Latest Molecular diffusion Stories
Osmosis – the flow of a solvent across a semipermeable membrane from a region of lower to higher solute concentration – is a well-developed concept in physics and biophysics. The problem is that, even though the concept is important to plant and human physiology, osmosis is understood in biology and chemistry in a much simpler – and often incorrect – way. "A range of surprising misconceptions about osmosis continue to appear in papers, web sites and textbooks," says Eric Kramer,...
Researchers at the universities of Granada and Barcelona have described for the first time the diffusion of liquid water through nanochannels in molecular terms; nanochannels are extremely tiny channels with a diameter of 1-100 nanometers that scientists use to study the behavior of molecules (nm. a unit of length in the metric system equal to one billionth of a meter that is used in the field of nanotechnology). This study might have an important impact on water desalinization and...
The great artist and inventor Leonardo da Vinci once said that "simplicity is the ultimate sophistication." National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) research engineer Javier Atencia certainly believes in the wisdom of what da Vinci preached; he has a reputation for creating novel microfluidic devices out of ordinary, inexpensive components. This time, he has combined a glass slide, plastic sheets and double-sided tape into a "diffusion-based gradient generator"—a tool to...
Improved estimates on the geographical spread of infectious diseases are achieved by studying human mobility networks Humans are considered the hosts for spreading epidemics. The speed at which an epidemic spreads is now better understood thanks to a new model accounting for the provincial nature of human mobility, according to a study published in EPJ B. The research was conducted by a team lead by Vitaly Belik from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA, who is also affiliated...
NEW YORK, December 21, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- New Report Added in ResearchMoz Reports Database Global and China Solar Diffusion Furnace Industry 2011 - 2015 Deep Research Report [http://www.researchmoz.com/global-and-china-solar-diffusion-furnace-industry-2011-2015-deep-research-report-report.html ] . 2011-2015 Deep Research Report on Global and China Solar Diffusion Furnace Industry" was a professional and depth research report on Global and China Solar Diffusion...
Experimental confirmation of a fundamental physical theorem The so-called ergodic theorem formulates a fundamental physical principle relating to the behavior of dynamical systems. Essentially the theorem states that in a multiparticle system each individual particle behaves just as “chaotically” as does the system as a whole. In other words, one can extrapolate from the behavior of a single element to that of the whole system. Strangely enough, in spite of its wide-ranging...
Using large-scale computer simulations, researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have identified the most important factors affecting how molecules move through the crowded environment inside living cells. The findings suggest that perturbations caused by hydrodynamic interactions "“ similar to what happens when the wake from a large boat affects smaller boats on a lake "“ may be the most important factor in this intracellular diffusion.A detailed understanding of the...
An understanding of particle diffusion in the presence of constrictions is essential in fields as diverse as drug delivery, cellular biology, nanotechnology, materials engineering, and spread of pollutants in the soil. When a driving force is applied, displacement of particles occurs as well as diffusion. A paper in the Journal of Chemical Physics, which is published by the American Institute of Physics (AIP), quantifies the effects of periodic constrictions on drift and diffusion in systems...
TEL AVIV, Israel, April 22, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- Tel Aviv University President Professor, Joseph Klafter, has co-authored a paper that brings together a myriad of seemingly unrelated chemical reactions creating a unified picture of reaction kinetics. "Geometry-Controlled Kinetics," published in Nature Chemistry on April 18, contributes to our understanding of how the geometry of a particular medium affects the motion of molecules or other particles within that medium, determining how...
Revised model will help scientists better understand transport of fluid constituents, with a wide range of applications.Combined mechanisms of transport have important applications"”transport of nutrients across cell membranes in plants and animals, the aeration of agricultural soils, performance of chemical reactors, the design of membranes for desalting brackish water, and the design of clay membranes for retaining dangerous chemicals. Because mass transport of fluid constituents has...
