A recent simulation conducted at the Carnegie Institution suggests that it’s possible to use crystals to pump heat efficiently, making them useful as a method of refrigeration. We may soon see crystals, instead of metal heat sinks, on our computer chips.
Posts Tagged ‘chemistry’
November 6th, 2012
Crystal Lattices as Refrigerators: Scientists Pump Heat With Crystals
1 Comment, All Posts, by Carter Bowles.October 17th, 2012
Could the Raman Shift Cool Material With Light?
No Comments, All Posts, by Carter Bowles.
Engineers at the Johns Hopkins and Lehigh Universities are pushing the limits of a phenomenon called Raman scattering, and are beginning to ask if it is possible to actually cool a circuit using beams of light.
October 8th, 2012
DNA Shoots Off RNA and Protein in Rapid Bursts
No Comments, All Posts, by Carter Bowles.
Just when you though DNA couldn’t get any weirder (we’ve touched on it’s weirdness before), researchers at the Gladstone Institutes have discovered that it bursts proteins from its innards in rapid fire succession, rather than lazily churning it out as previously thought.
September 21st, 2012
Friday Roundup: A Room Temperature Superconductor? Evolution in the Lab, and Turning Heat to Electricity
No Comments, All Posts, by Carter Bowles.
In today’s Friday Roundup we spot evidence of superconductivity at room temperature, and researchers beat a record for transforming heat directly into electricity. Meanwhile, the genetic evolution of a new trait in bacteria is documented in detail.
August 31st, 2012
Friday Roundup: Stem Cells From Blood, Pregnancy Theory Challenged, Evidence of Gravity Waves
2 Comments, All Posts, by Carter Bowles.
Today we learn that scientists at Johns Hopkins found a way to turn blood cells back into stem cells. Meanwhile, a longstanding theory about human pregnancy faces a formidable challenger, and a revolutionary new material comes from a surprisingly common, and renewable, resource. Finally, scientists observe evidence of gravitational waves. That’s all ahead in today’s Friday Roundup.
December 3rd, 2011
Sobriety Programs, the Educational System, and a Deadly Icicle of Doom
2 Comments, All Posts, by Carter Bowles.
Recently, an ”icicle of death“ was caught on film by the BBC for the first time. Brine from the sea ice flowed down to the sea floor, freezing everything in its path. The salt saturation kept the brine itself from freezing, but it caused the surrounding seawater to turn to ice.
Take water, saturate it with salt, and it doesn’t freeze. But keep the solution chilled, toss it back into its old environment, and it turns to ice.
When you take something from its old environment, and introduce something new, you can change it. But sometimes, when you throw it back into its old environment, you get a deadly icicle of doom.