Sunday, 24 March, 2019

The Quest to Make a Crystal Harder Than Diamonds

The Quest to Make a Crystal Harder Than Diamonds

Posted on Thursday, 25 August, 2016Thursday, 24 August, 2017 by Zheluo Cai

The Quest to Make a Crystal Harder Than Diamonds.

What are Q-Carbon and Nanocrystalline Diamond Balls that are able to withstand pressures at 1,000 Giga Pascals (GPa)? That is equivalent to about 3,000 adult African elephants all standing on a single stiletto heel. Geophysicists also use the GPa in measuring or calculating tectonic plate stresses and pressures within the Earth. The pascal is an International System of Units of pressure used to quantify internal pressure or ultimate tensile strength of a substance. So, 1 GPa is 1,000,000,000 Pa. It is named after the French mathematician Blaise Pascal. Normal diamond crystals, one of the hardest materials on Earth would disintegrate at 120 GPa. This article takes us into the search and possible application of such material.

Read Article Here:

http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20160818-the-quest-to-make-a-crystal-harder-than-diamonds

Warning - Cyclone Idai in Mozambique, Malawi, and Zimbabwe Friday, 22 March, 2019
Parts of Mozambique, Malawi, and Zimbabwe have been severely affected by Tropical Cyclone Idai. US residents should avoid nonessential travel to Beira City and the surrounding area in Mozambique. Travelers to other affected parts of Mozambique, Malawi, and Zimbabwe should take steps to prevent illness and injury.
Alert - Drug-Resistant Infections in Patients Who Had Weight-Loss Surgery in Mexico Friday, 15 March, 2019
Some US residents returning from Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico, have been diagnosed with infections caused by an antibiotic-resistant form of Pseudomonas aeruginosa bacteria. (weight loss surgery, bariatric, Tijuana, Mexico, Grand View Hospital, VIM, carbapenemase)

ASTRONOMY PICTURE OF THE DAY: Westerlund 2. Credit: X-ray; Y.Nazé, G.Rauw, J.Manfroid (Université de Liège), CXC, NASA. Infrared; E.Churchwell (University of Wisconsin), JPL, Caltech, NASA. Dusty stellar nursery RCW 49 surrounds young star cluster Westerlund 2 in this composite skyscape towards the southern constellation Centaurus. Westerlund 2 is a mere 2 million years old and contains some of our galaxy’s most luminous, massive and short-lived stars. At the cluster’s estimated distance of 20,000 light-years, the square marking the Chandra field of view would be about 50 light-years on a side.

NASA Mission Reveals Asteroid Has Big Surprises Tuesday, 19 March, 2019
A NASA spacecraft that will return a sample of a near-Earth asteroid named Bennu to Earth in 2023 made the first-ever close-up observations of particle plumes erupting from an asteroid’s surface.
NASA Television to Air Three Upcoming Spacewalks, Preview Briefing Friday, 15 March, 2019
Four astronauts are preparing for their first spacewalks outside the International Space Station, scheduled for March 22, March 29 and April 8.

IMAGO DEI: Igorot is the collective name of several Austronesian ethnic group who inhabit the six Philippines provinces of the Cordillera Administrative Region: Abra, Apayao, Benguet, Ifugao, Mountain Province, and Nueva Vizcaya. Their culture is well-preserved as they had defended their land against the Spaniards. They Igorots are divided into two subgroups: the larger group in the south, central and western areas, and very adept at rice-terrace farming; a smaller group lives in the east and north.

Ukraine - Level 2: Exercise Increased Caution Thursday, 21 March, 2019
Exercise increased caution in Ukraine due to crime, civil unrest and elections. Some areas have increased risk. Read the entire Travel Advisory. Do not travel to: Crimea due to arbitrary detentions and other abuses by Russian occupation authorities. The eastern parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts, especially the non-government-controlled areas, due to armed conflict. Crime […]
Comoros - Level 2: Exercise Increased Caution Thursday, 21 March, 2019
Exercise increased caution in The Union of the Comoros due to the upcoming presidential election. Comoros will hold elections on March 24, 2019, and April 21, 2019, if a run-off election is warranted. Travel within Comoros may be disrupted during these times by roadblocks and political demonstrations. From March 21-March […]

THE FLAG OF PORTUGAL: The flag is a rectangular bicolour with a field unevenly divided into green on the hoist, and red on the fly. The lesser version of the national coat of arms (i.e. armillary sphere and Portuguese shield) is centred over the colour boundary at equal distance from the upper and lower edges. On 30 June 1911, less than a year after the downfall of the constitutional monarchy, this design was officially adopted. The green and red represent the hope of the nation (green) and the blood of those who died defending it.

WORK OF ART: American Gothic is a 1930 painting by Grant Wood in the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago. The painting depicted the American Gothic House in Eldon, Iowa, along with “the kind of people I fancied should live in that house;” a farmer standing beside a woman who has been interpreted to be his sister. The figures were modelled by Wood’s sister, Nan Wood Graham, and their dentist, Dr Byron McKeeby. American Gothic is one of the most familiar images in 20th-century American pop art scene.

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