I Can Relate To Three Out Of Four Of Them 🙃

Higgs Boson

On the 4th of July 2012, ATLAS and CMS experiments both reported a particle with a mass of around 126GeV at CERN’s Large Hadron Collider. The particle is consistent with the Higgs boson predicted by the standard model.

The Higgs boson creates a Higgs field which theoretically exists everywhere in the universe and interacts with subatomic fundamental particles like quarks and leptons to give them mass. How much mass a particle has depends on how much interaction is has with the field, all particles are equal before they enter the Higgs field, it is the Higgs field that gives the particles mass depending on their interactions with it.

In the Standard Model, the higgs field is a scalar tachyonic field ( “scalar” meaning that it doesn’t transform under Lorentz transformations and “tachyonic” referring to the field as a whole having imaginary, or complex, mass). While tachyons are purely theoretical particles that move faster than the speed of light, fields with imaginary mass have an important role in modern physics.

What you see is a myosin protein dragging an endorphin along a filament to the inner part of the brain’s parietal cortex which creates happiness. Happiness. You’re looking at happiness.

Modified Stems: Thorn

Thorns are modified branches or stems. Thorns and spines are derived from shoots and leaves respectively, and have vascular bundles inside, whereas prickles (like rose prickles) do not have vascular bundles inside. The tree shown in the picture above is called the honey locust tree, also known as the thorny locust. Just look at those thorns!

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Alloys: Bronze

Given that there are many different types of bronze with a wide variety of elements included, the alloy cannot be defined as having one set composition. Though the most well known bronze is likely the common copper-tin alloy, alloys such as bismuth bronze, silicon bronze, and aluminum bronze don’t necessarily contain tin.

That being said, the most well known bronze alloy, and the one most people probably think of when they hear the word, is composed of mostly copper with tin or arsenic and, potentially, small amounts of other elements. The oldest tin-copper bronze alloys found are from around 4500 B.C., and this replacement of stone tools with bronze eventually led to the Bronze Age. (The Bronze Age eventually gave way to the Iron Age, because, despite bronze’s favorable properties, iron is more plentiful and easier to find.)

The addition of tin, arsenic, and other elements produces a harder material than copper alone. Bronze also has the favorable properties of being corrosion resistant, non-magnetic, has excellent heat transfer properties, is relatively easy to machine, withstands high temperatures, and is resistant to wear and friction. Unlike steel, bronze does not spark when struck and is therefore useful as tools in environments containing flammable vapors. 

Some historical applications of bronze include in statues, weapons and tools, and currency/coinage. The alloys is also well known for is usage in musical instruments, often bells and cymbals, as well as the windings of string instruments such as the guitar and piano. 

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Old but gold 💛

Stenciling with atoms in 2-dimensional materials possible

The possibilities for the new field of two-dimensional, one-atomic-layer-thick materials, including but not limited to graphene, appear almost limitless. In new research, Penn State material scientists report two discoveries that will provide a simple and effective way to “stencil” high-quality 2D materials in precise locations and overcome a barrier to their use in next-generation electronics.

In 2004, the discovery of a way to isolate a single atomic layer of carbon – graphene – opened a new world of 2D materials with properties not necessarily found in the familiar 3D world. Among these materials are a large group of elements – transition metals – that fall in the middle of the periodic table. When atoms of certain transition metals, for instance molybdenum, are layered between two layers of atoms from the chalcogenide elements, such as sulfur or selenium, the result is a three-layer sandwich called a transition metal dichalcogenide. TMDs have created tremendous interest among materials scientists because of their potential for new types of electronics, optoelectronics and computation.

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