Cutting Water With A Hydrophobic Knife. 

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day 2016 February 11 

LIGO Detects Gravitational Waves from Merging Black Holes 

Gravitational radiation has been directly detected. The first-ever detection was made by both facilities of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) in Washington and Louisiana simultaneously last September. After numerous consistency checks, the resulting 5-sigma discovery was published today. The measured gravitational waves match those expected from two large black holes merging after a death spiral in a distant galaxy, with the resulting new black hole momentarily vibrating in a rapid ringdown. 

A phenomenon predicted by Einstein, the historic discovery confirms a cornerstone of humanity’s understanding of gravity and basic physics. It is also the most direct detection of black holes ever. The featured illustration depicts the two merging black holes with the signal strength of the two detectors over 0.3 seconds superimposed across the bottom. Expected future detections by Advanced LIGO and other gravitational wave detectors may not only confirm the spectacular nature of this measurement but hold tremendous promise of giving humanity a new way to see and explore our universe.

Non-Newtonian fluids are capable of all kinds of counter-intuitive behaviors. The animations above demonstrate one of them: the tubeless or open siphon. Once the effect is triggered by removing some of the liquid, the fluid quickly pours itself out of the beaker. This is possible thanks to the polymers in the liquid. The falling liquid pulls on the fluid left behind in the beaker, which stretches the polymers in the fluid. When stretched, the polymers provide internal tension that opposes the extensional force being applied. This keeps the fluid in the beaker from simply detaching from the falling liquid. Instead, it flows up and over the side against the force of gravity, behaving rather more like a chain than a fluid!  (Image credit: Ewoldt Research Group, source)

Storing electricity in paper

One sheet, 15 centimetres in diameter and a few tenths of a millimetre thick can store as much as 1 F, which is similar to the supercapacitors currently on the market. The material can be recharged hundreds of times and each charge only takes a few seconds.

It’s a dream product in a world where the increased use of renewable energy requires new methods for energy storage – from summer to winter, from a windy day to a calm one, from a sunny day to one with heavy cloud cover.

”Thin films that function as capacitors have existed for some time. What we have done is to produce the material in three dimensions. We can produce thick sheets,” says Xavier Crispin, professor of organic electronics and co-author to the article just published in Advanced Science.

Other co-authors are researchers from KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Innventia, Technical University of Denmark and the University of Kentucky.

The material, power paper, looks and feels like a slightly plasticky paper and the researchers have amused themselves by using one piece to make an origami swan – which gives an indication of its strength.

The structural foundation of the material is nanocellulose, which is cellulose fibres which, using high-pressure water, are broken down into fibres as thin as 20 nm in diameter. With the cellulose fibres in a solution of water, an electrically charged polymer (PEDOT:PSS), also in a water solution, is added. The polymer then forms a thin coating around the fibres.

”The covered fibres are in tangles, where the liquid in the spaces between them functions as an electrolyte,” explains Jesper Edberg, doctoral student, who conducted the experiments together with Abdellah Malti, who recently completed his doctorate.

The new cellulose-polymer material has set a new world record in simultaneous conductivity for ions and electrons, which explains its exceptional capacity for energy storage. It also opens the door to continued development toward even higher capacity. Unlike the batteries and capacitors currently on the market, power paper is produced from simple materials – renewable cellulose and an easily available polymer. It is light in weight, it requires no dangerous chemicals or heavy metals and it is waterproof.

The Power Papers project has been financed by the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation since 2012.

”They leave us to our research, without demanding lengthy reports, and they trust us. We have a lot of pressure on us to deliver, but it’s ok if it takes time, and we’re grateful for that,” says Professor Magnus Berggren, director of the Laboratory of Organic Electronics at Linköping University.

The new power paper is just like regular pulp, which has to be dehydrated when making paper. The challenge is to develop an industrial-scale process for this.

”Together with KTH, Acreo and Innventia we just received SEK 34 million from the Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research to continue our efforts to develop a rational production method, a paper machine for power paper,” says Professor Berggren.

Power paper – Four world records

Highest charge and capacitance in organic electronics, 1 C and 2 F (Coulomb and Farad).

Highest measured current in an organic conductor, 1 A (Ampere).

Highest capacity to simultaneously conduct ions and electrons.

Highest transconductance in a transistor, 1 S (Siemens)

Publication:

An Organic Mixed Ion-Electron Conductor for Power Electronics, Abdellah Malti, Jesper Edberg, Hjalmar Granberg, Zia Ullah Khan, Jens W Andreasen, Xianjie Liu, Dan Zhao, Hao Zhang, Yulong Yao, Joseph W Brill, Isak Engquist, Mats Fahlman, Lars Wågberg, Xavier Crispin and Magnus Berggren.  Advanced Science, DOI 10.1002/advs.201500305

Linköping University

The Atom and Its Quantum Mirror Image: Physicists Experimentally Produces Quantum-Superpositions, Simply Using a Mirror (click thru for ScienceDaily article)

_________

“This uncertainty about the state of the atom does not mean that the measurement lacks precision,” Jörg Schmiedmayer (TU Vienna) emphasizes. “It is a fundamental property of quantum physics: The particle is in both of the two possible states simultaneousely, it is in a superposition.” In the experiment the two motional states of the atom – one moving towards the mirror and the other moving away from the mirror – are then combined using Bragg diffraction from a grating made of laser light. Observing interference it can be directly shown that the atom has indeed been traveling both paths at once…“

A High-Bandwidth Interplanetary Connection

(click picture for link)

“A new study suggests that by twisting laser light, scientists could pack enough information into interplanetary beams to speed up extraterrestrial communications to the multi-gigabit level.…”

Youngster Galaxy Magnified by Abell 383

Hubble was first to spot this galaxy, one of the youngest in the distant universe. Its stars formed 13.5 billion years ago, a mere 200 million years after the Big Bang. The galaxy’s image is magnified by the gravity of a massive cluster of galaxies (Abell 383) parked in front of it, making it appear eleven times brighter. This phenomenon is called gravitational lensing.

Image Credit: NASA, ESA, J. Richard (Centre for Astronomical Research/Observatory of Lyon, France), and J.-P Kneib (Astrophysical Laboratory of Marseille, France).

This Is What Happens When You Dissolve an Antacid On the Space Station

Ever see an antacid dissolve in water…in space? Read more via io9.

Reid Wiseman Vines: That’s not the Sun, it’s the Moon setting on a gorgeous night.

The liquid oxygen/liquid methane engine, developed by Armadillo Aerospace with help from NASA, is tested in the vacuum chamber at NASA’s White Sands Test Facility, August 2009. (NASA)

Star Hen 2-427 more commonly known as WR 124 and the nebula M1-67 which surrounds it, found in the constellation of Sagittarius; ESA/Hubble & NASA, Judy Schmidt

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