Author: Michael Harrison

Husband, Programmer, Irish dancer, tinkerer, astronomer, layabout (as much as possible)

Gold nanoparticles enrich molecular study

Researchers are using tiny bits of gold to manipulate molecules. In some cases to move them and in other to heat them.

Medical News Today reports:

Gold nanoparticles are highly efficient and sensitive "handles" for biological molecules being manipulated and tracked by lasers, but they also can heat up fast–by tens of degrees in just a few nanoseconds–which could either damage the molecules or help study them, according to scientists at JILA, a joint institute of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and University of Colorado at Boulder.

Scientists believe that the local heating effect could also be used to slowly heat a protien in order to watch it unfold.

Continue reading Gold nanoparticles enrich molecular study

Hotplate-stirrer added to the lab

Sometimes it pays to wait.

I’ve been wanting a hotplate stirrer for some time now but didn’t have enough time to devote to serious emulsion making and didn’t want to spend $50-150 on something that wouldn’t be used often.

Over the weekend Andres and I went out to a local tech swap meet called 1st Saturday. It’s got a long history and I’d been meaning to go for some time now.

I got lucky and found a guy selling a few hotplates and one hotplate stirrer. The stirrer was marked "stirrer doesn’t work" but the hotplate worked fine and since the seller only wanted $10 I decided to give it a shot.

Continue reading Hotplate-stirrer added to the lab

Detecting gravity waves with lasers

BBC News writes

One of the great scientific experiments of our age is now fully underway.

And the experiment is a doozy.

The GEO 600 has gone live in Hanover, Germany and its goal is to measure gravitational waves using a laser driven interferometer. A very large interferometer.

Interferometers are used to detect disturbances in a particular medium. Holographers frequently use interferometers to detect vibrations in their working environment or to look for working details with the lasers they use.

"If there is a supernova in our vicinity during the next couple of months, our chances of detecting and measuring the resulting gravitational waves are good," said Professor Karsten Danzmann, head of the International Centre for Gravitational Physics, which is jointly run by the Max Planck Society and the University of Hanover.

Additional information after the jump.

Continue reading Detecting gravity waves with lasers

Alcohol, stupidity and guns don’t mix

Ok, yes… This is mentioned only because the gun had a laser sight.

It’s a tragedy and my sympathy goes out to the parents and friends of the teen that was killed but at the same time I hope the parents who stored their gun under the mattress get some jail time.

When accused shooter Sean O’Neill’s sister returned home from work early Friday, she found her brother in the driveway of their Pony Trail Drive home cradling Scott Sheridan in his arms, according to a court document. O’Neill had made some attempts to wash away some of Sheridan’s blood with a garden hose before his sister contacted the authorities.

It was close to 4 a.m. Friday when members of the Pennsylvania State Police crime unit arrived at the property, which straddles both Edgmont Township in Delaware County and Willistown Township in Chester County. O’Neill’s blood alcohol content was about .175 according to a preliminary breath test administered by a trooper.

The idiot had spent the night and early morning playing with the gun while he and his friends drank and made beer runs. The play time finally culminated

By the end of the night, O’Neill, Sheridan and two others were alone when O’Neill got the gun and turned on the laser designator. O’Neill put the laser light on the three friends, who proceeded to duck behind a car. O’Neill dropped the gun to his side and the friends came out from behind the car. It was then that O’Neill raised the gun and pointed it at Sheridan and Sheridan knocked it away. The weapon went off and Sheridan collapsed in the driveway.

Continue reading Alcohol, stupidity and guns don’t mix

The worst eBay spoof

This has got to be the worst eBay spoof I have ever received.

Below is the result of your feedback form. It was submitted by
[email protected] ([email protected]) on Monday, September 4, 2006 at 16:21:12
—————————————————————————
ouitl:
Dear eBay customer,
we are sorry to inform you that we are having problem’s with the billing information on your account. We would appreciate it if you would go to our website and fill out the proper information that we require to keep your account active,Please Update your account information by visiting our updates web site
http://<deleted>/ebayupdate
eBay Billing Center
Rep ID. 32A
Thank you for your business.
The eBay Staff.

They’re having problem’s (Gollum!) and I’m not even sure what a ouitl is. There was no html, no images. They didn’t even try to make it look like an official email from eBay. Come on guys!

Continue reading The worst eBay spoof

The joys and dangers of a high-power laser pointer

Dan over at Dan’s Data has put up a really nice article on the fun and dangers you can experience with a high power green laser pointer.

Bright lasers just cry out to be shone on things to see what happens.

Yes, farmers and plain old cruel people, they work as bird scarers. Freak out a couple of birds with a green laser dot, and their panic will set the whole flock off.

(I don’t know what happens if you try this with flightless domesticated fowls. Don’t expect me to send flowers if you take on even one emu.)

And you can, of course, use green lasers to induce your pets to do strange things – though given the eye-damage risk that I’ll get to in a moment, sticking with 5mW or lower pointers for this purpose is a good idea. Some cats and dogs are afraid of very bright laser dots, anyway.

Check it out.

Continue reading The joys and dangers of a high-power laser pointer

Using mirrors to redirect lethal lasers

The concept seems a bit obvious if you’ve been working with lasers for any length of time but the Air Force Times is reporting that a research program, which has apparently consumed $25 million already, is:

now closer to using mirrors for relaying laser beams to hit targets a capability that would spread the reach and lethality of the weapon system, according to service and Boeing officials.

Tests have shown that researchers can shoot a laser into space and use telescopes to redirect its course to a target. Researchers have performed about 30 tests at Kirtland Air Force Base, N.M., where they used a crane to suspend a dual-mirror system about 100 feet above the ground. They then fired a low-powered laser at the apparatus from several miles away, and used it to redirect the laser to the target, which they hit every single time, program officials said.

Well, it sounds like tests have shown they can get the job done but other than paying for the equipment to handle high power lasers, why did it cost $25 million to get where they are now?

On the other hand, they’re apparently using a 15- to 25-kilowatt laser and those don’t come cheap.

Continue reading Using mirrors to redirect lethal lasers

Update for the O’Flaherty retreat benefit, 2006

Irish music fiddle playerAs mentioned here, there’s going to be a benefit for the O’Flaherty Irish Music Retreat at the Trinity Hall Pub on September 22. It’s shaping up to be a hot (indoors) night.

Funds raised from this benefit will help offset the cost in bringing to Texas some of the most accomplished traditional players from Ireland and the US to teach. The retreat is produced by the Traditional Irish Music Education Society, a non-profit organization, and sponsored by the Southwest Celtic Music Association and Trinity Hall Restaurant and Pub. Thanks in advance for all of your support!

The following people have committed to play that night:

  • 5 p.m. Trinity Hall Session Players
  • 6 p.m. Irish Rogues
  • 7 p.m. Jigsaw
  • 8 p.m. Behan
  • 9 p.m. Beyond the Pale
  • 10 p.m. Shift (formerly Busker’s Gate)
  • 11 p.m. Rogers, Hicks and Alfonso
  • 12 a.m. Spriggan

Admission is free, there will be a raffle drawing for prizes and proceeds from meals purchased at the pub will be donated to the retreat.

Several of us are going to be there throughout the night and so there will also be some dancing. Come on out and have some fun!

Continue reading Update for the O’Flaherty retreat benefit, 2006

Blowing up rockets using lasers?

Apparently Israel, with the latest problems between them and Lebanon, have decided to revive the Nautilus project which has as its goal the ability to shoot down rockets using lasers.

Begun in 1996 by Israel and the US, the Nautilus project was meant to counter Hizbullah’s 122 mm Katyusha rocket attacks. TRW (now Northrop Grumman Space Technology) was awarded a contract to develop the THEL: a chemical laser gun designed to intercept short-range rockets and mortar bombs. However, despite several successful tests, and although Israel has since been under repeated attack by rockets from Lebanon and the Gaza Strip, Israel and the US decided to abandon the THEL development in January.

The THEL program is being revived. Look for really powerful lasers near you soon.

Continue reading Blowing up rockets using lasers?

Laser TV by 2007?

Hey Asheville Zumba dancers!

Something got messed up with the code I gave you and it’s sending you here.

Click this link for the Zumba class video!

Will we have full-color laser-driven TV next year? Some people think so. One company paving the way is Novalux of Sunnyvale, CA. They’ve been developing projection systems using lasers as their light source, which is much cooler running than equivalent halogen source and even have a cell-phone sized device in development.

NECSEL breaks new ground in miniature projection by providing high-power, efficient output from a compact, affordable package. In fact, current palm-top projectors based on LED lighting measure over 30 cubic inches, produce around 20 lumens, and cost in excess of $700.00. NECSEL prototypes display a light output of over 200 lumens with both device size and cost cut in half.

According to optics.org Novalux has

demonstrated its first Necsel laser arrays that emit more than 750 mW of red light. The company has also achieved a 3 W power output from its prototype blue and green arrays – double the power of previous devices.

Continue reading Laser TV by 2007?