Lifeboat Foundation

In late May, a collaborative study, led by Kailash Suhu, was published claiming that they had managed to identify the first ever isolated black hole, identified by shorthand as OB11046. While by itself, this discovery presents no new information with regards to their nature, it highlights the staggering progress we’ve made in recent years in detecting these bodies.

Previously, black hole detection was very much limited by the fact that they do not emit, nor reflect any detectable electromagnetic radiation. As such, astronomers were only able to infer their presence via two mechanisms.

The first is by tracking the orbits of nearby celestial bodies and observe whether their motion can be modelled by the forces experienced by their neighbours. Any unusual motion can usually be explained by a nearby black hole contributions. The second requires the black hole to form an accretion disk. As matter is caught in the intense gravitational field, it orbits the black hole and is accelerated to intense velocities, causing the material to emit certain wavelengths of high energy electromagnetic radiation, such as x-rays.

We’ve recently heard about efforts to replace some of the aggregate used in concrete with crumbled used tires. Now, scientists have succeeded in producing good quality concrete in which all of the aggregate has been replaced with tire particles.

In recent years, we’ve heard about efforts to replace some of the aggregate used in concrete with crumbled used tires. Now, however, scientists have succeeded in producing good quality concrete in which all of the aggregate has been replaced with tire particles.

Concrete consists of three parts: water, a cement which binds everything together, and an aggregate such as sand or gravel. That aggregate has to be mined from the ground, and is actually now in short supply in many parts of the world.

Continue reading “Scientists create quality concrete with 100% tire-rubber aggregate” »

The findings could aid the design of new multiphase materials for clean energy applications and beyond.

MIT researchers have developed a method for 3D printing materials with tunable mechanical properties, which can sense how they are moving and interacting with the environment. The researchers create these sensing structures using just one material and a single run on a 3D printer.

To accomplish this, the researchers began with 3D-printed lattice materials and incorporated networks of air-filled channels into the structure during the printing process. By measuring how the pressure changes within these channels when the structure is squeezed, bent, or stretched, engineers can receive feedback on how the material is moving.

These lattice materials are composed of single cells in a repeating pattern. Changing the size or shape of the cells alters the material’s mechanical properties, such as stiffness or hardness. For instance, a denser network of cells makes a stiffer structure.

A sheet of magic-angle twisted bilayer graphene can host novel topological phases of matter, a study has revealed.

Magic-angle twisted graphene, first discovered in 2018, is made from two sheets of graphene (a form of carbon consisting of a single layer of atoms in a honeycomb-like lattice pattern), layered atop one another, with one sheet twisted at precisely 1.05 degrees with respect to the other. The resulting bilayer has unusual electronic properties: for example, it can be made into an insulator or a superconductor depending on how many electrons are added.

The discovery launched a new field of research into magic-angle twisted graphene, known as “twistronics.” At Caltech, Stevan Nadj-Perge, assistant professor of applied physics and materials science, has been among the researchers leading the charge: in 2019, he and his colleagues directly imaged the electronic properties of magic-angle twisted graphene at atomic-length scales; and in 2020, they demonstrated that superconductivity in twisted bilayer graphene can exist away from the magic angle when coupled to a two-dimensional semiconductor.

This is the first definitive proof that the Moon inherited indigenous noble gases from the Earth’s mantle.

The Moon has long been a source of fascination for humans. The discovery is an essential piece of the puzzle in understanding how the Moon was formed. ‘Tom Dooley’ is the only instrument in the world capable of detecting such low helium and neon concentrations. A new study has found that Moon inherited the indigenous noble gases of helium and neon from Earth’s mantle.

Researchers from Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule (ETH), Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich, discovered the first definitive proof that the Moon inherited indigenous noble gases from the Earth’s mantle, according to a study published in the journal Science Advances on Wednesday.

Continue reading “Scientists find ‘exciting’ links of Moon’s origin to Earth’s mantle” »

One of the most beautiful and spectacular parts of the night sky is the Orion constellation.

Herbig-Haro object HH 505 is around 1,000 light-years from the Earth. HH objects are bright patches of nebulosity associated with newborn stars. The photograph was created with 520 ACS images in five different colors to get the sharpest view ever. The Hubble telescope has taken a new magical image of the Orion Nebula.

One of the most beautiful and spectacular parts of the night sky is the Orion constellation. The Orion Nebula is one of the Milky Way’s most studied and photographed objects and a nest of material where young stars are being formed. Alnitak, Saif, and Rigel are floating in a large, dense cloud of interstellar dust and gas between the stars.

Continue reading “Hubble Space Telescope captures stunning close-up of Orion Nebula” »

3D printed material:

MIT researchers manufactured objects made of flexible plastic and electrically conductive filaments. Some varieties of 3D-printed objects can now feel, using a new technique that builds sensors directly into their materials. 3D printing can be considered printing, although not as it’s traditionally been defined. The method opens opportunities for embedding sensors within architected materials, a class of materials whose mechanical properties are programmed through form and composition.

The researchers also created 3D editing software, known as MetaSense, to help users build interactive devices using these metamaterials. The new technique 3D-prints objects made from metamaterial substances made of grids of repeating cells. It was designed to conform to a person’s hand. When a user squeezes one of the flexible buttons, the resulting electric signals help control a digital synthesizer.