A spacecraft carrying European and Japanese probes passed closer to Mercury than originally planned overnight after thruster problems delayed the mission to study the little-known, sun-scorched planet.
Space Exploration
Sep 5, 2024
1
14
Researchers have achieved data rates as high as 424Gbit/s across a 53-km turbulent free-space optical link using plasmonic modulators—devices that use special light waves called surface plasmon polaritons to control and ...
Optics & Photonics
Sep 6, 2024
0
34
Volcanoes were still erupting on the moon when dinosaurs roamed Earth, new research suggests.
Earth Sciences
Sep 7, 2024
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34
Rover trials in a quarry in the U.K. showing a four-wheeled rover, known as Codi, using its robotic arm and a powerful computer vision system to pick up sample tubes.
Space Exploration
Sep 6, 2024
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23
Hundreds of millions of years ago, single cells joined forces to become multicellular organisms. At the foundation of this multicellular world is the cell surface: the plasma membrane surrounding each cell, where individual ...
Cell & Microbiology
Sep 5, 2024
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39
With temperatures across much of Southern California crossing triple digits this week, we are relying more than ever on plants to keep us cool outside. But the plants don't get much of a break from the relentless sun.
Plants & Animals
Sep 6, 2024
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14
Today's computers reach their physical limits when it comes to speed. Semiconductor components usually operate at a maximum usable frequency of a few gigahertz—which corresponds to several billion computing operations per ...
Optics & Photonics
Sep 9, 2024
0
3
Between low Earth orbit and the moon, there is a region of space measuring 384,400 km (238,855 mi) wide known as Cislunar space. In the coming decades, multiple space agencies will send missions to this region to support ...
Space Exploration
Sep 5, 2024
0
21
A study led by the School of Engineering of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) has developed an innovative method that overcomes the limitations of traditional additive manufacturing (3D printing), ...
Analytical Chemistry
Sep 10, 2024
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35
Researchers from iDiv, Leipzig University and Sun Yat-sen University in China have found that large-scale deforestation has a greater warming effect on the climate than previously thought. Their analysis of computer simulations ...
Environment
Sep 10, 2024
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78
In mathematics, specifically in topology, a surface is a two-dimensional topological manifold. The most familiar examples are those that arise as the boundaries of solid objects in ordinary three-dimensional Euclidean space R3 — for example, the surface of a ball or bagel. On the other hand, there are surfaces which cannot be embedded in three-dimensional Euclidean space without introducing singularities or intersecting itself — these are the unorientable surfaces.
To say that a surface is "two-dimensional" means that, about each point, there is a coordinate patch on which a two-dimensional coordinate system is defined. For example, the surface of the Earth is (ideally) a two-dimensional sphere, and latitude and longitude provide coordinates on it — except at the International Date Line and the poles, where longitude is undefined. This example illustrates that not all surfaces admits a single coordinate patch. In general, multiple coordinate patches are needed to cover a surface.
Surfaces find application in physics, engineering, computer graphics, and many other disciplines, primarily when they represent the surfaces of physical objects. For example, in analyzing the aerodynamic properties of an airplane, the central consideration is the flow of air along its surface.
This text uses material from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA
