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Queen Bee 🐝

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  Bees hide an interesting secret. When the hive loses its queen, who alone is able to give life to the colony and maintain order in a perfectly organized society, all seems lost. The life of the hive slows down. Without new eggs, the future is lost. In a few weeks, the colony may be doomed. But the bees do not panic. Nor do they expect salvation from outside. Demonstrating extraordinary collective intelligence and profound instincts, they trigger spectacular emergency procedures, almost unimaginable in a world dominated by insects. --- ◆ The transformation begins with a simple but essential choice The worker bees choose common larvae - those who would normally be mere workers. They are nothing special. They are not born different. But their fate changes completely. They are chosen to receive a special food: royal jelly. A rare substance, produced by healthy bees, rich in proteins, vitamins and bioactive compounds. This is royal food in the purest sense of the word. The larvae fed ...
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How Big is a Neutrino?

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  Physicists from around the world have joined together for a specific purpose. They have measured the size of a certain type of neutrino. The team published their work in the journal Nature. The group conducted experiments that involve measuring the radioactive decay of beryllium. Neutrinos are subatomic particles. They have a mass that is very close to zero. They have half integral spin. Neutrinos rarely react with normal matter. Three kinds of nutrinos have been discovered to date. They were noticed in association with a tau particle, muon or electron. Scientists study neutrinos for a greater understanding of why there is more matter than antimatter in the universe.  What size are neutrinos? It’s an important question, because it allows building the appropriate size and shape neutrino detectors. Currently, the detectors are large (several meters). This is because it was believed the size could theoretically be several meters wide. It is currently thought, however,  tha...
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Graphene Ink for 3D Printing

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  University of Waterloo is researching an environmentally friendly ink for 3-D printing. Their study is called, “additive free Graphene based inks for 3-D printing functional conductive aerogels.” The journal of materials chemistry a Published the groups work.  Graphene is known for its thermal properties, strength, and electrical conductivity. It is a powder form, which is very difficult to work with. It’s form can limit Graphene uses. The group at Waterloo have created the world’s first all Graphene Inc. It was created by developing Graphene nano sheets that can disperse in water. The Graphene still maintains its conductivity. The new ink is very versatile and environmentally friendly. It does not use additives or any chemical solvent for printing. Dr. David Kamkar Is a professor in the Department of chemical engineering at Waterloo. He reports, “shaping graphitic Material in the complex geometry for advanced applications has long been a critical challenge that is limited t...
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Electric Sparks

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  Electric sparks are used for igniting fuel in car engines, powering, electronics, and welding. They are entirely useful, but hard to control in an open space. Generally, sparks will break into branches that move towards the closest metal object. An exciting new study was released in science advances. It reveals a way to transport electricity through air by ultrasonic waves. Controlling electric sparks allows guidance of a spark around obstacles, or guiding the spark to hit specific locations. Dr. Asier Marzo is from the public university of Navarre, and is lead researcher of the work. He reports, “we observed this phenomenon for more than one year, then it took us months to control it, and even longer to find an explanation.”  One spark heat up the air, allowing the guidance to occur by the air expanding and lowering its density. The hot air is guided by the ultrasonic waves in the areas where the sound intensity is higher. The next spark allows the regions of higher air bec...
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New Highly Conductive Polymer

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A new study from an international research team was published in the journal nature. The team has created a multi layered two dimensional polyaniline (2DPANI) crystal. The material has a unique metallic out of plane charge transport and is highly conductive. There are many different types of conducting polymers, such as polyaniline, polythiophene and polypyrrole. These polymers are best known for their electrical conductivity. They are low cost, flexible and lightweight, making them a possible alternative to traditional metals and semiconductors. Charge transport between polymer chains has been a huge challenge that scientists are addressing. Researchers from the round the world are collaborating, including Ningbo Institute of material technology and engineering (NIMTE) Of the Chinese academy of sciences ( CCAS), TU Dresden, The max Planck  Institute of microstructure physics and CIC nanoGUNE BRTA. They have developed a new 2DPANI crystal. They used a topology directed 2D depolymer...
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Transparent Aluminum Oxide- from Star Trek!

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TAIOx, or transparent aluminum oxide is it real material. Years ago, it did make an appearance on Star Trek, used for both starship windows and space aquariums. It is very hard and resistant to scratches And a perfect protective coating on electronics, solar panels, and optical sensors. The methods for making TAIOx are costly and complex. It requires large vats of dangerous chemicals, vacuum chambers, and high-powered lasers. A change is being brought fourth by a few Filipino scientists from the Ateneode Manila University.  Instead of dipping entire sheets of metal in a large vats of acid, the scientists applied micro droplets of acid onto small aluminum surfaces. They then applied 2 V of electricity (About an AA battery). The team realized this was all that was needed to transform metal into the TAIOx. The group published their work in the journal Langmuir.  The new process is named droplet scale anodization. It is a much simpler way to manufacture TAIOx, but also environment...
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Nano Nickel Particles for Hydrogenation

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  New information was published in advanced functional materials. A team is being led by Wang Guozhong. He is from the Hefei Institute of physical science of the Chinese Academy of sciences. His team is working on a new catalyst design for industrial applications. They have developed a new way to precisely control the size of nickel (Ni) particles in a catalyst.  This improves the performance of hydrogenation reactions. Catalysts are important in accelerating chemical reactions without being consumed. The size of the metal particles is consequential for influencing their performance. Large Ni particles have more high coordination, specially locales that facilitate hydrogen disassociation. Small Ni particles have low coordination sites that enhance reactant adsorption. Precise control over particle size is a huge challenge to scientists. The study synthesized mesoporous silica. It used a methodology that adjusted the molar ratio of ethylene diamine (EDA) to Ni. This created an ...
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