New Nanostructure Technology Provides Advances In Eyeglass, Solar Energy Performance

Chemical engineers at Oregon State University have invented a new technology to deposit "nanostructure films" on various surfaces, which may first find use as coatings for eyeglasses that cost less and work better.

Ultimately, the technique may provide a way to make solar cells more efficiently produce energy.

The films reduce the reflectance of light, and in the case of eyeglasses would capture more light, reduce glare and also reduce exposure to ultraviolet light. Some coatings with these features are already available, but the new technology should perform better at a lower cost, and be able to be applied on-site in a dispenser's office.

"There's really a whole range of things this technology may ultimately be useful for," said Chih-hung Chang, an associate professor in the OSU Department of Chemical, Biological and Environmental Engineering. "They should be able to make almost any type of solar energy system work more efficiently, and ultimately could be used in cameras or other types of lenses."

A patent has been applied for on the new technology, and the first commercial products may be ready within a year, Chang said.

The key to the process is use of a chemical bath, controlled by a microreactor, to place thin-film deposits on various substrates such as glass, plastic, silicon or aluminum. In this case, the technology will create a type of nanostructure that resembles millions of tiny pyramids in a small space, which function to reduce the reflectance of any light that strikes the material.

The scientists are now working on the application of this thin film to polycarbonate, the type of plastic most commonly used in eyeglass production, and also plan to create a small unit that can apply the films inexpensively in an office setting.

The final product should be faster to apply, less costly, reduce waste of materials and perform better than existing technologies, the researchers said.

SOURCE: Oregon State University

http://www.surfacefinishing.com/article.mvc/New-Nanostructure-Technology-Provides-0001?atc~c=771+s=773+r=001+l=a&VNETCOOKIE=NO

Stop-Smoking Vaccine in the Works

MONDAY, Oct. 12 (HealthDay News) -- The National Institute on Drug Abuse has given a $10 million grant to a Maryland company to help it in the final phases of research regarding a possible anti-nicotine vaccine.

Nabi Biopharmaceuticals of Rockville will launch a phase III study of a potential vaccine called NicVAX. The study, which could be the last step of research if the vaccine works, represents the most advanced investigation of a smoking-cessation vaccine.

The vaccine is designed to help people quit smoking and not relapse. According to a statement by institute director Dr. Nora D. Volkow, the vaccine has received "fast track" designation from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and has survived a successful "proof-of-concept" study.

There's no guarantee that the study will prove that the vaccine works, nor is it clear whether it will get federal approval if it does. But researchers are hopeful.

The vaccine works by making the immune system kick into action when it detects nicotine. The idea is that antibodies will bond to nicotine molecules and prevent them from entering the brain, where they give smokers the high that they crave.

Study results are preliminary so far, but they suggest that smokers who develop high levels of the antibodies in their bodies are most likely to quit for good. Researchers reported few side effects.

They expect that the vaccine will be effective for six to 12 months after it is given.

In the United States, tobacco use is linked to 400,000 deaths a year, according to background information.

Source:http://news.yahoo.com/s/hsn/20091012/hl_hsn/stopsmokingvaccineintheworks

Gene Mutation May Speed Learning

MONDAY, Oct. 12 (HealthDay News) -- People with a specific genetic mutation seem to be "smarter," in the sense of being able to adapt to changing situations and continue to make correct decisions quickly, a new German study suggests.

And people graced with this genotype showed more activity in the prefrontal cortex of the brain, activity that is probably linked to metabolism of the brain chemical dopamine.

"Dopamine is related to reward so perhaps some individuals can make quicker decisions because they have more dopamine in the prefrontal cortex," said Paul Sanberg, a professor of neurosurgery and director of the University of South Florida Center for Aging and Brain Repair in Tampa.

The findings, reported this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, raise the hope of one day helping people with disorders such as Parkinson's disease that involve dopamine irregularities.

"Dopamine is involved heavily in diseases such as Parkinson's and schizophrenia for which we give drugs affiliated with the dopamine system," Sanberg said. "This might give us a better handle on why cognitive impairment occurs associated with Parkinson's and other diseases. It might also give us a clue as to how to increase cognitive ability in individuals that might have cognitive impairment."

For the study, researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development in Berlin asked 26 healthy men and women in their 20s to play a "game" in which they tried to accumulate points by choosing the most profitable among four choices. Monetary payoffs would change based on the participants' behavior, forcing them to adapt to keep up.

By adapting more easily and learning quickly from mistakes, volunteers with a version of the so-called COMT gene known as Val/Val won more points than participants with a version of the gene called Met/Met.

COMT encodes for an enzyme that breaks down dopamine and other neurotransmitters. Drugs known as COMT inhibitors are used to treat Parkinson's and other disorders.

"This is not something that's going to be a cure right now," said Gerald Frye, a neuropharmacology and neurotoxicology professor at the Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine. "It's better understanding how the brain works and how a polymorphism [like the ones studied here] could make a difference in who you are as far as how you're brain works."

The dynamics identified by the study are just one part of a larger whole, experts said.

"They're pulling out one part of the brain-mind interface," Frye explained. "Brain programs like this are like players in the orchestra. Each one has a part to play. This may mean that the Val/Val may be a more strident player in the symphony, [but] this is just one player out of the symphony."

Source:http://news.yahoo.com/s/hsn/20091012/hl_hsn/genemutationmayspeedlearning

Could Earth Be Hit, Like Jupiter Just Was?

The recent bruising Jupiter received from a cosmic impact is a violent reminder that our solar system is a shooting gallery that sometimes blasts Earth.
Still, what are the odds of a cosmic impact threatening our planet?
So far 784 near-Earth objects (NEOs) more than a half-mile wide (1 km) have been found.
"If an object of about the same size that just hit Jupiter also hit Earth — it was probably a typical cometary object of a kilometer or so in size (0.6 miles) — it would have been fairly catastrophic," explained astronomer Donald Yeomans, manager of NASA's Near-Earth Object program office at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.
Scientists have ruled out the chances of an Earth impact for all of these 784 large NEOs. Still, lesser objects also pose a risk, and researchers estimate more than 100 large NEOS remain to be found.
Small risk
Billions of years ago, impacts were far more common. Our moon retains a record of the pummeling it and Earth took: the moon's craters remain, while on Earth, most scars of ancient impacts have been folded back into the planet or weathered away.
Today's solar system is far less crowded, and in fact Jupiter, having more mass and gravity, scoops up a lot of the dangerous objects, as does the sun.
Currently just one NEO of all the objects scientists are tracking poses any significant chance of hitting the Earth — 2007 VK184. If this roughly 425-foot-wide (130 meters) asteroid hit our planet, it would strike with an energy of roughly 150 million tons of TNT, or more than 10,000 times that of the atom bomb dropped on Hiroshima.
Roughly 100 telescopic observations made so far suggest that 2007 VK184 has a 1-in-2,940 chance of hitting Earth 40 to 50 years from now. However, if the past is any guide, further observations to refine computations of its orbit very likely will downgrade its probability of hitting Earth to virtually nothing, Yeomans said.
Of remaining concern are the NEOs that we do not see. Researchers suspect about 156 large NEOs 1 kilometer in diameter or larger remain to be found, and when it comes to dangerous NEOs in general, "when we get down to 140 meters (460 feet) or larger diameter objects, we think we've discovered about 15 percent of them, and with 50 meters (164 feet) or larger diameter, we've discovered less than 5 percent of them," Yeomans explained.
On average, an NEO roughly a half-mile wide or larger hits the Earth roughly every 500,000 years, "so we're not expecting one anytime soon," Yeomans explained.
"For 500 meters (1,640 feet), we're talking a mean interval of about 100,000 years," he added. "When you get down to 50 meters, the mean interval is about 700 years, and for 30 meters (98 feet), about 140 years or so, but by then you're getting down to a size where you won't expect any ground damage, as they burn up in the atmosphere at about 25 meters (82 feet) in diameter and smaller, probably for an impressive fireball event."
When it comes to truly monstrous NEOs some 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) or larger, of the size thought to have helped kill off the dinosaurs, "that's a 100 million year event, and in fact, I don't think there is anything like that we see right now," Yeomans said. "The largest near-Earth object that can actually cross the Earth's path, Sisyphus, has a diameter of 8 kilometers (5 miles), and the largest that is termed a potential hazard is Toutatis, which has a diameter of approximately 5.4 km (3.35 miles)."
Keeping watch
There are currently four teams worldwide actively looking for both large and small NEOs, Yeomans said. "We're concentrating on the large ones for now, but hopefully with the next generation of search, we'll be more efficient in finding the smaller objects, to find 90 percent of the total population of potential hazards larger than 140 meters," he added.
Keeping an eye on NEOs might not just be healthy for humanity, but also help lead us out into space.
"They're easy objectives to get to, and asteroids have significant metal resources that can be mined, while comets have significant water resources for space habitats or travel," Yeomans said. "If you want to build a habitat in space, you're not going to build it all on the ground and launch it up, since that's too expensive — you want to go up and look for resources instead."
Furthermore, asteroids and comets are among the objects that have changed the least since the birth of the solar system roughly 4.6 billion years ago, and might reveal vital clues behind the mysterious process.
"They may well have delivered the water and carbon-based molecules to Earth that allowed life to form, so they're extremely important for study in that direction," Yeomans added.
source:http://news.yahoo.com/s/space/20090728/sc_space/couldearthbehitlikejupiterjustwas

Solar eclipse pits superstition against science

MUMBAI (AFP) – Indian astrologers are predicting violence and turmoil across the world as a result of this week's total solar eclipse, which the superstitious and religious view as a sign of potential doom.
But astronomers, scientists and secularists are trying to play down claims of evil portent in connection with Wednesday's natural spectacle, when the moon will come between the Earth and the sun, completely obscuring the sun.
In Hindu mythology, the two demons Rahu and Ketu are said to "swallow" the sun during eclipses, snuffing out its life-giving light and causing food to become inedible and water undrinkable.
Pregnant women are advised to stay indoors to prevent their babies developing birth defects, while prayers, fasting and ritual bathing, particularly in holy rivers, are encouraged.
Shivani Sachdev Gour, a gynaecologist at the Fortis Hospital in New Delhi, said a number of expectant mothers scheduled for caesarian deliveries on July 22 had asked to change the date.
"This is a belief deeply rooted in Indian society. Couples are willing to do anything to ensure that the baby is not born on that day," Gour said.
Astrologers have predicted a rise in communal and regional violence in the days following the eclipse, particularly in India, China and other Southeast Asian nations where it can be seen on Wednesday morning.
Mumbai astrologer Raj Kumar Sharma predicted "some sort of attack by (Kashmiri separatists) Jaish-e-Mohammad or Al-Qaeda on Indian soil" and a devastating natural disaster in Southeast Asia.
An Indian political leader could be killed, he said, and tension between the West and Iran is likely to increase, escalating into possible US military action after September 9, when fiery Saturn moves from Leo into Virgo.
"The last 200 years, whenever Saturn has gone into Virgo there has been either a world war or a mini world war," he told AFP.
It is not just in India that some are uneasy about what will transpire because of the eclipse.
In ancient China they were often associated with disasters, the death of an emperor or other dark events, and similar superstitions persist.
"The probability for unrest or war to take place in years when a solar eclipse happens is 95 percent," announced an article that attracted a lot of hits on the popular Chinese web portal Baidu.com.
Sanal Edamaruku, president of the Indian Rationalist Association, dismissed such doomsday predictions.
"Primarily, what we see with all these soothsayers and astrologers is that they're looking for opportunities to enhance their business with predictions of danger and calamity," he told AFP.
"They have been very powerful in India but over the last decade they have been in systematic decline."
Astronomers and scientists are also working to educate the public about the eclipse.
Travel firm Cox and Kings has chartered a Boeing 737-700 aircraft to give people the chance to see the eclipse from 41,000 feet (12,500 metres).
Experts will be on board to explain it to passengers, some of whom have paid 79,000 rupees (1,600 dollars) for a "sun-side" seat on the three-hour flight from New Delhi.
The eclipse's shadow is expected to pass over the aircraft at 15 times the speed of sound (Mach 15), said Ajay Talwar, president of the SPACE Group of companies that promotes science and astronomy.
"It's coming in the middle of the monsoon season. On the ground, there's a 40 percent chance of seeing it in India. On the aircraft you have almost a 90 percent chance of seeing the eclipse," he added.
Siva Prasad Tata, who runs the Astro Jyoti website, straddles the two worlds.
"There's no need to get too alarmed about the eclipse, they are a natural phenomenon," the astrologer told AFP.
But he added: "During the period of the eclipse, the opposite attracting forces are very, very powerful. From a spiritual point of view, this is a wonderful time to do any type of worship.
"It will bring about good results, much more than on an ordinary day."

Source:http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090720/sc_afp/scienceastronomyeclipseasiatourismsuperstition