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Web journals threaten peer-review system

Submitted by Martijn Feron on
opinion
Peer review

The peer review system has been the established way to select publicated research for decades. However, this way of publishing may come to an end.

New developments in this field embrace the idea that research should not be restricted by the iron grip of the journals. The value of the authors work is debated in cyberspace, leading to a number of consequences. Disadvantages include the possibility of a deluge of junk science due to the unfiltered publishing and online abuse concerning unfairly ridiculing rival's work. On the other side scientific discovery could be accelerated and online critiques may help detect mistakes or fraud more quickly.

Already the first initiatives are present, Philica, PLoS (Public Library of Science). Online journals are not boomingly popular, as they have attracted little attention so far. However, possibilities regarding reaching a broad audience in a fast way seem promising...

The 13th International Conference on Experimental Mechanics

Submitted by Horacio Espinosa on
conference
fracture
Plasticity
Fatigue
MEMS
NEMS

Dear Colleagues:


The 13th International Conference on Experimental Mechanics (ICEM13, http://www.icem13.gr) will be held on July 1-6, 2007 in Alexandroupolis, Greece. It is our pleasure to announce that the Conference will include a special symposium organized by us entitled, “Plasticity, Fracture and Fatigue at the Micro and Nano Scales,” which will focus on recent developments in this area within the larger scope of assessing research needs in a variety of applications of interest.

The Boltzmann Distribution

Submitted by Zhigang Suo on
thermodynamics
statistical mechanics
lecture notes
ES 241
Spring 2007
Advanced Elasticity
  • A small system in thermal contact with a large system
  • The Boltzmann factor
  • Partition function
  • The probability for a system in thermal equilibrium with a reservoir to be in a specific state
  • The probability for a system in thermal equilibrium with a reservoir to be in a configuration
  • Thermal fluctuation of an RNA molecule
  • A matter of words

Return to the outline of Statistical Mechanics.

Probability

Submitted by Zhigang Suo on
thermodynamics
statistical mechanics
study notes
  • An experiment that has many possible outcomes
  • Construct a sample space at a suitable level of detail
  • Probability of an event
  • Conditioning
  • Independent events
  • Random variable
  • Use a random variable to specify an event
  • Use a random variable to dissect a sample space
  • Probability distribution of a random variable
  • Variance of a random variable
  • A dimensionless measure of the fluctuation of a random variable

Return to the outline of Statistical Mechanics

How "hot" is a research topic?

Submitted by Pradeep Sharma on
fun

A student pointed me to a recent article on physicsweb. This article discusses a new (scientific) ranking system developed by a German student (Michael Banks) in Max Planck Institute of Solid State Physics to characterize the "hotness" of the scientific subject. If, after reading the popular physicsweb article linked above, you are interested in more details you may wish to read the attached original article posted by Banks. "Carbon nanotubes" emerges at the top of the list.

Nanomechanical Architecture of Strained Bi-layer Thin Films:from design principles to experimental fabrication

Submitted by fengliu on
research
Feng Liu's research group

The nanotechnology of the future demands controlled fabrication of nanostructures. Much success has been made in the last decade in fabricating nanostructures on surface with desirable size and shape, either in serial using scanned-probe techniques or in parallel using self-assembly/self-organization processes sometimes combined with lithographic patterning techniques. However, controlled fabrication of nanostructures remains in general a formidable challenge. For example, despite the enormous success we have so far enjoyed with carbon nanotubes (CNTs), it is still very difficult (if not impossible) to synthesize CNTs with a degree of control that we would like in terms of their size and chirality. Fabrication of nanostructures in many other forms and with other materials is even less developed. There exists a strong need for the development of nanofabrication techniques with higher degree of control. Here, we demonstrate the general design principles of an emerging nanofabrication approach based on nanomechanical architecture of strained bi-layer thin films, which allows fabrication of a variety of nanostructures, such as nanotubes, nanorings, nanodrills, and nanocoils, with an unprecedented level of control.

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