November 7, 2011

Good Morning,

Europe find its oldest modern human fossil to date; they say it could be between 41,000 to 44,000 years old! Check out the second article for all the details.

Until Next Time,
Erin

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Efficient material for solar cells studied

EVANSTON, Ill. - U.S. researchers say a newly developed material that can absorb a wide range of wavelengths could lead to more efficient and less expensive solar technology. Scientists at Northwestern University say solar cells are only as efficient as the amount of sunlight they collect, and the new material can increase the range of wavelengths that can be turned into electrical energy. "The solar spectrum is not like a laser -- it's very broadband, starting with UV and going up to near-infrared," Koray Aydin, a professor of electrical engineering and computer science, said in a university release Wednesday. "To capture this light most efficiently, a solar cell needs to have a broadband response. This design allows us to achieve that." Using metal and silicon oxide, the researchers created thin but complex trapezoid-shaped metal gratings on the nanoscale that can trap a wider range of visible light. The uniquely shaped grating captures a wide range of wavelengths due to a phenomenon known as optical resonances that causes light to spend more time inside the material until it gets absorbed, the researchers said. If applied to semiconducting materials, the technology could yield thinner, lower-cost and more efficient solar cells, Aydin said.


Fossil IDs earliest modern human in Europe

LONDON - A piece of jawbone dug from a prehistoric cave in England provides the earliest evidence of modern humans in Europe, an international science team says. When first excavated the bone was thought to be about 35,000 years old, but new research shows it to be significantly older -- between 44,000 and 41,000 years -- a study published in the journal Nature reported Wednesday. The new dating is helping scientists identify how quickly modern humans spread across Europe during the last Ice Age, and is seen as possible confirmation of the controversial theory that early modern humans coexisted with Neanderthals. "If the jawbone is, in fact, 44,000 to 41,000 years old, that means it was from a time when Neanderthals were still present in Europe, so we first had to confirm that the bone was from an anatomically modern human, and not a Neanderthal," Beth Shapiro, a biology professor at Penn State, said. "While the dominant characteristics are modern, there are some that are ambiguous or that fall into the Neanderthal range," she said. That may reflect inadequate sampling of modern human variation, shared primitive features between early modern humans and Neanderthals, or even interbreeding between the two species, she said. "We'll have to delve a little deeper and do more work to resolve these questions," Shapiro said.


New material can aid in nuclear cleanup

BRISBANE, Australia - Australian researchers say they've developed new technology that can remove radioactive material from contaminated water following nuclear disasters. Scientists at Queensland University of Technology say their absorbent material, using nanofiber and nanotube technology, can efficiently lock in deadly radioactive material from contaminated water and can be safely disposed of without risk of leakage, even if the material becomes wet. "One gram of the nanofibers can effectively purify at least one ton of polluted water," researcher Huai-Yong Xhu Zhu said. "This saves large amounts of dangerous water needing to be stored somewhere and also prevents the risk of contaminated products leaking into the soil." The technology works by forcing contaminated water through the fine nanotubes and fibers that trap the radioactive Cesium through a structural change, a university release said Wednesday. With the global debate about the safety of nuclear energy, now is the time to put safeguards in place, Zhu said. "Even if we decide that nuclear energy is not the way we want to go, we will still need to clean up what's been produced so far and store it safely," he said.


New camera can 'see' pollution

TEL AVIV, Israel - A new sensor records thousands of colors, many invisible to the eye, and detects environmental hazards and contaminants in real time, Israeli researchers say. The human eye sees only three bands of light -- red, green and blue -- but researchers at Tel Aviv University say their "hyperspectral" camera can sense a spectrum of colors that allows it to analyze 300 times more information than the human brain can process. The sensor interprets reflected sunlight radiation that bounces off an object, material or environment where each reflected color represents a different chemical reaction between two compounds, researcher Eyal Ben-Dor said. The sensor can provide immediate and accurate monitoring of forests, urban areas, agricultural lands, harbors, or marinas -- areas often endangered by contaminants, he said. The sensor has an extensive range and can read information from as close as 0.4 inches and as far as 500 miles away, so it can be placed anywhere on the ground or in aircraft, satellites or weather balloons, the researchers said. The technology could be used in disciplines such as medicine, pharmacology, the textile industry and civil engineering to provide in-depth analysis on environmental composition, they said.

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