Carbon Nanotubes Demonstrate Antibacterial Activity - European Medical Journal

The experiment Thomas Penny, Yu-Han Tseng and Cecily Lowe observe nanoparticle collisions at Yale University. (Courtesy: Yale Wright Lab) A silica nanoparticle levitated in an optical trap could be used as a tiny pressure sensor that detects collisions with individual atoms and molecules – according to researchers in the US. Their proof-of-principle demonstration originated in the team’s work in developing novel neutrino and dark-matter detectors. It could lead to the development of a background pressure sensor to work alongside other optomechanical sensors.

The solar system’s most distant planet shares the sky with the nearly Full Moon this evening, with Saturn standing nearby. Late in the month, the Moon forms a triangle with Saturn and Neptune — note the latter requires binoculars or a telescope to spot. Credit: Astronomy: Roen Kelly

An artistic rendering of the interior structure of Earth (left) compared to a large rocky exoplanet (right). Credit: John Jett and Federica Coppari/LLNL In the deepest region of the Earth's mantle, just above the core, much of the material consists of crystals of magnesium oxide. In larger rocky exoplanets called super-Earths, the higher pressures in the lower mantle may drive magnesium oxide to transform into a new high-pressure crystal structure or a metallic, electrically conductive liquid that generates a magnetic field. And in gas giants, magnesium oxide could exist in the cores themselves.