Iron
hideIron (pronounced /ˈаɪ.ərn/) is a chemical element with the symbol Fe (Latin: ferrum) and atomic number 26. Iron is a group 8 and period 4 element. Iron and iron alloys (steels) are by far the most common metals and the most common ferromagnetic materials in everyday use. Fresh iron surfaces are lustrous and silvery-grey in colour, but oxidise in air to form a red or brown coating of ferrous oxide or rust. Pure single crystals of iron are soft (softer than aluminium), and the addition of minute amounts of impurities, such as carbon, significantly strengthens them. Alloying iron with appropriate small amounts (up to a few per cent) of other metals and carbon produces steel, which can be 1,000 times harder than pure iron.
Iron-56 is the heaviest stable isotope produced by the alpha process in stellar nucleosynthesis; heavier elements than iron and nickel require a supernova for their formation. Iron is the most abundant element in the core of red giants, and is the most abundant metal in iron meteorites and in the dense metal cores of planets such as Earth.
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News tagged with iron
Rapid supernova could be new class of exploding star
Nov 05, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- An unusual supernova rediscovered in seven-year-old data may be the first example of a new type of exploding star, possibly from a binary star system where helium flows from one white dwarf ...
Commentary warns of unexpected consequences of proton pump inhibitor use in reflux disease
Nov 03, 2009 |
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Despite being highly effective and beneficial for many patients, unexpected consequences are emerging in patients who are prescribed proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) for reflux diseases. Physicians are warned to monitor these ...
Iron controls patterns of nitrogen fixation in the Atlantic
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Nov 02, 2009 |
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Scientists including researchers from the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton and the University of Essex have discovered that interactions between iron supply, transported through the atmosphere from ...
Australian woman dies after 60 years in iron lung
Oct 31, 2009 |
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An Australian woman who spent a record-breaking 60 years confined to an iron lung after contracting polio died Saturday in a Melbourne nursing home, aged 83.
Nanoparticles Detect and Purge Metastases in Lymph Nodes
Nanotechnology / Bio & Medicine
Oct 30, 2009 |
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Colonoscopy represents one of the great weapons against cancer. In one step, a physician can find precancerous lesions in the colon and then cut them out, an on-the-spot intervention that prevents cancer from developing. ...
Magnetism Turns Drug Release On and Off
Nanotechnology / Bio & Medicine
Oct 30, 2009 |
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Many medical conditions, such as cancer, diabetes and chronic pain, require medications that cannot be taken orally, but must be dosed intermittently, on an as-needed basis, over a long period of time. A few delivery techniques ...
Red, White Wine, Fish And Science
Oct 29, 2009 |
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The long-standing rule of matching wine and food -- red wine with red meat and white wine with fish -- actually has a scientific explanation, according to two scientists working for the Mercian Corporation, ...
New methods are changing old materials
Oct 28, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- A company that makes steel for bearings used in heavy trucks had a big problem. The trucks travel through harsh, perilous environments such as Siberia, and an unexpected bearing failure on ...
A scientific basis the 'golden rule' of pairing wines and foods
Oct 21, 2009 |
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Scientists in Japan are reporting the first scientific explanation for one of the most widely known rules of thumb for pairing wine with food: "Red wine with red meat, white wine with fish." The scientists ...
Ford to clean up arsenic contamination after 4-year fight
Oct 20, 2009 |
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Ford Motor Co. will haul out piles of arsenic-laced soil found in Ringwood State Park in New Jersey, ending a nearly-four-year battle over the source of the waste.
Geologists point to outer space as source of the Earth's mineral riches
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Oct 18, 2009 |
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According to a new study by geologists at the University of Toronto and the University of Maryland, the wealth of some minerals that lie in the rock beneath the Earth's surface may be extraterrestrial in origin.
Magnetic leaves reveal Bellingham's most polluted byways
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Oct 15, 2009 |
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Tree leaves may be powerful tools for monitoring air quality and planning biking routes and walking paths, suggests a new study by scientists at Western Washington University in Bellingham. The research will ...
Common gene variant found to regulate iron levels
Oct 13, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- An international research team including researchers at UQ's Diamantina Institute and the Queensland Institute of Medical Research has identified a new variant of a gene that helps to regulate iron and haemoglobin ...
Banded rocks reveal early Earth conditions, changes
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Oct 11, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- The strikingly banded rocks scattered across the upper Midwest and elsewhere throughout the world are actually ambassadors from the past, offering clues to the environment of the early Earth ...
Iron regulates the TLR4 inflammatory signaling pathway
Oct 05, 2009 |
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Iron is a micronutrient essential to the survival of both humans and disease-causing microbes. Changes in iron levels therefore affect the severity of infectious diseases. For example, individuals with mutations in their ...
