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Tuesday, January 24, 2012

ScienceDaily: Top Technology News

ScienceDaily: Top Technology News


Scientists produce world's first magnetic soap

Posted: 23 Jan 2012 02:48 PM PST

Scientists have developed a soap, composed of iron rich salts dissolved in water, that responds to a magnetic field when placed in solution. The soap's magnetic properties were shown to result from tiny iron-rich clumps that sit within the watery solution. The generation of this property in a fully functional soap could calm concerns over the use of soaps in oil-spill clean ups and revolutionize industrial cleaning products.

Ultrafast magnetic processes observed 'live' using an X-ray laser

Posted: 23 Jan 2012 09:33 AM PST

In first-of-their-kind experiments, scientists have been able to precisely follow how the magnetic structure of a material changes. The study was carried out on cupric oxide (CuO). The change of structure was initiated by a laser pulse, and then, with the help of short X-ray pulses, near-instantaneous images were obtained at different points in time for individual intermediate steps during the process.

Graphene 'invisible' to water: How the extreme thinness of graphene enables near-perfect wetting transparency

Posted: 23 Jan 2012 09:31 AM PST

Graphene is the thinnest material known to science. The nanomaterial is so thin, in fact, water often doesn't even know it's there. Engineering researchers coated pieces of gold, copper, and silicon with a single layer of graphene, and then placed a drop of water on the coated surfaces. Surprisingly, the layer of graphene proved to have virtually no impact on the manner in which water spreads on the surfaces.

Revisiting the 'Pillars of Creation'

Posted: 18 Jan 2012 05:06 PM PST

In 1995, NASA's Hubble Space Telescope took an iconic image of the Eagle nebula, dubbed the "Pillars of Creation," highlighting its finger-like pillars where new stars are thought to be forming. Now, the Herschel Space Observatory has a new, expansive view of the region captured in longer-wavelength infrared light.

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