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Research breakthrough could make hydrogen gas an even better green fuel
Toyota might be bringing a commercial hydrogen fuel cell car to roads in 2015, but the fuel still has a few drawbacks -- the major ones being storing and transporting the gas itself. Research from the UK's Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) reckons they can solve it using ammonia, which is more secure and less volatile, as the hydrogen delivery method. "Cracking" ammonia offers up one part nitrogen and three parts hydrogen and while the catalysts that do this are typically pricey precious metals, this new research uses two chemical processes at the same time, offering the same results at a much lower cost. According to the research team leader, Professor Bill David: "Our approach is as effective as the best current catalysts but the active material, sodium amide, costs pennies to produce. We can produce hydrogen from ammonia 'on demand' effectively and affordably."
4.5 million fps microscope camera powered by ultra-fast X-ray flash
Remember those rugged gadgets we smashed to bits in super slow-mo? Well that spectacular footage was shot at around 1,500 frames per-second. A new camera system being built for the European XFEL (X-ray Free-Electron Laser) facility will record stunning clips of viruses and cells at an almost unimaginable 4.5 million fps. The camera is, in part, powered by a high speed flash created by the Science and Technology Facilities Council, that blasts its microscopic subjects with ultra-bright X-rays. The flashes themselves last as little as two femtoseconds, or 2x10^-15 seconds for you math nerds out there. When the whole apparatus is fired up in 2015 it could provide amazingly detailed, 3D images of individual molecules and answer some questions about the behavior of viruses and cells.
