Don't get me started on the flying cars thing... On Mon, Feb 1, 2010 at 7:21 AM, Keith Johnson <keithbjohn...@comcast.net>wrote:
> > > this is great stuff! Everytime you dare to think humanity has discovered > everything there is to know, we keep seeing the universe in new ways. > Dare I hope controlled fusion, FTL travel, and handheld laser weapons are > around the corner? > And the flying cars--where are the flying cars?! > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Mr. Worf" <hellomahog...@gmail.com> > To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com > Sent: Monday, February 1, 2010 5:43:21 AM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern > Subject: [scifinoir2] Chemistry Creates Self-Stirring Liquids > > > > Chemistry Creates Self-Stirring Liquids > > - By Laura Sanders, Science > News<http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/author/laura-sanders/> [image: > Email Author] <bma...@wired.com> > - January 29, 2010 | > - 5:09 pm | > - Categories: Physics<http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/category/physics/> > - > > [image: chemical_mixing] > > In a tail wagging the dog reversal, researchers have found that simple > chemical reactions can mix a solution. Usually, chemicals are stirred to > enhance a reaction, but a new study finds that the reverse is also true: > Simple chemical reactions can trigger fluid flows, reports a paper in the > January 29 Physical Review Letters. > > [image: sciencenews] <http://bit.ly/2TwTeS>The research has implications > for many chemical reactions, including those inside stars or when carbon > dioxide stored deep in the earth encounters water, says study coauthor Anne > De Wit of the Université Libre de Bruxelles in Belgium. > > De Wit and her colleagues wondered what would happen to fluid flows if the > reacting liquids were left alone and not stirred. The researchers watched a > very simple reaction — the neutralization that occurs between hydrochloric > acid and sodium hydroxide, a common chemical base — in the absence of > stirring. > > The researchers carefully injected the denser sodium hydroxide into a > container and then added the hydrochloric acid. The sodium hydroxide stayed > on the bottom and the hydrochloric acid sat on top. Where the two reactive > chemicals met, the reaction’s products — table salt and water — began to > form. As the salty solution formed, it crept upward and hit the > lower-density acid, creating tendrils that started to mix the solution. But > the same didn’t happen below the reaction line. This difference in how the > reaction product interacted with each of its chemical parents drove the > mixing the team observed. > > These asymmetrical patterns, the researchers say, distinguish mixing > during a chemical reaction from what happens when two nonreactive liquids > meet, which may look more like diffusion or other kinds of mixing. > > “These kinds of beautiful patterns can be observed with very well-known > reactions,” says study coauthor Christophe Almarcha, also of the Université > Libre de Bruxelles. “This is quite fascinating for someone who’s done this > reaction hundreds of times.” > > The researchers also describe reaction-driven mixing mathematically by > creating a model that predicted a pattern that looked like the real thing. > The model can be tweaked to predict patterns for other chemical reactions, > which would vary widely, Almarcha says. > > “Our little model system says ‘pay attention,’” De Wit says. “If there are > reactions, then new things will happen.” For instance, if stored carbon > leaches into an aquifer and starts reacting with water, “those reactions > will trigger flows, which will enhance the mixture,” she says. > > *Image and Video: C. Almarcha/Université Libre de Bruxelles* > > *See Also:* > > - Baffling Patterns Form in Scientific > Sandbox<http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2009/10/bead-cloud-mystery/> > - Jellyfish Are the Dark Energy of the > Oceans<http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2009/07/jellyfish/> > - Top 10 Amazing Chemistry > Videos<http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2008/03/top-10-amazing/> > > > Read More > http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2010/01/self-stirring-liquids/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+wired%2Findex+%28Wired%3A+Index+3+%28Top+Stories+2%29%29#ixzz0eHPSDR7M > > > -- > Celebrating 10 years of bringing diversity to perversity! > Mahogany at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mahogany_pleasures_of_darkness/ > > > > > -- Celebrating 10 years of bringing diversity to perversity! Mahogany at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mahogany_pleasures_of_darkness/
