Posted 11.10.2011 at 5:14 pm
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Beamline Sample
This image shows the heating of a catalyst sample in an "in situ" cell at actual operating conditions. The catalyst is studied using time-resolved X-ray absorption spectroscopy. A new beamline at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility has a resolution of a few microseconds.
ESRF
It is much easier to get to Mars than to get deep inside this planet, so for all our knowledge about things like earthquakes and the magnetic field, Earth’s interior is actually very poorly understood. To study how metals interact at the prodigious pressures within, scientists squeeze small particles in the lab and heat them up — but this is an inexact science and difficult to do. A newly revamped X-ray beam facility in Europe may be able to improve matters, and shed some light on just what is going on at the center of our planet.
The European Synchrotron Radiation Facility inaugurates its new ID24 beam today, in preparation for experiments next spring. It will enable scientists to exact extreme pressures and temperatures on metals, aiming to understand how they act at Earth’s core. It will also be able to study new chemical catalysts and battery technology, among other atomic reactions.
A synchrotron is a type of particle accelerator — the Tevatron is one — that can be used for a wide range of applications. One such application involves harnessing the accelerated particles' electromagnetic radiation for scientific imaging. Synchrotron light sources use a series of magnetic fields to bend this radiation into different wavelengths of light. At ESRF, beamlines branch off from the particle acceleration ring to capture the particles’ (usually electrons) radiation. The new beamline, ID24, will enable incredibly fast X-ray absorption spectroscopy.
This works by firing an intense X-ray beam at a sample, and watching how atoms of the different elements inside the sample absorb the X-rays — it’s an active probe, monitoring its own experiments. The beamline has an array of germanium detectors that can take 1 million measurements per second, according to an ESRF news release. So scientists could take a small sample of iron, put it in the beamline, heat it to 10,000 degrees, and watch what happens. This would conceivably help scientists understand how iron behaves 1,500 miles beneath the surface of the Earth, and what are the melting points of other metals present in the mantle and core. This, in turn, could shed some light on things like Earth’s dynamo, which creates its magnetic field.
The ID24 beam is the first of eight new beamlines at ESRF, part of a $245 million (180 million Euro) upgrade.
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Oh sweet, if we can figure out how the Earths dynamo works we may be that much closer to artfical gravity :D
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Just my mind musing... What if the magnetosphere is gravity as it effects space time? If we think of gravity as a round ball making a funnel in a fabric... we expand that to a 3D field an create a ball where on the inside, time becomes infinite and appears to stop. This field then acts like a bubble that can snap and bounce, much like a funnel dances around a drain pipe... OR, when hit by an object, act like dark matter in a galactic collision.
Would this also account for why gravity seems such a weak force? If we only see it as a function of it's pull towards a centre, it is relatively weak. But if we add the effect of the magnetosphere (and through it magnetism? When turned from a circle into a line, do we get wave physics?) we get a much stronger force.
Sorry if that is debunked a long time ago, let me know, I would love to learn more =o)
Hold up EURO's dollar kicks ours that bad???? ugh
@NoConsequenc3 Actually the way the earths dynamo works has little impact on gravity according to modern theories. However gravity does impact the behavior of the dynamo. Understanding the dynamo however will likely not get us any closer to artificial gravity because for all our knowledge gravity still requires the presence of a large mass.
Hello Rebecca Boyle,
Pardon me, but is there any chance to get popsci on those pesky spammers who want to advertise BS on this motha effing science website!? Seriously.
Oh and I do not mean to sound like I'm yelling, its just disgusting to think what our world is becoming these days. Loved the article by the way, I had a Professor, Dr. Neatherly- Geologist, who talked to us about the development of such instruments a few semesters back. This is like watching the future unfold before your eyes. The next one he mentioned was the team development from oil companies (gas or mineral) to start mining for rare earths on the ocean beds, lets not forget all that frozen methane.
" Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind." Albert Einstein
We have energies sources in our country abundant. Some say they are available. Some say they are not. That is really politics, but it’s all there waiting.
Still carbon fuels are not a good and healthy long term solution.
YES, FIND THOSE RARE EARTH MINERALS for your electric future!!!! This is awesome technology. I hope they aren't stupid enough to share this with Russia, China and a few other problem children.
We need to get ahead of the game in our country, to pick on our economic problems. Stop giving away our R&D for free.
Technologies like this and better satellite scanning development is the way to go!
.............................
Science sees no further than what it can sense.
Religion sees beyond the senses.
We have energies sources in our country abundant. Some say they are available. Some say they are not. That is really politics, but it’s all there waiting.
Still carbon fuels are not a good and healthy long term solution.
YES, FIND THOSE RARE EARTH MINERALS for your electric future!!!! This is awesome technology. I hope they aren't stupid enough to share this with Russia, China and a few other problem children.
We need to get ahead of the game in our country, to pick on our economic problems. Stop giving away our R&D for free.
Technologies like this and better satellite scanning development is the way to go!
.............................
Science sees no further than what it can sense.
Religion sees beyond the senses.