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Issue no. 30, 2008 Published: Sep 26, 2008
Ultrasmooth mirror could herald birth of a new microscope
Can rubber ducks help track a melting glacier?
Campaign against software patents kicks off
UN forecasts boom in 'green jobs'
Lift could take passengers straight into space
Scientists develop cheap fast water contamination test
Heavyweights team up on photo data standard
Invention: Bat-style footstep detector

Ultrasmooth mirror could herald birth of a new microscope
A microscope that studies the most delicate materials by bouncing helium atoms off their surfaces could be made within a year, thanks to the development of the world's smoothest mirror. That is the claim from researchers at the Autonomous University of Madrid, Spain, who have created the mirror by depositing a few atom-thick layers of lead onto an almost perfectly smooth silicon surface at 114 kelvin (-159 °C). The atomic microscope would allow the surface of biological samples, for example, to be probed in a way that is impossible with other state-of-the-art microscopes. Electron microscopes can produce highly magnified images, but they have serious drawbacks. The samples must conduct electricity; electrons penetrate into the sample, leading to an image that doesn't accurately represent the surface; and, worst of all, the very-high-energy electron beams can obliterate the precious samples. An atomic microscope with a low-energy beam of helium atoms could get around these problems. Neutral helium can bounce off any surface and the beam would be deflected by the electrons at the very edge of the sample, giving a true image of the surface. But an atomic microscope demands a focused beam of helium atoms, which requires a mirror that reflects the beam with very little scattering of the atoms. The new flat mirror is atomically smooth, even after it has warmed up to room temperature, and it can reflect 15% of incoming helium atoms.
Nature / Advanced Materials Sep 24, 2008	back to top

Can rubber ducks help track a melting glacier?
To help figure out what is happening inside the fastest-moving Greenland glacier, a US rocket scientist sent 90 rubber ducks into the ice, hoping someone finds them if they emerge in Baffin Bay. The common yellow plastic bath toys are one part of a sophisticated experiment to determine why glaciers speed up in the summer in their march to the sea, said Alberto Behar of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California. The Jakobshavn Glacier is very likely the source of the iceberg that sank the Titanic in 1912 and researchers focus on it because it discharges nearly 7% of all the ice coming off Greenland. As the planet warms, its melting ice sheet could make oceans rise this century. Scientists do not know how melting water moves through the ice. One theory is that the summer sun melts ice on the top glacial surface, creating pools that flow into tubular holes in the glacier called moulins. The moulins can carry some water all the way to the underside of the glacier, where it acts as a lubricant to speed the movement of ice toward the coast. But because it cannot be seen, no one really knows what occurs. That is where the rubber ducks come in, along with a probe about the size of a football loaded with a GPS transmitter and instruments that can tell much about the glacier's innards. The ducks, if they are found and if somebody e-mails the discovery, would tell scientists where the water ends up.
Reuters Sep 21, 2008	back to top

Campaign against software patents kicks off
A global petition designed to raise awareness of software patents was launched this week as part of the World Day against Software Patents. Currently in draft format, the petition includes information about how software patents can affect business, research and development. The Stop Software Patents organisation is asking interested parties to comment, and anyone who signs the petition now will be asked to fill in an amended version at a later date. The effort is supported by a coalition of more than 80 software companies, associations and developers in a bid to put an end to patents being awarded to software. 'Insufficient economic evidence supports an application of the patent system on software. But most studies hint that software patent regimes restrain innovation,' the coalition argues.
VNUnet UK Sep 22, 2008	back to top

UN forecasts boom in 'green jobs'
The UN says millions of new jobs will be created worldwide over the next few decades by the development of alternative energy technologies. More than a million people already work in biofuels, but a UN report says that could rise by 12 million by 2030. It says 'green jobs' depend on a shift of subsidies from oil and natural gas to wind, solar, and geothermal power. New jobs could also include the expansion of recycling and making environmentally friendly vehicles. The report, 'Green Jobs: Towards Decent Work in a Sustainable, Low-Carbon World', was commissioned and funded by the UN's Environment Programme (UNEP). It says the manufacture, installation and maintenance of solar panels should add 6.3 million jobs by 2030, while wind power should add more than two million jobs. The report raised concerns for those involved in the manufacture of biofuels - fuels made from renewable sources such as plants or plant-derived material. 'Much of the employment on sugarcane and palm oil plantations in countries like Brazil, Colombia, Malaysia and Indonesia is marked by poor pay and dangerous working conditions,' it said. 'There is also concern that large-scale biofuels production might drive large numbers of people off their land in future years,' it said.
BBC News Sep 24, 2008	back to top

Lift could take passengers straight into space
Japanese scientists are attempting to build a lift that will take passengers 100,000km into space. The project could see the realisation of a vision that has inspired science fiction writers for generations. The lift's carriages, which will themselves require new feats of engineering, would move up and down 32,000km-long cables. Those cables would need to be stronger and lighter than any material ever woven. They would be anchored to the ground and disappear into the sky, eventually reaching a satellite docking station orbiting above the Earth. Scientists hope that as well as carrying human passengers, the carriages could also haul huge, solar-powered generators that could power homes and businesses back on Earth. It could also remove barrels of nuclear waste, dumping them into space. Japan's promise to spend 6.3 billion on the project has sparked swift reaction from other quarters: several competing space lift projects are now believed to be under way, with NASA among those involved. An international conference is to be held in Japan in November, aiming to draw up a detailed timetable for the machine's production. One of the biggest challenges is to develop a fabric for the lift's cables. It must be extremely light while also resilient enough to resist the various matter that it will be struck by in space. It is expected that an answer will be found in carbon nanotubes.
Daily Telegraph Sep 22, 2008	back to top

Scientists develop cheap fast water contamination test
Natural disasters such as tsunamis often leave local water sources tainted with harmful bacteria, and existing tests for contamination take as long as three days to produce a result. Now a USD 30,00 test that takes just half an hour has been developed at Australia's Environmental Biotechnology Cooperative Research Centre near Sydney. Antibodies attached to tiny magnets are added to the water so when bacteria in the sample bind to the antibodies, they can be concentrated with a magnet. The sample is then injected into a 'bubble pack' containing chemicals that break open the bacteria, allowing their RNA to escape. An enzyme specially modified to work at close to room temperature then amplifies the RNA so that it can be detected by an electrochemical sensor even if very few bacteria are present.
New Scientist Sep 23, 2008	back to top

Heavyweights team up on photo data standard
Some of the largest names in photography hardware and software are teaming up on a new project to create a standard image metadata system. The Metadata Working Group has put forward the first specifications for the embedding of metadata within image files. Founding members include Microsoft, Apple, Adobe, Sony, Canon and Nokia. The goal of the programme is to create a standard system for the data, which can then be used by image editing and indexing software to organise and classify individual photos based on criteria such as location, date and subject. The metadata system is of special importance to professional photographers whose photo archives will often include thousands of images. However, as family photo albums continue to go digital, metadata will also become increasingly important to the home consumer market. The first specifications offer guidelines to companies on how to store and read metadata, as well as methods for dealing with overlapping standards.
VNUnet UK Sep 25, 2008	back to top

Invention: Bat-style footstep detector
Security services interested in automatically spotting people who may be security risks are also interested in systems that listen out for footsteps. It should be possible to estimate someone's speed, footwear and perhaps build from the sound of their steps. But detecting footsteps is harder than you may think. Any airborne sounds of footsteps are quickly drowned out by noise from the wind, while the ground vibrations are so distorted by materials they pass through that they are impossible to detect more than a few metres away. Both those problems can be avoided at a stroke, says James Sabatier, a physicist at the University of Mississippi, if you listen for the ultrasonic signals associated with footsteps. Ultrasonic microphones are not as badly affected by wind noise, says Sabatier. He also proposes an ultrasonic sonar system that broadcasts a signal and listens for Doppler shifts that indicate echoes from a moving pair of feet. The strategy is also used by bats to detect the flutter of insect wings. In addition to footsteps, Sabatier points out that the movement of a walking person's arms towards and away from the ultrasonic source should produce the same effect. The inventors hope to interest groups involved in various security applications such as border control.
New Scientist Sep 24, 2008	back to top