Knowledge of the appearance of texture components and fibres in pole figures, in inverse pole figures and in Euler space is fundamental for texture analysis. For cubic crystal systems, such as steels, an extensive literature exists and, for example, the book by Matthies, Vinel & Helming [Standard Distributions in Texture Analysis: Maps for the Case of Cubic Orthorhomic Symmetry, (1987), Akademie-Verlag Berlin] provides an atlas to identify texture components. For lower crystal symmetries, however, equivalent comprehensive overviews that can serve as guidance for the interpretation of experimental textures do not exist. This paper closes this gap by providing a set of scripts for the MTEX package [Bachmann, Hielscher & Schaeben (2010). Solid State Phenom. 160, 63–68] that allow the texture practitioner to compile such an atlas for a given material system, thus aiding orientation distribution function analysis also for non-cubic systems.

SVAT4 is a computer program for interactive visualization of three-dimensional crystal structures. A wide range of functions are available for structural analysis.

In their laboratory, scientists from the University of Cambridge, the University of Southampton and the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama, observed as a number of adult locusts walked along a horizontal ladder. After covering the right or left eye of an insect, the scientists observed a significant increase in the error rate of rungs missed by the front leg on the side of the covered eye.

The post For first time, scientists prove locusts use vision to place their legs when walking appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Scientists from the Smithsonian Museum Conservation Institute, the University of Valencia in Spain and the University of Minnesota, recently made an important observation regarding charcoals […]

The post Fungi still visible in wood charcoal centuries after burning appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Astronomers have discovered a new comet that they expect will be visible to the naked eye in early 2013.A preliminary orbit computed by the Minor Planet Center at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory in Cambridge, Mass., shows that the comet will come within about 30 million miles of the sun in early 2013, about the same distance as Mercury. The comet will pose no danger to Earth.

The post New comet may be visible to the naked eye in 2013 appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

The Smithsonian’s National Zoo has a new addition: Rocky, a male whooping crane (Grus americana). This is the first time the Zoo has exhibited this species in 88 years.

The post Whooping crane will help teach visitors and scientists alike appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

NASA's Kepler spacecraft has spotted a planet that alternately runs late and
early in its orbit because a second, "invisible" world is tugging on it.
This is the first definite detection of a previously unknown planet using
this method.

The post Invisible world “spotted” tugging on visible planet by Kepler spacecraft appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

The only explanation for such symmetry across these vast distances, explains Smithsonian anthropologist Dennis Stanford, is that the method of creating the points was handed down from person to person.

The post 3-D imaging adds remarkable new understanding of North America’s mysterious Clovis people appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Researchers from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute are recommending that Panama adopt revised traffic patterns and slower speeds for vessels crossing the Gulf of Panama to reduce the risk of collisions between ships and whales.

The post Ships need to slow down for whales in Gulf of Panama, scientists advise appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

It is one of the most sensitive noses in the animal kingdom but what its owner seeks is no pungent bed of roses, in fact […]

The post Study shows turkey vulture is doubly blessed with acute vision and sense of smell appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Tucked in the shadow of the towering Skylab exhibit at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum, there’s an inferno raging. Lucky for all of […]

The post Video from Solar Dynamics Observatory wows museum visitors appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

In April 2015, after traveling for about half the age of the universe, a flood of powerful gamma rays from a distant galaxy slammed into […]

The post VERITAS Detects Gamma Rays from Galaxy Halfway Across the Visible Universe appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Einstein’s general theory of relativity predicts the emission of gravitational waves by massive celestial bodies moving though space-time. For the past century gravitational waves have […]

The post Astronomers complete First Search for Visible Light Associated with Gravitational Waves appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Crustaceans that thrive in the vastness of the open ocean have no place to hide from their predators. Consequently, many creatures that live at depths […]

The post Tiny ocean crustaceans wear invisibility cloak of living bacteria appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

In 1854, a curious-looking spider was found preserved in 50 million-year-old amber. With an elongated neck-like structure and long mouthparts that protruded from the “head” […]

The post These newly discovered pelican spiders will make you want to visit Madagascar appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Supplying archaeological and oceanographic evidence, this book persuasively links Clovis technology with the culture of the Solutrean people who occupied France and Spain more than 20,000 years ago.

The post New Book: “Across Atlantic Ice : The Origin of America’s Clovis Culture” appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Eric Peterman, Mindaugas Valius, and Rytis Prekeris

During mitotic cell division, the actomyosin cytoskeleton undergoes several dynamic changes that play key roles in progression through mitosis. While the regulators of cytokinetic ring formation and contraction are well-established, proteins that regulate cortical stability during anaphase and telophase have been understudied. Here, we describe a role for CLIC4 in regulating actin and actin-regulators at the cortex and cytokinetic cleavage furrow during cytokinesis. We first describe CLIC4 as a new component of the cytokinetic cleavage furrow that is required for successful completion of mitotic cell division. We also demonstrate that CLIC4 regulates the remodeling of sub-plasma membrane actomyosin network within the furrow by recruiting MST4 kinase and regulating ezrin phosphorylation. This work identifies and characterizes new molecular players involved in regulating cortex stiffness and blebbing during late stages of cytokinetic furrowing.

Relativistic electron diffraction depends on linear and quadratic terms in the electric potential, the latter being neglected in the frequently used relativistically corrected Schrödinger equation. The quadratic electric potential term modifies atomic scattering amplitudes in particular for large-angle scattering and backscattering. The respective correction increases with increasing scattering angle, increasing atomic number and increasing kinetic energy. Conventional tabulations for electron scattering and its large-angle extrapolations can be amended in closed form by a universal correction based on the screened Coulomb potential squared.

In 2010 Dr. Rachel Collin visited her colleagues at the Universidad Austral de Chile in Valdivia to collect some very special snails for her research at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Panama.

The post Smithsonian biologist Rachel Collin visits the Universidad Austral de Chile to collect special snails for her research. appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Tom Crouch, Senior curator in the National Air and Space Museum's Aeronautics Division, discusses Thaddeus Lowe and the birth of American aerial reconnaissance during the Civil War. This presentation was recorded on May 11, 2011 on the National Mall.

The post Tom Crouch, Senior curator in the National Air and Space Museum’s Aeronautics Division, discusses Thaddeus Lowe and the birth of American aerial reconnaissance appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

The post Pam Wintle, senior film archivist, describes the moving image collection of the Human Studies Film Archives appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Jennifer Trask engages nature as both medium and subject matter, combining unexpected materials such as bone, vertebrae, butterfly wings, resin, metal, and antique frame fragments […]

The post Jennifer Trask – Visions and Revisions: Renwick Invitational 2016 appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Steven Young Lee blends Eastern and Western traditions with anachronistic, often playful imagery and striking pattern in his porcelain works. His process allows the clay […]

The post Steven Young Lee-Visions and Revisions: Renwick Invitational 2016 appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Jeopardy’s Clue Crew visits the Smithsonian’s National Zoo!

The post Jeopardy’s Clue Crew visits the National Zoo appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

As the host of PBS’s “Scientific American Frontiers,” Alan Alda has interviewed scientists, physicists, neuroscientists, and academics. Forging a connection with these guests through freewheeling […]

The post Alan Alda: Relating Through Improvisation appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

On May 4, 2018, members of the DC R2D2 Builders Club visited the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History with their droids. Along with thousands […]

The post Droids visit Smithsonian appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Visits to the Smithsonian's National Zoo just became a little bit sweeter with the arrival of a new honeybee colony. With a hive made of glass in the Zoo's Pollinarium and full access to the outdoors, these bees are showing off the wondrous ways of their world.

The post Honeybees fascinate visitors at the National Zoological Park appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Customers online want convenience, ease, and access. Fortunately, your business offers it all. Unfortunately, thats what fraudsters want too.

Using mineralogical data, it is demonstrated that chemical simplicity measured as an amount of Shannon information per atom on average corresponds to higher symmetry measured as an order of the point group of a mineral, which provides a modern formulation of the Fedorov–Groth law.

Christopher R. Mahone
Apr 8, 2020; 133:jcs237057-jcs237057
CELL SCIENCE AT A GLANCE

Visa has teamed up with Kenyan telecom Safaricom, operator...

Despite the importance of eyesight, millions of people grapple with undiagnosed or untreated vision impairments — ranging from mild conditions to total blindness — and eye and vision health remain relatively absent from national health priority lists, says a new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

A new congressionally mandated report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine proposes updated revisions to the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) to better align with the Dietary Guidelines for Americans and promote and support breast-feeding.