Dutch Scientists Develop World’s First Platinum Magnet

Platinum is a mid-table, stable, white metal prized for its use in jewelry and electronics. The metal has excellent conductive properties in addition to its good looks.

 A team of scientists from the University of Groningen has reported the successful creation of a two-dimensional magnet made of the precious metal, platinum. The magnet can also be turned 'on' and 'off' using electricity. This switch-ability could be very valuable to manufacturers of the next generation of electronics.

New Developments for New Magnets

The team, led by Justin T. Ye from the University's Device Physics of Complex Materials group, produced magnetism in a thin layer of platinum through its immersion in butylmethylimidazolium tetrachloroferrate (BMIM[FeCl4]).

The paramagnetic ionic fluid completed a transistor by acting as a medium between a gold electrode and the platinum film as a channel. This setup conferred ferromagnetism on the platinum, in the presence of an electric field.

Platinum Ferromagnets and Spintronics

The platinum ferromagnet can also be used to control charge, which makes it even more amenable to spintronic applications. Additionally, the paramagnetic fluid allows greater control over the number of carriers available across the magnet.

However, the Groningen team's uni-layer solution is simpler and can, therefore, be more attractive to those interested in this potential field of electronics.

Reference:

Deirdre O’Donnell, Dutch Scientists Develop World’s First Platinum Magnet, Article from www.evolving-science.com

First Tesla Solar Roof For Private Homes Now Operational

Tesla, the popular electric car manufacturer, has been designing solar roof tiles, and they are now available to consumers in California! These branded panels, when installed, absorb power from the sun and convert it into electricity for homes.

Tesla Powerwall and Panels

These batteries are large devices that can be mounted on the interior or exterior of wall surfaces, and store energy coming in from the solar panels.

The waiting period of the operation may take awhile was probably due to the fact that this solar power can also be hooked up to the main state power grid so that owners can sell the spare energy. This process can be done via the Tesla app, which enables users to set the amount of power (in watts) that their houses require. Also, the amount of wattage that goes into the Powerwall and the grid can be set.

In addition, users may be able to monitor the amount of charge the Powerwall has remaining. If it is fully loaded, owners can direct that extra energy to the grid.

Reference:

Deirdre O’Donnell, First Tesla Solar Roof For Private Homes Now Operational, Article from https://www.evolving-science.com/

Icarus: The Farthest Star From Earth

NASA's Hubble Space Telescope uncovers 'Icarus', the farthest star ever seen. A team of astrophysicists have reported the imaging of Icarus, a single star whose properties suggest that it is located approximately 9 billion light years away from Earth.

Discovery of Icarus

Working across a range of institutions in the UK, Spain, Denmark, Japan and the US, scientists used the gravitational-lens technique to image the star, which they initially termed MACS J1149 Lensed Star 1 (LS1). However, it also acquired the name of Icarus.

Gravitational lenses, which are partially conferred by other galactic clusters in the vicinity of the object, can magnify other galaxies. With these devices, the cosmos can be detected by telescopes on Earth despite being billions of light years away.

Imaging of Icarus

The latest images of Icarus were taken nearly two years ago (in late April to May 2016) using the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Wide Field Camera 3 infrared (IR) camera.

The imaging session was, in fact, intended to assess the explosion of the Refsdal supernova. However, the team also noticed an anomaly in the red-shift of MACS J1149. It was found to be a single source of blue light coming from an individual super-giant - MACS J1149-LS1.

Icarus: What kind of star?

LS1 was also found to have a temperature of 11,000 to 14,000 kelvin and a characteristic SED profile. These properties were also consistent with MACS J1149’s red-shift (z=1.49). LS1 was also found to be relatively small (0.06 parsecs in width) suggesting that it was most likely a single star or a binary system, at best. The team also detected signs of a second body, which seemed to be extremely close to LS1. The images of this object, termed Lev16B, were found to have nearly identical properties in terms of colour and colour-magnitude.

References

Deirdre O'Donnell, Icarus: New Astronomical Discovery Is Farthest Star From Earth