing ideas about what can happen when continents collide. It also has important implications for our understandin ...
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Military Support for Innovation Is a Matter of Culture
McLean VA (SPX) Oct 07, 2016 -
When Defense Sec. Ashton Carter reached out to Silicon Valley a year ago, the move was lauded as a Washington paean to innovation. Instead, it was only the first step toward a cultural-change goal.
"If we form a hypothesis and build an experiment, you have to be willing to be wrong," said Gen. Paul Selva, Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, to the Center for Strategic and Internati ...
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India Expedites Its Space Centric Warfare Program
New Delhi (Sputnik) Oct 10, 2016 -
The Indian Air Force (IAF) will soon receive approval from the Indian Space Research Organization for its own dedicated satellite. Air Vice Marshal Sandeep Singh Commandant of the Aircraft and Systems Testing Establishment (ASTE) said that the plan to have a dedicated satellite for IAF was on the move.
"The plan is in progress and we should soon have a dedicated satellite. It certainly doe ...
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Japan Schedules Cargo Transporter Launch to ISS for December 9
Tokyo (Sputnik) Oct 10, 2016 -
Japanese cargo spaceship KOUNOTORI6 is set to be launched to the International Space Station (ISS) on December 9, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency said Friday.
KOUNOTORI is an unmanned cargo transporter which will be launched with the H-IIB launch vehicle from Tanegashima Space Center.
It is designed to deliver up to 6 tons of food and clothes among other supplies.
Takuya ...
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NASA maps help gauge Italy earthquake damage
Pasadena CA (JPL) Oct 06, 2016 -
A NASA-funded program provided valuable information for responders and groups supporting the recovery efforts for the Aug. 24, 2016, magnitude 6.2 earthquake that struck central Italy. The earthquake caused significant loss of life and property damage in the town of Amatrice. To assist in the disaster response efforts, scientists at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Caltech, both in Pasadena, ...
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Opportunity at First Science Spot of its 10th Extended Mission
Pasadena CA (JPL) Oct 10, 2016 -
Opportunity is located at the terrain feature called 'Spirit Mount' on the rim of Endeavour Crater, the first science waypoint of the 10th extended mission.
The rover has been positioned near a surface featured called 'Gasconade'. On Sol 4507 (Sept. 27, 2016), Opportunity performed a tiny turn-in-place to position the robotic arm work volume around the feature Gasconade.
With the tur ...
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Closing windows on Shenzhou 11
Sydney, Australia (SPX) Oct 10, 2016 -
China's Shenzhou 11 spacecraft will carry two astronauts to the Tiangong 2 space laboratory this month. Exactly when this will happen is yet to be confirmed by the Chinese themselves.
At the time of writing, we are roughly a third of the way through October, and China hasn't discussed any recent progress on the launch.
A few crumbs of information have been supplied, such as the impro ...
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From nothing to glory in six decades - China's space program
Beijing (XNA) Oct 10, 2016 -
In China the number 60 is auspicious as it relates to a cyclic numeral system of the chronology. The past 60 years has seen China's space program develop from a concept to one success after another.
Saturday is the 60th anniversary of the beginning of China's space program. Over the past six decades, China has successfully developed its own processes and has become a space science power. ...
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Voyage of Time: Awe and Thought-Provoking Eye Candy
Tokyo (JPN) Oct 10, 2016 -
Fans of space odysseys, evolutionary storytelling, and tons of cosmic eye-candy will all have something to drool-and stew about--in "Voyage of Time," director Terence Malick's latest cinematic offering, which is set for October 7 release in the United States.
Meant as a documentary, the film is billed as "a one-of-a-kind celebration of life and the grand history of the cosmos, transporting ...
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Schiaparelli readied for Mars landing
Paris (ESA) Oct 10, 2016 -
This week, the commands that will govern the Schiaparelli lander's descent and touchdown on Mars were uploaded to ESA's ExoMars spacecraft, enroute to the Red Planet. The Trace Gas Orbiter has been carrying the Schiaparelli entry, descent and landing demonstrator since launch on 14 March. Upon arrival on 19 October, Schiaparelli will test the technology needed for Europe's 2020 rover to land, wh ...
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Sky Muster satellite performing post-launch maneuvers according to plan
Palo Alto CA (SPX) Oct 10, 2016 -
Space Systems Loral (SSL), a leading provider of innovative satellites and spacecraft systems, has announced that its second high throughput satellite designed and built for Australia's national broadband network (nbn) was launched on Wednesday afternoon and is successfully performing post-launch maneuvers according to plan.
The satellite, Sky Muster II, deployed its solar arrays on schedu ...
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Orbital ATK and Stratolaunch partner to offer competitive launch opportunities
Dulles VA (SPX) Oct 10, 2016 -
Orbital ATK and Stratolaunch Systems has announced a multi-year production-based partnership that will offer significant cost advantages to air-launch customers. Stratolaunch Systems, in cooperation with Vulcan Aerospace, is responsible for realizing Paul G. Allen's vision for space.
Under this partnership, Orbital ATK will initially provide multiple Pegasus XL air-launch vehicles for use ...
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TESS will provide exoplanet targets for years to come
Greenbelt MD (SPX) Oct 10, 2016 -
NASA's search for planets outside of our solar system has mostly involved very distant, faint stars. NASA's upcoming Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), by contrast, will look at the brightest stars in our solar neighborhood.
After TESS launches, it will quickly start discovering new exoplanets that ground-based observatories, the Hubble Space Telescope and, later, the James Webb ...
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IS-claimed bombing kills five in Baghdad
Baghdad (AFP) Oct 9, 2016 -
A bombing targeting Shiites in Baghdad killed at least five people and wounded 21 others on Sunday, Iraqi officials said, an attack claimed by the Islamic State jihadist group.
The attack struck the Baghdad Jadida area near a tent where Shiite Muslims provide refreshments to passersby as part of annual commemorations of the death of Imam Hussein, a revered figure in Shiite Islam.
IS, whi ...
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More than 140 killed in air strikes on Yemen funeral: UN
Sanaa (AFP) Oct 9, 2016 -
More than 140 people were killed and more than 525 wounded Saturday when air strikes hit a funeral ceremony in Yemen, a United Nations official said, with Huthi rebels blaming the attack on the Saudi-led coalition.
The coalition, which has come under increasing international scrutiny over alleged civilian deaths, denied any responsibility for the attack.
"The toll is very high: more than ...
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Iran offers to treat wounded from Yemen funeral air strike
United Nations, United States (AFP) Oct 9, 2016 -
Iran on Sunday requested help from the United Nations to send a plane to Yemen to evacuate the wounded from a deadly air strike on a funeral ceremony.
Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif expressed "shock and indignation" over the air strikes that killed more than 140 mourners and injured over 525 on Saturday.
The Iran-backed Huthi rebels blamed the Saudi-led coalition for the attack, o ...
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Fewer Russian strikes targeting IS: analyst
London (AFP) Oct 9, 2016 -
The proportion of Russian airstrikes in Syria targeting the Islamic State group is falling, suggesting Moscow's priority is to help the Assad regime rather than to combat terrorism, according to analysis published Sunday.
In the first quarter of 2016, 26 percent of Russian airstrikes in Syria targeted IS, according to the IHS Conflict Monitor.
That dipped to 22 percent in the second qua ...
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Angry anti-Saudi protest in Sanaa after funeral carnage
Sanaa (AFP) Oct 9, 2016 -
Thousands of Yemenis demonstrated in the capital Sanaa on Sunday to vent anger at Riyadh, head of a coalition accused of carrying out air strikes that killed at least 140 people at a funeral.
The protesters gathered outside UN offices in Sanaa and chanted "Death to Al-Saud," the Saudi royal family.
The rally, dubbed the "Volcano of Rage", came a day after bombs hit a funeral ceremony in ...
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