30/03/2006

Probing Question: What heats the earth's core?

Although we crust-dwellers walk on nice cool ground, underneath our feet the Earth is a pretty hot place. Enough heat emanates from the planet's interior to make 200 cups of piping hot coffee per hour for each of Earth's ...

Engineers Demonstrate Revolutionary Photonic Technology

Until now much of the investment on equipment to generate, transport and detect signals traveling through optical fiber has revolved around 1.55 micron (infrared) as the standard wavelength for telecommunications. Yet many ...

Using probes to control chemistry - molecule by molecule

Using probes originally designed to detect and image topographical features on surfaces, scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory have demonstrated the ability to initiate and spatially ...

Magnetism shepherds microlenses to excavate 'nanocavities'

A Duke University engineer is "herding" tiny lenses with magnetic ferrofluids, precisely aligning them so that they focus bursts of light to excavate patterns of cavities on surfaces. Such photolithographically produced "nanocavities" ...

Measuring Electrical Arcs At the Micrometer Scale

Air is a great insulator—except when it becomes a conductor. Under the right conditions, miniature lightning bolts of electricity will “arc” through the air between two electrically conducting points. Engineers can ...

Sewage flows into Lake Michigan

About 800,000 gallons of partially treated sewage accidentally flowed into Lake Michigan during a computer test in Milwaukee.

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