The SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY News Thread

[kyp275]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-21150046

[LoweGear]

Phys Org: Star Trek's 'tractor' beam created in miniature by researchers

Originally Posted by Phys Org

Although light manipulation techniques have existed since the 1970s, this is the first time a light beam has been used to draw objects towards the light source, albeit at a microscopic level. Researchers from the University of St Andrews and the Institute of Scientific Instruments (ISI) in the Czech Republic have found a way to generate a special optical field that efficiently reverses radiation pressure of light. The new technique could lead to more efficient medical testing, such as in the examination of blood samples.

In the US science fiction show, a tractor beam was a method of using a beam of light which could pull space-ships and other large objects towards the source of the light. The team, led by Dr Tomas Cizmar, Research Fellow in the School of Medicine at the University of St Andrews, with Dr Oto Brzobohaty and Professor Pavel Zemanek, both of ISI, discovered a technique which will allow them to provide 'negative' force acting upon minuscule particles. Normally when matter and light interact the solid object is pushed by the light and carried away in the stream of photons.

Such radiation force was first identified by Johanes Kepler when observing that tails of comets point away from the sun. Over recent years researchers have realised that while this is the case for most of the optical fields, there is a space of parameters when this force reverses. The scientists at St Andrews and ISI have now demonstrated the first experimental realisation of this concept together with a number of exciting applications for bio-medical photonics and other disciplines.

The exciting aspect is that the occurrence of negative force is very specific to the properties of the object, such as size and composition. This in turn allows optical sorting of micro-objects in a simple and inexpensive device. Over the last decade optical fractionation has been identified as one of the most promising bio-medical applications of optical manipulation allowing, for example, sorting of macromolecules, organelles or cells. Interestingly, the scientists identified certain conditions, in which objects held by the "tractor" beam force-field, re-arranged themselves to form a structure which made the beam even stronger.

Dr Cizmar said: "Because of the similarities between optical and acoustic particle manipulation we anticipate that this concept will provide inspiration for exciting future studies in areas outside the field of photonics." Dr Brzobohaty said: "These methods are opening new opportunities for fundamental phonics as well as applications for life-sciences." Professor Zemanek said: "The whole team have spent a number of years investigating various configurations of particles delivery by light. I am proud our results were recognised in this very competitive environment and I am looking forward to new experiments and applications. It is a very exciting time."

This is... EXCITING

[SaintessHeart]

Originally Posted by LoweGear

Phys Org: Star Trek's 'tractor' beam created in miniature by researchers



This is... EXCITING

We COULD invent a torchlight that uses this principle and shine it at girls - *gets bludgeoned to death with a flashlight*

[RRW]

The idea was to build a infrared display out of old remote controls, using the existing infrared LEDs as pixels of a low-res display. 625 old remote controls are mounted in a metal frame connected by individual wires to a modified Peggy 2 that runs the whole installation.

http://www.evilmadscientist.com/2013...mote-controls/

[ganbaru]

Originally Posted by SaintessHeart

We COULD invent a torchlight that uses this principle and shine it at girls - *gets bludgeoned to death with a flashlight*

They would still realize than it's you than are trying to lift their skirt, so you would still get the beating.

[RRW]

The prototype of the Q-313 (or F-313 according to the stencils applied to the aircraft), was presented to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and publicly displayed as part of the Ten-Day Dawn ceremonies held in Iran to celebrate the 1979′s victory of the Islamic Revolution.
In the previous days, the Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Ahmad Vahidi had said, “The aircraft will be different from the other fighter jets Iran has already made.”

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/irans...#ixzz2JkJsMQUe

[ganbaru]

Originally Posted by RRW

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/irans...#ixzz2JkJsMQUe

It do look interesting but some detail make me doubt of it's capacity, especialy looking at the side of the air intakes. I wonder what Vexx would think of it.

[SaintessHeart]

Originally Posted by ganbaru

It do look interesting but some detail make me doubt of it's capacity, especialy looking at the side of the air intakes. I wonder what Vexx would think of it.

It looks like a variable fighter from Macross, minus the legs.

[LoweGear]

Based on just the aesthetics, the plane looks absolutely sexy. All the problems listed though kinda kill the appreciation for it, especially the intakes being way too small for something that's supposed to be a high-performance fighter.

[Ithekro]

Reminds me a little of the fictional "Firefox" Soviet aircraft from the Clint Eastwood movie.

[RRW]

The largest solar sail ever constructed is headed for the launch pad in 2014 on a mission to demonstrate the value of "propellantless propulsion"— the act of using photons from the sun to push a craft through space.

Dubbed Sunjammer, the giant solar sail measures about 124 feet (38 meters) on a side and boasts a total surface area of nearly 13,000 square feet (1,208 square m, or one-third of an acre). The project is under the wing of NASA's Space Technology Program, within the agency's Office of the Chief Technologist.

http://www.space.com/19565-worlds-la...sunjammer.html

[JokerD]

Kind of old, but interesting nevertheless

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't ammonia toxic?

[kyp275]

Originally Posted by JokerD

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't ammonia toxic?

I'm no chemist, but I would imagine it'd depend on the specific mixture of the chemical. Still, it can't be overly healthy for people.

On the other hand, it's far better than being burned or smothered alive :3

[SaintessHeart]

Ammonia is only toxic when it is unstable, i.e fuming, concentrated or gaseous.

[Zakoo]

Originally Posted by JokerD

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't ammonia toxic?

The absolute rules : everything is tocix if you managed to absorb enough in your body.

Even coffee, takes 200 cup and you have 50% of dying.
Orange juice is somewhere around 4000 I believe.

[Kudryavka]

Originally Posted by JokerD

Kind of old, but interesting nevertheless

This will change the world for the better.

[SaintessHeart]

Originally Posted by Zakoo

The absolute rules : everything is tocix if you managed to absorb enough in your body.

Even coffee, takes 200 cup and you have 50% of dying.
Orange juice is somewhere around 4000 I believe.

Really? I have been consuming 2-3 anime worth of moe since 2003 and I am still alive.

Moe - the only drug that won't kill you.

[ganbaru]

Originally Posted by SaintessHeart

Moe - the only drug that won't kill you.

Directly, I am pretty sure than you are right but is that true for indirectly ? Who know what crazy or dangerous thing you did in the past because of moe

[Zakoo]

Originally Posted by SaintessHeart

Really? I have been consuming 2-3 anime worth of moe since 2003 and I am still alive.

Moe - the only drug that won't kill you.

I wonder about this, if little girls fears you as much as i fear manipulating hexavalent chromium, you are in a pretty bad situation in the toxico dangerousness.

[AnimeFan188]

Euro boffins plan supercomputer to Simulate Human Brain:

"The European Commission has selected the Human Brain Project (HBP) as one of
its Future and Emerging Technologies and will send it up to €1.19b over ten years
so it can build a supercomputer capable of simulating the human brain."

See:

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/02...brain_project/