Science

It all starts with a single octahedron structure, then after four iterations there are already 625 of them. Each iteration creates a new octahedron at each vertex. The result is a fascinating 3D fractal construction on micro and nanoscale, suitable e.g. for high-performance filters. Researchers at the University of Twente's MESA+ Institute for Nanotechnology present this invention in the Journal of Micromechanics and Microengineering.

(Phys.org) —In adding steam to benzene, C6H6, to generate hydrogen, the step that determines the reaction's speed is not the benzene's absorption onto the catalyst, but rather the first benzene bond that breaks, according to scientists at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. The team further explored increasing the speed of the hydrogen-producing reaction by evaluating rhodium and iridium catalysts on a magnesium aluminum spinel support. Through experimental and computational studies, they found that small rhodium particles had a higher turnover efficiency than either larger rhodium particles or iridium. This research graced the cover of ACS Catalysis.

Concerns that a U.S. Supreme Court ruling favorable to gay marriage might produce a backlash that would impede efforts to achieve equality are unfounded, according to a study by researchers at University of California campuses in Riverside and Irvine, University of Connecticut and Princeton University.

Computational photography is the use of clever light-gathering tricks and sophisticated algorithms to extract more information from the visual environment than traditional cameras can.

Images taken from space have indicated that some of the world's unmonitored volcanoes may not be as peaceful as we might like to think. Satellite radar has shown that the surfaces of a number of volcanoes within the East African Rift are deforming – inflating and deflating.

Minute insects, from the Australian National Insect Collection, have been super sized by up to forty times using a novel 3D scanning system and printed using a state of the art 3D printer.

(Phys.org) —Leisurely swims in warm, tropical waters fueled by the gaze of admiring fans and a healthy vegetarian diet. The life of a manatee hardly seems likely to prompt concerns about heart disease. But researchers at the University of Florida say the lumbering, loveable sea cow's ticker deserves a closer look because of the animal's endangered status.

Indonesia plans to use weather changing technology to try to unleash torrents of rain and extinguish raging fires on Sumatra island that have cloaked neighbouring Singapore in thick haze, an official said Wednesday.

(Phys.org) —At low light, cats see better than humans. Electronic detectors do even better, but eventually they too become more prone to errors at very low light. The fundamental probabilistic nature of light makes it impossible to perfectly distinguish light from dark at very low intensity. However, by using quantum mechanics, one can find measurement schemes that can, at least for part of the time, perform measurements which are free of errors, even when the light intensity is very low.

(Phys.org) —Most species at greatest risk from climate change are not currently conservation priorities, according to an International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) study that has introduced a pioneering method to assess the vulnerability of species to climate change.