update.527 (fwd)
aluger at hushmail.com
aluger at hushmail.com
Mon Feb 26 08:05:10 PST 2001
I'm so glad you grace our electronic InBoxes with this stuff every day Jim!
Bless you!
At Sun, 25 Feb 2001 22:26:37 -0600 (CST), Jim Choate <ravage at einstein.ssz.com>
wrote:
>
>
>---------- Forwarded message ----------
>Date: Fri, 23 Feb 2001 13:43:41 -0500 (EST)
>From: AIP listserver <physnews at aip.org>
>To: physnews-mailing at aip.org
>Subject: update.527
>
>PHYSICS NEWS UPDATE
>The American Institute of Physics Bulletin of Physics News
>Number 527 February 23, 2001 by Phillip F. Schewe, Ben Stein,
>and James Riordon
>
>SILICON CAGE CLUSTERS: BETTER THAN BUCKYBALLS?
>The discovery of carbon fullerenes (Update 2) caught the
>imagination of scientists and the public alike as researchers raced
>to find applications for the tiny spheres commonly called
>buckyballs. Now researchers at the Joint Center for Atomic
>Research in Japan have managed to create similar arrangements of
>silicon atoms, a feat previously thought impossible owing to
>silicon's chemical nature. Potential applications of the silicon
>assemblies range from components in quantum computers to
>chemical catalysts to new superconducting compounds. Silicon is,
>of course, a vital material for the vast semiconductor industry and
>one of the most studied elements in all of science. Therefore this
>new discovery might lead to applications that could match or even
>exceed those expected for carbon fullerenes. Unlike carbon atoms,
>pure silicon cannot form stable, closed configurations. The new
>research, however, reveals that silicon can gather around a central
>metal atom and settle into basket-like arrangements called silicon
>cage clusters. One particularly low energy, and therefore stable,
>configuration consists of twelve silicon atoms forming a regular,
>hexagonal cage that surrounds a tungsten atom (see figure at
>http://www.aip.org/physnews/graphics). Because the choice of a
>central metal atom affects the chemical behavior of cage clusters,
>scientists should be able to tailor the clusters to create novel
>nanodevices and catalysts. The researchers (Hidefumi Hiura, h-
>hiura at bq.jp.nec.com, 011-81-298-50-2615) note in particular that
>clusters efficiently isolate their guest metal atoms from the
>surrounding environment, a characteristic that could permit a
>cluster to act as a robust qubit in a quantum computer by storing a
>single bit of information in the spin state of the enclosed metal
>atom. (H. Hiura et al, Physical Review Letters, 26 February 2001.)
>
>UNTYING THE KNOT. Dealing with shoelaces is for most of us
>[SSZ: text deleted]
>
>PERMIAN CATASTROPHE COMET? A trace of indium in
>[SSZ: text deleted]
>
> ____________________________________________________________________
>
> Before a larger group can see the virtue of an idea, a
> smaller group must first understand it.
>
> "Stranger Suns"
> George Zebrowski
>
> The Armadillo Group ,::////;::-. James Choate
> Austin, Tx /:'///// ``::>/|/ ravage at ssz.com
> www.ssz.com .', |||| `/( e\ 512-451-7087
> -====~~mm-'`-```-mm --'-
> ----------------------------------------------------------------
>----
>
Free, encrypted, secure Web-based email at www.hushmail.com
More information about the Testlist
mailing list