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Posts tagged physics
Silicon melts when it gets colder?
Sep 12th
It’s counterintuitive, but it doesn’t exactly happen in nature. Researchers at MIT earlier this month essentially created a chemical “sandwich” with silicon as the bread. In the middle was copper, nickel and and iron. These metals were heated up until they melted and dissolved into the silicon. Crucially, they remained below silicon’s melting point of 1,414 degrees Celsius. The mixture reached 900 degrees Celsius, and at that point the silicon became supersaturated with the three metals. Precipitation occurred, where the metals were forced to melt into liquid, dissolving some of the silicon as well some 500 degrees below its normal melting point.
The discovery of this phenomenon could have an impact on the production of solar cells and computer chips, both which have silicon as a main component. This process could improve their durability, as the silicon that melts off is the unpure silicon that contains the other metals, leaving behind the more pristine solid silicon. Also, this melting treatment would allow manufacturers to use less pure silicon in the production of solar cells, making them much cheaper than they are now. With computer chips, this process could aid in the creation of better silicon nanowires, which are small, extremely conductive tubes, where the purer the silicon, the better.
The discovery of this phenomenon could have an impact on the production of solar cells and computer chips, both which have silicon as a main component. This process could improve their durability, as the silicon that melts off is the unpure silicon that contains the other metals, leaving behind the more pristine solid silicon. Also, this melting treatment would allow manufacturers to use less pure silicon in the production of solar cells, making them much cheaper than they are now. With computer chips, this process could aid in the creation of better silicon nanowires, which are small, extremely conductive tubes, where the purer the silicon, the better.
Discovery of subatomic particles could answer deep questions in geology
Jul 17th
An international team including scientists from Princeton University has detected subatomic particles deep within the Earth’s interior. The discovery could help geologists understand how reactions taking place in the planet’s interior affect events on the surface such as earthquakes and volcanoes. Someday, scientists may know enough about the sources and flow of heat in the Earth to predict events like the recent volcanic eruption in Iceland.
SETI Releasing Radio Telescope Signal Data. Rejoice!
Apr 22nd
SETI Institute Announces Public Availability of Radio Telescope Signal Data in Latest Milestone for Director Dr. Jill Tarter’s 2009 TED Prize Wish to Enlist all Earthlings in Search for Extra-terrestrial Intelligence
MIT Working On More Efficient Wireless Power Delivery
Apr 20th
In 2007, MIT researchers announced that they had discovered a novel way of transmitting electricity without the use of wires. Now, the researchers have demonstrated that the system’s efficiency at transmitting energy improves significantly when it is used to charge multiple devices at the same time.
Idea 290: Smash Microscopic Particles Together.
Mar 30th
We are not really looking for life “out there” very actively but hey, we ARE seeking bigger answers – like how this universe was formed. The CERN Large Hadron Collider has taken one step forward in realizing answers to that question. The LHC struck particles at a record 7TeV today in search for the “God Particle”. What LHC calls the first high energy collision sets the ground for new discoveries in Physics. Are we looking at a new golden age of Physics? We will know in 2 years time. Apparently 2000 graduate students are in line to access full data from these experiments. Full PR text after the break.
