Category → Technology
Scale to Weigh Atoms
Remember the old quetion about how many angels can dance on the head of a pin? Well even if nobody knows the answers to that one we can at least find out the weight of an atom. Scientist found that carbon nano tubes ultrathin fibers of carbon measuring only one atom thick can be used to determine the masses of atoms. Carbon nanotubes are a thousand times thinner than a human hair, a thousand times stronger than steel and are very good conductors of heat and electricity.
Since some carbon nanotubes can be semi conductors they can also function as a vibrating “string” that can measure the masses of an atom. If you are confused by this concept understand that a carbon nanotube is actually nothing more than a very htin and stiff piece of string that like all other strings can vibrate just as heavy string vibrate more slowly than light ones.
Nano Possibilities
Lets be frank. Nanotechnology ai an alien concept to many of us for those of uswho write about it, it takes tons of research just to be able to explain htese concepts in ways you would understand and make it interesting enough we hope for you think about. One of the problems lies in the fact that its hard to wrap our brains around the measures involved because they are so impossibly small. We’re told that a nanometer is a billionth of a meter and to help us understand that it is compared to a red blood cell a hair strand and a pinhead.
How about if i say that a single comma in the preceding sentence measures approximately half a million nanometers? Or that the nail on our pinkie is 10 million nanometers across? Or that shaquille O’neal is 2,160,000,000 nanometers tall, or that the convertion of one nanometer to one inch.
Made of Stardust
Stars are born when clouds of gas and dust combine. As these clouds become dense and heat up due to heavy gravity, their centers can became hotas 10 million degrees celsius. Because of this hydrogen and lighter elements like helium within the star fuse in a reaction called nucleosynthesis to became hevier elements like oxygen and iron. When the star finally dies it explodes in a supernova that sends this heavy element caross the universe . this later becomes a material in the creation of planets including our own planet earth, these elements that once came from stars iron, oxygen, and carbon now comprise the ingredients that combine to create life in our world.
In fact the iron in our blood and calcim in our bones come from heavy elements that originated from the stars. Researchers at the holifield radioactive ion beam facility have set out to prove this.
Inventors Makes their Mark
Although the may not be as advanced as First World countries in science and technology, that doesn’t stop from coming up with their own inventions despite the lacks of funding and support. At the 2008 nationals Inventors week, a wheelchair that also functions as a bed, toilet, and bath chair in addition to being a means of transport for the elderly and persons with dissabilities. This multipurpose chair was one of the finalist for the award given by the technology applications and promotios institute of the department of science and technology.
The inventors came up the idea for this chair after his brothers suffered as stroke and was paralized seeing the difficulty in caring for his invalid brothers he though a multipurposed wheelchair would makes things for his brother ang his caregivers. Unfortunately the invention is still not commercially available; it was patented only in October 2008.
Hubble Finds Carbon Dioxide on Remote Planet
For a long time, astronomers have wanted to find other life forms in faraway planets. Although this is still considered as science fiction scientist have recently become excited when the hubble space telescope discovered carbon dioxide in the atmosphere of an exoplanet. This jupiter sized planet called HD 189733b is 63 light years away and much too hot to support any form of life. However the mere discovery of carbon dioxide in atmospher es outside earth is already a fantastic achievement for astronomy.
What this discovery signifies is that there is further chance of discovering other planets in the future that migth have carbon dioxide and other earth like qualities those that may be able to support intelligent life. In early 2008 hubble found methane in the planets atmosphere. Also previous observation of HD 189733b by hubble and spitzer space telescope found water vapor.