27,757 research outputs found
Advances in induction-heated plasma torch technology
Continuing research has resulted in significant advances in induction-heated plasma torch technology which extend and enhance its potential for broad range of uses in chemical processing, materials development and testing, and development of large illumination sources. Summaries of these advances are briefly described
Induction plasma nozzle tests
Simulation of nozzle environment in gas core nuclear rocket with induction coupled arc plasma syste
Tacit knowledge and the biological weapons regime
Bioterrorism has become increasingly salient in security discourse in part because of perceived changes in the capacity and geography of life science research. Yet its salience is founded upon a framing of changes in science and security that does not always take into consideration the somewhat slippery concept of âtacit knowledgeâ, something poorly understood, disparately conceptualised and often marginalised in discussions on state and non-state biological weapons programmes. This paper looks at how changes in science and technologyâparticularly the evolution of information and communications technologyâhas contributed to the partial erosion of aspects of tacit knowledge and the implications for the biological weapons regime. This paper concludes by arguing that the marginalisation of tacit knowledge weakens our understanding of the difficulties encountered in biological weapons programmes and can result in distorted perceptions of the threat posed by dual-use biotechnology in the 21st century
Effective Operators for Double-Beta Decay
We use a solvable model to examine double-beta decay, focusing on the
neutrinoless mode. After examining the ways in which the neutrino propagator
affects the corresponding matrix element, we address the problem of finite
model-space size in shell-model calculations by projecting our exact wave
functions onto a smaller subspace. We then test both traditional and more
recent prescriptions for constructing effective operators in small model
spaces, concluding that the usual treatment of double-beta-decay operators in
realistic calculations is unable to fully account for the neglected parts of
the model space. We also test the quality of the Quasiparticle Random Phase
Approximation and examine a recent proposal within that framework to use
two-neutrino decay to fix parameters in the Hamiltonian. The procedure
eliminates the dependence of neutrinoless decay on some unfixed parameters and
reduces the dependence on model-space size, though it doesn't eliminate the
latter completely.Comment: 10 pages, 8 figure
Dating possibilities for the South African hominid sites
Main articleA brief description is given of dating methods which may in future prove to be applicable
to the calcified ossiferous cave deposits of the early hominid sites in the Transvaal. Potentially
the techniques based on amino acid racemisation, uranium series disequilibrium and radiation
damage could provide dates for at least the upper members of the cave formations.
The results would, however, have. to be calibrated in the younger time-range by radiocarbon
dating of parallel samples.Non
Bone mineral measurement from Apollo experiment M-078
Loss of mineral from bone during periods of immobilization, recumbency, or weightlessness is examined. This report describes the instrumentation, technique, and bone mineral changes observed preflight and postflight for the Apollo 14, 15, and 16 missions. The bone mineral changes documented during the Apollo Program are reviewed, and their relevance to future missions is discussed
Spatially heterogeneous dynamics and dynamic facilitation in a model of viscous silica
Performing molecular dynamics simulations, we find that the structural
relaxation dynamics of viscous silica, the prototype of a strong glass former,
are spatially heterogeneous and cannot be understood as a statistical bond
breaking process. Further, we show that high particle mobility predominantly
propagates continuously through the melt, supporting the concept of dynamic
facilitation emphasized in recent theoretical work.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
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