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martedì 10 marzo 2020
# gst: apropos of 'transitions', liquid-liquid transitions within a one- component system
giovedì 28 settembre 2023
# gst: reconfiguration and oscillations of sheets subject to vortex
giovedì 17 ottobre 2019
# gst: fingerprints of reality (2): the stormquake
sabato 19 dicembre 2015
# rmx-s-chem: a bizarre material
<< lanthanum aluminate film on a strontinum titanate crystal >> ... plus water
<< (..) a mysterious material emits ultraviolet light and has insulating, electrical conducting, semiconducting, superconducting, and ferromagnetic properties — all controlled by surface water >>
http://www.kurzweilai.net/mystery-material-stuns-scientists
Mohammad A. Islam, Diomedes Saldana-Greco, et al. Surface Chemically Switchable Ultraviolet Luminescence from Interfacial Two-Dimensional Electron Gas. Nano Letters, 2015; DOI: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.5b04461
venerdì 25 giugno 2021
# gst: apropos of transitions, tsunami waves generated by granular collapses.
sabato 7 dicembre 2019
# gst: apropos of clogging and jamming, they are not really jammed, they move steadily, if slowly, downwards
lunedì 8 maggio 2017
s-ecol: inflatable poo emojis (onto Lake Ohakuri) to underline new standards
<< Protesters from the Action Station group launched 50 inflatable poo emojis onto Lake Ohakuri on the Waikato River near to where the ruling National Party was holding a conference, to highlight new standards which it says would mean more contaminants in freshwater, the New Zealand Herald reports >>
'Poo protest' against New Zealand government. 7 May 2017
http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-news-from-elsewhere-39835394
https://twitter.com/BBCNewsAsia/status/861165092280438788
Russell Blackstock. Flotilla of inflatable poos launched by water protesters. Sat. 06 May 2017.
http://m.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11851116
venerdì 5 ottobre 2018
# biochem: how an artificial enzyme can convert solar energy into hydrogen gas
<< Hydrogen gas has long been noted as a promising energy carrier, but its production is still dependent on fossil raw materials. Renewable hydrogen gas can be extracted from water, but as yet the systems for doing so have limitations. In the new article, published in the journal Energy and Environmental Science, an interdisciplinary European research group led by Uppsala University scientists describe how artificial enzymes convert solar energy into hydrogen gas. >>
Artificial enzymes convert solar energy into hydrogen gas. Uppsala University.
Oct 4, 2018.
https://m.phys.org/news/2018-10-artificial-enzymes-solar-energy-hydrogen.html
Adam Wegelius, Namita Khanna, et al. Generation of a functional, semisynthetic [FeFe]-hydrogenase in a photosynthetic microorganism. Energy Environ. Sci. 2018, 1754-5692 doi: 10.1039/C8EE01975D. Sep 25, 2018.
https://pubs.rsc.org/en/Content/ArticleLanding/2018/EE/C8EE01975D#!divAbstract
giovedì 1 settembre 2022
# gst: apropos of transitions, evaporating binary microdroplets with phase segregation
martedì 24 settembre 2019
# gst: apropos of weak bonds, hydrophobic cohesion to stabilize the double helix of DNA
<< The main stabilizer of the DNA double helix is not the base-pair hydrogen bonds but coin-pile stacking of base pairs, whose hydrophobic cohesion, requiring abundant water, indirectly makes the DNA interior dry so that hydrogen bonds can exert full recognition power. (..) (AA) speculate that hydrophobic catalysis is a general phenomenon in DNA enzymes. >>
<< The forces that stabilize the DNA double helix are a prerequisite for the secure storage of genetic information but their modest strength is also necessary for the efficient processes of replication, transcription, recombination, and repair systems-wherein thermal fluctuations, or "breathing," play an important role >>
Bobo Feng, Robert P. Sosa, et al. Hydrophobic catalysis and a potential biological role of DNA unstacking induced by environment effects. PNAS. 116 (35) 17169-17174; Aug 27, 2019. doi: 10.1073/ pnas.1909122116. https://www.pnas.org/content/116/35/17169
DNA is held together by hydrophobic forces. Chalmers University of Technology. Sep 23, 2019. https://m.phys.org/news/2019-09-dna-held-hydrophobic.html
giovedì 7 dicembre 2023
# art: nature as a bizarre artist, the self-sculpted Sphinx.
giovedì 5 dicembre 2019
# brain AI bots: a hypothetical model for exploratory bots, the pulsating perceptions of mantis shrimps
giovedì 16 aprile 2020
# gst: unusual properties of substances trapped in nanobubbles.
mercoledì 1 febbraio 2017
# s-chem: a viscoelastic tongue with reversible saliva (spit and softness) to hang on to the next meal
<< A frog uses its whip-like tongue to snag its prey faster than a human can blink, hitting it with a force five times greater than gravity >>
<< A frog's saliva is thick and sticky during prey capture, then turns thin and watery as prey is removed inside the mouth >>
<< The tongue, which was found to be as soft as brain tissue and 10 times softer than a human's tongue, stretches and stores energy much like a spring >>
<< This combination of spit and softness is so effective that it provides the tongue 50 times greater work of adhesion than synthetic polymer materials such as sticky-hand toys >>
<< There are actually three phases (..) When the tongue first hits the insect, the saliva is almost like water and fills all the bug's crevices. Then, when the tongue snaps back, the saliva changes and becomes more viscous—thicker than honey, actually—gripping the insect for the ride back. The saliva turns watery again when the insect is sheared off inside the mouth >>
Reversible saliva allows frogs to hang on to next meal. Jan. 31, 2017
https://m.phys.org/news/2017-01-reversible-saliva-frogs-meal.html
Alexis C.Noel, Hao-Yuan Guo, et al. Frogs use a viscoelastic tongue and non-Newtonian saliva to catch prey. Journal of The Royal Society Interface. Publ. 1 February 2017. DOI: 10.1098/rsif.2016.0764
http://rsif.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/14/127/20160764
sabato 8 settembre 2018
# gst: even repulsive interactions generate solitons
<< Solitons are nonspreading wave packets that exist in a wide range of real-world systems, including water waves, sound, DNA, optics, and so on. >>
<< Two or more solitons can bind together to form a soliton molecule with dynamics similar to matter molecules, such as vibration, synthesis, and dissociation. >>
<< Formation processes for three types of soliton molecules were studied: ground-, excited-state, and a new one termed an intermittent-vibration soliton molecule. While it is generally believed that attractive interactions of solitons are responsible for the formation of soliton molecules, the authors found that soliton interactions are not limited to attractive interactions. Counterintuitively, even repulsive interactions can lead to the formation of soliton molecules, >>
John Wallace. Investigation with a femtosecond fiber laser finds new type of soliton ‘molecule’. Aug 01, 2018.
<< For closely‐separated bound solitons, soliton interactions display wide diversities in repeated measurements, including soliton attraction, repelling, collision, vibration, and annihilation. For well‐separated bound solitons, repulsive interactions dominate the soliton interactions. >>
Junsong Peng, Heping Zeng. Build‐Up of Dissipative Optical Soliton Molecules via Diverse Soliton Interactions. Laser & Photonics Reviews 2018, 12, 1800009.
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/lpor.201800009
Also "soliton" in:
venerdì 20 marzo 2020
# life: a funky, immediate approach of the sneezing from Wuhan (a relative safe barrier - this device is NOT a filter)
lunedì 5 giugno 2017
# s-chem: solar fuels, a catalytic "dance" to drive
AA << have identified a rapid electronic process that could aid the water-splitting reaction in cobalt-containing catalysts. Cobalt catalysts are relatively inexpensive and could replace more expensive precious metal catalysts in the production of clean energy, most notably solar fuels >>
Chemical "dance" of cobalt catalysis could pave way to solar fuels. June 3, 2017
https://m.phys.org/news/2017-06-chemical-cobalt-catalysis-pave-solar.html
Casey N. Brodsky, Ryan G. Hadt, et al. In situ characterization of cofacial Co(IV) centers in CoO cubane: modeling the high-valent active site in oxygen-evolving catalysts. PNAS (2017) vol. 114 no. 15 pp. 3855–3860 doi: 10.1073/pnas.1701816114
giovedì 15 febbraio 2024
# gst: droplets scoot like caterpillars.
sabato 7 maggio 2016
# s-evol: a radical reassessment of feeding behavior
<< In 2014, scientists discovered a bizarre fossil—a crocodile-sized sea-dwelling reptile [Atopodenatus unicus] that lived 242 million years ago in what today is southern China.>>
<< "It's a very strange animal," says Olivier Rieppel, Rowe Family Curator of Evolutionary Biology at The Field Museum in Chicago. "It's got a hammerhead, which is unique, it's the first time we've seen a reptile like this." >>
'Hammerhead' creature was world's first planteating marine reptile. May 6, 2016.
http://m.phys.org/news/2016-05-hammerhead-creature-world-plant-eating-marine.html
<< The evidence indicates a novel feeding mechanism wherein the chisel-shaped teeth were used to scrape algae off the substrate, and the plant matter that was loosened was filtered from the water column through the more posteriorly positioned tooth mesh. This is the oldest record of herbivory within marine reptiles.>>
Li Chun , Olivier Rieppel , et al. The earliest herbivorous marine reptile and its remarkable jaw apparatus. Science Advances 06 May 2016: Vol. 2, no. 5, e1501659 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.1501659
venerdì 28 giugno 2019
# gst: soft entities; strange randomly flying of droplets across surfaces, to condense ...
<< when researchers took a look at the newest method of condensation, they saw something strange: When a special type of surface is covered in a thin layer of oil, condensed water droplets seemed to be randomly flying across the surface at high velocities, merging with larger droplets, in patterns not caused by gravity. >>
Brandie Jefferson. Solving a condensation mystery. Washington University in St. Louis. Jun 25, 2019.
https://m.phys.org/news/2019-06-condensation-mystery.html
Jianxing Suna, Patricia B. Weisensee. Microdroplet self-propulsion during dropwise condensation on lubricant-infused surfaces. Soft Matter. 2019,15, 4808-4817. doi: 10.1039/C9SM00493A. May 8, 2019.
https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2019/SM/C9SM00493A#!divAbstract
Also
Anomalous formation of molecules after vapor deposition. Dec 31, 2015.
http://flashontrack.blogspot.com/2015/12/rmx-s-gst-anomalous-formation-of.html