Space Travel News  
Study: Lithium, beryllium may be bondable

Credit: Zina Deretsky, National Science Foundation.
by Staff Writers
Ithaca, N.Y. (UPI) Jan 29, 2008
U.S. scientists have determined "anti-social" metals such as lithium and beryllium will bond, forming stable alloys at high density and pressure.

Lithium and beryllium, the lightest known metals, don't bind under normal atmospheric or ambient pressure. But a team of Cornell University scientists predicted they will bond under higher levels of pressure and form stable alloys that might be capable of superconductivity.

Of the four stable alloys predicted by the scientists' computational study, the alloy with the ratio of one lithium atom to one beryllium atom showed the greatest potential for superconducting applications, the researchers said. They noted a most unexpected finding in the study was the predicted existence of two-dimensional electron gas layers within a tightly compressed three-dimensional LiBe compound.

"It's like taking a nice layer cake, squeezing the hell out of it, and lo and behold, out of what would be expected to be a jumbled-up mess, there emerges a neat hazelnut cream layer," said study co-author Professor Roald Hoffmann who conducted the study with Professor Emeritus Neil Ashcroft.

The study that included Assistant Professor Richard Hennig and researcher Ji Feng appears in the journal Nature.

Related Links
Space Technology News - Applications and Research



Memory Foam Mattress Review
Newsletters :: SpaceDaily :: SpaceWar :: TerraDaily :: Energy Daily
XML Feeds :: Space News :: Earth News :: War News :: Solar Energy News


Methane Storage Material Exceeds US DoE Goals
Oxford OH (SPX) Jan 25, 2008
Researchers in the laboratory of Miami University chemist Hong-Cai Zhou, associate professor of chemistry and biochemistry, report development of a microporous material with the highest methane storage capacity ever measured. It can hold almost one-third more methane than the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) target level for methane-powered cars, they report in a new study.







  • Russia May Build New Shuttle Spacecraft By 2015
  • SPACEX Conducts First Multi-Engine Firing Of Falcon 9 Rocket
  • Virgin's Branson presents new space ship
  • Rocket And Missile Chaos Besets Russia

  • TEXUS Research Rockets To Launch On 31 January And 7 February 2008
  • Russian space center to launch boosters
  • Antrix Launches Israeli Satellite Using Commercial PSLV Rocket
  • Russia To Launch Two Telecom Satellites On Jan 28 And Feb 10

  • NASA to televise Columbia remembrance
  • Shuttle Tank Connector Repairs Stretch Boundaries
  • NASA resets Atlantis shuttle launch to February 7
  • US shuttle glitches may delay Hubble mission

  • Crew Oxygen For ISS Loaded On Jules Verne
  • Station Crew Ready For Wednesday's Spacewalk
  • Europe sets launch window for maiden mission of space freighter
  • Upcoming Spacewalk, New Progress Awaits Expedition 16

  • Exploring The Cosmos With NASA Space Braille
  • Innovative Tools For An Out-Of-This-World Job
  • SKorea research institute forges ties with NASA: official
  • Russia Eyes Replacement Spaceport For Baikonur

  • China May Broadcast First Taikonaut Spacewalk Live
  • Chinese Taikonaut Dismisses Environment Worries About New Space Launch Center
  • China To Boost Civil Industrialization With Xian Base
  • China Set To Launch Manned Space Mission In 2008

  • Meet Blob The Robot
  • Russian Fuel Flows Into Jules Verne Automated Transfer Vehicle
  • ESA Training Team ATV
  • Honda's ASIMO robot gets smarter

  • Lyell Panorama Inside Victoria Crater Mars Four Years On Mars
  • Traces Of The Martian Past In The Terby Crater
  • HiRISE Camera Details Dynamic Wind Action On Mars
  • Ice Clouds Put Mars In The Shade

  • The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright Space.TV Corporation. AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space.TV Corp on any Web page published or hosted by Space.TV Corp. Privacy Statement