Science and Inventions

Researchers of the University of Bristol have reached to a detergent that can attract the oil spills from the water as a magnet. The detergent is formed from dissolved iron ions in a solution that contains chloride ions, bromide ions and other ions, the solution then works like a magnet that would break the surface of the layer of organic solution. Then the detergent could be easily restored and used again.

Scientists have long been searching for a way to control soaps (or surfactants as they are known in industry) once they are in solution to increase their ability to dissolve oils in water and then remove them from a system. The team at the University of Bristol have previously worked on soaps sensitive to light, carbon dioxide or changes in pH, temperature or pressure. Their latest breakthrough, reported in Angewandte Chemie, is the world’s first soap sensitive to a magnetic field.

Ionic liquid surfactants, composed mostly of water with some transition metal complexes (heavy metals like iron bound to halides such as bromine or chlorine) have been suggested as potentially controllable by magnets for some time, but it had always been assumed that their metallic centres were too isolated within the solution, preventing the long-range interactions required to be magnetically active.

Its magnetic properties also makes it easier to round up and remove from a system once it has been added, suggesting further applications in environmental clean ups and water treatment. Scientific experiments which require precise control of liquid droplets could also be made easier with the addition of this surfactant and a magnetic field.

The major Tsunami that hit Japan in March led to the damage of the nuclear plant Fukushima-Daiichi, as the heat of the reactor kept rising the Japanese tried to cool the reactor by using huge quantities of seawater.

Professor Alexandra Navrotsky of the University of California, Davis have been searching since that time for a way to corrode the nuclear fuel using seawater to get uranium compound that can be transported.

eurekalert

But Navrotsky and others have since

discovered a new way in which seawater can corrode nuclear fuel, forming uranium compounds that could potentially travel long distances, either in solution or as very small particles. The research team published its work Jan. 23 in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Uranium in nuclear fuel rods is in a chemical form that is “pretty insoluble” in water, Navrotsky said, unless the uranium is oxidized to uranium-VI — a process that can be facilitated when radiation converts water into peroxide, a powerful oxidizing agent.

Peter Burns, professor of civil engineering and geological sciences at the University of Notre Dame and a co-author of the new paper, had previously made spherical uranium peroxide clusters, rather like carbon “buckyballs,” that can dissolve or exist as solids.

In the new paper, the researchers show that in the presence of alkali metal ions such as sodium — for example, in seawater — these clusters are stable enough to persist in solution or as small particles even when the oxidizing agent is removed.

In other words, these clusters could form on the surface of a fuel rod exposed to seawater and then be transported away, surviving in the environment for months or years before reverting to more common forms of uranium, without peroxide, and settling to the bottom of the ocean. There is no data yet on how fast these uranium peroxide clusters will break down in the environment, Navrotsky said.

The planets can be classified to two parts the first is the 4 inner planets that are composed from rocks and metals and they are Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars. The other part is the 4 outer planets which are different in the composition, where Jupiter and Saturn consist of hydrogen and helium, while Uranus and Neptune consists of ices of water, methane and ammonia.

Mercury is the smallest planet on the solar system, it is the nearest planet to the sun, it was first mentioned in                 the 14th century by an Assyrian astronomer. The Romans were the people that gave it the name.

Venus is the neighbour planet of the earth, it even considered the earth’s sister as they both are alike in their compositions and their gravity. Due to its shinning it has been noticed thousands of years ago. It was mentioned in the year 1032 by the Persian astronomer Avicenna (980-1037), the Romans gave it his name. Galileo Galilei  (1564-1642) the famous Italian scientist and astronomer proved that Venus orbits around the sun by his telescope.

Information about our planet Earth has been discovered throughout years, you can find those discoveries in the post Who Discovered The Truth About The Earth? The moon orbits around the Earth, it was first explored by the Russians in the years 1959-1976, but the first man whom walked on the moon was the American Neil Armstrong in the year 1969.

Mars the red planet is the other neighbour of the Earth, it was mentioned by the Babylonians and Egyptians and Greeks, each of them called it a different name but as the other planets the Romans gave it the name that we use now. There are two moons that orbit around Mars, they were discovered in the year 1877 by the American astronomer Asaph Hall (1829-1907).

Between the Inner planets and the Outer planets exists the Asteroid belt which are small planets. Some scientists believe that their number can reach up to 750 thousands planets, along with millions of asteroids. The first to suggest it, was Charles Bonnet (1720-1793) the  Swiss naturalist in the year 1766. Giuseppe Piazzi (1746-1826) the Italian priest was the first to notice it in the year 1801. In the year 1802, William Herschel (1738-1822) the German British astronomer called the objects asteroids.

Jupiter is the first planet on the outer planets. It was first noticed in the 7th century by the Babylonians. Jupiter was the first planet to be measured due to the researches of  Hippolyte Fizeau (1819-1896) a French physicist who noticed that using an array of small instruments, the diameter of a star can be measured. Then Albert Abraham Michelson (1852-1931) the American physicist used this information in the year 1891 to measure the Jupiter diameter.

Saturn is the second planet in the outer planets, it is distinguished by its rings. It was observed by the naked eye by the ancient Babylonians astronomers, also the ancient Romans gave it its name. Galileo Galilei was the first to notice Saturn’s rings in the year 1610, but he mistaken the rings for two moons. Christiaan Huygens (1629-1695) a Dutch mathematician and astronomer discovered the rings and 4 planets of saturn. There are 62 moons that orbits around Saturn.

Next there is Uranus, that was first thought of as a star, John Flamsteed (1646-1719) the English astronomer was the first to observe the planet in the year 1690, William Herschel assured that fact after he invented his telescope.

Neptune is the last planet on the solar system. Galileo was the first to spot it in the year 1612.

There are also dwarf planets Ceres, Pluto, Haumea, Makemake and Iras.

University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have announced that the its researchers have reached to new fluorescent dyes that are able to highlight the electric activity in neuronal membranes in order to make those activities optical.

The ability to visualize these small, fast-changing voltage differences between the interior and exterior of neurons – known as transmembrane potential – is considered a powerful method for deciphering how brain cells function and interact.
However, current monitoring methods fall short, said the study’s first author Evan W. Miller, a post-doctoral researcher in the lab of Roger Tsien, PhD, Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator, UC San Diego professor of pharmacology, chemistry and biochemistry and 2008 Nobel Prize co-winner in chemistry for his work on green fluorescent protein.
The new method employs dyes that penetrate only the membrane of neurons, either in in vitro cells cultured with the dye or, for this study, taken up by neurons in a living leech model. When the dyed cells are exposed to light, neuronal firing causes the dye momentarily to glow more brightly, a flash that can be captured with a high-speed camera.

Coal is a kind of sedimentary rocks that can be easily combusted. The coal is typically found in layers that was formed hundreds of millions years ago, from buried forests in the presence of high temperature and pressure the . Coal is composed from hydrogen, oxygen, sulfur and nitrogen combined with the main component carbon.

The first to mention coal was Theophrastus (371 B.C.-287 B.C.) the Greek scientist, it was used to makes roads, and by the blacksmiths.

More than four thousands years ago the British people used the coal in the funeral pyres.

The Romans were using the coal of England by the beginning of the second century, it was used by the blacksmiths and it was exported to various places.

In the 4th century the Chinese were using the coal as a sort of fuel.

The High Middle Ages between the 10th and 14th centuries, the importance of coal has arose in Britain, it was used by the blacksmiths and lime burners for building the Westminster Abbey.

By the 13th century, large amounts of coal were needed by the beginning of the Industrial revolution and the use of steam engine.

In the beginnings of the 18th century the underground mining for coal started only as a result for consuming the outcrop coal.

The coke is a type of coal that are formed from solid carbonaceous and it manufactured from Bituminous coal.

The Chinese were the first to use coke in the 9th century for heating and cooking.

In the 11th century the Chinese blacksmiths started using coke as a fuel instead of trees.

In the year 1603, Hugh Plat (1552-1608) the English inventor reached for the idea that the coke can be used as charcoal. His idea was used in the year 1642 in roasting malt to make beer.

In the year 1709, Abraham Darby I (1678-1717) used the coke in the industry of cast iron.

The device is automatically activated when the vehicle is moving, using blue-tooth signals is prevent the cellphone in the vehicle from calling, messaging, emailing and even internet accessing. The device can protect itself from ampering, and it even report it in a message. The device is put in the vehicle’s under-dash OBD-II interface.

The device does not control the Apple devices, the device also does not communicate with the cellphones that did not install the app of Scosche, those are the disadvantages of the device, but hopefully they would overcome those disadvantages in the near future.

The advantage of the device is that it would allow the calls of the cellphone to work if it was attached to a hand-free headset.

The device will prevent teenagers from using the phone while driving, it can also be used in the fleet vehicles to prevent the drivers from using their phones.

Now, you might say “What’s the point when you can just unplug the trigger?” And you’d have a point if this system was destined for you. But it’s destined for mostly young drivers and fleet drivers. See, if you remove the trigger, the application sends an email of a text to the administrator of the system. That can be a concerned dad or a responsible fleet manager. And just like that, letting the kids drive the car became a little safer for everyone.

Here’s the only problem: it doesn’t appear to work on iPhones! The website lists “All Android 2.1 and above, all BlackBerry 4.5 and above, all Windows Mobile 5 & 6, all Symbian S60 (3rd Edition) and select Brew and BREWMP systems.” And “RIM, HTC, Samsung, Sanyo, Motorola, Nokia, Pantech, LG, Palm, Sony Ericsson and more.” There’s no mention of Apple or iOS anywhere. Still, lots of people don’t own iPhones.

The artificial pacemaker is the device which controls the heart beats in order to help the patients who have cardiac problems.

The idea appeared first in the year 1899, by the British J.A. McWilliam when he discovered that an electrical impulse can affect the heart by controlling the ventricular contractions reaching 60 or 70 beat/minute.

In the year 1926, Dr. Mark Lidwell (1878-1969) The Australian doctor, along with Edgar Booth The Australian physicist, invented a device that could control the heart beat through using a light source. The device was used to help a new born baby.

In the year 1932, Albert Hyman (1893-1972) the American cardiologist invented a device that was using a spring-wound motor that works by hand. Hyman was the first to use the term artificial pacemaker.

In the year 1950, the Canadian electrical engineer John Hopps (1919-1998) invented another external pacemaker using the notes of the Canadian surgeon Wilfred Gordon Bigelow (1913-2005), Hopps used the electricity from the plugs in the wall. But Hopps device was very painful for the patients that used it.

Paul Zoll (1911-1999) the American cardiologist, invented a smaller device and it got its power from a rechargeable battery .

In the year 1958, the Colombian engineer Jorge Reynolds Pombo born in the year 1936, invented in England a device that used a battery with 12 volt. Pombo device was used to help an old man by connecting the  electrodes to his heart.

In the same year across the ocean the American engineer Earl Bakkenborn in the year 1924, was able to reach for the first wearable pacemaker. The device was put in a plastic box which controlled the beats of the heart through the electrodes that was attached to the surface of the heart.

In Sweden in the year 1958 also the first implanted pacemaker was used by the Swedish surgeon Åke Senning ((1915-2000). Senning used the device that was invented by the Sweden inventor Rune Elmqvist (1906–1996). Arne Larsson was the first patient that used the pacemaker.

In the year 1971, Wilson Greatbatch (1919-2011) the American engineer made a breakthrough in the industry of pacemakers by using lithium anode cells which he invented.

The first biological pacemaker was used in the year 2001 in Hanover Medical School, using transplanted fetal heart muscle cells. In the year 2002, researchers in American American Heart Association used guinea pig model.

Gallstone are the crystallized concretion resulted from the bile in the gallbladder. The gallstone must be removed to avoid inflammation conditions or cholecystitis.

Typically the gallblader has to be removed completely to avoid the forming of more gallstone. The removing of the gallstone can be by using endoscopic retrograde sphincterotomy in case of that the gallstones are in the bile duct. Or in case of few gallstones, they can be broken using extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy, then the broken stones can pass to feces.

The scientists of Second People’s Hospital of Panyu District and Central South University in China, have reached for a new endoscope that can remove even tiny gallstones and leaving the gallbladder healthy.

The device has an ultrasonic probe at its tip, that is used to locate the stones. It can reportedly even find small ones, embedded in the lining of the gallbladder. While it isn’t entirely clear how the endoscope deals with larger stones (one would assume it blasts them apart), it is able to suck up fine, “sludge-like” stones using its horn-shaped “absorbing box.”
Should laparoscopic surgery be necessary, an integrated fluid channel can also be used to inject water into the gallbladder, to increase the size of its interior cavity. The device has standard interfacing hardware, so it can be connected to typical camera systems worldwide.
In clinical trials conducted at two hospitals, there was found to be little difference in the surgical safety of the new endoscope, and one commonly used for cholecystectomies. Additionally, its flexibility, reliability and image quality were reported to be better.

Scientists have searching for other sources of biofuels instead of those that are available now that are made from eatable sources.

Researchers from Bio Architecture Lab (BAL) announced that they reached a new technology that will use seaweed as a source of a cost effective biomass fuel. They reached a way to engineer a microbe that is able to extract the sugars in seaweed and convert it to renewable fuels and chemicals.

Because of its high sugar content, the fact it doesn’t require arable land or freshwater to grow, and is environmentally friendly, seaweed is seen as an ideal global feedstock for the commercial production of biofuels and renewable chemicals. According to BAL, less than three percent of the coastal waters globally is all that’s required to produce enough seaweed capable of replacing over 60 billion gallons (227 billion liters) of fossil fuel.

The BAL team’s breakthrough, which could help make this underutilized resource much more economically attractive, centers around an enzyme that is able to unlock and metabolize the polysaccharides within the seaweed.

BAL was a co-recipient of an award for the development of a process to convert sugars from seaweed into isobutanol from the U.S. Department of Energy’s new Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA-E).

When someone asks you about elementary school, high school, or even college, I’m sure a rush of mixed feelings flood into your mind. I can also safely assume that in the muck of all those stinky “meh” feelings comes from remembering how terribly painful and annoying it was carrying around and stuffing your back pack with all those text books. It always felt like you had more hardcover text books then you had actual classes.

Once again, and to little surprise, Apple seems to have come up with a way to eliminate the need for textbooks all together. With their incredibly popular and ever-successful iPad in the hands of millions Americans, Apple is changing the game. Again. With Pearson, McGraw-Hill, and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt are all working to provide digital textbooks for iPad’s for $14.99 or less.

On the surface this can be a revolutionary change to the way children learn in school. Many kids are already growing up in households where iPad’s and other similar technologies are used. They grow up accustomed to such things. The efficiency and ease children and teenagers will have in using iPad’s to pull up there History textbook will be breathtaking. No more backpacks full of books. Now just imagine your child bringing an iPad to school. Seems pretty far-fetched right?

The answer to that would be yes and no. The reality of iPad’s replacing all textbook use in school systems is as likely as every household in the US suddenly installing home solar panels on their roof tops. But a modern world where iPad’s were used alongside textbooks is incredibly likely. The cost of textbooks continue to be absurd and hardly affordable. College students can pay up to a thousand dollars a year on books, sometimes even more, just for two semesters’ worth of classes. Having a tablet with all of the classes textbooks just makes sense.

iPad’s also offer more than just “stored” textbooks. They can offer user-interactive content that books clearly are incapable of offering. A student can take notes, take quizzes, highlight, and do many countless other beneficial things with an iPad than a regular textbook. We have the power to have the entire world’s information in the palm of our fingertips. It seems perfectly logical to cross the realm of old-school teaching and finally phase out the textbook in favor of tablet computers.

Technology has and will continue to change and revolutionize our schools. Twenty years ago it was inconceivable to have a computer inside each and every class room. Who knows? In twenty years an iPad or other tablets may be used instead of textbooks.

Post sponsored in part by computer repair nj