The effect of aerosols on 14 tropospheric photolysis reactions is examined under noncloudy and cloudy sky conditions by using a detailed one-dimensional radiative transfer model. Pure (NH4)2SO4, pure soot, and internal and external mixtures of the two aerosols, as well as mineral dust aerosol, are considered. Nonabsorbing aerosol generally enhances photolysis rates above and in the upper part o...

Interfaces, across which fluid and flow properties change significantly, are a ubiquitous feature of most turbulent flows and are present within jets, plumes, homogeneous turbulence, oceans and planetary atmospheres. Even when the interfaces occupy a small volume fraction of the entire flow, they largely control processes such as entrainment and dissipation and can act as barriers to transport....

Growth of Chlorella sorokiniana is unaffected by the choice of atmospheric diluent gas. Reduced total pressure has no inhibitory effect and may be slightly stimulatory.

The simple physics of microlensing provides a well-understood tool with which to probe the atmospheres of distant stars in the Galaxy and Local Group with high magnification and resolution. Recent results in measuring stellar surface structure through broad band photometry and spectroscopy of high amplification microlensing events are reviewed, with emphasis on the dramatic expectations for fut...

L10-ordered FePt nanoparticles (NPs) with ultra-high coercivity were directly prepared from a new metallopolyyne using a one-step pyrolysis method. The chemical ordering, morphology and magnetic properties of the as-synthesized FePt NPs have been studied. Magnetic measurements show the coercivity of these FePt NPs is as high as 3.6 T. Comparison of NPs synthesized under the Ar and Ar/H2 atmosph...

Recent results concerning the identification and measurement of nitrogenous air pollutants in the California South Coast Air Basin (CSCAB) are presented. In planning or evaluating studies of the human health effects of these pollutants, it is important to consider the entire range of species which may be present. We provide estimates of typical exposures to nitrogenous air pollutants during a s...

The trace gas ozone, produced in the present-day stratosphere, acts as a screen for UV radiation between 195 and approximately 290 nm, depending on its column abundance. On the anoxic Archaean Earth, such an ozone screen would not have existed. Although the presence of other screens, such as an organic haze, might have ameliorated the UV radiation flux, even assuming the worst-case scenario (no...

Bees navigate in complex environments using visual, olfactory and mechano-sensorial cues. In the lowest region of the atmosphere, the wind environment can be highly unsteady and bees employ fine motor-skills to enhance flight control. Recent work reveals sophisticated multi-modal processing of visual and olfactory channels by the bee brain to enhance foraging efficiency, but it currently remain...

THE ATMOSPHERE AND THE EXOGENIC HEAT ENGINE — As discussed in preceding classes, the atmosphere can be thought of as the exogenic heat engine’s power filter: it determines how much and what wavelengths and of the incoming sunlight are trapped, how long the entrapped energy remains trapped before being radiated back to space, and, through this, what the Earth’s overall average surface temperatur...

A stellar-occultation light curve for Triton shows asymmetry that can be understood if Triton's middle atmosphere is distorted from spherical symmetry. Although a globally oblate model can explain the data, the inferred atmospheric flattening is so large that it could be caused only by an unrealistic internal mass distribution or highly supersonic zonal winds. Cyclostrophic winds confined to a ...