Scientists drill into ancient crater formed by asteroid hit 66M years ago The peak ring of the Chicxulub crater in Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula is made of granite, pushed up from deep inside the Earth’s crust when a massive asteroid crashed into the planet about 66 million years ago, likely causing the mass dinosaur extinction. Scientists […]
Author: Giovanna D’Angelo is a Ph.D. student (ITN-EJD-TCCM) at Universitet Stockholm ”Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going?” is the title of a late XIX century famous painting by Paul Gauguin. Even if, to date, Science has not provided a complete answer to all these questions, we are still trying […]
What is the closest two beryllium atoms in the electronic ground state can be in a molecule? Well, we may think that that is a relatively easy question to answer. If you know some chemistry it is likely you will be inclined to check the literature for the strength of Be-Be bonds in different compounds […]
Author: Jelle Vekeman is a Ph.D. student (ITN-EJD-TCCM) at Universitat de València For a long time now, we have mainly been using fossil fuels to satisfy our increasing needs for energy. Resources, however, are limited and waste products destructive for the environment. As researchers and companies are exploring alternatives, hydrogen gas (H 2 ) seems […]
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Many moons may be waiting to be discovered in our solar system There are likely more moons to be found in our galaxy, according to re-evaluation of data from the Voyager space probes and searches by the Hubble Space Telescope and with future searches by the more powerful James Webb Space Telescope set to be […]
Author: Neus Aguilera-Porta is a Ph.D. student (ITN-EJD-TCCM) at Universidad Autónoma de Madrid Medicines are a mixture of pharmaceutically active molecules with excipients, designed with the aim of healing, relieving the pain with as minimal side effects as possible. Having this in mind, could the properties of a molecule be modified when absorbing a light […]
An international team with the participation of the Center for Materials Physics in San Sebastián (CSIC-UPV/EHU) and Donostia International Physics Center (DIPC) have created the smallest lens in the world, capable to concentrate light down to dimensions of an atom. Researchers have used gold nanoparticles as focusing lenses that allow to flex individual chemical bonds […]
Group activities like dancing, laughing, and singing, release endorphins in the brain. These endogenous opioid neuropeptides produce a feel-good sensation, increase pain tolerance acting as analgesics, and presumably help to form stronger bonds between members of the group. One conceivable explanation for our amusement of comedy might be that it makes us laugh, and thus […]
Let’s admit it from the very beginning: Saturn is my favorite planet, I’m certainly biased when I speak of its wondrous atmospheric activity. In my defense I must ask for any rival to its giant periodic storms, polygon-shaped flows or seasonal changes. At the telescope, Jupiter may look funnier but, in the long-term, Saturn always […]
Author: Andi Cuko is a Ph.D. student (ITN-EJD-TCCM) at Université Pierre et Marie Curie Oxides are inorganic compounds that contains at least one oxygen atom which is bounded to one or more other elements and they are the most abundant solids in the earth crust. In our society they are playing a very important role […]