VLTI: Amber penetrates to the heart of the stars

   French CNRS teams can observe almost all stages in the evolution of stars with the Amber Telescope built by the consortium the they manage with other associated teams.
Source

Delicate relation between single spins

   Probing the magnetic interaction between single atoms is no longer a dream. Using a scanning tunnelling microscope, the interaction of the spins of two neighboring cobalt atoms adsorbed at a copper surface has been measured as a function of their distance with atomic precision. This development opens up new possibilities to probe the quantum nature of magnetic phenomena and to explore the physical limits of magnetic data storage.
Source

EU leaders to focus on energy, climate change at summit (AFP)

   

AFP - EU leaders will try to breathe new life this week into plans to diversify energy sources and combat climate change at a summit in Brussels amid fears they will only blow "hot air", officials and experts said.

Source

Gasification may be key to U.S. ethanol (AP)

   AP - The government awarded $385 million in grants last week aimed at jumpstarting ethanol production from nontraditional sources like wood chips, switchgrass and citrus peels. What's surprising is that half of the six projects chosen will use a process first discovered almost a century ago to turn coal into a gas.
Source

Snow, snow showers Northeast, Appalachians (weather.com)

   weather.com -
Source

Economical and flexible

   A flat screen that can be rolled up and put into a jacket pocket -- organic transistors with low energy consumption could make this possible. Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research in Stuttgart and at the Universities of Stuttgart and Erlangen have constructed complementary circuits from organic transistors characterized by low supply voltages and low consumption values.
Source

Quantum effects make the difference

   The atomic constituents of matter are never still, even at absolute zero (-273.15 degrees Celsius). This consequence of quantum mechanics can result in continuous transition between different material states. Physicists at the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Physics of Solids have studied this phenomenon using ytterbium, rhodium and silicon at very low temperatures under the varying influence of a magnetic field.
Source

Shuttle Atlantis heads back to hangar for repair (Reuters)

   

Reuters - Space shuttle Atlantis was removed from its seaside launch pad on Sunday for repairs after a freak hailstorm battered the spaceship's fuel tank last week.

Source

Shuttle begins move back to hangar (AP)

   

AP - Space shuttle Atlantis on Sunday began a slow trek from the launch pad back to a hangar so technicians can inspect damage caused by an hail storm and determine what kind of repairs should be made.

Source

Sphingolipids with therapeutic ends

   In the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology of the University of the Basque Country (EHU-UPV), they are trying to understand how sphingolipids operate in the cells and how they can regulate certain biological functions.
Source

Rosetta teams up with New Horizons

   ESA and NASA are mounting a joint campaign to observe Jupiter over the next few weeks with two different spacecraft. Rosetta will watch the big picture from its current position near Mars, whilst New Horizons will take close-up data as it speeds past the largest planet in our solar system on its journey to Pluto.
Source

NIST 'micro-rack' measures cell mechanical properties

   Researchers at NIST have developed a microelectromechanical system (MEMS) cell-stretcher that can measure the mechanical properties of a living cell, such as its ability to stick to a surface. The new device is expected to enable novel studies of cell mechanics, which influence basic cell functions such as growth and division, and diseases such as sickle cell anemia and asthma.
Source

Sustainability forum speakers include ex-governor

   "Sustainable Pathways: New Research and Practices," March 6-7 on campus. "The forum will focus on practical solutions to emerging sustainability issues from business, science and socio-political viewpoints.
Source

Atom 'noise' may help design quantum computers

   Physicists at NIST have found that images of noise in clouds of ultracold atoms trapped by lasers reveal hidden structural patterns, including spacing between atoms and cloud size.
Source

Frozen lightning: NIST's new nanoelectronic switch

   Researchers at NIST have demonstrated a prototype nanoscale electronic switch that can be built from self-assembled layers of organic molecules on silver wires. Potential applications range from a replacement technology for magnetic data storage to integrated circuit memory devices.
Source

New coating is virtual black hole for reflections

   Researchers have created an anti-reflective coating that allows light to travel through it, but lets almost none bounce off its surface. At least 10 times more effective than the coating on sunglasses or computer monitors, the material, which is made of silica nanorods, may be used to channel light into solar cells or allow more photons to surge through the surface of a light-emitting diode (LED).
Source

Alabama students recall deadly tornado (AP)

   

AP - In the science wing at Enterprise High School, Marisa Younanian huddled for hours with her classmates in the protection of an interior hallway as tornado sirens wailed throughout town. They joked and thought about how hungry they were.

Source