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First look inside Jupiter's Great Red Spot

First look inside Jupiter's Great Red Spot

The biggest storm in the Solar System has attracted a lot of attention over the years, but the extreme complexity of the storm system has only just recently come to light through intense study by the Very Large Telescope in Chile and the Subaru Telescope in Hawaii. They show that despite continuous upheaval the Spot is remarkably stable.

World’s largest clean room gets a “Webb” cam

World’s largest clean room gets a “Webb” cam

At 1.3 million cubic feet, the Goddard Space Flight Center’s High Bay Clean Room, where the components of the James Webb Space Telescope are now being assembled, circulates a staggering one million cubic feet of air per minutes, ensuring no more than 10,000 particles larger than 0.5 microns. Progress on the telescope can now be viewed by webcam.

Study validates general relativity on cosmic scale, existence of dark matter

Study validates general relativity on cosmic scale, existence of dark matter

An analysis of more than 70,000 galaxies by physicists in the U.S. and Switzerland demonstrates that the universe—at least up to a distance of 3.5 billion light years from Earth—plays by the rules set out 95 years ago by Albert Einstein in his General Theory of Relativity.

First measurement of the age of cometary material

First measurement of the age of cometary material

Though comets are thought to be some of the oldest, most primitive bodies in the solar system, new research on comet Wild 2 (including this TEM image of its material) indicates that inner solar system material was transported to the comet-forming region at least 1.7 million years after the formation of the oldest solar system solids.

Researchers create new antimatter

Researchers create new antimatter

A worldwide team of researchers have for the first time created a particle that is believed to have been in existence immediately after the creation of the universe. The full antinucleus—an antiproton, antineutron, and anti-Lambda particle—is the first to contain an anti-strange quark and represents the first nucleus to drop below the plane in the 3-D Periodic Table of Elements.

Dark matter lens helps measure the age of Universe

Astronomers from the United States and Europe have used a gravitational lens—a distant, light-bending clump of dark matter—to make a new estimate of the Hubble constant, which determines the size and age of the universe.

Blazars, Universe’s biggest accelerators, take on a new shape

Blazars, Universe’s biggest accelerators, take on a new shape

Jets of particles streaming from black holes in far-away galaxies operate differently than previously thought, according to a study published recently in Nature. A new study reveals that most of the jet's light—gamma rays, the universe's most energetic form of light—is created much farther from the black hole than expected and suggests a more complex shape for the jet.

SwRI to fly next-generation suborbital experiments

Over the next three years, Southwest Research Institute scientists will develop and fly microgravity and space astronomy experiments on multiple suborbital space flights. The project marks a new approach to low-orbit astronomy experiments, conducted “in the field”.

Images of extrasolar planet win award for outstanding paper

Images of extrasolar planet win award for outstanding paper

In the short time that the image of Fomalhaut—a star with a Jupiter-sized planet imaged by Hubble Space Telescope—was published by UC Berkeley’s Paul Kalas, it has become an icon. Why? The 2008 image was the first visible-light picture of an extrasolar planet.

Microwaving Moondust

Microwaving Moondust

Physics software simulates parameters for extracting water from the Moon. Preliminary data from NASA’s Lunar CRater Observing and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) indicates that the mission successfully uncovered water during the Oct. 9, 2009, impacts into the Moon’s south pole.

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Much ado about next to nothing

Much ado about next to nothing

The recent review of the past 10 years of the National Nanotechnology Initiative--as presented by the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology--suggested the rise of nanomanufacturing as the near future of nanotechnology. But the actual proposed funding reflects a cautious approach, even about nanotech in general.

Lunar tires, space MRSA, and resonating microfluidics

Lunar tires, space MRSA, and resonating microfluidics

I typically attend the annual Pittsburgh Conference on Analytical Chemistry and Applied Spectroscopy each year in pursuit of specific coverage. This year, I sought out candidates for coverage in a vacuum technology article, and pulled together some instruments for a spectroscopy guide. But as busy as that kept me, it wasn’t all mass spectrometers and vacuum pumps on the show floor.  

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NuGard Coating Ashburn Hill

NuGard Coating Ashburn Hill

NuGard First Response Protective Clothing are lightweight coveralls, jackets, and pants that provide protection from heat and flame while keeping the wearers body temperature constant.

Multi-Touch Music Maker

Multi-Touch Music Maker

Professor David Wessel shows his multi-touch interface that uses computer technologies that allow him to experiment with fine controls to "caress" the instrument.

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P2i showcases liquid repellent nano-coating for hearing aids
P2i showcases liquid repellent nano-coating for hearing aids

At the AudiologyNOW! 2010 show in San Diego next month, UK-based coatings company P2i will display their relatively new Aridion liquid-repellant nano-coating. Designed for exposure to humidity or sweat, the polymer layer is applied by a pulsed ion gas process that lower’s the hearing aid’s surface energy, coaxing water away from delicate components.

Submersible FlowCAM catches particle images and data in-situ and real-time

Fluid Imaging Technologies recently introduced its Submersible FlowCAM particle and cell imaging and analysis system at Ocean Sciences 2010 in Portland, Ore. The remote sensing platform can be used for continuous, unattended monitoring tethered to research vessels or autonomous submersibles.

Tools & Technology

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Benchtop NMR analyzer
Benchtop NMR analyzer

Oxford Instruments America, Inc.’s Magnetic Resonance Group released the second generation of its MQC analyzers.

Software solution for microarray image analysis

BioDiscovery Inc. released ImaGene 9.0 for microarray image analysis. The new features include improved memory performance for the latest high density arrays, streamlined processing pipeline focused on image quantification and intensity extraction, and new modular design with options to add modules for analysis of gene/miRNA expression or CGH data.

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