Molecular Storms

Molecular Storms PDF

Author: Liam Graham

Publisher: Springer Nature

Published: 2023-11-02

Total Pages: 277

ISBN-13: 3031386817

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“Following in the footsteps of Stephen Hawking's ‘A brief history of time’ and Simon Singh's ‘Fermat’s Last Theorem’ this exceptionally accessible book will you leave marveling at the wonders of the world and, if you didn't listen to your science teachers, wishing you had. Graham writes with the mind of a physicist and the soul of a poet.” Nicki Hayes, CCO, The Communications Practice, author of First Aid for Feelings. “Only a few writers have managed to turn the highly technical jargon of science into language accessible for interested lay readers. Isaac Asimov showed us how it could be done, and Carl Zimmer and Brian Greene are continuing today. In Molecular Storms, his first book, Liam Graham has shown that he has the essential quality required to join this group, a love of first learning then explaining how the universe works." David Deamer, Professor of Biomolecular Engineering, University of California, Santa Cruz, author of Assembling Life. Why is the universe the way it is? Wherever we look, we find ordered structures: from stars to planets to living cells. This book shows that the same driving force is behind structure everywhere: the incessant random motion of the components of matter. Physicists call it thermal noise. Let’s call it the molecular storm. This storm drives the fusion reactions that make stars shine. It drives whirlpools and currents in atmospheres and oceans. It spins and distorts molecules until they are in the right orientation to react and form new substances. In living cells, it drives proteins to fold and molecules to self-assemble. It is behind every detail of the astonishing molecular machines that control cellular processes. Using cutting-edge research, “Molecular Storms” takes us on a dazzling journey from the early universe to the interior of the smallest living things. There, in a nanoscale world of biological devices, it explains the physics behind the chemical system which we call Life. Whether you're someone with a general interest in science or a student looking to add context to your studies, this book is for you. "Molecular Storms" is an accessible and captivating read that will deepen your appreciation of the power of science to explain the world.

Life's Ratchet

Life's Ratchet PDF

Author: Peter M. Hoffmann

Publisher:

Published: 2012-10-30

Total Pages: 290

ISBN-13: 0465022537

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Life, Hoffman argues, emerges from the random motions of atoms filtered through the sophisticated structures of our evolved machinery. People are essentially giant assemblies of interacting nanoscale machines.

Sailing the Ocean of Complexity

Sailing the Ocean of Complexity PDF

Author: Sauro Succi

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2022-02-21

Total Pages: 380

ISBN-13: 0192652729

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"Both superb and essential... Succi, with clarity and wit, takes us from quarks and Boltzmann to soft matter - precisely the frontier of physics and life." Stuart Kauffman, MacArthur Fellow, Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, Gold Medal Accademia Lincea We live in a world of utmost complexity, outside and within us. There are thousand of billions of billions of stars out there in the Universe, a hundred times more molecules in a glass of water, and another hundred times more in our body, all working in sync to keep us alive and well. At face value, such numbers spell certain doom for our ability to make any sense at all of the world around and within us. And yet, they don't. Why, and how - this book endeavours to provide an answer to these questions with specific reference to a selected window of the physics-biology interface. The story unfolds over four main Parts. Part I provides an introduction to the main organizational principles which govern the functioning of complex systems in general, such as nonlinearity, nonlocality and ultra-dimensions. Part II deals with thermodynamics, the science of change, starting with its historical foundations laid down in the 19th century, and then moving on to its modern and still open developments in connection with biology and cosmology. Part III deals with the main character of this book, free energy, and the wondrous scenarios opened up by its merger with the modern tools of statistical physics. It also describes the basic facts about soft matter, the state of matter most relevant to biological organisms. Finally, Part IV discusses the connection between time and complexity, and its profound implications on the human condition, i.e. the one-sided nature of time and the awareness of human mortality. It concludes with a few personal considerations about the special place of emotions and humility in science.

Cold-Ion Populations and Cold-Electron Populations in the Earth’s Magnetosphere and Their Impact on the System, 2nd edition

Cold-Ion Populations and Cold-Electron Populations in the Earth’s Magnetosphere and Their Impact on the System, 2nd edition PDF

Author: Joseph E. Borovsky

Publisher: Frontiers Media SA

Published: 2023-05-11

Total Pages: 223

ISBN-13: 2832522491

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Cold-ion populations and cold-electron populations are extremely difficult to measure in the Earth’s magnetosphere, and their properties, evolutions, and controlling factors are poorly understood. They are sometimes referred to as the “hidden populations”. But they are known to have multiple impacts on the behavior of the global magnetospheric system. These impacts include (a) the reduction of the dayside reconnection rate and consequently the reduction of solar-wind/magnetosphere coupling, (b) alteration of the growth rate and saturation amplitudes of plasma waves resulting in alterations of the energization rates of the radiation belts, (c) changes in plasma-wave properties resulting in changes in the loss rates of the ring current and radiation belts, (d) changes in the mass density of the magnetosphere resulting in changes in the radial diffusion of the radiation belts, (e) spatial and temporal structuring of the aurora, (f) altering magnetotail reconnection, (g) changing spacecraft charging, and (h) acting as sources for warm and hot magnetospheric populations. A recent workshop on the cold-particle populations of the magnetosphere inspired new work on the outstanding problems caused by a lack of understanding of those cold populations. This Research Topic will collect reports of that new work and will stimulate the formation of author teams to write review articles on what is known and what needs to be known. Commentaries assessing the present situation and guiding the research field into the future will be solicited from the community. Methods articles describing new measurement techniques and new spaceflight mission concepts will be welcomed.

The Electrical Nature of Storms

The Electrical Nature of Storms PDF

Author: D. R. MacGorman

Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA

Published: 1998

Total Pages: 436

ISBN-13: 9780195073379

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Rapid progress during the last twenty years has created a host of new technologies for studying electrical storms, including lightning mapping systems, new radars, satellite sensors, and new ways of measuring electric field and particle charge. This book explains how these advances have revolutionized our understanding. The books provides substantial background material, making it accessible to a broad scientific audience.

Spindrift

Spindrift PDF

Author: Curious Directive (Norfolk)

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2016-08-03

Total Pages: 114

ISBN-13: 1350011576

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–Quantum mechanics is one of those topics that's always just there in a like a super 'I'm so clever' conversation about the grey areas of science. You know, two places at once, walk through walls kind of stuff. –It's attractive- –It's attractive because it's so spooky. In a cold converted garage by the sea, a science podcast troupe rehearse their next episode. Spindrift follows three sisters as they untangle what happened to their father when he disappeared whilst sailing around the world, 20 years ago. A mysterious, heart-breaking triptych, Spindrift traces the invisible waves orchestrating the boundaries of the natural world and examines family, endurance and the paths we choose. Two-time Fringe First-winning, curious directive tell their story with trademark visual storytelling with 3D animation, video projection and motion capture technology. Spindrift is a life-affirming story for anyone who has sat on the shore and stared out to sea for hours on end.

Life's Ratchet

Life's Ratchet PDF

Author: Peter M Hoffmann

Publisher: Basic Books

Published: 2012-10-30

Total Pages: 290

ISBN-13: 0465033369

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Life is an enduring mystery. Yet, science tells us that living beings are merely sophisticated structures of lifeless molecules. If this view is correct, where do the seemingly purposeful motions of cells and organisms originate? In Life's Ratchet, physicist Peter M. Hoffmann locates the answer to this age-old question at the nanoscale. Below the calm, ordered exterior of a living organism lies microscopic chaos, or what Hoffmann calls the molecular storm -- specialized molecules immersed in a whirlwind of colliding water molecules. Our cells are filled with molecular machines, which, like tiny ratchets, transform random motion into ordered activity, and create the "purpose" that is the hallmark of life. Tiny electrical motors turn electrical voltage into motion, nanoscale factories custom-build other molecular machines, and mechanical machines twist, untwist, separate and package strands of DNA. The cell is like a city -- an unfathomable, complex collection of molecular workers working together to create something greater than themselves. Life, Hoffman argues, emerges from the random motions of atoms filtered through these sophisticated structures of our evolved machinery. We are agglomerations of interacting nanoscale machines more amazing than anything in science fiction. Rather than relying on some mysterious "life force" to drive them -- as people believed for centuries -- life's ratchets harness instead the second law of thermodynamics and the disorder of the molecular storm. Grounded in Hoffmann's own cutting-edge research, Life's Ratchet reveals the incredible findings of modern nanotechnology to tell the story of how the noisy world of atoms gives rise to life itself.

Aeronomy of the Earth's Atmosphere and Ionosphere

Aeronomy of the Earth's Atmosphere and Ionosphere PDF

Author: Mangalathayil Ali Abdu

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2011-02-26

Total Pages: 479

ISBN-13: 9400703260

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This book is a multi-author treatise on the most outstanding research problems in the field of the aeronomy of the Earth’s atmosphere and ionosphere, encompassing the science covered by Division II of the International Association of Geomagnetism and Aeronomy (IAGA). It contains several review articles and detailed papers by leading scientists in the field. The book is organized in five parts: 1) Mesosphere-Lower Thermosphere Dynamics and Chemistry; 2) Vertical Coupling by Upward Propagating Waves; 3) Ionospheric Electrodynamics and Structuring; 4) Thermosphere- Ionosphere Coupling, Dynamics and Trends and 5) Ionosphere-Thermosphere Disturbances and Modeling. The book consolidates the progress achieved in the field in recent years and it serves as a useful reference for graduate students as well as experienced researchers.