May 15, 2007

Matrix recharged

Posted in Physics at 4:00 pm by David Bradley -- 2 Comments; add yours

One of the big problems facing society in its search for sustainable alternative energy sources is not how to harness wind, solar, or wave power, but how to store the electricity produced using these elements at times of low demand. Capacitors could be the answer. These devices can be charged up very quickly, store electrical energy for long periods, and then be discharged rapidly for a range of applications. Such …

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May 10, 2007

Listening out for one-over-f noise

Posted in Physics at 4:00 pm by David Bradley -- Click to comment

The universe is a noisy place - from traffic growling along roads to the random fluctuations in DNA sequences and from the distribution of stars in galaxies to the hissy fit that is electronic noise. One thing all these forms of noise have in common is they are related by the phrase “One-over-f”, the reciprocal of frequency.

A new understanding of “1/f” has emerged from a collaboration between scientists …

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Apr 20, 2007

Cervical fluids and boron nitride

Posted in Bio, Chemistry, Physics, spectroscopy at 4:00 pm by David Bradley -- Click to comment

Two more reports of general interest from my SpectroscopyNOW column. The first is on a new informatics approach to understanding cervical vaginal fluids and the second on a new study of boron nitride the technological wonder material of the future
Screening for premature problems
The application of multiple protein identification algorithms to an analysis of cervical vaginal fluid (CVF) can provide a detailed map of biological markers to help …

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