February 14, 2014 | TechieTonics

Graphene Morphs From Hydrophobic To Hydrophilic

February 14, 2014August 7, 2014 Pooja Kashyap

Graphene is taking the role of Zeus in the fraternity of materials. Its astounding properties come to the fore every time researchers try to do something new with it. Interestingly this time, the material has shown its ‘romantic inclination’ towards water. Its hydrophobic nature allows graphene to repel water however, narrow capillaries fabricated from the material reverses the nature of the same material, turning it into hydrophilic. Rapid permeation occurs when the layer of water molecule is of same dimension as that of graphene itself, that is, one atomic thickness.

Fire Ants versus Crazy Ants: Battle For The Ecosystem

February 14, 2014 Neha Shukla

We are familiar with the species of ants known as fire ants, which are famous for their painful stings. The venom in the stings causes acute pain in humans and fatal for other species of ants and insects, is known to be twice or thrice more toxic than DDT when compared on a per weight basis. Therefore, these are known to dominate the territory where they reside. However, recently a species of ants have invaded the fire ant territory and giving a tough fight to these native ants.

Satellite Servicing: Refueling Missions versus Resurrecting Satellites

February 14, 2014February 14, 2014 Pooja Kashyap

Satellites do not know concepts like repairing or re-fueling. Once they are put into orbit, they last until the task is completed and then de-orbit. In case of malfunctioning, they are just forgotten about and are left to contribute to space junk. So what exactly would robots in manned cosmonautics do, although researchers envision that the bots would help in repairs and maintenance at the ISS along with other things including minimize human work. Interestingly, DARPA is trying to resurrect the ‘dead’ satellites by imparting the required skills to its…