#97-77
Mailed 7/18/97
NOTE TO EDITORS: "BNL Spotlights" is issued periodically
to bring you up to date on some of the latest newsworthy developments at
the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory. For more
information on any of these items, call Diane Greenberg or Mona S. Rowe
at BNL's Public Affairs Office at (516)344-2345.
DEVISING A QUIET JACKHAMMER Invented in the 1920s and still being
used today, the jackhammer may soon be replaced by a silent, more efficient,
safer tool. BNL, Brooklyn Union Gas Company, Consolidated Edison, and the
Gas Research Institute are developing RAPTOR, a 50-pound device that looks
and works like a gun. Equipped with a silencer and fueled by helium gas,
the updated jackhammer can spit out tiny steel projectiles at a velocity
of up to 8,000 feet per second, which can easily penetrate concrete. The
prototype device, designed at Brookhaven, works well in laboratory tests;
if it passes field tests, it may be marketable within the next two years.
USING A CHINESE HERB TO TREAT ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE A compound from
an ancient Chinese herb may be used in a new drug to treat Alzheimer's disease.
Researchers from Brookhaven Lab and the Weizmann Institute of Science in
Israel, working in collaboration with researchers from Georgetown University
and the Mayo Clinic, solved the 3-D structure of the herbal extract, Huperzine
A (HupA), combined with a key enzyme in the nervous system, acetylcholinesterase
(AChE). Derived from the Huperzia serrata moss, which has been used
in China for centuries to treat many ailments, including memory loss, HupA
blocks the enzyme, which is thought to play a role in Alzheimer's disease.
This study may help researchers to design an Alzheimer's drug that is less
toxic and more effective than others now on the market. The three-dimensional
structure of HupA-AChE complex can be seen on the Brookhaven Protein Data
Bank's web page (http://www.pdb.bnl.gov).
CHANGING MATERIALS FROM INSULATORS TO CONDUCTORS Researchers from
Brookhaven, Princeton University and the University of Tokyo have discovered
that a certain class of materials will change from an insulator to a conductor
when exposed to x-rays. The materials are known as colossal magneto-resistive
materials, and they exhibit dramatic changes in electrical resistance when
exposed to a magnetic field.
While using x-rays as probes to study a compound called praseodymium calcium
manganese oxide at Brookhaven's National Synchrotron Light Source, the researchers
found that the radiation changed the material's electrical characteristics,
effectively from an insulator to a conductor. They also believe that the
x-rays made the sample magnetic. This unusual effect may lead to the ability
to create and manipulate tiny magnetic structures for use in basic research
on magnetism. Researchers also hope that studying this effect will lead
to new insights on how magneto-resistive materials work. Since these materials
are used in computer hard disk drives and speed sensors of anti-lock brakes,
this research may lead to improvements in these devices, as well as more
sensitive x-ray detectors and other applications.
BETTER BATTERIES, BETTER CARS As part of the Partnership for a New
Generation of Vehicles, established by President Clinton and Vice President
Al Gore in 1993, Brookhaven researchers are performing basic studies of
batteries and fuel cells that may be used in electric cars. They are conducting
the research to produce affordable, safe, vehicles that meet Clean Air Act
standards. At Brookhaven's National Synchrotron Light Source, the researchers
use x-rays to investigate electronic and structural parameters of complex
electrodes in batteries and fuel cells and correlate the resulting data
with the stability and performance characteristics of the electrodes. Basic
studies of corrosion, cycle life, safety, as well as performance variables
can lead to better batteries and fuel cells, and, thus, more efficient cars.
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