Meet the Astronaut Whose Tweets Show Us Space is Crazy

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Reid Wiseman is not the first astronaut to share images from the final frontier, but he is one of NASAs first social media stars, giving us a firsthand look of what its like to be in space with a view we havent quite experienced before.

Wiseman journeyed to the most exclusive address in the world, the International Space Station, on May 28, 2014. Since his arrival, the former aviator has been tweeting about life aboard the ISS and the ins and outs of adjusting to zero gravity to his more than 300,000 Twitter followers.

Its the most difficult but its also the most enjoyable part of being up here, Wiseman said. Your body has to learn a new way to work, to think, to eat. Its just really, really cool.

His constant stream of jaw-dropping photos, rookie mistakes and insights into life in space has attracted a global audience. He hasnt showered in more than 100 days, drinks coffee from a bag and has to exercise for hours a day just so his muscles dont decay, but his excitement and enthusiasm are still just as strong as they were the day of his launch.

Its pretty tough to be homesick when youre floating around going 18,000 miles an hour in the space station, he said. This is a wild, great place to work.

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Its also a world he wants young minds across the country to get excited about, and he holds regular video chats with students to field their many questions.

What they're most curious about usually is the imaginative stuff - how do you go to the bathroom, what do you eat, what's it like to float, what's it like to look back at the earth? he said.

Wiseman returns to Earth in November, when hell have to once again adjust to gravity. Until then, space enthusiasts will savor each tweet from 200 miles away.

First published October 1 2014, 10:22 AM

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Meet the Astronaut Whose Tweets Show Us Space is Crazy

Cobra Puma Tests Golf Clubs in Space

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Cobra Puma is conducting an experiment aboard the International Space Station.

Cobra Puma Golf is currently conducting an experiment aboard the International Space Station that could eventually lead to the design and creation of better golf clubs.

Hows that for out of the box thinking?

The company is one of many new and non-traditional researchers that the Center for Advancement of Science and Space (CASIS) has been working with. According to CASIS President Gregory H. Johnson, the end goal is the development of products, therapies, and services onboard the International Space Station U.S. National Laboratoryto advance knowledge in applied materials science.

The partnership grew out of the 2012 PGA Show in Orlando, Florida, when a few CASIS employees were first introduced to members of Cobras research team.

Its just flat-out cool, said Mike Yagley, director of research and testing for Cobra Puma Golf, who has an aerospace background. If you can imagine that all the stuff its taken to get us into space is in a golf club, from a branding standpoint I cant see a better fit.

More than two years of planning and preparation preceded Sundays launch at 1:52 a.m. EDT from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, a video of which can be seen here. The rocket successfully arrived at the International Space Station Tuesday, September 23, according to reports from CASIS.

Cobra Pumas experiment aboard the ISS will examine a variety of coating and metals used in golf products, said Yagley, and the differences in bonding, strength, and weight of the resulting materials will be analyzed in a microgravity environment.

Zero gravity or microgravity is a big deal for our processes because metal doesnt settle in space the way it does on earth, added Yagley, who compared the mixing of metals on earth to the way chocolate syrup settles in a glass of milk. The point: a uniform mixture cant be created on earth without constant manipulation, but a microgravity environment makes it possible.

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See Liv Tyler and Matt Bomer in quirky comedy Space Station 76 trailer

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Liv Tyler and Matt Bomer are space pioneers with major personal problems in the trailer for Space Station 76.

The quirky dark comedy envisions an alternate history of space travel in the vein of a cheesy 1970s television show, with Patrick Wilson as the troubled captain of an intergalactic ship.

The crew of this space station find themselves more concerned with their fractured interpersonal relationships than with their mission.

Annoying robots make their presence known as well, only seeming to make matters worse.

Jack Plotnick - the actor known for playing the deputy mayor in Buffy the Vampire Slayer and a Red John suspect in The Mentalist - has directed Space Station 76, in addition to working on the screenplay with a team of writers.

The ensemble cast includes Jerry O'Connell, Kali Rocha and Marisa Coughlan. Space Station 76 opens later this year.

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My view: Space education success on Mars

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ATK conducts avionics testing of NASAs Space Launch System flight simulation in Clearfield Thursday, April 3, 2014. The Space Launch System is NASAs new vehicle that is being built to take astronauts into deep space, including Mars.

Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News

Enlarge photo

Mars has two new alien visitors. MAVEN, the latest United States space vehicle to reach the planet, entered planned orbit on Sept. 21.

Mangalyaan, Indias first Mars mission, reached the Red Planets atmosphere Sept. 25. This is the first initial Mars mission of any nation to succeed. Both spacecraft will collect data while in orbit.

The U.S. rover Spirit landed on Mars on Jan. 4, 2004, after a complex journey of 300 million miles, ending with a perfect touchdown. Partner rover Opportunity came down on the other side of the planet 21 days later.

The two vehicles were expected to survive for approximately 90 days, but instead travelled and transmitted for years. In 2009, Spirit became stuck in soft soil but continued communicating until 2010.

After a year of operation, Opportunity temporarily stalled, its wheels buried in a sand dune. However, engineers on Earth 100 million miles away were able to get the vehicle out. Opportunity remains active, transmitting information back to Earth

In May 2008, after a journey of 10 months and 422 million miles, the Phoenix Lander arrived safely on Mars, as speed of 12,000 miles per hour was slowed to 5 mph before a soft landing. The laboratory Curiosity followed, arriving in August 2012.

Those involved including the University of Arizona, the Jet Propulsion Lab in Pasadena and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) achieved a tremendous triumph. Americans in general should take pride in the accomplishments.

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Renowned Space and Earth Explorer Scott Parazynski Joins ASU Faculty

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Arizona State University's first designated University Explorer, Scott Parazynski, has scaled Everest, orbited the Earth at 17,500 miles an hour and invented devices for surgery, spacewalking and the consumer market.

Parazynski joins the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering and the School of Earth and Space Exploration in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences as a professor of practice on Oct. 1. He comes to ASU from the University of Texas Medical Branch's Center for Polar Medical Operations, where he was director and chief medical officer. There, he oversaw health care and medical screening for the National Science Foundation's U.S. Antarctic Program, both on-the-ice care and medical screenings, including telemedicine.

"Dr. Parazynski is remarkable, as a physical explorer and former astronaut, and as an entrepreneur who navigates many different areas of endeavor," said ASU President Michael M. Crow. "His experience and perspective can inform ASU's space initiatives, help pioneer our high performance medicine partnerships with the Mayo Clinic and build bridges in the areas of bioengineering, earth and space sciences."

Parazynski holds a doctor of medicine with deep expertise in the fields of space physiology, aviation, biotechnology and human adaptation to extreme environments. He says that while he wanted to help people, he also looked to the stars from an early age.

"My father worked on Apollo, and it was always a dream of mine to go to space," said Parazynski. "However, it only became tangible when I began my medical training at Stanford Medical School. It was there that I realized, with NASA's Ames Research Center just down the street, I could craft a career that combined my two life-long career aspirations: to be an explorer and physician."

Over the course of 16 years, Parazynski was a mission specialist, physician, flight engineer and one of NASA's most experienced spacewalkers. He flew on five Space Shuttle missions, including STS 66/Atlantis, STS 86/Atlantis to the Russian Space Station Mir, STS 95/Discovery and STS 100/Endeavour to the International Space Station. On his last mission, STS 120/Discovery, he led the unplanned repair of a live solar array, a $1 billion national asset that required new tools and technical development in less than 72 hours.

Parazynski is the recipient of two NASA Distinguished Service Medals, five NASA Space Flight Medals, the Randolph C. Lovelace Award from the Society of NASA Flight Surgeons, the Aviation Week Laureate Award and Lowell Thomas Award from the Explorer's Club for his contributions.

Parazynski believes that his greatest skill set is creative problem-solving. As a technology innovator, he hopes to engage ASU students in clinical and laboratory environments, and develop research and technology programs to support human health in challenging environments. As a scientist, his unique perspectives can support ASU's NASA and commercial space endeavors. And as an inventor, he believes that building multidisciplinary teams offers the power to navigate uncharted territories and engineer new approaches, from the challenges of deep space exploration to rural telemedicine, commercialization of inventions and STEM education.

"Young people are excited by the allure of invention, but often don't understand the difficulties of taking an idea into the marketplace. Math and the sciences are the core languages of the future, even if pursuing careers outside of science," said Parazynski, who received an R&D 100 Award from R&D Magazine for one of the top innovations in 2010. "Bringing together multidisciplinary teams, including engineering, scientific, legal, financial, marketing and other expertise, is often the missing link. Many new businesses fail because they get too enamored of their idea without thinking through all the other steps.

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Merging NASA Technology and Exercise Physics | Mark Noble | TEDxHuntsville – Video

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Merging NASA Technology and Exercise Physics | Mark Noble | TEDxHuntsville
This talk was given at a local TEDx event, produced independently of the TED Conferences. Mark Noble, an Exercise Physiologist Human- Performance- Enhancement-Specialist, will demonstrate...

By: TEDx Talks

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Airborne 10.01.14: Sierra Nevada v NASA, A-29 Goes To Work, Be-200 Rebirth? – Video

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Airborne 10.01.14: Sierra Nevada v NASA, A-29 Goes To Work, Be-200 Rebirth?
Also: PPC Bird #39;s Eye View, Spitfires Return?, Cessna Sued Over 1981 Accident, Santa Monica Sues Pilot #39;s Estate, Phase 1 Flight Testing Update Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) has filed a legal...

By: Aero-News Network

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Airborne 10.01.14: Sierra Nevada v NASA, A-29 Goes To Work, Be-200 Rebirth? - Video

NASA Langley crashes a helicopter for safety research | With Video

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NASA researchers crash a 45-foot helicopter fuselage into the ground Wednesday afternoon at NASA Langley Research Center's Landing and Impact Research Facility. NASA plans to use the results of the test to improve performance, efficiency and to design saf

The helicopter airframe was winched slowly into position three stories high, suspended on cables and packed with dummies of every size seated, standing and in simulated motion.

At 15 seconds, the countdown began.

And at the end, pyrotechnics blew the cable supports, and nearly 11,000 pounds of fuselage dropped forward then straight down, slamming 30 mph into a layer of packed dirt with a resounding whump.

It may have been anti-climactic as far as crash tests go no explosions, no crumpled frame, no dangling dummy bodies but for engineers at NASA Langley Research Center, Wednesday's event was a rare opportunity to conduct a suite of experiments designed to improve helicopter safety.

The drop at the facility's historic gantry in Hampton was similar to another test conducted there last summer, except, as lead test engineer Martin Annett said afterward, "It was a lot harder hit than last year."

What researchers hope to see with the new test, though, is a lot fewer dummy "injuries," based largely on the use of three types of lightweight composite subflooring materials designed to absorb the impact and render aircraft more crash-worthy. And, by extension, more survivable.

According to NASA Langley, data from last year's test indicated some of the simulated passengers would have been seriously injured or even killed under those crash conditions.

Two of the subfloor composites used in the new test were developed by NASA's Rotary Wing Project in the Fundamental Aeronautics Program. The third was developed by the Australian Cooperative Research Center for Advanced Composite Structures in cooperation with the German Aerospace Research Center.

The U.S. Navy supplied the former Marine CH-46 Sea Knight helicopter fuselage, which was painted white and peppered with black polka dots as part of a technique called full field photogrammetry. Dozens of high-speed cameras then recorded the event inside and out at 500 frames per second, tracking each dot and helping researchers figure out exactly where and how the fuselage buckled or cracked under crash loads.

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NASA Invites Public to Join #SkyScience Cloud Study

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NASA is inviting people around the globe to step outside during Earth Science Week, Oct. 12-18, observe the sky and share their observations as citizen scientists.

NASA's #SkyScience activity is part of an annual educational event organized by the American Geosciences Institute to encourage the public to engage in Earth sciences. Citizen scientists can participate in this global Earth science data collection event by observing, photographing and reporting on clouds over their location as a NASA satellite passes over. Reports and photos will be compared to data collected by NASA Earth-observing instruments as a way to assess the satellite measurements.

Using the hashtag #SkyScience, participants are encouraged to post their cloud and sky photos and observation experiences to Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Google+ and Flickr. Throughout the week, NASA will share some of the most interesting photos on the agency's social media accounts.

In addition to #SkyScience, NASA has been engaging students in cloud observation for years through the agency's Students' Cloud Observations On-Line (S'COOL) project.

#SkyScience is another opportunity to get lots of reports in a short period of time and enable additional statistical analysis," said S'COOL project lead Lin Chambers of NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia.

To learn how to get involved in the #SkyScience activity, visit:

http://go.nasa.gov/skysci

For information about NASA's Earth science activities in 2014, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/earthrightnow

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NASA Support Key To Glacier Mapping Efforts

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October 1, 2014

Image Caption: The edge of Greenland's Jakobshavn Glacier seen during an IceBridge survey flight on Apr. 19, 2014. Credit: NASA / Jim Yungel

George Hale, NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center

Thanks in part to support from NASA and the National Science Foundation, scientists have produced the first-ever detailed maps of bedrock beneath glaciers in Greenland and Antarctica. This new data will help researchers better project future changes to glaciers and ice sheets, and ultimately, sea level.

Researchers at the Center for Remote Sensing of Ice Sheets, or CReSIS, at the University of Kansas in Lawrence, Kansas, recently built detailed maps of the terrain beneath Greenlands Jakobshavn Glacier and Byrd Glacier in Antarctica. The results of this study were published in the September issue of the Journal of Glaciology. CReSIS is a major participant in NASAs Operation IceBridge, a NASA airborne science mission aimed at studying Arctic and Antarctica land and sea ice.

CReSIS researchers used computer software to process and analyze data collected during field campaigns unrelated to IceBridge that were conducted in cooperation with NASA and NSF in 2008 and 2011 to build maps of the two glaciers. These data were from an ice-penetrating radar instrument known as the Multichannel Coherent Depth Sounder / Imager, or MCoRDS / I, which is similar to the instrument IceBridge has used since 2009. Bed topography data are vital for computer models used to project future changes to ice sheets and their contribution to sea level rise. Without bed topography you cannot build a decent ice sheet model, said CReSIS director Prasad Gogineni.

Jakobshavn Glacier is of interest because it is the fastest-moving glacier in the world and drains about 7.5 percent of the Greenland Ice Sheet. Having a map of Jakobshavns bed has been a long-time goal of glaciologists. Byrd Glacier is also moving faster than average, but unlike many other glaciers, has been sounded in the past. Researchers mapped a previously unknown trench beneath Byrd Glacier and found that depth measurements from the 1970s were off by as much as a half mile in some places.

Ice-penetrating radar is one method for mapping bedrock topography. The instrument sends down radar waves, which reflect off of the ice surface, layers inside the ice sheet and bedrock back to the instrument, giving researchers a three-dimensional view. Ice-penetrating radar data from IceBridge flights helped build maps of Greenland and Antarcticas bedrock and were even used to discover a large canyon beneath the ice in northern Greenland.

Imaging rock beneath glaciers like Jakobshavn is important, but more difficult than mapping the ice sheet interior. The relatively warm ice and rough surfaces of outlet glaciers weaken and scatter radar signals, making the bed difficult to detect. To overcome these challenges, CReSIS used a sensitive radar instrument with a large antenna array and used several processing techniques to remove interference and build a view of sub-ice bedrock. We showed that we have the technology to map beds, said Gogineni.

The MCoRDS / I instrument can be traced back to an early ice-penetrating radar CReSIS designed and built in the mid-90s in cooperation with NASA and NSF. In the two decades since then CReSIS has refined this instrument and has flown on NASA aircraft and alongside NASA instruments.

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Vets Plus Invests in Nanotechnology Research to Improve Product Quality

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Menomonie, Wis. (PRWEB) October 01, 2014

Science-based animal health company Vets Plus, Inc. is launching a new research initiative to focus on cutting edge nanotechnology to create innovative products. The company has recently begun research in nanotechnology which will improve product quality and bioavailability of ingredients for greater benefit to the animal.

Raj Lall, Founder, President & CEO said expanding the research and development effort it is all part of the companys vision. He said, Our success as a company has been in our ability to create science-based products that address the most common conditions in food animals and pets. Nanotechnology and other research endeavors are a way to continue providing the most effective supplements.

The company is beginning research in nanotechnology to introduce companion and food animal products that may be more effective than what is possible with larger particle sizes. Dr. Ajay Srivastava, Director of Technical Sales and Clinical Trials, said, We often face challenges with bioavailability of ingredients in developing products. Nanotechnology is one of the best answers to this problem. This technology will encompass a variety of ingredients, including bioflavonoids (such as curcumin), probiotics, herbal extractions, and vitamins, for use in unique combinations for targeted, species-specific formulations.

As the company invests in resources for new product innovations, they are also seeking out expert advice from renowned researchers. First to speak in their seminar series is Abhijit Ray, PhD. Dr. Ray joined the Vets Plus R&D team for a presentation, A Fantastic Journey into the World of Nanoscience, on Friday, September 26. Dr. Ray is a leading researcher on nanotechnology in medical applications. He has published over 100 peer-reviewed papers and holds 10 U.S. and World patents.

Lall said, Were pleased to have Dr. Ray join us as we are exploring new technologies. His presentation will be the first in a seminar series intended to encourage our employees think creatively about helping animals to thrive through scientific discovery.

About Vets Plus, Inc. Vets Plus, Inc. (VPI), located in Menomonie, Wisconsin, is a leading manufacturer of health and nutritional supplements for both food and companion animals. With over 20 years of experience, Vets Plus creates custom formulations for contract manufacturing of innovative probiotic, prebiotic, nutritional, and nutraceutical products in a wide variety of feeding forms. Vets Plus is proud of its continued growth into a leader within the animal health industry and ability to manufacture several hundred products while maintaining ISO-9001:2008 and NASC certifications and cGMP and AAFCO compliance. Vets Plus is a member of the American Pet Products Association (APPA).

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Researchers hope to diagnose deadly Ebola virus with nanotech

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Scientists have built a prototype of a device that can diagnose the deadly Ebola virus by shining light on viral nanoparticles on silicon.

Scientists have built a prototype of a device that can diagnose the deadly Ebola virus by shining light on viral nanoparticles on silicon.

With more than 6500 cases of the Ebola virus in West Africa, 3000 deaths and now one confirmed case in the United States, scientists are trying to find a way to detect the deadly virus more quickly, cheaply and easily.

And they're increasingly using nanotechnology to do it.

A team of researchers at Boston University's College of Engineering and its School of Medicine has been working for the past five years to develop a portable device that uses a silicon chip to diagnose a patient with Ebola, or other hemorrhagic fever diseases like the Marburg virus or Lassa Fever.

What's potentially important about this diagnostic device is that it could easily be used in remote areas with limited electrical and medical resources.

"What motivates us is that there are some really good tests to diagnose these diseases but none of these tests are easily transported where they are needed," said John H. Connor, an associate professor in BU's Department of Microbiology and a virologist on the research team. "They have to fly in heavy, electricity-requiring machines that require specialized training and special ingredients to make the diagnostics work properly. They're expensive, time intensive and, most importantly, they're pretty much locked to a clinical lab."

That's a problem for countries like Liberia, which has suffered more than 3,400 cases of Ebola and more than 1,800 deaths in this outbreak, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The World Health Organization (WHO) has reported that the Ebola virus, once known as Ebola hemorrhagic fever, is one of the world's most virulent diseases, with a fatality rate of approximately 90%. Spread by direct contact with the blood, fluids and tissues of infected animals or people, authorities have attempted to contain the outbreak, which began in Guinea and has spread to other countries, including Liberia and Nigeria, which have both declared health emergencies because of it.

Liberia, for example, simply doesn't have the resources to dot the countryside with well-equipped, high-tech clinics that can run traditional diagnostic machines.

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Researchers hope to diagnose deadly Ebola virus with nanotech

Nanoparticles give up forensic secrets

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PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

1-Oct-2014

Contact: Michael Bishop michael.bishop@iop.org 44-117-930-1032 Institute of Physics @PhysicsNews

A group of researchers from Switzerland has thrown light on the precise mechanisms responsible for the impressive ability of nanoparticles to detect fingermarks left at crime scenes.

Publishing their results today, 2 October, in IOP Publishing's journal Nanotechnology, the researchers have provided evidence contesting the commonly accepted theory that nanoparticles are attracted to fingermarks electrostatically.

The attraction, they claim, is in fact chemical and is caused by compounds on the surface of nanoparticles bonding with a complex cocktail of compounds present in fingermark residue.

The researchers believe a more fundamental understanding of the interactions between nanoparticles and fingermarks will promote the development of more precise targeting methods and increase the chances of detecting previously undetectable fingermarks.

Indeed, it has been estimated that around 50 per cent of the fingermarks left on paper remain undetected.

Lead author of the study Sebastien Moret said: "There are number of different techniques used to visualise fingermarks when they are brought into the lab; however, they all lack sensitivity."

"Some of these techniques show an affinity not only for fingermarks, but also for the substrate or surface that the mark was left on, leading to background staining that conceals the fingermark."

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Stressed Out: Research Sheds New Light on Why Rechargeable Batteries Fail

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Newswise Pity the poor lithium ion. Drawn relentlessly by its electrical charge, it surges from anode to cathode and back again, shouldering its way through an elaborate molecular obstacle course. This journey is essential to powering everything from cell phones to cordless power tools. Yet, no one really understands what goes on at the atomic scale as lithium ion batteries are used and recharged, over and over again.

Michigan Technological University researcher Reza Shahbazian-Yassar has made it his business to better map the ions long, strange tripand perhaps make it smoother and easier. His ultimate aim: to make better batteries, with more power and a longer life.

Using transmission electron microscopy, Anmin Nie, a senior postdoctoral researcher in Shahbazian-Yassars research group, has recently documented what can happen to anodes as lithium ions work their way into them, and its not especially good. The research was recently published in the journal Nano Letters.

We call it atomic shuffling, says Shahbazian-Yassar, the Richard and Elizabeth Henes Associate Professor in Nanotechnology. The layered structure of the electrode changes as the lithium goes inside, creating a sandwich structure: there is lots of localized expansion and contraction in the electrode crystals, which helps the lithium blaze a trail through the electrode.

The atomic shuffling not only helps explain how lithium ions move through the anode, in this case a promising new material called zinc antimonide. It also provides a clue as to why most anodes made of layered materials eventually fail. We showed that the ions cause a lot of local stress and phase transitions, Anmin said.

The paper, Lithiation-Induced Shuffling of Atomic Stacks, is coauthored by Shahbazian-Yassar, postdoctoral research fellow Anmin Nie and graduate student Hasti Asayesh-Ardakani of Michigan Techs Department of Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics; Yingchun Cheng, Yun Han and Udo Schwingenschlogl of King Abdulla University of Science and Technology, in Saudi Arabia; Runzhe Tao, Farzad Mashayet and Robert Klie of the University if Illinois at Chicago; and Sreeram Vaddiraju of Texas A&M University.

The study was funded by the National Science Foundation and the American Chemical SocietyPetroleum Research Fund. The microscopy was conducted at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

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Stressed Out: Research Sheds New Light on Why Rechargeable Batteries Fail