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A visualization of the biologically-based system shows the M13 virus (in yellow) with molecules of pigment (in pink) and of the metal catalyst (brown spheres) attached to its surface. The pigment and catalyst cause water molecules to split apart when they come in contact. Image: Angela Belcher

Issue no. 13, 2010 Published: Apr 16, 2010
Engineered virus harnesses light to split water
Strange quark weighs in
New material is breakthrough in magnetism
Astronomers develop new planet-hunting tool
Carbon flakes brush up for cheap solar cells
Modified plant clears up deadly water toxin
Brain drain, low investment hamper African science
Inkjet-like device 'prints' cells right over burns

Engineered virus harnesses light to split water
Researchers at MIT have engineered a virus so that it captures light energy and uses it to catalyze the splitting of water, a first step in a possible new way to generate hydrogen for fuel cells. One main goal in the renewable energy field is to find an efficient, inexpensive way to split water into hydrogen and oxygen. The hydrogen could then be used as a fuel source for vehicles or fuel cells. Typically, an electric current breaks the water down. Now, there's a new water-splitter: a virus. The team took a harmless virus called M13. They engineered it so that one end carries a catalyst-iridium oxide. Bound at the other end are light-sensitive pigments, zinc porphyrins. The porphyrins capture light energy, and transmit it along the virus, acting as a wire, to the other end, activating the catalyst. Which splits water into oxygen and the constituents of hydrogen, a proton and electron. The scientists are working on ways to recombine the protons and electrons back into hydrogen atoms and then molecules of H2. They are also seeking a cheaper catalyst than iridium. But the work could light one path to the eventual production of cleaner energy.
Scientific American / Nature Nanotechnology Apr 14, 2010	back to top

Strange quark weighs in
A collaboration of particle physicists have calculated the mass of strange quarks to an accuracy of better than 2%, beating previous results by a factor of 10. The result will help experimentalists to scrutinise the Standard Model of particle physics. Quarks are elementary particles possessing familiar properties such as mass and charge, but they never exist as free particles. Instead they join together by the strong force into bound states called hadrons, which include the proton and the neutron. Theorists predict that a large portion of the hadron mass is accounted for by the strong force, mediated by particles known as gluons, and the exact nature of these interactions are still poorly understood. To determine the mass of individual quarks, theorists have to combine experimental measurements of hadrons with calculations based on quantum chromodynamics (QCD) - the theory of the strong force. Refinements to this theory over the years have enabled experimentalists to calculate the mass of the heavier three quarks - the top, bottom and charm - to an accuracy of 1%. But it is has been much harder to make accurate predictions for the mass of the lighter quarks - the up, down and strange - and reference tables still contain errors of up to 30%. Researchers have now finally produced an accurate figure for the mass of the strange quark by taking a mathematical approach. They have used a technique known as 'lattice QCD', where quarks are defined as the sites of a lattice and their interaction via gluons represented on the connecting links. Lattice QCD enabled the researchers to measure the ratio of the charm quark to the strange quark to an accuracy of 1%. As the mass of the charm is defined, it was possible to calculate that the strange quark has a mass of 92.4 MeV/c2 plus or minus 2.5 MeV/c2.
PhysicsWorld / Physical Review Letters Apr 09, 2010	back to top

New material is breakthrough in magnetism
Researchers from Imperial College London have created a structure that acts like a single pole of a magnet, a feat that has evaded scientists for decades. The researchers say their new study takes them a step closer to isolating a 'magnetic monopole.' Magnets have two magnetic poles, north and south. 'Like' poles, such as north and north, repel one another and 'opposite' poles, such as north and south, attract. Whichever way a magnet is cut, it will always have these two poles. Scientists have theorised for many years that it must be possible to isolate a 'magnetic monopole', either north or south on its own, but until recently researchers have been unable to show this in experiments. Researchers at Imperial have now enabled tiny nano-sized magnets to behave like magnetic monopoles, by arranging them in a honeycomb structure. In late 2009, various teams of scientists reported they had created monopole-like behaviour in a material called 'spin ice'. In these materials, monopoles form only at extremely low temperatures of -270 degrees Celsius. The Imperial researchers' structure, however, contains magnetic monopoles at room temperature.
Sciencedaily / Nature Physics Apr 14, 2010	back to top

Astronomers develop new planet-hunting tool
Astronomers at Jet Propulsion Laboratory in, US, have invented a new technique to take direct images of planets orbiting distant stars. The breakthrough means that it should now be feasible to see 'exoplanets' with much smaller telescopes than is currently possible. Most exoplanets have been detected indirectly by observing their effect on the brightness or motion of their parent stars. However, the best way of determining the chemical composition of an exoplanet, which could tell us whether it harbours life, is to analyse the spectrum of light travelling directly from the exoplanet to Earth. The problem is that direct detection is very difficult using smaller ground-based telescopes. Until now direct images have only been possible with the Hubble Space Telescope and several very large ground-based telescopes. However, the team's measurement with a 1.5m diameter instrument is as good as that from a 10m telescope. They began by sharpening an image of a star by using adaptive optics to remove most of the distortion that occurs when starlight passes through the Earth's atmosphere. The resulting image consists of a diffraction pattern comprising a bright central disk surrounded by concentric dark and bright circles. The problem is that if the star has an exoplanet, its image will be much fainter and can be obscured by this diffraction pattern. The new method uses a 'vortex coronagraph', which blocks out the light from a star and removes much of the diffraction pattern from the image.
PhysicsWorld / Nature Apr 15, 2010	back to top

Carbon flakes brush up for cheap solar cells
Giving graphene - atom-thick sheets of carbon - a good brush could be the key to boosting the efficiency of cheap solar cells. US chemists at Indiana University have developed a novel graphene-based dye that acts as a source of photoelectrons, making it suitable for use in solar cells known as dye-sensitised solar cells (DSSC) - a low cost alternative to silicon ones. The dye could help boost the efficiency of such cells. DSSCs use photosensitive solutions on a titanium-dioxide-coated surface to absorb energy from photons. The light excites electrons in the dyes and these higher-energy electrons generate electricity. The difference between the energy level that a molecule's electrons normally occupy and the level they jump to when excited is known as the band gap. The energy of the gap is measured in electronvolts (eV) and the optimal value for basic solar cells is 1.4 eV. To achieve the ideal 1.4 eV gap, the graphene flakes in the dye must be around 2nm across. Until now, the problem has been that flakes of this size tend to clump together to form insoluble graphite. The team found they could prevent clumping by attaching molecular 'brushes' to each graphene flake. Each brush contains three carbon chain 'bristles' that meet at a central phenyl ring which chemically bonds to carbon atoms on the edge of the graphene flake. The lack of space around the graphene forces these bristles away from the surface, which in turn prevents graphene flakes from coalescing into graphite.
New Scientist / Nano Letters Apr 15, 2010	back to top

Modified plant clears up deadly water toxin
Plants may be a useful tool in clearing water of harmful toxins produced by blue-green algae, new research indicates. Some blue-green algae (cyanobacteria, which grow in warm, nutrient-rich waters, produce toxins that can severely damage the liver or nervous system. The effects range from a mild illness to rapid death. They can remain in water supplies after the algae have been killed. A team at the University of London has modified tobacco plants to secrete antibodies from the roots that then bind to microcystin-LR - the most common cyanobacteria toxin in water - rendering it harmless. A toxin that is bound to antibodies should be easier to remove from the environment and also is likely to be less harmful. The antibodies could also be used in simple and cheap tests to see if toxins are present in water supplies, according to the researchers. The next step will be to try and modify aquatic plants, which will be more suitable for large-scale treatment of water. The research is still at an early stage, but it may ultimately lead to an affordable method of keeping water free of toxins. The scientists are also looking to modify plants that can extract toxins from water and store them in their leaves, so that removing the plants also removes the toxins.
SciDev / FASEB Journal Apr 15, 2010	back to top

Brain drain, low investment hamper African science
Africa's contribution to the global body of scientific research is very small and does little to benefit its own populations, according to a report from Thomson Reuters. Like India and China, Africa suffers from a 'haemorrhage of talent', the report said, with many of its best brains leaving to study abroad and failing to return. The report's authors, who use a Thomson Reuters database to track scientific publications, found that three nations dominate Africa's research output - with South Africa leading by a long way, ahead of Egypt in second place and then Nigeria. The report found that part of the problem was down to a 'chronic lack of investment in facilities for research and teaching' - a deficit the authors said must be remedied. They said the reason behind this was not simply money. Resources available in some African countries are substantial, but they are not being invested in the research base. In fields of research relevant to natural resources, however, the study found a relatively high representation of African research as a share of world publications. South Africa's 1.55% share of research in plant and animal science is the continent's biggest share in any field, it said, with this output surpassing Russia's 1.17% but well behind China's 5.42% share in the same field.
Reuters Apr 12, 2010	back to top

Inkjet-like device 'prints' cells right over burns
Inspired by a standard office inkjet printer, researchers at Wake Forest University in the US have rigged up a device that can spray skin cells directly onto burn victims, quickly protecting and healing their wounds as an alternative to skin grafts. They have mounted the device in a frame that can be wheeled over a patient in a hospital bed. A laser can take a reading of the wound's size and shape so that a layer of healing skin cells can be precisely applied. Tests on mice showed the spray system, called bioprinting, could heal wounds quickly and safely, the researchers said. The team dissolved human skin cells from pieces of skin, separating and purifying the various cell types such as fibroblasts and keratinocytes. They put them in a nutritious solution to make them multiply and then used a system similar to a multicolour office inkjet printer to apply first a layer of fibroblasts and then a layer of keratinocytes, which form the protective outer layer of skin. The wound on the mouse was completely closed by three weeks. Experts say victims of massive burns usually die of infection within two weeks unless they receive skin grafts, and normal grafting often leaves severe scars. The sprayed cells also incorporated themselves into surrounding skin, hair follicles and sebaceous glands, probably because immature cells called stem cells were mixed in with the sprayed cells.
Reuters Apr 09, 2010	back to top