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Dec 12, 2018

Silica paradox: Scientists discover seemingly ‘impossible’ material

Posted by in categories: chemistry, physics, supercomputing

An international team of physicists and materials scientists from NUST MISIS, Bayerisches Geoinstitut (Germany), Linkoping University (Sweden), and the California Institute of Technology (U.S.) has discovered an “impossible” modification of silica-coesite-IV and coasite-V materials, which seems to defy the generally accepted rules for the formation of chemical bonds in inorganic materials formulated by Linus Pauling, who won the 1954 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for that discovery. The research results were published in Nature Communications on November 15th, 2018.

According to Pauling’s rules, the fragments of the atomic lattice in inorganic materials are connected by vertices, because bonding by faces is the most energy-intensive way to form a chemical connection. Therefore, it does not exist in nature. However, scientists have proved, both experimentally and theoretically, using NUST MISIS’ supercomputer, that it is possible to form such a connections if the materials are at ultra-high pressure conditions. The obtained results show that fundamentally new classes of materials exist at extreme conditions.

“In our work, we have synthesized and described metastable phases of high-pressure silica: coesite-IV and coesite-V. Their crystal structures are drastically different from any of the earlier described models,” says Igor Abrikosov, leader of the theoretical research team. “Two newly discovered coesites contain octahedrons SiO6, that, contrary to Pauling’s rule, are connected through common face, which is the most energy-intensive chemical connection. Our results show that the possible silicate magmas in the lower mantle of the Earth can have , which makes these magmas more compressible than predicted before.”

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Dec 12, 2018

First look at a bulletproof Tesla Model X armored vehicle

Posted by in categories: sustainability, transportation

Electric vehicles, especially Tesla’s vehicles, are not being left out when it comes to armored vehicles.

After a Model S earlier this year, we’ve now got a look at what could be the first Tesla Model X armored vehicle.

We heard a rumor that Tesla’s showroom in Mexico City was displaying a bulletproof Model X.

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Dec 12, 2018

Watch Rocket Lab Launch a Cubesat Fleet for NASA Tonight!

Posted by in categories: business, satellites

The California-based startup Rocket Lab will launch 10 tiny satellites into orbit for NASA tonight, and you can watch it all live online.

A Rocket Lab Electron booster is scheduled to launch NASA’s ElaNa-19 mission from the company’s private Launch Complex 1 on the Mahia Peninsula of New Zealand’s North Island. Liftoff is scheduled for 11:07 p.m. EST (0407 Dec. 13 GMT) during a 4-hour launch window that closes at 3 a.m. EST (0800 GMT). You can watch live via Rocket Lab’s website, beginning about 20 minutes before liftoff. You can also watch the launch here on Space.com, courtesy of Rocket Lab. Bad weather may be a concern for the launch, company officials said.

Tonight’s launch will mark Rocket Lab’s first flight for NASA and the fourth orbital flight of the company’s Electron booster over all. After two test flights (nicknamed “This Is A Test” and “Still Testing”), the company successfully launched its first commercial mission (dubbed “It’s Business Time”) last month.

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Dec 12, 2018

Adaptable drone folds while flying to get through gaps

Posted by in category: drones

Although quadcopter drones show promise as a means of exploring hazardous environments such as disaster sites, they do have one drawback – they’re wide, limiting their ability to squeeze through tight spaces. An experimental new drone addresses that problem, by folding into different shapes while in flight.

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Dec 12, 2018

A radical new neural network design could overcome big challenges in AI

Posted by in categories: health, information science, robotics/AI

Researchers borrowed equations from calculus to redesign the core machinery of deep learning so it can model continuous processes like changes in health.

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Dec 12, 2018

Can artificial intelligence save one of the world’s most beautiful lakes?

Posted by in category: robotics/AI

Toxic algae is overtaking Lake Atitlán. Now AI may help the lake recover.

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Dec 12, 2018

Antarctic Scientists Are About to Drill Into One of the Most Isolated Lakes on Earth

Posted by in category: transportation

Buried beneath 4,000 feet of Antarctic ice lies Lake Mercer, a subglacial body of water that formed thousands of years ago and has been long separated from the rest of the world. A project to explore this lake—and its mysterious contents—is finally set to begin later this month.

Called Subglacial Antarctic Lakes Scientific Access, or SALSA for short, the project aims to uncover new knowledge about Antarctica’s subglacial lakes, of which over 400 are known to exist. Over the next two months, SALSA scientists will explore one of the largest subglacial lakes in West Antarctica, a body of water known as Lake Mercer. The team will bore through some 4,000 feet (1,200 meters) of ice using a 60-centimeter-wide drill capped with hot water. In addition to extracting water and mud samples, the researchers will deploy a remotely operated vehicle—a scientific first for a subglacial lake.

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Dec 12, 2018

Droplets of primordial soup are cooked up by scientists

Posted by in category: cosmology

And all three of these shapes were exactly what the PHENIX scientists observed. It’s our first good peek at what the universe began forming in its very earliest moments after the Big Bang.

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Dec 12, 2018

CDC Announces the Drug Responsible for the Most Overdose Deaths in the US

Posted by in category: biotech/medical

It’s officially deadlier than heroin in the United States.

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Dec 12, 2018

First lab-grown steak unveiled as scientists say it will be available to buy within two years

Posted by in categories: food, sustainability

The first lab-grown steak will be available to buy in two years after scientists finally produced meat with the correct appearance, shape and texture of a real slice of beef.

Up to now, researchers have produced small amounts of cell-grown meat, which have been mixed together to create hamburger patties and sausages, but making an entire steak has proved elusive.

Now Israeli food technology company Aleph Farms has announced it has succeeded in using natural beef cells to grow the three dimensional structure of a minute steak which mimics the muscle and tissue of real meat.

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