Lifeboat Foundation

Figures 4 and 5 effectively demonstrate that local acceleration is capable of heating electrons to ~7 MeV as the phase space density profiles show signatures of local acceleration during both of the geomagnetic storms considered. The phase space density enhancements for higher energies followed the enhancements at lower energies. In Supplementary Note 8, additional analysis establishes that locally growing peaks are also observed for lower values of K, corresponding to radiation belt electrons confined closer to the equator. Furthermore, as the values of K and L* are dependent on the magnetic field model chosen, results using an additional two field models are also presented (see Supplementary Note 9) and, once again, growing peaks are observed in the radial phase space density profile. Our results demonstrate that local acceleration had a significant effect on radiation belt particles during both of the storms in October 2012, acting on electrons up to 7 MeV. In the radiation belt region, local acceleration introduces radial gradients in phase space density and so is always accompanied by both outwards and inwards radial diffusion. Locally heating electrons to ~7 MeV provides a very high energy “source population” for inwards radial diffusion and could therefore help explain the occurrence of ~10 MeV electrons in April–May 2017¹⁶.

A recent study by Zhao et al.¹⁵, considered the acceleration of ultra-relativistic electrons via a statistical analysis of events during the Van Allen Probe era. The results were consistent with a two-step acceleration process, where locally heated electrons at large L*, beyond the Van Allen Probes apogee, are radially diffused inwards to reach energies of 7 MeV in the outer radiation belt. While the combination of local acceleration and radial diffusion produces 7 MeV enhancements¹⁵, the Van Allen Probe observations for the two storms shown in this study demonstrate that local acceleration can also act directly up to 7 MeV energies. The local energization mechanism responsible for generating 7 MeV electrons in the heart of the outer radiation belt, be that acceleration by chorus waves or some other process, presents an interesting focus for future research. Longer term analysis and statistical studies can be used to better understand the conditions leading to acceleration. Datasets formed via data-assimilation techniques may be useful for this purpose. Long term observations of the ultra-relativistic component of Earth’s radiation belts demonstrate that ≥7 MeV electrons are a relatively rare phenomenon, occurring far less frequently than enhancements at 1 or 2 MeV¹. It therefore follows that the circumstances leading to multi-MeV enhancements could be unusual, requiring specific conditions. Our results highlight that wave-particle interactions can provide the primary acceleration mechanism for electrons up to ultra-relativistic energies, a finding applicable to magnetized plasmas throughout the solar system.

Chlorine isotopes are a sensitive tracer of degassing throughout planetary evolution that provide evidence for the universal depletion of volatiles in the Moon. We show that much of the chlorine in mare basalts is trapped in water-soluble phases from vapor deposition with low isotope values, with the remaining being isotopically heavy from degassing. We also use halogen concentrations and bulk-Cl isotope values to show that most lunar halogen loss and heavy Cl enrichment occurred during the Giant Impact—resulting in a 10× depletion of halogens relative to the Earth. Last, we conclude that lunar apatite has much higher δ³⁷ Cl values compared to the bulk rock, likely explained by localized degassing, making their use as direct probes of planetary-scale processes problematic.

Lunar mare basalts are depleted in F and Cl by approximately an order of magnitude relative to mid-ocean ridge basalts and contain two Cl-bearing components with elevated isotopic compositions relative to the bulk-Earth value of ∼0‰. The first is a water-soluble chloride constituting 65 ± 10% of total Cl with δ³⁷ Cl values averaging 3.0 ± 4.3‰. The second is structurally bound chloride with δ³⁷ Cl values averaging 7.3 ± 3.5‰. These high and distinctly different isotopic values are inconsistent with equilibrium fractionation processes and instead suggest early and extensive degassing of an isotopically light vapor. No relationship is observed between F/Cl ratios and δ³⁷ Cl values, which suggests that lunar halogen depletion largely resulted from the Moon-forming Giant Impact. The δ³⁷ Cl values of apatite are generally higher than the structurally bound Cl, and ubiquitously higher than the calculated bulk δ³⁷ Cl values of 4.1 ± 4.0‰.

Techniques for imaging through scattering media are generally invasive, operate at microscopic scales or require a priori information. Here, the authors overcome these limitations by introducing confocal diffuse tomography, which captures the 3D shape of objects hidden behind scattering media.

Structural coloration techniques have improved display science due to their high durability in terms of resistance to bleaching and abrasion, and low energy consumption. Here, we propose and demonstrate an all-solid-state, large-area, lithography-free color filter that can switch structural color based on a doped semiconductor. Particularly, an indium-gallium-zinc-oxide (IGZO) thin film is used as a passive index-changing layer. The refractive index of the IGZO layer is tuned by controlling the charge carrier concentration; a hydrogen plasma treatment is used to control the conductivity of the IGZO layer. In this paper, we verify the color modulation using finite difference time domain simulations and experiments. The IGZO-based color filter technology proposed in this study will pave the way for charge-controlled tunable color filters displaying a wide gamut of colors on demand.

© 2020 Chinese Laser Press

Do you know that 1 Starship can carry 100 passengers at a time to MARS!!
But how many would be needed for million people??
Watch yourself!!
#ElonMusk
#SpaceX
#MarsExploration
#SpaceExploration

Do you know that 1 Starship can carry 100 passengers at a time to MARS!!

But how many would be needed for million people?? Watch yourself!! #ElonMusk #SpaceX #MarsExploration #SpaceExploration

Wouldn’t it be better to have a creature, something furry and warm that had the ability to produce perfect breast milk? A non-sentient, biological organism that has been engineered to produce milk nutritionally equivalent to mother’s milk? A milk Tribble? That type of technology would be awesome for babies.

Karl Schmieder: Is there a biological technology that you wished you had?

Andrew Hessel: I want the enzymatic DNA synthesizer that will be at least a thousand times better than what we have today. Next-generation sequencing technology massively accelerated our ability to read DNA. An enzymatic DNA synthesizer could be the equivalent accelerator for engineered biology. If you can synthesize DNA faster, then you can conduct more experiments and learn faster. That’s what I’d like to see. More people programming life.

In the past decade, researchers have engineered an array of new tools that control the balance of genetic inheritance. Based on CRISPR technology, such gene drives are poised to move from the laboratory into the wild where they are being engineered to suppress devastating diseases such as mosquito-borne malaria, dengue, Zika, chikungunya, yellow fever and West Nile. Gene drives carry the power to immunize mosquitoes against malarial parasites, or act as genetic insecticides that reduce mosquito populations.

Although the newest gene drives have been proven to spread efficiently as designed in laboratory settings, concerns have been raised regarding the safety of releasing such systems into wild populations. Questions have emerged about the predictability and controllability of gene drives and whether, once let loose, they can be recalled in the field if they spread beyond their intended application region.

Now, scientists at the University of California San Diego and their colleagues have developed two new active genetic systems that address such risks by halting or eliminating gene drives in the wild. On Sept.18, 2020 in the journal Molecular Cell, research led by Xiang-Ru Xu, Emily Bulger and Valentino Gantz in the Division of Biological Sciences offers two new solutions based on elements developed in the common fruit fly.

The soil bacteria breathe through ‘giant snorkels’ made of a special conductive protein, the researchers found.

Tesla’s widely-anticipated battery day is on Tuesday.