Ultrasonic cleaning is efficient, convenient, and effective, but there are some specialized situations where alternative cleaning methods are necessary. One possibility is excimer laser cleaning. When a surface is coated with a liquid film then exposed to UV-pulses from the laser, the laser pulses induce explosive vaporization of the liquid. That carries particulates away. The

Predicting reactions to global climate change is just about as complex a problem as you’ll ever find. Even assuming you’re able to predict the average temperature increase for each microclimate, predicting the reaction of organisms to that temperature increase is no easy task. We ran across an example of the complexity of the problem in

I recently had an editor give me grief for not defining “nanotechnology” with sufficient precision for the introductory audience. I managed to convince her that nanotechnology is about as loosely defined a term as you’ll find in technical circles. Essentially, it applies to anything designed with features more or less around a nanometer (or ten

If you want to do comparative studies, you’ve got to be sure the measurements you’re making are, well, comparable. For example, if you want to compare the characteristics of different soils, or examine the evolution of soil over time, then you can’t go measuring nitrogen in one place, phosphorus in another, and dry weight in

A brief discussion of the three basic ultrasonic cleaning solution chemistries: alkaline, acidic and neutral.