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Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on December 7, 2014 at 6:54am

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on December 7, 2014 at 6:44am

Physicists achieve superconductivity at room temperature

German researchers have figured out how to put a piece of ceramic in a superconducting state at room temperature - no cooling required.
Physicists from the Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter have kept a piece of ceramic in a superconducting state, disproving the widely-held assumption that materials need to be cooled to temperatures of at least -140 degrees Celsius to achieve superconductivity.

Superconducting materials have the potential to change everything that relies on electrical power, such as power grids, transportation, and renewable energy sources. This is because they’re able to transport electric currents without any resistance, which means they’re incredibly efficient and cost-effective to run. Except right now, they’re not, because in order to get a material to a superconducting state, it needs to be cooled to near absolute zero temperatures, which has really hampered the potential of this technology up to this point.
Over the past few decades, scientists have come to realise that metals cooled to temperatures of around -273 degrees Celsius using liquid nitrogen or helium aren’t the only materials capable of reaching a superconducting state. During the 1980s, it was discovered that ceramic materials can reach this state at significantly higher (and yet still extremely cold) temperatures of around -200 degrees Celsius. This is why they’re called high-temperature superconductors.
One such ceramic material, called yttrium barium copper oxide (YBCO), has since been singled out, thanks to its great potential for use in a range of technical applications such as superconducting cables, electrical motors, and generators. Made from super-thin double layers of a copper oxide material stacked in-between layers made from barium, copper and oxygen, this material is designed to allow the bonding of electrons into what’s known as Cooper pairs.
These Cooper pairs of electrons are able to ‘tunnel’ between the alternating layers "like ghosts can pass through walls, figuratively speaking - a typical quantum effect,” they report, but it was thought this could only occur at super-cooled temperatures.

But then the physicists from Max Planck decided to see what would happen if they irradiated the YBCO ceramic material with infrared laser pulses. They found that for a fraction of a second, the ceramic becomes superconducting at room temperature. And when we say “a fraction of a second”, they mean a fraction. “It was only a few millionths of a millisecond” . "That's a very, very brief lifespan for our amazing new room temperature superconductor. However, the successful experiment is proof that such a thing is possible."
http://phys.org/news/2014-12-superconductivity-cooling.html

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on December 6, 2014 at 8:27am

New Twist Found in the Story of Life’s Start

All life on Earth is made of molecules that twist in the same direction. New research reveals that this may not always have been so.
http://www.quantamagazine.org/20141126-why-rna-is-right-handed/

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on December 6, 2014 at 8:16am

Evidence of Polyethylene Biodegradation by Bacterial Strains from the Guts of Plastic-Eating Waxworms
Abstract: Polyethylene (PE) has been considered nonbiodegradable for decades. Although the biodegradation of PE by bacterial cultures has been occasionally described, valid evidence of PE biodegradation has remained limited in the literature. We found that waxworms, or Indian mealmoths (the larvae of Plodia interpunctella), were capable of chewing and eating PE films. Two bacterial strains capable of degrading PE were isolated from this worm’s gut, Enterobacter asburiae YT1 and Bacillus sp. YP1. Over a 28-day incubation period of the two strains on PE films, viable biofilms formed, and the PE films’ hydrophobicity decreased. Obvious damage, including pits and cavities (0.3–0.4 μm in depth), was observed on the surfaces of the PE films using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The formation of carbonyl groups was verified using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and microattenuated total reflectance/Fourier transform infrared (micro-ATR/FTIR) imaging microscope. Suspension cultures of YT1 and YP1 (108 cells/mL) were able to degrade approximately 6.1 ± 0.3% and 10.7 ± 0.2% of the PE films (100 mg), respectively, over a 60-day incubation period. The molecular weights of the residual PE films were lower, and the release of 12 water-soluble daughter products was also detected. The results demonstrated the presence of PE-degrading bacteria in the guts of waxworms and provided promising evidence for the biodegradation of PE in the environment.
http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/es504038a?source=cen

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on December 5, 2014 at 7:26am

Study proves we CAN see ‘invisible’ infrared light

Our basic human eyes, usually deprived of the majority of the wavelengths in the world, are actually capable of detecting infrared light, new research proves. We just need a rapidly-pulsing laser to beam it into our retinas.
Humans are notoriously limited when it comes to eyesight - while we can see all the beautiful colours of the rainbow within our visible spectrum, wavelengths such as X-rays, radio waves and infrared are all invisible to us.

But now scientists have proved that our retina cells can see infrared light waves after all, we just need them to hit our eyes in the right way. The research will now help scientists to better test people's eyesight and potentially even improve it.

The researchers, from Washington University School of Medicine in St Louis, tested cells from retinas of mice and humans using powerful lasers emitting pulses of infrared light. They found that when the light-sensing cells of retinas get a double hit of infrared energy, our eyes are able to detect light that falls outside our visible spectrum.
We're using what we learned in these experiments to try to develop a new tool that would allow physicians to not only examine the eye but also to stimulate specific parts of the retina to determine whether it's functioning properly," said senior researcher Vladimir J. Kefalov in a press release. "We hope that ultimately this discovery will have some very practical applications.
Human infrared vision is triggered by two-photon chromophore isomerization
http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2014/11/25/1410162111

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on December 5, 2014 at 7:18am

Passive radiative cooling below ambient air temperature under direct sunlight
New material uses the cold darkness of the Universe to cool your house

New technology takes the heat from your house and beams it straight into outer space. And it’s so efficient it could replace air conditioning.
Engineers from Stanford University in the US have created a material that keeps your house cool by beaming heat back into the “cold darkness of the Universe”.

The material reflects sunlight, just like a regular mirror, but most importantly, it also beams heat from inside a building straight into outer space. This means that it lowers the temperature of anything that’s it’s placed on by up to five degrees, even if it’s sitting in direct sunlight - and all without electricity.

The material works using a phenomenon called radiative cooling, which is a way of passively transferring heat from one place to somewhere cooler. The phenomenon already happens all the time - our body emits heat into the cooler air around us, and if it’s cold outside, our house will lose heat to the atmosphere.
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v515/n7528/full/nature13883.html

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on December 4, 2014 at 6:44am

World-first artificial enzymes suggest life doesn't need DNA or RNA

For the first time, scientists have built artificial enzymes using lab-grown genetic material called XNA. The experiment bolsters the idea that life could evolve without what we thought to be the fundamental building blocks of life - DNA and RNA.
Scientists in the UK have created synthetic enzymes - vital catalysts needed to support life - from scratch, using genetic material created in the lab. These enzymes don’t contain DNA or RNA, they contain artificial XNA - xeno nucleic acid - and could be used to produce new medical treatments and find life on other planets.
Catalysts from synthetic genetic polymers
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nature13982...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on December 4, 2014 at 6:21am

New HIV Mutations Welcome News for the Science Community
In a recent paper now published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Oxford University researchers have found out that the virus is becoming weaker as patients have more access to antiretroviral drugs, some of which are really potent.

Furthermore, like most viruses, HIV mutates as well, going against the immunity of a patient. While this doesn't mean that the patient is already free of the virus, it means that its progression to AIDS is much slower.
http://www.youthhealthmag.com/articles/3804/20141202/hiv-antiretrov...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on December 4, 2014 at 6:20am

Scientists push for 'scientific integrity' at bargaining table
Canada’s federal scientists are going to the bargaining table this week with an unprecedented package of contract changes to promote “scientific integrity” in government, including the right of scientists to speak freely and forbidding political interference in their work.
http://ottawacitizen.com/news/politics/scientists-push-for-scientif...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on December 4, 2014 at 6:18am

How Scientists Gained the Ability to Reverse Overdoses

Naloxone reverses the process by acting like a toddler grabbing for another child's toy, preventing death by shoving the opiate out of the way and binding to the receptor itself. This sends the user into immediate withdrawal. The side-effects – dizziness, nausea, shaking, sweating – are unpleasant but not overly dangerous. And if someone hasn't used any opioids, naloxone will have no effect, positive or negative.
http://gizmodo.com/how-scientists-gained-the-ability-to-reverse-ove...
Saved: How addicts gained the power to reverse overdoses
http://mosaicscience.com/story/saved-how-addicts-gained-power-rever...

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