Michelle J. Ortiz Billoch: Gravitational waves from the fundamental era

What happened in the beginning of everything? This question has passed through the minds of everyone but now we are closer than ever to answering this question. Physicists have found a twist in light from the Big Bang that represents the first image of ripples in the universe called gravitational waves. In 1980, Physicists Alan Guth and Andrei Linde developed the theory of inflation, the idea that the rapid expansion of space in the early universe lasted from 10-36 seconds after the Big Bang to between 10-33 and 10-32 seconds. Finding the gravitational waves from the fundamental era confirms this theory, Einstein’s theory of general relativity, quantum mechanics and also the possibility of infinite universes. 

The sighting was made by a Harvard Team in a telescope on the roof of a laboratory that sat in the South Pole. The Background Imaging of Cosmic Extragalactic Polarization 2 (BICEP2) experiment found a pattern called primordial B-mode polarization in the cosmic microwave background (CMB). The cosmic microwave background is the faint afterglow of the Big Bang. The primordial B-mode polarization is basically a swirly pattern in the light that can be created only by gravitational waves produced by inflation. 

Studying this pattern will tell us about the birth of the universe but finding them was very difficult. The expansion of the universe stretched this gravitational waves so much that today the distortion they caused are absolutely minimal. You can only see them with super sensitive radiation detection in a telescope. BICEP2 uses about 250 thumbnail size polarization detectors to look for a difference in the CMB light from a small patch of sky coming through its telescope in two perpendicular orientations. The instrument collected data between January 2010 and December 2012 at the Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station, where there is more stable viewing conditions because of the cold, dry air.  

The timing of inflation tells physicists about the energy scale of the universe when inflation was going on. The BICEP2 researchers have reported a surprisingly large number for r, the ratio of the gravitational wave in the CMB with means that the inflation happened earlier that some models predicted.  BICEP2’s value of r, 0.20, suggests that this was the same energy scale at which all the electromagnetic, strong and weak forces of nature, except gravity, might have been merged into a single force called the grand unified theory. The finding strengthen the idea of grand unification.

Soon after Harvard Team revealed there finding, the Planck Team at Oxford University doubted there results, claiming that what they found “can be explained purely by dust”, said Jo Dunkley, member of the Planck Team. They don’t rule out the possibility that they have gravitational waves, but they claim to be higher concentration of dust in there than the Harvard Team though. Dust from exploding stars can be confused as gravitational waves because the light gets twisted mimicking the pattern, primordial B-mode, because dust particles align themselves with the huge magnetic field that stretches trough the Milky Way. In the attempt to clear up any confusing, the Planck and Harvard team have begun to share their data in a new collaboration. Now, all we can do is wait for the dust to clear. 

Jessica Marie González Vargas: Can you split the wave function of an electron and catch their "pieces"?

Technology for the passing of the years has been improved with more efficient and has advanced greatly on the molecular composition of atoms. We understand that each atom is composed of electrons, protons and neutrons, and these three have the same amount. As you know when an atom loses an electron it becomes a positive ion because it will have greater protons than electrons, and so vice versa when it becomes a Negative Ion. With a brief understanding of an atom we can understand how it was developed the following experiments. 

Each proton and electron is composed of a material that generate their molecular composition in traveling wave orbiting ball. The Brown University at Rhode Island, United States has made some experiments directed by the Professor of Physics, Humphrey Maris, the division of the waves traveling in the molecules of the electron and the curious thing is that they have been able to corrupt the orbital wave electrons. We know that these atoms are indestructible and will only be transferred but they suggest that the wave function of an electron can be broken into pieces and those pieces can be trapped in tiny bubbles of liquid helium.

Scientists have wondered for years by the strange behavior of electrons in liquid helium cooled to near absolute zero. This is due as when an electron enters the liquid helium surrounding repels helium atoms, forming a bubble in approximately 3.6 nanometers in diameter. This arises because the atoms begin to lose kinetic energy when the thermal energy is decreased shrinking preventing its molecular composition can be stirred, which lost motion. For this reason, it is said that the cold has a limit, because it determines when molecules move and stop completely. The bubble size is determined by the electron pushing pressure against the surface tension of helium. With the new experiment directed by Brown University in Rhode Island, on the division of waves we can understand what really happens when each molecule plays absolute zero (the maximum freezing) and as its kinetic energy is affected by low temperatures, in this case the cooling ceiling.

In these experiments by Humphrey it was discovered the reason for what happens when an electron has contact with liquid helium and what if take off waves of electrons when exposed to liquid helium. Furthermore, during the experiments could be detected particles 14, plus four additional which frequently appeared in the development of the experiments. The only way that researchers can explain the results is through the "fission" of the wave function. In certain situations, the wave functions of electrons fragment to enter the liquid, and pieces of the wave function of each electron is captured in separate bubbles. Concluding through the experiments directed by Humphrey the behavior of liquid helium atoms, the occurrence when a molecule touches the Absolute Zero and the appearance of the 18 particles found, can be explained and understood by this discovery.

Edwin Torres: Astrobiology: Why people think it doesn't exist or believe it's science fiction

Astrobiology, as defined by the Merriam-Webster dictionary, is a multidisciplinary field dealing with the nature and existence of and search for extraterrestrial life. It encompasses many fields of biology, astronomy and geology. If it’s already defined in a recognized dictionary, to say the least, why do people still wonder if it’s something of science fiction or it doesn’t exist. Well here’s my honest and logical opinion, people are scared what astrobiology can, and will,  answer; like author Arthur C. Clarke said “Two possibilities exist: either we are alone in the Universe or we are not. Both are equally terrifying.” Astrobiology seeks the answer to one of the oldest known questions in our society. “Are we alone in the Universe?” People tend to stay away from this specific question, afraid it will damage their convictions, opinion or ideas. It’s a life changing question and one that many have tried to answer. Carl Sagan, one of the most recognized astrobiologists of the 20th century, strived to find sentience life in the cosmos and educate mankind with his many scientific papers and television show on the aspects of Life as a whole. He dedicated his whole life to the understanding of many scientific fields, one of them happened to be astrobiology and educate human kind as to what it was and what it could achieve. When I tell my fellow students that I’m interested in astrobiology they tend to say “Does that even exist?”, “it sounds like something out of Star Wars…”, or my favorite, “get some real life goals man, study something real…” And yet after all those comments, I tell them to search up information, to educate themselves on the matter at hand and to try and be understanding of the sciences that fulfill our whole spectrum and the way we see the universe. Astrobiology fulfills all my desires in a field of study and still people ridicule it as a science, as a whole entity, just by being ignorant. Astrobiology has impulsed investigations, some of them finding bacterial crystal cocoons in meteorites, to discovering to describing how Titan’s chemical atmosphere could spark life. Carl Sagan hoped all humans would advocate in the use of the scientific method and scientific skeptical inquiry, which are the base of all science as we know it. Many of those fellow students I told you about tend to pass these scientific techniques and illogically discriminate against this whole science and it’s wrong. Because sometime in their life the “be scared of that which you don’t know or understand” dogma was inserted into their minds. Trying to explain why this is a “hard” science to a close minded person is a challenge, but one that I hope to one day be able to do in a classroom or an auditorium filled with people who wish to learn. Astrobiology is and forever will be a science, one that many need to understand (at least the basics) and be taught as a degree in universities around the world. My education will lead me to this field, maybe I won’t get a “real” goal but at least I’ll be happy studying and admiring life in the Universe. 

“The cosmos is all that it is, or ever was or ever will be.”

-Carl Sagan, Astrophysicist, astrobiologist, and cosmologist

Ashley Del Valle: Revolution in the solar Industry with a “Breathing” Battery

In October 3, 2014 researchers reported in the the journal Nature Communications, that they’ve succeeded in combining a battery and a solar cell into a hybrid device.

Giving birth to what became the first Solar Battery. This revolutionary artifact was created in The Ohio State University by Yiying Wu, professor of chemistry. “Basically, it's a breathing battery” Wu said. "It breathes in air when it discharges, and breathes out when it charges".

Wu’s team believes that their device will reduce the costs of the solar panel and its battery by 25 percent. Based on early tests, Wu and his team think that the solar battery's lifetime will be comparable to rechargeable batteries already on the market. The invention also solves a longstanding setback in solar energy efficiency, by eliminating the loss of electricity that in general occurs when electrons have to travel between a solar cell and an external battery. On average, only 80 percent of electrons rising from a solar cell make it into a battery. Yet with this new design nearly a 100 percent of the electrons are saved.

The design of the solar battery takes some cues from a battery previously developed by Wu and doctoral student Xiaodi Ren. The previous invention consisted of a high-efficiency airpowered battery that discharges by chemically reacting potassium with oxygen.

HOW DOES IT WORK

During charging, light hits the mesh¹ solar panel and generates electrons. Inside the battery, electrons are involved in the chemical decomposition of lithium peroxide into lithium ions and oxygen. The oxygen is released into the air, and the lithium ions are stored in the battery as lithium metal after capturing the electrons.

When the battery discharges, it chemically consumes oxygen from the air to re-form the lithium peroxide and the process begins again.

An iodide additive in the electrolyte² acts as a "shuttle" that carries electrons, and moved them between the battery electrode³ and the mesh solar panel. The team specified that the use of the additive represents a distinct approach on improving the battery performance and efficiency.

During the tests, the team charged and discharged the battery repeatedly, while doctoral student Lu Ma used X-ray Photoelectron spectroscopy to analyze how well the electrode materials survived, this is an indication of battery life.

CHALLENGES FACED

The first challenge was that solar cells are normally made of solid semiconductor panels, which would block air from entering the battery. As a solution Doctoral student Mingzhe Yu designed a permeable mesh solar panel from titanium gauze, a flexible fabric upon which he grew vertical rods of titanium dioxide. Doing that air could passes freely through the gauze while the rods capture sunlight.

Secondly, they tried to use a ruthenium compound as the red dye, but since the dye was consumed in the light capture, the battery ran out of dye after eight hours of charging and discharging, which was a way too short a lifetime. So they turned to a dark red semiconductor that wouldn't be consumed: hematite, or iron oxide, best known as rust.

Currently The U.S. Department of Energy funds this project, which will continue as the researchers explore ways to enhance the solar battery's performance with new materials.

The story is provided by Ohio State University. The original article was written by Pam Frost Gorder. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.

¹ Mesh = an interlaced structure.

² Electrolyte = liquid or gel that contain ions and can be decomposed by electrolysis.

³ Electrode = a conductor through which electricity enters or leaves an object, substance, or region.

Journal Reference:

Mingzhe Yu, Xiaodi Ren, Lu Ma, Yiying Wu. Integrating a redox-coupled dye-sensitized photoelectrode into a lithium–oxygen battery for photoassisted charging. Nature Communications,

2014; 5: 5111 DOI: 10.1038/ncomms6111