Life treasure: moon dust and ant sexual parasites
Russian materials scientists have created a new alloy for the aviation of the future, and developers of space instruments have come up with devices for studying lunar dust. At the same time, power engineers have developed a liquid with nanodiamonds that quickly converts light energy into heat. In addition, a joint Russian-Chinese expedition has found the deepest colonies of marine organisms, and French scientists have discovered ants that "violate" the laws of nature. Their females produce not one, but two species of insects. These and other events from the world of science can be found in the weekly Izvestia collection.
Nanodiamonds will help to get heat without harmful emissions
A collector for heating water using light based on a liquid with nanodiamonds was created by Russian scientists. Specialists from the Moscow Power Engineering Institute and NPC Nanosystems LLC (Rostov-on-Don) took part in the work
The experts explained that nanodiamonds were synthesized in an aqueous medium from crushed graphite particles. The liquid was exposed to ultrasound and microwaves, which led to the formation of microbubbles. When they collapse (cavitation), extreme conditions occur — temperatures up to +5,000 degrees and pressures up to 1,000 atmospheres. Under the influence of these factors, graphite particles are transformed into nanodiamonds.
The researchers experimentally determined that their optimal concentration in water is 0.25%. With this ratio, light energy is converted into heat with an efficiency of 87.2%.
— The development will help to increase the efficiency of solar thermal installations. It allows you to convert light into heat faster and more completely than analogues, which means obtaining large volumes of hot water and heat at a lower cost. This technology is especially useful for homes, businesses, and villages in remote areas where access to centralized energy sources is limited or unavailable," said Inna Mikhailova, a leading researcher at the National Research University of Energy Technology.
According to the scientist, the implementation of the solution will help reduce dependence on fossil fuels and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
The new alloy will allow scrap to be used for aircraft construction.
Scientists from NUST MISIS have created a new generation alloy for aviation and cosmonautics. This was reported in the press service of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation. The alloy consists of four components: aluminum, iron, calcium and copper. Its peculiarity is that the influence of harmful impurities in it is suppressed due to useful additives.
— Iron is an unavoidable component in aluminum alloys. This element forms sharp, needle-like crystals that make the metal brittle. The addition of calcium forms a special eutectic phase and provides a stable structure,— explained Senior Researcher at the NUST MISIS Department of Metalworking Torgom Hakobyan.
According to him, this property makes it possible to use high—purity aluminum for the manufacture of aviation products, which is much cheaper than high-purity metal. As well as scrap and waste.
The resulting alloy is characterized by a homogeneous internal structure, lightness and strength. It is easily rolled into sheets, does not crack at high temperatures and becomes very hard after special treatment. At the same time, the material has the property of being evenly distributed during solidification. Due to this, it is promising for use both in the manufacture of aircraft skin panels and in 3D printing of complex parts.
A device for studying dust on the moon and planets without an atmosphere
At the Institute of Space Research (IKI) The Russian Academy of Sciences created the PmL device ("Dust Monitoring of the Moon"). It will be sent to the satellite next year as part of the Chang'e-7 mission. On September 2, Roscosmos and the Chinese National Space Administration signed a corresponding memorandum.
According to scientists, moon dust is one of the most interesting and dynamic phenomena on the satellite. In conditions where there is no dense atmosphere, these particles acquire an electric charge under the influence of solar UV radiation and lunar plasma (charged particles), which causes them to levitate, that is, to rise above the surface and move under the influence of electric fields.
— This creates a wave that "rolls" across the moon along with the boundary of light and shadow. Then the dust particles "hang" above the surface for a long time, forming a "crimson fog" in the light of sunrise. Similar processes can be observed on other planets of the Solar system, where there is no atmosphere. A Russian device on the moon will help to better understand the nature of this phenomenon," explained Anatoly Petrukovich, Director of the IKI RAS.
He recalled that in 2029, as part of the Chang'e-8 mission, two more instruments developed at the IKI RAS will be sent to the Moon. These are the ALIEN-CE8 ion energy-mass analyzer and the LPDE-CE8 complex for studying the plasma-dust exosphere (thin gas shell) of the Moon. The latter is a continuation of the PmL experiment.
Colonies on the ocean floor have changed the way we look at the possibilities of life
Russian and Chinese scientists have discovered vast ecosystems at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean at depths of over 6,000 m. Some of them are the deepest known to science. The study involved employees of the Institute of Deep-Sea Research and Engineering of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the P.P. Shirshov Institute of Oceanology of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the A.V. Zhirmunsky National Scientific Center for Marine Biology of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
The discovery was made during an expedition on the manned deep-sea vehicle Fendouzhe. With his help, the specialists made 31 dives near the coast of Kamchatka — in the Kuril-Kamchatka Depression and the western part of the Aleutian Trench. The dive was carried out at depths from 5800 to 9533 m.
According to Andrey Gebruk, a member of the expedition, acting deputy director for scientific work in the Ecology of the Seas and Oceans of the IO RAS, the discovered communities occupy spaces that stretch for thousands of kilometers. They exist through chemosynthesis, a process in which organisms receive energy not from sunlight, but through chemical reactions.
The deep-sea colonies are inhabited by polychaetes, siboglinids (a type of annelid worms) and bivalves. They feed on hydrogen sulfide, which is released by bacteria that oxidize methane coming to the surface of the bottom. This gas, in turn, is a product of the burial of organic matter that has accumulated on the ocean floor for millions of years.
As the scientists noted, the study changes the idea of the possibility of life at great depths, since previously it was believed that in such conditions communities could exist in the form of small islands of life around thermal springs.
Scientists have discovered ants — "violators" of the laws of nature
Biologists from the University of Montpellier (France) and a number of other organizations have discovered an unusual evolutionary strategy that contradicts the "rules" of biology in the Messor ibericus harvester ants common in Central Europe.
It turned out that their ant queens produce not one, but two species of insects. In addition to their own species, they give birth to Messor structor ants. Moreover, the former become the "elite" of the ant society, and the latter become workers.
According to the researchers, Messor ibericus are sexual parasites. They use the sperm of Messor structor males to breed an army of hybrids. Queen queens accumulate other people's genetic material in the so-called spermatheca in order to lay eggs later. They then grow into exact genetic copies of males of another species.
According to the head of the study, Jonathan Romiguier, an evolutionary biologist from the University of Montpellier, these two species of ants separated more than 5 million years ago. Almost the same number of years ago, humans and chimpanzees genetically diverged. Therefore, it is amazing to see how one species produces another.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
