note: they don't have to be to 1:1 scale.
Posted on 04/05/2008 8:35:26 AM PDT by RightWhale
Graphene Gazing Gives Glimpse Of Foundations Of Universe ScienceDaily (Apr. 4, 2008) — Researchers at The University of Manchester have used graphene to measure an important and mysterious fundamental constant - and glimpse the foundations of the universe.
The researchers from The School of Physics and Astronomy, led by Professor Andre Geim, have found that the world's thinnest material absorbs a well-defined fraction of visible light, which allows the direct determination of the fine structure constant.
The universe and life on this planet are intimately controlled by several exact numbers; so-called fundamental or universal constants such as the speed of light and the electric charge of an electron. Among them, the fine structure constant is arguably most mysterious. It defines the interaction between very fast moving electrical charges and light -- or electromagnetic waves -- and its exact value is close to 1/137.
Working with Portuguese theorists from The University of Minho in Portugal, Geim and colleagues report their findings online in Science Express. The paper will be published in the journal Science in the coming weeks. Prof Geim, who in 2004 discovered graphene with Dr Kostya Novoselov, a one-atom-thick gauze of carbon atoms resembling chicken wire, says: "Change this fine tuned number by only a few percent and the life would not be here because nuclear reactions in which carbon is generated from lighter elements in burning stars would be forbidden. No carbon means no life."
Geim now working together with PhD students Rahul Nair and Peter Blake have for the first time produced large suspended membranes of graphene so that one can easily see light passing through this thinnest of all materials. The researchers have found the carbon monolayer is not crystal-clear but notably opaque, absorbing a rather large 2.3 percent of visible light. The experiments supported by theory show this number divided by Pi gives you the exact value of the fine structures constant. The fundamental reason for this is that electrons in graphene behave as if they have completely lost their mass, as shown in the previous work of the Manchester group and repeated by many researchers worldwide. The accuracy of the optical determination of the constant so far is relatively low, by metrological standards.
But researchers say the simplicity of the Manchester experiment is "truly amazing" as measurements of fundamental constants normally require sophisticated facilities and special conditions. With large membranes in hand, Prof Geim says it requires barely anything more sophisticated then a camera to measure visual transparency of graphene. "We were absolutely flabbergasted when realized that such a fundamental effect could be measured in such a simple way. One can have a glimpse of the very foundations of our universe just looking through graphene," said Prof Geim.
"Graphene continues to surprise beyond the wildest imagination of the early days when we found this material.
"It works like a magic wand -- whatever property or phenomenon you address with graphene, it brings you back a sheer magic.
"I was rather pessimistic about graphene-based technologies coming out of research labs any time soon. I have to admit I was wrong. They are coming sooner rather than later."
Adapted from materials provided by University of Manchester, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.
note: they don't have to be to 1:1 scale.
Graphene is one of the most popular subjects on FR. Perhaps there is an image of graphene on one of the earlier threads, although graphene is so thin even O’Bama could manhandle it.
Used to date a gal named Graphene.
Good times. Good times.
You too?
That would make such a monster bee, it wouldn't be able to crawl around on the flowers.
The modern trend is to to regress the cell size downwards, from 5.2-5.4 mm, to 4.9 mm. Or let 'em build their own, without foundation.
Yes, I know. My comments have nothing to do with graphene. Thread hijack atttempt, now aborted. You may return to your regularly scheduled programming...
mo bedda?
Ping so you don’t miss this article ... if this thread runs long enough, someone will get around to noting Feynman’s ‘excess radius’ argument don’tchaknow. The notion of ‘loss of mass’ hints at a planar present where/when interference perhaps?
Was that picture of Rachel taken within the past three years?
It's about the right size...but I've never seen foundation with open sides, before now, hehheh...
It sets one off to thinking, even if the graphic artist wasn't attempting to represent anything api.
Computer Networking, borrowing from bees, inspiring some new form of foundation going back to the bees, most likely to fail(?) of course, even though it suggests things found in nature (an enhanced possibility towards non-uniform cell sizes). Interesting...
It's really the coupling constant for the electromagnetic force. It's the value that gives the reduction of the electric force and energy developed between 2 charges, because of the dielectric constant, or capacitance of the vacuum. Polarization of the vacuum reduces the force between the charges and the energy contained in the interaction. It's not really a constant also, since the value increases as the energy scale increases. At 100 GeV it's ~1/129 and continues to increase to the unification scale at 1016GeV. As the energy goes up, the charge is less able to interact and polarize the vacuum.
Ping.
Hmmmmm .... Thank you so much for the ping!
That is the same as what I commented. Exact.
?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.