Total Electron Content (TEC) Variations and Correlation with Seismic Activity over Japan

Authors:  Joseph A. Hammerstrom, Pierre-Richard J. Cornely

Earthquakes are extremely dangerous physical phenomena. The ability to properly forecast them would go a long way in reducing the damage they cause. One earthquake forecasting method being researched uses the ionospheric Total Electron Content (TEC). Our investigation used TEC data from 2011 during certain days near and on the date of the earthquake off the coast of Tōhoku, Japan. We took advantage of the large amounts of GPS records obtained by the GPS Earth Observation Network (GEONET) of Japan which contained the TEC data needed. This data was used to visualize the TEC over the course of the day of the Tōhoku earthquake.

Chemical Reduction and Deposition of Nanostructured Pt–Au Alloy

Author:  Marvin X. C. Seow

Nanostructured metal alloys made up of Pt and another metal are more efficient in catalysing reactions than pure Pt nanoparticles. However, few studies have investigated low heat, solvent-free chemical deposition techniques of nanostructured metal alloys. This paper investigates the deposition of Pt–Au nanostructured metal alloy on fluorine-doped tin oxide glass via the low heat, solvent-free polyol reduction and the effect of Pt:Au mass loading ratio on the catalytic performance.

Probability Current and a Simulation of Particle Separation

Authors:  Felix B. A. Tellander, Johan E. M. Ulander, Irina I. Yakimenko, Karl-Fredrik Berggren

The structure of scattered wave fields and currents is of interest in a variety of fields within physics such as quantum mechanics and optics. Traditionally two-dimensional structures have been investigated; here we focus on three-dimensional structures. We make a generic study of three dimensional quantum box cavities, and our main objective is to visualize the probability current.

Interview with a Developmental Biologist: Dr Jean-Léon Maître

Author:  Eleanor Sheekey

Dr Jean-Léon Maître is a group leader in the Genetics and Developmental Biology unit at Institute Curie in Paris, one of the leading medical and biophysical research centres in the world. Dr Maître earned his PhD at the Max Planck Institute for Cell Biology and Genetics in Germany, and the Institute of Science and Technology in Austria.

The Quest for Smarter Dust

Author:  Adam Zhang
The 1996 film Twister follows a group of storm chasers who are designing a revolutionary device to understand tornadoes and create more advanced warning systems. This device would release hundreds of small sensors into the heart of a tornado, collecting structural data from within these natural phenomena. Of course, the movie’s plot is fictitious, but what if such a revolutionary device was actually designed?