Acronym in imaging technology: UEM for ultrafast electron microscopy

In nanoscience, UEM stands for ultrafast electron microscopy. This technology is applicable to studies in materials science, mineralogy, nanotechnology and biology by providing real-space images, diffraction patterns and energy spectra at the nanoscale. Short nanomovies, demonstrating the nanoscopic imaging capability of UEM, can be viewed online at ScientificAmerican.com/aug2010/nanomovies.

Selected References
[1] Ultrafast Science & Technology: Ultrafast Electron Microscopy.
[2] Casey Johnston: Taking videos with ultrafast electron microscopy.
[3] Ahmed H. Zewail: Filming the invisible in 4-D. Sci. Am. August 2010, 303 (2), pp. 74-81.
[4] V. A. Lobastov, J. Weissenrieder, J. Tang and A. H. Zewail: Ultrafast Electron Microscopy (UEM): Four-Dimensional Imaging and Diffraction of Nanostructures during Phase Transition. Nano Lett. 2007, 7 (9), pp. 2552-2558.
DOI: 10.1021/nl071341e.
[5] V. A. Lobastov, R. Srinivasa and A. H. Zewail: Four-dimensional ultrafast electron microscopy. PNAS May 2005, 102 (20), pp. 7069-7073. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0502607102.

English-German dictionary of ebb-and-flow terms

The following dictionary lexicographically lists English terms related to the moving tides and provides the corresponding terms typically used in the German literature:

amphidromy: Amphidromie, f.; also: Drehtidenerscheinung, f.
ebb and flow: Ebbe und Flut or Gezeiten
ebb-tide: Ebbe, f.; also: Niedrigwasser, n.
flood-tide: Flut, f.; also: Hochwasser, n.
high tide: Flut, f.; also: Hochwasser, n.
low tide: Ebbe, f.; also: Niedrigwasser, n.
neap-tide: Nippflut, f.
spring-tide: Springflut, f.
tidal current: Gezeitenstrom, m.
tidal height: Tidenhub, m.
tides: Gezeiten, f. pl.; also: Ebbe und Flut
tide table: Gezeitentafel, f.
(Used abbreviations: m. = masculine, f. = feminine, n. = neutral, pl. = plural)

To learn the German ebb and flow terms in scientific context, the book by Wolfgang Glebe with the title Ebbe und Flut [1] provides a nicely illustrated lecture, which also explains the phenomena of the tides based on physical and geographical facts and observations. In English, I like the chapter entitled The Moving Tides by Rachel Carson in her book The Sea Around Us [2]. This chapter is an excellent narrative of tidal phenomena that certainly will move your mind.

Keywords: oceanography, coastal geography, linguistics, terminolgy, translation

Note: A German-English dictionary is also available.

References
[1] Wolfgang Glebe: Ebbe und Flut. Das Naturphänomen der Gezeiten einfach erklärt. Delius Klasing Verlag, Bielefeld, 1. Auflage 2010.
[2] Rachel L. Carson: The Sea Around Us. Oxford University Press, New York, 1991 (first issued as paperback; originally published in 1950).

German-English dictionary of ebb-and-flow terms

The following dictionary lexicographically lists German terms related to the moving tides and provides the corresponding terms typically used in the English literature:

Amphidromie, f.: amphidromy
Ebbe, f.: ebb-tide or low tide
Flut, f.: flood-tide or high tide
Gezeiten, f. pl.: tide(s)
Gezeitenstrom, m.: tidal current
Gezeitentafel, f.: tide table
Nippflut, f.: neap-tide
Springflut, f.: spring-tide
Tide, f.: tide
Tiden, f. pl.: tides or ebb and flow
Tidenhub, m.: tidal height
(Used abbreviations: m. = masculine, f. = feminine, pl. = plural)

The composed nouns Niedrigwasser (“low water”) and Hochwasser (“high water”) are synonyms for the German words Ebbe and Flut. The German phrases ablaufendes Wasser and auflaufendes Wasser refer to the outgoing and incoming tide, respectively.

To learn the German ebb and flow terms in scientific context, the book by Wolfgang Glebe with the title Ebbe und Flut [1] provides a nicely illustrated lecture, which also explains the phenomena of the tides based on physical and geographical facts and observations. In English, I like the chapter entitled The Moving Tides by Rachel Carson in her book The Sea Around Us [2]. This chapter is an excellent narrative of tidal phenomena that certainly will move your mind.

Keywords: oceanography, coastal geography, linguistics, terminolgy, translation

References
[1] Wolfgang Glebe: Ebbe und Flut. Das Naturphänomen der Gezeiten einfach erklärt. Delius Klasing Verlag, Bielefeld, 1. Auflage 2010.
[2] Rachel L. Carson: The Sea Around Us. Oxford University Press, New York, 1991 (first issued as paperback; originally published in 1950).

A new term in chemical engineering: IoNanofluid

The term IoNanofluid has been applied to designate an ionic liquid that contains small quantities of dispersed nanomaterials such as multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) [1]. IoNanofluids are of interest in the design of advanced liquid coolants and heat transfer fluids. Thermal conductivity and heat storage capacity of conventionally used liquids is poor. Systems resulting from combination of ionic liquids—many of which are thermally stable, nonflammable and nonvolatile under ambient conditions—and nanomaterials (metal nanoparticles or carbon nanotubes) are currently investigated as nanofluids, in which the thermal conductivity is much higher than in the pure liquid.

Thermodynamic properties and related information of some ionic liquid candidates for future IoNanofluids are available in publications that have been included in the ThermoML Archive; for example:

• 1-hexyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate
  ([C₆mim][BF₄], CASRN: 244193-50-8)
• 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate
  ([C₄mim][PF₆], CASRN: 174501-64-5)
• 1-hexyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate
  ([C₆mim][PF₆], CASRN: 304680-35-1)
• 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium trifluoromethanesulfonate
  ([C₄mim][CF₃SO₃], CASRN: 174899-66-2)
• 1-butyl-1-methylpyrrolidinium bis[(trifluoromethyl)sulfonyl]imide
  ([C₄mpyrr][NTf₂], CASRN: 223437-11-4)
  

Reference
[1] C. A. Nieto de Castro, M. J. V. Lourenço, A. P. C. Ribeiro, E. Langa, S. I. C. Vieira, P. Goodrich and C. Hardacre: Thermal Properties of Ionic Liquids and IoNanofluids of Imidazolium and Pyrrolidinium Liquids. J. Chem. Eng. Data 2010, 55 (2), pp. 653-661. DOI: 10.1021/je900648p.

Accountability—a matter of words?

Yet another of those three-countries Q&A jokes:
Question: What is the difference between a failing, firm-destroying CEO in Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States?
Answer: The Japanese CEO commits suicide (harikari, also harakiri or seppuku), the British CEO politely resigns and the American CEO fights over the size if his (seldom her) bonuses.

Joseph Stiglitz, Nobel Prize Laureate in Economics, uses this comparison (the presentation here is slightly modified) of consequence-drawings to contrast individualism (the latter CEO) against individual responsibility (the other two). In the chapter “Toward a New Society” in his book entitled FREEFALL [1], he illustrates how accountability seems to be just a matter of words—words often used to deny one's responsibility for the consequences of actions such as irresponsibly luring others into non-transparent high-risk undertakings of the financial kind.

One conclusion towards doing the “right thing” and getting a grip on accountability is to measure performance: What you measure is what you value, and vice versa! Of course, you need to define your measurement—again a matter of words, but also of theory and desired objectives. Anyway, don't just leave it to the CEOs.

Reference
[1] Joseph E. Stiglitz: Freefall • America, Free Markets, and the Sinking of the World Economy. W. W. Norton & Company, New York and London, 2010 (the 3-CEOs-page: 282).

Cryoconite, a dust discovered and named by arctic explorer Nils A. E. Nordenskiöld in 1870

Cryoconite is a dark, powdery dust transported by wind and deposited on the surface of snow or ice [1]. It was discovered and named by arctic explorer Nils A. E. Nordenskiöld during his visit to the Greenland ice sheet in 1870 [2]. Human activities have increased the amount of black soot in cryoconite since Nordenskiöld's days, and global warming has given it new importance.

As Mark Jenkins in a recent Greenland article [2] explains: “Cryoconite begins as airborne sediment spread over the ice by wind. It is composed of mineral dust sucked up from as far away as Central Asian deserts, particles from volcanic eruptions, and soot. The soot particles come from fires both natural and man-made, diesel engines, and coal-fired power plants.” Cryoconite is often found in cryoconite holes, which are water filled cylindrical melt-holes on glacial ice surface [3]. Besides Greenland, cryoconite has been found in Antarctica, Canada, Tibet and the Himalaya mountains.

The name cryoconite also defines a mineral mixture composed of garnet, sillimanite, zircon, pyroxene, quartz and other components [1].

References
[1] Dictionary of Geology & Mineralogy. Second Edition. McGraw-Hill, New York, 2003.
[2] Mark Jenkins: Melt Zone: Dust lands, icemelts, rubber duckies drown. National Geographic June 2010, Volume 217 , Number 6, pp. 34-47.
[3] Cryoconite hole.

Annabergite, a mineral named after the town Annaberg, named after the patron saint of the miners

Annabergite is a hydrated nickel arsenate mineral named after the town Annaberg, which is located about twenty miles south of the city of Chemnitz (formerly Karl-Marx-Stadt) in the Ore Mountains (Erzgebirge) in Saxony, Germany. Since 1945, Annaberg is part of the twin towns Annaberg-Buchholz. Annaberg was named in 1495 after a local chapel devoted to Saint Anna, the patron of miners [1]. The name Annaberg, then Sankt Annabergk, gained further acceptance when the Late-Gothic church, the St.-Annen Kirche, was built. In addition to its namesake place, annabergite is found in nearby mines at Schneeberg and Marienberg [2,3]. Annabergite crystals and special specimens now come from places around the world, including mines in Austria, Slovakia, Russia, Romania, Greece, Turkey, Morocco, Canada, Arizona, Mexico, Central America, South America, Tsamania, China and Japan [2].

Annabergite is a green mineral. Its formula is Ni₃(AsO₄)₂·8H₂O; however some nickel atoms may be replaced by cobalt atoms: (Ni,Co)₃(AsO₄)₂·8H₂O [4]. Annabergite belongs to the vivianite group, which contains structurally related minerals such as erythrite (hydrated cobalt arsenate), kottigite (hydrated zinc arsenate) and the group-name-giving mineral vivianite (hydrated iron phosphate).

Annabergite is also known as nickel bloom or nickel ocher. Its German name is Annabergit and the term Nickelblüte (nickel bloom) is also used.

Keywords: mineralogy, history, etymology, synonyms

References
[1] Duden Taschenbücher • Geographische Namen in Deutschland • Herkunft und Bedeutung der Namen von Ländern, Städten, Bergen und Gewässern. 2., übearbeitete Auflage von Dieter Berger, Dudenverlag, Mannheim, 1999.
[2]. Robert B. Cook: Annabergite. Rocks & Minerals March/April 2010, Volume 85, pp. 154-159.
[3]. Annabergite at www.mindat.org/min-240.html.
[4] Dictionary of Geology & Mineralogy. Second Edition. McGraw-Hill, New York, 2003.