smarterplanet:

New Plasma Device Considered The ‘Holy Grail’ Of Energy Generation And Storage

Scientists at the University of Missouri have devised a new way to create and control plasma that could transform American energy generation and storage.

Randy Curry, professor of electrical and computer engineering at the University of Missouri’s College of Engineering, and his team developed a device that launches a ring of plasma at distances of up to two feet. Although the plasma reaches a temperature hotter than the surface of the sun, it doesn’t emit radiation and is completely safe in proximity to humans.

While most of us are familiar with three states of matter – liquid, gas and solid – there is also a fourth state known as plasma, which includes things such as fire and lightning. Life on Earth depends on the energy emitted by plasma produced during fusion reactions within the sun.

The secret to Curry’s success was developing a way to make plasma form its own self-magnetic field, which holds it together as it travels through the air.

“Launching plasma in open air is the ‘Holy Grail’ in the field of physics,” said Curry.

more

(Source: upcominghorizon, via scinerds)

amanda-gayfried:

nextyearsgirl:

scienceing:

One half of the humans are female, so one half of the scientists should be female.

- Bill Nye at the Storytelling of Science at ASU

Dawkins looks so disgusted

Probably trapped in a traumatic flashback of being oppressed by women and religious minorities

(via scinerds)

americanhumanist:

Listen to Andy Rooney talk to the AHA’s HNN about his atheism here.

(Source: AtheistRepublic.com)

scificity:

http://scificity.tumblr.com
My all-time favorite DW quote, turned into an awesome poster

scificity:

http://scificity.tumblr.com
April 23rd is Silence Tally Mark Day

ikenbot:

dmozzlewozzle:

Come on grab your friends, We’ll go to a distant galaxy, Neil the Tyson, and Carl the Sagan, The star stuff will never end, It’s Cosmos Time!

Shirts available on Lookhuman.com!

place me by the windowsill and let me cool cause I am done.

(via scinerds)

science-junkie:

NASA’s cold fusion tech could put a nuclear reactor in every home, car, and plane.

When we think of nuclear power, there are usually just two options: fission and fusion. Fission, which creates huge amounts of heat by splitting larger atoms into smaller atoms, is what currently powers every nuclear reactor on Earth. Fusion is the opposite, creating vast amounts of energy by fusing atoms of hydrogen together, but we’re still many years away from large-scale, commercial fusion reactors.

A nickel lattice soaking up hydrogen ions in a LENR reactorLENR is absolutely nothing like either fission or fusion. Where fission and fusion are underpinned by strong nuclear force, LENR harnesses power from weak nuclear force — but capturing this energy is difficult. So far, NASA’s best effort involves a nickel lattice and hydrogen ions. The hydrogen ions are sucked into the nickel lattice, and then the lattice is oscillated at a very high frequency (between 5 and 30 terahertz). This oscillation excites the nickel’s electrons, which are forced into the hydrogen ions (protons), forming slow-moving neutrons. The nickel immediately absorbs these neutrons, making it unstable. To regain its stability, the nickel strips a neutron of its electron so that it becomes a proton — a reaction that turns the nickel into copper and creates a lot of energy in the process.[…]

So why don’t we have LENR reactors yet? Just like fusion, it is proving hard to build a LENR system that produces more energy than the energy required to begin the reaction. In this case, NASA says that the 5-30THz frequency required to oscillate the nickel lattice is hard to efficiently produce. As we’ve reported over the last couple of years, though, strong advances are being made in the generation and control of terahertz radiation. Other labs outside of NASA are working on cold fusion and LENR, too: “Several labs have blown up studying LENR and windows have melted,” says NASA scientist Dennis Bushnell, proving that “when the conditions are ‘right’ prodigious amounts of energy can be produced and released.”

Source: extremetech.com

(via scinerds)

kqedscience:

Engineering Stretchable Gel Tougher Than Human Cartilage

“With funding from the National Science Foundation, a team of engineers at Harvard University, led by Zhigang Suo, Ph.D., has created a new hydrogel that might one day be used as a replacement material for damaged cartilage and spinal discs.”

(via scinerds)

caramel-peach:

I thought that I would do the other end of the hemospectrum.

I would have posted this sooner, but I wasn’t sure if I should color it or keep it monochromatic.

If I get enough requests for a colored version I will do it.

Aradia and Damara © Andrew Hussie

Drawing by Caramel-Peach