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Scientists at Texas Tech University, US, have made a nanocomposite of aluminium and iron oxide that reacts exothermically when ignited. The material could have applications in explosives or as an energy source in MEMS devices or in space. “Research in nanoenergetics is at a very early stage,” Texas Tech researcher Latika Menon told nanotechweb.org. “Nanoscaled energetic materials are expected to be far superior to existing bulk energetic materials due to an increased reaction interface area and drastically decreased distances between reactants, leading to much faster diffusion-limited processes.” Techniques for making nanoscaled energetic composites currently include sol-gel processing, which results in...

NEW HAVEN — Howard Dean came to Yale a year older than most of his colleagues, a little more worldly, better traveled and just generally ahead of the curve.................. With the turbulent ’60s as a backdrop, what his friends remember most are the good times and Dean was at the center of that — a fun guy, quick to organize a mixer and hang out for a card game. "He was just somebody, and it remains true, that people liked to be around. You sort of feel good about yourself around Howard. I think it has something to do with...

Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2003 January 14 0313-192: The Wrong Galaxy Credit: W. Keel (Univ. Alabama), M. Ledlow (Gemini Obs.), F. Owen (NRAO), AUI,NSF, NASA Explanation: Centered above is distant galaxy 0313-192, some one billion light-years away. Radio emission from the galaxy has been mapped by the National Radio Astronomy Observatory's Very Large Array and is shown in red, composited with a visible light image from the Hubble Space Telescope's new Advanced...

Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2002 December 19 RAPTOR Images GRB 021211Credit: P. Wozniak, W.T. Vestrand, et al., RAPTOR Project, LANL Explanation: On December 11 astronomers found one of the brightest and most distant explosions in the Universe - a gamma-ray burst - hiding in the glare of a relatively nearby star. The earliest image of the burst's visible light was caught by an earthbound RAPTOR (RAPid Telescopes for Optical Response). The two...

Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2002 July 21 Nearby Spiral Galaxy NGC 4945 Credit: 2P2 Team, WFI, MPG/ESO 2.2-m Telescope, La Silla, ESO Explanation: For such a close galaxy, NGC 4945 is easy to miss. NGC 4945 is a spiral galaxy in the Centaurus Group of galaxies, located only six times farther away than the prominent Andromeda Galaxy. The thin disk galaxy is oriented nearly edge-on, however, and shrouded in dark dust. Therefore...

Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2002 March 28 Centaurus Galaxy Cluster in X-RaysCredit: J. Sanders, A. Fabian, (IoA Cambridge), NASA Explanation: The Centaurus Cluster is a swarm of hundreds of galaxies a mere 170 million light-years away. Like other immense galaxy clusters, the Centaurus Cluster is filled with gas at temperatures of 10 million degrees or more, making the cluster a luminous source of cosmic x-rays. While individual galaxies are not seen here,...