This week’s Top 5 engineering technology articles go from extremely tiny to the farthest reaches of outer space and yet still make it back in time for a glass of wine.
- Graphene Plasmons Used To Create Tunable Terahertz Laser
- NASA’s Juno Spacecraft Breaks Solar Power Distance Record
- Scientists Discover That Our Brain Waves Can Be Sent By Electrical Fields
- NASA Considers Titan And Enceladus For Next New Frontiers Mission
- Napa’s Fermenting Your Wine With Submarine Technology
Graphene Plasmons Used To Create Tunable Terahertz Laser
Phys.org
A UK research team has developed a terahertz laser that is tunable. They’ve done this by using graphene plasmons to aid in the tuning ability since the wavelength of the graphene can be altered by placing it in an electrical field.
The graphene covering over the main substrate allowed the researchers to cut slits into it to force the electrons to tunnel between the wells. The resulting device produced a terahertz beam that was not quite ready for everyday use.
However, with this proof of concept phase out of the way, the researchers feel that they are on the right track toward getting a viable product.
NASA’s Juno Spacecraft Breaks Solar Power Distance Record
NASA
493 million miles from the sun. That’s how far the Juno spacecraft was on Wednesday when it set the distance record for a solar powered craft. Its mission to Jupiter to examine the origins of the planet started in 2011. The four ton craft has three 30 foot long panels that help to produce the energy used to power the craft. However, with the distance that Jupiter has from the sun, the arrays have to be very efficiently tuned to make up for the lack of solar “punch.”
Juno is the first craft to make it out that far in space without relying on nuclear energy. And, if it reaches mission potential it will be somewhere in the neighborhood of 517 million miles from the sun. The craft is supposed to reach this milestone on July 4th this year and then orbit Jupiter approximately 33 times. Scientists (and I) can’t wait for the information about Jupiter to begin flowing back.
Scientists Discover That Our Brain Waves Can Be Sent By Electrical Fields
Science Alert
Synapses fire and a memory stirs or a limb moves. Neural impulses have been both easy to track and impossible to track. Now a research team at Case Western Reserve University thinks they have found an additional way that brain waves may be transmitted.
Tracking neural spikes moving far too slow to be transmitted by known methods, the researchers have concluded that the waves are being transmitted by a very weak electrical field. This field, detected in mice, is just strong enough to activate neighboring neurons which then spread to more neurons until the signal is delivered.
If this research can be quantified, it may help shed light on all the items associated with brain wave transmission including memory and epilepsy.
NASA Considers Titan And Enceladus For Next New Frontiers Mission
Popular Science
The New Frontiers program is looking for a target for the fourth mission. And, NASA is currently looking at Titan and Enceladus, both believed to be Ocean Worlds or planets with liquid water.
Of course, there are a number of other places this mission could target, but by investigating these planets, NASA believes they have a shot at finding another planet capable of sustaining human life.
Napa’s Fermenting Your Wine With Submarine Technology
Wired
After a long week at work a lot of folks, myself included, will settle down with a nice glass of wine to help unwind from the pressures of the outside world. Now, Napa Valley is taking some serious technological advances to make sure that when you partake of that glass of wine, it is at its peak for taste.
In a typical fermentation tank, a fluctuation of temperature or other unchecked variable can essentially ruin a batch of wine. The more the yeast is monitored and controlled, the better the yield of the wine.
Now, with precision controls typically used on a submarine, the staff can detect millions of data points about the liquid quietly working toward being a relaxing merlot or pinot. I don’t know about you, but I’ll drink to that!
That’s it for me this week. Until next time, keep a lookout on what engineering breakthroughs are being announced…and if you do that with a refreshing beverage, even better.
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