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The foundations of the universe have been glimpsed in Manchester by scientists who have created the thinnest possible material.

Flat, parallel sheets of carbon atoms in the graphite of pencil lead have been peeled apart by the scientists to yield a sheet a single atom thick that has peculiar properties which made the fundamental feat possible. Rahul Nair’s research sample: a scaffold with apertures covered by graphene This new material, called graphene, is exciting physicists worldwide because it provides the wherewithal to probe the workings of the universe and without the need for exotic equipment, such as the £4.5 billion atom smasher being readied for use near Geneva. Today, in the journal Science, Prof Andre Geim of Manchester University and his colleagues at The University of Minho in Portugal, say they have used graphene to measure an important and enigmatic fundamental constant of nature – the fine structure constant. Working with Rahul Nair and Peter Blake he made large suspended membranes of graphene so that one can easily see light passing through this thinnest of all materials. The 2.3 per cent of light that it absorbed could then be used to calculate the constant, which shows the interaction between very fast moving electrical charges in the material and light, and it is close to 1/137. This is one of the exact numbers; so-called fundamental or universal constants such as the speed of light and the electric charge of an electron, that play a crucial role in making the cosmos the place it is. Among them, the fine structure constant is arguably most mysterious, says Prof Geim, who discovered graphene with Dr Kostya Novoselov a few years ago. “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,” says Prof Geim. “No carbon means no life.” Researchers say the simplicity of the Manchester experiment is “truly amazing” as measurements of fundamental constants normally require sophisticated facilities and special conditions.”We were absolutely flabbergasted when realised 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,” says Prof Geim. Graphene behaves as if the electrical current within it is not carried by normal electrons but by charged particles with no mass at all. Scientists call them “Dirac fermions” and love to study them, says Prof Geim. The odds are that graphene can be used to make ballistic transistors – ultimately faster than any current technology. “A ballistic transistor is one in which electrons can shoot through without collisions, like a bullet,” he says “Graphene continues to surprise beyond the wildest imagination of the early days when we found this material,” he adds. “It works like a magic wand – whatever property or phenomenon you address with graphene, it brings you the answers as if by magic.” Prof Geim is also known for his earlier use of magnetic fields to levitate frogs and his reation of the dry adhesive that is inspired by the same principle that enables a gecko to crawl along ceilings. Originally posted by By Roger Highfield, Science Editor, Telegraph.co.UK

By DENNIS OVERBYE

Published: March 21, 2008

Early Wednesday morning, a spot of light just barely visible to the human eye (about fifth magnitude in astronomical parlance) appeared in the constellation Boötes. Astronomers say it was the toasted remains of one of the most titanic examples yet of the explosions known as gamma-ray bursts. News about the burst, in a galaxy seven billion light years away, began circulating by e-mail in the astronomical community when it was detected by NASA’s Swift satellite on March 19.

Gamma ray bursts are some of the most violent and enigmatic events in nature. Astronomers surmise that they might mark the implosion of a massive star into a black hole, or the collision of a pair of dense neutron stars.

The visible glow from this burst, said Neil Gehrels of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, was 10 million times as bright as a supernova at that same distance. The universe is some 14 billion years old, which means that the news of this cataclysm has been on its way to us for half the age of the universe. Whatever stars went to their grave then have been dead since before the Sun and Earth were born.

The burst, which has now been dubbed the “naked-eye burst” by astronomers, was one of four that day to be detected by Swift, which has been patrolling the heavens since 2004 for the invisible gamma rays streaming from these blasts and relaying information and precise coordinates to a worldwide network of observers and telescopes. Dr. Gehrels said it was the most intense burst that Swift had yet seen.

Alerted by Swift, a myriad of telescopes on the ground swung into action, some of them operating completely robotically, which as Dr. Gehrels noted, is convenient at an early morning hour. Among those recording and inspecting the burst was one of the giant eight-meter-diameter telescopes of the Very Large Telescope at the European Southern Observatory on Cerro Paranal, in Chile. Spectral measurements of the glow’s redshift (the spectral shift due to motion away from us in the expanding universe) allowed the astronomers to estimate its surprisingly large distance.

That seven billion light years, astronomers say, would have been far and away the record for long-distance sight by the naked eye, at least in the present sky — had anybody seen it. So far, according to Dr. Gehrels, there is no report that anybody did. Within an hour, the glow had faded below the range of human visibility.

“It was an amazing burst, and we are having a lot of fun with it,” said Dr. Gehrels, who said that he and a large group of collaborators are preparing a quick report to submit to Nature.

The extremely luminous afterglow of GRB 080319B was imaged by two instruments on NASA’s Swift satellite, the X-ray Telescope, left, and the Optical/Ultraviolet Telescope.

Imagine a vehicle that runs on air, achieves over 100 gas-equivalent mpg and over 90 mph, has zero to low C02 emissions, seats six, has plenty of space for luggage, cuts no safety corners, and costs no more than an average economy to mid-size vehicle.

This is the expected performance of the revolutionary ‘Air Car’ that Zero Pollution Motors is introducing to North America.
The ‘Air Car‘ project is headed by French inventor and Formula One race car engineer, Guy Negre.

“It’s going to be a great show,” says Bill Cooke of NASA’s Meteoroid Environment Office at the Marshall Space Flight Center. “The Moon is new on August 12th–which means no moonlight, dark skies and plenty of meteors.” How many? Cooke estimates one or two Perseids per minute at the shower’s peak.

JORY SQUIBB, a handyman in Camden, Maine, liked his Toyota wagon just fine. But in September 2005, he grew tired of spending so much on gas and decided there had to be a better way.

And that’s when the Moonbeam was born. The three-wheel vehicle – built from two Honda Elite scooters – is tiny. “Two people who are on very good terms can fit into it,” says the 65-year-old Squibb. But he’s OK with the close quarters. The goal here is fuel economy. It gets more than 100 miles per gallon on the highway and 85 around town. Top speed: 52 m.p.h. “But you don’t want to go 52 in it,” he cautions. “It really likes 35 to 40.” Too slow for most of us, but not for Squibb. Though he still has his Toyota, he drives the Moonbeam every day. He’s even slapped a bumper sticker on the back: “Change happens at the speed of thought.”

One Gallon, 100 Miles Video – Link