2009 July

Scientists Create Ultraviolet-Transparent Aluminum

Interesting news I found in my email today! See below:

Oxford scientists say they’ve created transparent aluminum, but is it similar to what we saw in Star Trek IV? Well, not really. Using a powerful FLASH laser that produces brief pulses of “soft x-ray light,” they knocked out an electron from every aluminum atom in a lab sample. Because this process didn’t disrupt the metallic lattice structure of the metal, it magically turned the aluminum into a substance transparent to ultraviolet light.

Compounds containing aluminum have already been created (such as the aluminum oxynitride pictured below), but this is the first time pure aluminum has been rendered transparent. But you won’t really be able to see through it — it’s only invisible to extreme ultraviolet radiation. The amazing part? ”What we have created is a completely new state of matter nobody has seen before,” said Professor Justin Wark.

There’s a catch, though: The aluminum sample turned transparent was tiny — less than a 20th of the width of a human hair in diameter. And the amount of power required to create this minuscule window was equal to that of a power plant providing electricity to an entire city. Oh, and the see-through aluminum reverts quickly back to its natural state. But hey, it’s a start. Scientists are saying the technology used to create this entirely new state of matter might also help in the quest for generating power using nuclear fusion.

Jupiter Hit By Space Object July 19, 2009

So I found out the yesterday that Jupiter had been hit by another object. It was noticed by amateur astronomer Anthony Wesley in Australia on Sunday, July 19. This is the second time that Jupiter has been observed being hit, the fist being Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9’s impact in 1994.

To put this into perspective, because one can be deceived as to the scale we are talking about, the impact area is as big as the Pacific Ocean. Chew on that for a minute. If something that size had hit Earth we would all be dead.

If this doesn’t scare the hell out of people nothing will. Scientist have already announced that asteroid 2004 MN4 will pass so close to Earth on April 13, 2029 that it will go between Earth and communications satellites on orbit. That is damn close and so close that scientist can’t be sure it won’t hit Earth. Here’s a photo for scale:

It doesn’t take a lot of thinking to get to this point:

I Won A Razer Lycosa Gaming Keyboard

This past Friday (July 10th) I got a surprise in the mail! I was heading out to lunch with some friends and the mail man walked up and asked me if I lived in the apartment I just came out of and asked me my name. I told him my name and said yes it was my apartment. He then handed me a rather large box. Needless to say I was shocked to be getting something, because I knew I hadn’t ordered anything. So I took the package, went back into my apartment, and opened it up with a lot of curiosity. Inside all I saw was a layer of foam shipping popcorn and a note laying on top. Looked at the note and it told me I was a winner! I had forgotten about that contest because I knew my chances of winning were low!

I was in shock! I won a Razer Lycosa Gaming Keyboard from the Mountain Dew World of Warcraft promotion! I’d never won anything before! LOL!

After hooking it up I can say only one thing! Its super awesome! I’m going to put a review video of it that I found on YouTube below so you guys can see what it looks like.

Link to the contest: Mountain Dew Game Fuel “Choose Your Side” World of Warcraft Promotion (Damn that’s a long name.)

The note that was included with the keyboard:

Review I found of it on YouTube: