%Scientists working in the States have successfully converted #carbondioxide in the #atmosphere into #carbon #nanofibers.% - http://clapway.com/2015/08/20/co2-converted-into-carbon-nanofibers-101/

What better way to take the antagonistic connotation out of the atmosphere’s growing CO2 concentration than by converting it into a manufacturing material? It sounds like good business, but perhaps good science is more than sufficient to crack a smile, for now.

CO2 IS CONVERTIBLE TO ADVANCED CARBON NANOFIBERS?

Scientists working in the States have successfully converted carbon dioxide in the atmosphere into carbon nanofibers. By running a figurative handful of electric volts through a vat of molten salt, a solar-powered system absorbs CO2, and nanofibers slowly collect at one of its electrodes.

This system can produce 10 grams per hour.

CO2 CONVERSION APPLICATIONS PROMISED TO BROADEN

Even better, the scientific team behind this new technology believes the process can be scaled up to a take in a quantity of carbon dioxide emissions to make a significant dent in the role CO2 plays in global climate change. However, other scientists are hesitant to agree.

But, if this were true, it would be a much cheaper method for making carbon nanofibers than we are currently capable of.

“Until now, carbon nanofibers have been too expensive for many applications,” commented Professor Stuart Licht of George Washington University while speaking at the autumn meeting of the American Chemical Society in Boston.

Carbon nanofibers are used in electronic components and batteries, but if the cost of production were brought down, they would be used more ubiquitously, and this would improve things like tough yet lightweight carbon composites used in aircraft and cars.

LARGE-SCALE CO2 PRODUCTION METHOD

Whether this is feasible in the near future rests on the question of the “one-pot” reaction, demonstrated by Professor Licht and crew. Interest in this process is peaking because of the wide spectrum of applications awaiting a more successful method of procurement.

Although more promises have been made than met, Professor Licht has utmost confidence in his design. “It scales up very easily – the entire process is quite low energy,” and this system could construct “a reasonable path to bring down CO2 levels in the atmosphere.”

Licht intends to adapt reactors of megalithic scale, and this is acquiring attention abroad. Dr. Katy Armstrong, chemical engineer at the University of Sheffield, claims the process is “promising and very interesting on a lab scale,” but that Licht’s grandiose plans may be just that – grandiose plans.

“As they are capturing CO2 from the air, the process will need to deal with huge volumes of gas to collect the required amount of carbon, which could increase process costs when scaled up,” Armstrong conveyed to the BBC.

LICHT’S CO2 PROCESS LAUDABLE IN ITS OWN RIGHT

A chemical engineer and clean energy researcher at Imperial College London named Dr. Paul Fennell said that “[i]f they can make carbon nanofibers, that is a laudable aim and they’re a worthwhile product to have.

“But if your idea is to take CO2 out of the atmosphere and produce so many carbon nanofibers that you make a difference to climate change – I’d be extremely surprised if you could do that.”

However, Professor Licht is undaunted by the scientific communities doubts; “[t]here aren’t any catches; there’s a necessity to work together, to test this on a larger scale, to apply some societal resources to do that.”

Whatever the ultimate scale of this process’ application turns out to be, many chemists are content to applaud Professor Licht’s team’s success at having even produced nanofibers from atmospheric carbon. And we should, too.

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THE WORLD’S GETTING HOTTER, SO STAY HYDRATED WITH HIDRATEME:

https://youtu.be/mwnF1BfXqlA

Can Atmospheric CO2 Be Converted Into Carbon Nanofibers?

PCR Technology to Make a Leap Once More - http://clapway.com/2015/07/31/pcr-technology-to-make-a-leap-once-more123/

The World of DNA Sequencing

It has always been the goal of humanity to understand the world around them, Aristotle looked to the stars, Einstein looked to atoms, and Freud looked to psychology. Therefore, it should come as no surprise that scientists have consistently delved into the microscopic world to learn more about diseases – specifically, what causes them and what can cure them. DNA sequencing helps in that process of finding cures for disease or treatments. But to do so, you must learn the lingo of DNA coding and understand the fundamentals of that.

The History and Emergence of PCR

Once one delves into the world of DNA, it becomes evident how intricate it really is. As such, PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction) was developed as a way to better sequence and copy DNA for further study. The entire process became a major game changer at the time it came out in the nineties. It even was recognized for its impact in 1993 with a Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

Today, PCR is used in a variety of practices for DNA: diagnosing disease, identifying bacteria, matching DNA in criminal cases, etc. Because sequencing DNA is a complex process, the same applies to PCR, which is partially why it takes so long to have a PCR test conducted. Fortunately, a new study could present a solution to that problem.

What the New Study Reveals

The study, which was conducted by researchers from the University of California in Berkeley, was published in Light Science & Applications. Of course, speeding up the PCR process has been talked about for years, and yet, no one was able to come up with a feasible way to carry it out.

To finally accomplish the task, researchers used LEDs to heat electrons in the DNA solution are heated on gold film, which acts as a conductor. By doing so, the temperatures increased at fifty-five degrees Fahrenheit per second and cooled down nearly as fast – only ten degrees slower than the heating process. With this new method, the PCR test can be conducted in minutes rather than hours.

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Everyday, technology is making it easier to tackle problems in science, medicine, and even at home.

PCR Technology to Make a Leap Once More

A less chaotic, more orderly moving molecular world is strange to consider. - http://clapway.com/2015/06/15/on-molecular-motion-freezing-cold-molecules-123/

If you’ve never thought about the temperature of molecules, these MIT researchers will have changed that fact. Cold molecules are now a plaything in MIT’s laboratory. In successfully cooling a gas of sodium potassium (NaK) molecules to a temperature of 500 nanokelvin (only a hair above absolute zero), they have done it — they have proven the theory griping scientists for decades.

The Molecular Motion Theory

Molecules surround us, in matter and space, in constant motion and interaction with one another. They move extremely fast, too. This is true of molecules at temperate temperatures. However, researchers have long suspected that if they were to be able to cool the temperature of a molecule to nearly absolute zero, the new cold molecules would subdue in a screeching halt, no longer frenzied in motion. The idea is that they would actually move more unanimously.

A Union of Cold Molecules

A less chaotic, more orderly moving molecular world is strange to consider. It’s so foreign because the reality is so different. No surprise there as collisions with other molecules were way less likely in their less frenzied, slowed motions. According to Physicists at MIT,  molecules “exhibited very strong dipole moments — strong imbalances in electric charge within molecules that mediate magnet-like forces between molecules over large distances.”

A professor in the physics department, Martin Zwierlein believes that with knowing normal temperature molecules are brimming with high energy, and the cold molecules become steadied, brings us closer to finding out the temperatures where quantum mechanics interacts hugely with the motion of molecules. In that case, these sodium potassium molecules would move like matter waves rather than randomly frenetically. Researchers have published their findings in Physical Review Letters.

Sodium Potassium (NaK) Molecule Dumbbell

Every single molecule — even the simples of them — is made up of atoms bonded to form its structure. Imagine a dumbell with the weights on either end representing individual atoms. The bar is the bond that holds the structure together. At simplest, they are held together by electromagnetism. MIT researchers tested on and cooled sodium potassium (NaK) molecules. NaK’s structure included a single sodium atom and a single potassium atom.

How To Cool Molecules

It is easier to make cold molecules that have a simple sort of form, imaginably (they move so freely). The tools the MIT research team used included a cooling laser to evaporatively cool cloud of individual sodium and potassium atoms. They were then made to bond using an electromagnetic field. They did this with a Feshbach resonance.

The Feshbach resonance technique was invented by another MIT physicist named Herman Freshbach. It creates a rather weak bond, however. The MIT team strengthened the bond with another technique again involving lasers. It was with this technique they were able to bring down the temperature and frenetic movement to its lowest. The cold molecules were now relatively chemically stable, especially in their kinetic energy state. The sodium potassium (NaK) molecule gas turned out to be quite stable. Zweirlein says that now we’re at 500 nanokelvins and this is already an accomplishment. With that, 10 degrees colder is an ideal for the future.

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A notebook for your best molecular science data as well as travel notes:

 

https://youtu.be/IhjE7kUwfv8

On Molecular Motion -- Freezing Cold Molecules