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weird science

IBM Creates Absurdly Tiny Nanoscale Model of Earth

In a feat of nano science that makes every man on Earth subconsciously think “yeah, my wiener is way bigger than that“, and Ms. Frizzle from Magic School Bus say “Damn it, that’s too small!”, IBM researchers in Zurich have carved a 3D map of the world that’s 22 micrometers east to west by 11 micrometers north to south (a millimeter is 1000 micrometers wide):

They used a silicon needle with a tip about ten thousand times smaller than an ant to sculpt a polymer material known as polyphthalaldehyde. By heating the needle to between 300 and 500 degrees centigrade, they were able to melt and evaporate tiny segments of the material without disturbing those particles’ neighbors.

While that piezoelectric trick isn’t new, the researchers’ breakthrough was their choice of material. The polymer polyphthalaldehyde IBM used was designed to “unzip” its chemical bonds when exposed to heat, to allow for clean removal of the material in patterns.

The silicon needle technique isn’t just a novelty. IBM’s researchers hope that it could someday be used to craft circuit boards at smaller sizes than e-beam lithography is used to etch them today, or even build tiny nanobots or other tiny mechanical structures that could travel inside the human body or other nanoscale environments. “We’re not just here to carve models of mountains,” says Duerig. “We have technology that can actually do things on a time scale and a precision scale which is commercially interesting.”

[ geekosystem | forbes | more pics here ]

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Big Brother Can Now Melt A Monitor Implant Onto Your Freaking Brain

Better get all of your ridiculously perverted thoughtcrimes relating to waffles and other assorted breakfast items out of the way now, because researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in Philadelphia have developed silk based implants that melt onto the surface of your brain. Oh, they have medical benefits too:

The ultrathin flexible implants, made partly from silk, can record brain activity more accurately than thicker implants embedded with similar electronics, say the researchers.

The arrays could be used to detect when epileptic seizures first begin, and deliver pulses to shut the seizures down. In people with spinal cord injuries, the technology has promise for reading complex signals in the brain that direct movement, and routing those signals to healthy muscles or prosthetic devices.

“These implants have the potential to maximize the contact between electrodes and brain tissue, while minimizing damage to the brain,” says Walter Koroshetz, deputy director of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS).

“They could provide a platform for a range of devices with applications in epilepsy, spinal cord injuries and other neurological disorders.”

The implants contain metal electrodes that are just 500 microns thick. The absence of sharp electrodes and rigid surfaces should improve safety, with less damage to brain tissue.

Also, the implants’ ability to mold to the brain’s surface could provide better stability; the brain sometimes shifts in the skull and the implant could move with it. Finally, by spreading across the brain, the implants have the potential to capture the activity of large networks of brain cells.

[ reuters | engadget ]

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PODZILLA! Largest Giant Isopod Ever Discovered

Redditor Gwynzer works for a Sub-sea Survey Company, who made a horrifying discovery when they found Podzilla latched onto one of the ROVs, and assuming the reported length of Podzilla (a wee bit over 2.5 feet head to tail) to be accurate, it would very easily be the largest Giant Isopod ever discovered. Now your underwear may already be half way up your ass, and you may even be thinking in a nasally voice, But the largest known specimen of Bathynomus Giganteus is only 48cm (like 19 inches), that’s impossible! And to that sir or madam, I would respond with a quote from the wizard of wisdom, Justin from shitmydadsays‘s Dad: “Science and Mother Nature are in a marriage where Science always comes home to find Mother Nature blowing the neighbor” :

I work for a Sub-sea Survey Company, recently this beast came up attached to one of our ROVs. It measures a wee bit over 2.5 feet head to tail, and we expect it latched onto the ROV at roughly 8500ft depth. Unfortunately, the e-mail that these pictures were attached to came from a contractor, and the ship he was operating from (and therefore location) is unknown, so I can’t tell you what part of the Earth this beast was living.

Closeup of its freaky face after the jump
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1 Billionth Scale Ion Model Of Enterprise-D

This Starship Enterprise NCC-1701D of Star Trek was fabricated by Takayuki Hoshino & Shinji Matsui, in one-billionth scale by 30 kV Ga+ focused-ion- beam CVD using phenanthrene gas for the The 47th International Conference on Electron, Ion and Photon Beam Technology and Nanofabrication Bizarre/Beautiful Micrograph Contest back in 2003, which is the equivalent of a couple centuries in internet years, or 49 dog years for people who keep track of things in dog years. The model measures a mere 8.8 micrometers long. (There are 1000 micrometers in 1 millimeter)

(Hits a bong)

Dude, that’s like…really small…

[ Zyvex Labs · Zeray ]

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