2008 NOV 3 - (VerticalNews.com) -- "Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) mechanical lithography is a simple but significant method for nanofabrication. In this work, we used this method to construct nanostructures on Pt/Cu bilayer metal electrodes under ambient conditions in air," scientists in Kaifeng, People's Republic of China report.

  "The influence of various scratch parameters, such as the applied force, scan velocity and circle times, on the lithography patterns was investigated. The Pt-Cu-Cu (x) O-Cu-Pt nanostructure was constructed by choosing suitable scratch parameters and oxidation at room temperature. The properties of the scratched regions were also investigated by friction force microscopy and conductive AFM (C-AFM). The I-V curves show symmetric and linear properties, and Ohmic contacts were formed," wrote X.Y. Zhu and colleagues, Henan University ...read more

  2008 OCT 27 - (VerticalNews.com) -- "We hypothesize the formation of neon associated with isotopically anomalous xenon (Xe-HL) in meteoritic nanodiamonds and designated as Ne-X through the mixing of the Ne-HL and Ne-S subcomponents. The Ne-HL subcomponent is neon from the helium (He/C) zone of a type II supernova or a mixture of neon from this zone and its hydrogen zone, while the Ne-S subcomponent is spallation neon formed during a supernova explosion in nuclear spallation reactions induced by high-energy protons," researchers in Russia report ...read more

  2008 APR 14 - (VerticalNews.com) -- "Extended Red Emission (ERE) was recently attributed to the photo-luminescence of either doubly ionized Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAH(++)), or charged PAH dimers ([PAH(2)](+)). We analysed the visible and mid-infrared (mid-IR) dust emission in the North-West and South photo-dissociation regions of the reflection nebula NGC 7023," scientists writing in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics report ...read more