Iceland

Quantum microphone

Swedish scientists have created the most sensitive microphone in the world. The device is based on the use of single-electron transistor, in which the voltage can vary due to the movements of individual electrons. The sound creates a ripple on the surface of the crystal, similar to the one that occurs in water when throwing stones. The detector is sensitive to the amplitude of the sound waves of a few percent of the diameter of a proton - the movement, but rather is described by the laws of quantum mechanics than classical.

Fascinating photos of Digital Globe

 

Emirates Towers in Dubai

Icelandic glacier Breydamerkuyokudl

Sand dunes near the coastal town of Sahm, Oman

River of cancer in New Zealand

New properties of graphene

Piezoelectric materials generate electricity in response to physical impact, and vice versa. Such materials are used for energy production, manufacture of artificial muscles, high-precision sensors, etc.
Graphene - ultraprochny carbon material, which has found many potential applications. By itself, it does not have piezoelectric properties. However, scientists have found that if you punch the holes with triangular graphene sheet and attach to a sheet of uniform force, graphene becomes piezoelectric properties. Calculations show that it is the triangular hole, rather than, for example, round, make graphene piezoelectric. Moreover, graphene demonstrates the piezoelectric effect as powerful as the best-known piezoelectric material such as quartz.

Algorithms and cells

Scientists at the J. Craig Venter Institute have developed a new method for sequencing and analysis of "dark matter" of life - the genomes of thousands of species of bacteria that were previously unavailable for genetic analysis. This group includes microorganisms that produce antibiotics, biofuels, as well as microbes that live in the human body.
The discovery will allow researchers to collect almost complete picture of all the DNA from one bacterial cell. This compares favorably with a new technique to traditional methods of sequencing, which require at least a billion identical cells grown in laboratory cultures. The study opens the door for the sequencing of bacteria that can not be cultivated, and that the lion's share of the bacteria living on our planet.
Scientists have developed an algorithm that significantly improves the performance of the software used to display the sequence of DNA from one bacterial cell. The new algorithm captures 90% of genes from one cell. This is certainly not 100% but is comparable with the modern sequencing technology, which captures 95% of the genes of the billions of cultured cells.
During testing a new technique, scientists have successfully decoded the DNA sequence of a single cell of E. coli and recovered 91% of its genes.
The new technology will allow to answer many important questions of biology, for example, to study the natural antibiotics that are produced by certain bacteria. Also, for the first time, researchers can determine which proteins and peptides of bacteria in the human body, microorganisms are used to communicate with each other and the host.