November 9, 2011

Good Morning,

London reports that three new elements are being added to the periodic table. The report came from the Institute of Physics in London following an assembly that gathered to confirm the introduction of the new elements. Check out the last article for more details.

Until Next Time,
Erin

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Researchers 'create' crystals by computer

EVANSTON, Ill. - Porous crystals whose nanoscopic pores create large amounts of surface area promise to be excellent materials for natural gas storage, U.S. researchers say.Now Northwestern University researchers say they've developed a computational method to help scientists find the best possible structure for such crystals, knows as metal-organic frameworks. The computational algorithm automatically generates ad tests hypothetical MOFs, rapidly zeroing in on the most promising structures that can then be synthesized and tested in the lab, a university release reported Tuesday. "Currently, researchers choose to create new materials based on their imagining how the atomic structures might look," Northwestern researcher Christopher E. Wilmer, who developed the algorithm, said. "The algorithm greatly accelerates this process by carrying out such 'thought experiments' on supercomputers." In just 72 hours, the researchers generated more than 137,000 hypothetical MOF structures then narrowed that number down to the 300 most promising candidates for high-pressure, room-temperature methane storage. "When our understanding of materials synthesis approaches the point where we are able to make almost any material, the question arises: Which materials should we synthesize?" Northwestern chemical engineer Randall Q. Snurr said. The algorithm presents "a powerful method for answering this question for metal-organic frameworks, a new class of highly versatile materials," he said.


Image shows much-battered Mars volcano

PARIS - The European Space Agency's Mars Express orbiter has captured an image of a large extinct volcano that's been battered and deformed over eons, the agency said. While huge by Earthly standards at 5 miles high with a 95-mile diameter base, the Tharsis Tholus volcano is just an average one on Mars, an ESA release said Tuesday. However, it's battered condition makes it stand out, scientists say. Evidence of dramatic events in the volcano's 4-billion-year history can be seen in the image taken by the HRSC high-resolution camera on the Mars Express. At least two large sections have collapsed around its eastern and western flanks, and the circular caldera is ringed by faults that have caused to the floor of the carter to subside by as much as 1.6 miles. Scientists say they believe the volcano completely emptied its magma chamber during eruptions, and as the lava ran out onto the surface the chamber roof was no longer able to support its own weight and sank.


Galaxies could yield dark matter clues

ANN ARBOR, Mich. - Two newly discovered dwarf galaxies outside the Milky Way could help reveal the nature of dark matter, U.S. astronomers say. Researchers at the University of Michigan said the dwarf galaxies appear to be satellites of Andromeda, the closest spiral galaxy to Earth. The astronomers searched for dwarf galaxies around Andromeda to help them understand how matter relates to dark matter, an invisible substance that neither emits nor reflects light, but is believed to make up most of the universe's mass and may be responsible for organizing visible matter into galaxies. "These faint, dwarf, relatively nearby galaxies are a real battleground in trying to understand how dark matter acts at small scales," astronomy professor Eric Bell said in a university release Tuesday. Current theories suggest visible galaxies are all nestled in beds of dark matter, with each bed, or halo, of dark matter having one galaxy in it. The predictions match observations of large galaxies for a given volume of the universe, astronomy doctoral student Colins Slater said, "but it seems to break down when we get to smaller galaxies." The models predict far more dark matter halos than we observe galaxies. We don't know if it's because we're not seeing all of the galaxies or because our predictions are wrong."


New elements join the periodic table

LONDON - Chemistry students bent on memorizing the periodic table of elements have three new names to commit to memory, scientists meeting in Britain said. The General Assembly of the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics, taking place at the Institute of Physics in London, approved the names of three new elements, the Daily Telegraph reported Saturday. Elements 110, 111 and 112 have been named darmstadtium (Ds), roentgenium (Rg) and copernicium (Cn). Known as super-heavy elements, they are large, unstable atoms that can only be created in the laboratory and quickly break down into other elements. Copernicium, discovered in 1996, was named after astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus, who died in 1543 and first suggested that Earth revolves around the sun. Roentgenium, discovered in 1994 at the GSI Helmholtz Center for Heavy Ion Research in Germany, has been named for German physicist Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen, the first person to produce and detect X-rays in 1895. Darmstadtium was discovered by the same group in 1994 and named after the city of Darmstadt, where the GSI Helmholtz Center is based.

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