New Way To Produce Electronic Components Can Lead To Cheap And Flexible Electronics

ScienceDaily (Mar. 25, 2009) — Flexible display screens and cheap solar cells can become a reality through research and development in organic electronics. Physicists at Umeå University in Sweden have now developed a new and simple method for producing cheap electronic components.

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“The method is simple and can therefore be of interest for future mass production of cheap electronics,” says physicist Ludvig Edman.

Organic chemistry is a rapidly expanding research field that promises exciting and important applications such as flexible display screens and cheap solar cells. One attractive feature is that organic electronic materials can be processed from a solution.

“This makes it possible to paint thin films of electronic materials on flexible surfaces like paper or plastic,” explains Ludvig Edman.

Electronic components with various functions can then be created by patterning the film with a specific structure. Until now it has proven to be problematic to carry out this patterning in a simple way without destroying the electronic properties of the organic material.

“We have now developed a method that enables us to create patterns in an efficient and gentle way. With the patterned organic material as a base, we have managed to produce well-functioning transistors,” says Ludvig Edman.

A thin film of an organic electronic material, a so-called fullerene, is first painted on a selected surface. The parts of the film that are to remain in place are directly exposed to laser light. Then the whole film can be developed by rinsing it with a solution. A well-defined pattern then emerges where the laser light hit the surface.

A key advantage with this method of patterning is that it is both simple and scalable, which means that it can be useful in future production of cheap and flexible electronics in an assembly line process.

Other researchers involved in developing the method are Andrzej Dzwilewski and Thomas Wågberg.

The findings are presented in the publication Journal of the American Chemical Society.

American Birds Sending Troubling Message About The Environment

ScienceDaily (Mar. 29, 2009) — A new report based on 40 years of data analysed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Geological Survey, state government wildlife agencies, and non-governmental organizations including Audubon (BirdLife in the USA), shows that birds are sending an important and troubling message about the state of the environment.

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The report also shows that investment in conservation works, exemplified by the remarkable recoveries of waterfowl after more than 30 million acres of wetlands were restored and managed.

The U.S. State of the Birds report offers heartening evidence that strategic land management and conservation action can reverse declines of birds.

• Wetlands: Although many wetland birds show troubling declines, conservation programs have protected millions of acres and contributed to thriving populations of hunted waterfowl, herons, egrets, and other birds. Lesser Scaup Aythya affinis, Northern Pintail Anas acuta, and several sea ducks are showing troubling declines, but most geese are increasing dramatically and many ducks have held steady.
• Waterfowl: On the whole, 39 species of hunted waterfowl have increased by more than 100% during the past 40 years. Successful waterfowl conservation is a model for widespread habitat protection.

"By bringing together the data, the analytical expertise and the combined voices of government and non-governmental organisations, this new U.S. State of the Birds Report brings new power to the essential message the birds are conveying", said John Flicker, President, National Audubon Society.

The report also reveals sobering declines of bird populations during the past 40 years - a warning signal of the failing health of ecosystems.

• Hawaiian Islands: Threatened by habitat destruction, invasive species, and disease, nearly all native Hawaiian bird species are in danger of extinction if urgent conservation measures are not implemented immediately. Since humans colonized the islands in 300 AD, 71 Hawaiian bird species have gone extinct; 10 others have not been seen in as long as 40 years.
• Oceans: At least 39% of U.S. bird species restricted to ocean habitats are declining and almost half are of conservation concern, indicating deteriorating ocean conditions. Management policies and sustainable fishing regulations are essential to ensure the health of oceans.
• Coasts: Half of all coastally migrating shorebirds have declined, indicating stress in coastal habitats besieged by development, disturbance, and dwindling food supplies.
• Grasslands: The grassland bird indicator shows nearly a 40% decline in the past 40 years, based on birds that breed exclusively in grasslands. Farm conservation programs provide millions of acres of protected grasslands that are essential for the birds in a landscape where little native prairie remains.

Flicker concludes, "The birds are sending us a wake-up call that the habitat destruction, climate change and shortsighted environmental policies of the past are combining to take a serious toll. We must address the warming of our climate and the loss of vital habitat through policy and on-the ground action at every level. This report makes clear the need and for urgent individual, collective and government action, but leaves little doubt that taking that action can make a difference. Audubon has sent this message before, and now, thanks to all who played a role in the 2009 U.S. State of the Birds Report, the birds’ warning will be heard by more Americans than ever before – including our representatives in Congress and in our state capitols, and policy-makers in our communities."

Cassini Provides Virtual Flyover Of Saturn's Moon Titan

ScienceDaily (Mar. 29, 2009) —"Fly me to the moon"-to Saturn's moon Titan, that is. New Titan movies and images are providing a bird's-eye view of the moon's Earth-like landscapes.

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The new flyover maps show, for the first time, the 3-D topography and height of the 1,200-meter (4,000-foot) mountain tops, the north polar lake country, the vast dunes more than 100 meters (300 feet) high that crisscross the moon, and the thick flows that may have oozed from possible ice volcanoes.

The topographic maps were made from stereo pairs of radar images. They are available at: http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov and http://www.nasa.gov/cassini .

Cassini radar team member Randy Kirk with the Astrogeology Science Center at the U.S. Geological Survey in Flagstaff, Ariz., created the maps. He used some of the 20 or so areas where two or more overlapping radar measurements were obtained during 19 Titan flybys. These stereo overlaps cover close to two percent of Titan's surface. The process of making topographic maps from them is just beginning, but the results already reveal some of the diversity of Titan's geologic features.

"These flyovers let you take in the bird's-eye sweeping views of Titan, the next best thing to being there," said Kirk. "We've mapped many kinds of features, and some of them remind me of Earth. Big seas, small lakes, rivers, dry river channels, mountains and sand dunes with hills poking out of them, lava flows."

Kirk will present these results today at the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference in The Woodlands, Texas.

High and low features are shown in unprecedented detail at about 2.4-kilometer (1.5-mile) resolution. The maps show some features that may be volcanic flows. These flows meander across a shallow basin in the mountains. One area suspected to be an ice volcano, Ganesa Macula, does not appear to be a volcanic dome. It may still have originated as a volcano, but it's too soon to know for sure. "It could be a volcanic feature, a crater, or something else that has just been heavily eroded," added Kirk.

The stereo coverage includes a large portion of Titan's north polar lakes of liquid ethane and methane. Based on these topographical models, scientists are better able to determine the depth of lakes. The highest areas surrounding the lakes are some 1,200 meters (about 4,000 feet) above the shoreline. By comparing terrain around Earth to the Titan lakes, scientists estimate their depth is likely about 100 meters (300 feet) or less.

More 3-D mapping of these lakes will help refine these depth estimates and determine the volume of liquid hydrocarbons that exist on Titan. This information is important because these liquids evaporate and create Titan's atmosphere. Understanding this methane cycle can provide clues to Titan's weather and climate.

Launched in 1997, Cassini completed its primary four-year mission in 2008 and is now in extended mission operations, which run through September 2010. Over the course of the mission, Cassini plans to map more than three percent of Titan's surface in 3-D. About 38 percent of Titan's surface has been mapped with radar so far. On March 27, Cassini will complete its 52nd targeted flyby of Titan.

The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. JPL manages the Cassini-Huygens mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate. The Cassini orbiter was designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The radar instrument was built by JPL and the Italian Space Agency, working with team members from the United States and several European countries.