Technology has allowed science to advance by leaps and bounds. Technology has been rapidly advancing, and data can be processed and analyzed at faster rates all the time. This allows for scientists to discover new patterns and solve complex problems. Take a look at some of the scientific achievements that have been made thanks to technology.
Electron Cooling with Bunched Beams
At the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider, physicists and engineers showed a technique where they used bunches of electrons to cool beams of particles. This system was created because particles collide at different rates depending on the temperature. Scientists could track how they collide over a range of collision energies, which allows them to study how matter has interacted at different times in the history of the earth.
Proton Spin Puzzle
Nuclear physicists who were from the STAR collaboration have been studying proton spin, which is what makes MRI technology possible. They discovered that there are particles called antiquarks that contribute to the proton spin, and they contribute differently depending on what type they are. Some are called “up” antiquarks, and they make a larger contribution to the spin than the “down” antiquarks. This allows greater understanding of how the protons work.
Thin Films
Thin films are used in technologies that are critical in the world today, including computer chips, solar cells, and more. When scientists watch solar cells grow, they can learn how they are formed and what properties they have. This allows them to apply those findings to other technology. This new understanding can benefit technology in areas such as energy generation and storage or biomedical sensors.
Catalysts for Energy Production
Chemists are always using catalysts to speed up chemical reactions, and they are experimenting with different catalysts for energy production. The chemists at Brookhaven have developed new catalysts that can extract electrical energy from ethanol, which is a liquid fuel that is made from renewable resources and is easy to store. The catalyst allows the ethanol to release more of its potential energy so that it can be converted into electrical energy and used.