The orbit of Comet 2P/Encke is difficult to understand because it is decoupled from Jupiter—its aphelion distance is only 4.1 AU. We present a series of orbital integrations designed to determine whether the orbit of Comet 2P/Encke can simply be the result of gravitational interactions between Jupiter-family comets and the terrestrial planets. To accomplish this, we integrated the orbits of a l...

A TiS2 crystal with a layered structure was found to have a large thermoelectric power factor. The in-plane power factor S/ρ at 300 K is 37.1 μW/Kcm with resistivity (ρ) of 1.7 mΩcm and thermopower (S) of -251 μV/K, and this value is comparable to that of the best thermoelectric material, Bi2Te3 alloy. The electrical resistivity shows both metallic and highly anisotropic behaviors, suggesting t...

In order to test the hypothesis that snakes can not only perceive airborne sounds, but also respond to them, an acoustic isolation chamber was designed and constructed to perform best within the 150-450 Hz range in which snakes perceive sound. Suspended within this acoustic chamber was a steel mesh basket designed to minimize the potential for groundborne vibrations. A synthesized tone was crea...

The noise produced by oscillatory movements of secretions in the oropharynx, hypopharynx, and trachea during inspiration and expiration in unconscious terminal patients is often described as "the death rattle." The secretions are produced by the salivary glands and bronchial mucosa. These patients are usually too weak to expectorate or swallow the migrating secretions. Sputum usually only accum...

We have studied the electronic and vibrational properties of the filled Ge-based clathrates, Na16Rb8Ge136 and Na16Cs8Ge136. We have performed calculations using the generalized gradient approximation (GGA) to density-functional theory. Both materials are found to have metallic character, in agreement with experimental data. The predicted phonon dispersion curves show the low frequency, localize...

The effective thermal conductivity of the powder samples of xenon hydrate was measured in the interval 2–170 K using the steady-state method. The thermal conductivity of the homogeneous Xe clathrate hydrate was estimated from the effective thermal conductivity using an empirical expression. The applicability of the formula was checked by comparing two powder samples with different grain size an...

Exploratory syntheses in the M-Au-Ge (M = Ca, Yb) systems have led to the discovery of two cleanly separated non-stoichiometric phases M(3)Au(approximately 14.4)Ge(approximately 4.6) (I) and M(3.25)Au(approximately 12.7)Ge(approximately 5.3) (II). Single crystal X-ray studies reveal that both (space group Im3) feature body-centered-cubic packing of five-shell multiply endohedral clusters that r...

Croup is an inflammatory condition of the larynx or trachea accompanied by stridor, which is the harsh noise characterizing upper airway obstruction, as opposed to wheezing which characterizes lower airway obstruction. The sound may be of high or low pitch and is due to sound waves set up by the fast flow of air past a narrow point in the airway. This causes stridor of medium or high pitch, chi...

We investigate by molecular-dynamics simulations, the fast mobility-the rattling amplitude of the particles temporarily trapped by the cage of the neighbors-in mildly supercooled states of dense molecular (linear trimers) and atomic (binary mixtures) liquids. The mixture particles interact by the Lennard-Jones potential. The non-bonded particles of the molecular system are coupled by the more g...