Matter & Energy

Where are toxic gases found?

Matter can have positive and negative mass Most of us, including non-scientists, have a basic knowledge of the laws of motion. We observe this every day, when we throw a ball to our child or drive our car down the street. We all understand that if we push something, it moves away from us. Whether or not we know that this is called Newton’s Second Law of Motion is irrelevant because the matter will continue to behave in this way regardless.

Electroluminescence is the phenomenon where light is emitted from a material in response to an electric current or field. This differs from incandescence, which is the emission of light due to heat; this is how conventional (non-fluorescent) light bulbs work. Light emitting diodes (LED) are actually a type of semiconductor that uses electroluminescence to generate light.

As scientists look for more ways of powering our future without reliance on fossil fuels, one potential avenue for generating energy is the development of foldable and wearable power sources. The idea is that these could be incorporated into clothes and other fabrics, providing a source of energy on the move.

The Supreme Court and Congress have shown us that laws in our society are far from permanent—if enough people want it, the law can be changed. In the realm of science, though, laws are paramount. A newly demonstrated concept is not considered true until it has been confirmed by many other studies—even then it is only considered a theory, or a rule. Only the most absolute, time-tested concepts become laws and are generally accepted as unchangeable facts of nature.

Nanoscience as a field of study is rapidly changing, despite only being around since the mid to late-twentieth century. But, as scientists and engineers have been working on their ultra-small scale matter, nature has been perfecting nanomaterials over the millennia.

As it becomes more and more apparent that our days of relying on fossil fuels are numbered, scientists are investigating alternative ways of producing fuel to power the future. And the biological processes used by plants to create energy might just hold the answer.

Picture a camera lens that is one-thousandth the width of a strand of human hair or credit card. Scientists at the Australian National University (ANU), led by Dr. Lu of the NEMS (Nano-Electro-Mechanical System) Laboratory, have been working to make this a reality. They have developed the world’s sleekest and thinnest lens with a thickness of just 6.3 nanometers. This is especially impressive when compared to earlier prototypes which had a thickness of 50 nanometers.

Implantable microelectromechanical systems (iMEMS) have a number of exciting applications for medicine in the future, including the delivery of drugs to treat certain localized cancers.

In the classic science fiction novel, 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea, Captain Nemo said, “…sodium batteries have been found to generate the greater energy, and their electro-motor strength is twice that of zinc batteries.” Boy, was he right! (Of course, Nemo was referring to ordinary batteries versus potential reversible, rechargeable ones)

The National Science Foundation (NSF) is one the US government agencies that was created to “promote the progress of science; to advance the national health, prosperity, and welfare; to secure the national defense.” They do this by funding basic research in science and engineering to the tune of $7.5 billion dollars a year (FY 2016), which is less than 0.05% of the total federal bu

As the world supply of fossil fuels continues to dwindle, and the threat from global warming grows more dire, it’s becoming ever more critical to develop new forms of energy that are both renewable and kinder to the environment. Solar energy seems like one of the most promising new technologies—the sun shines everywhere, and gives our planet all the energy it has needed to thrive for billions of years, so why not harvest it?