NBD-TMA ([2-(4-nitro-2,1,3-benzoxadiazol-7-yl)aminoethyl]trimethylammonium) is a small, positively charged (+1) fluorescent dye. It was also known as EAM-1 (N,N,N,-Trimethyl-2[(7-nitro-2,1,3-benzoxadiazol-4-yl)amino]ethanaminium iodide) when it was briefly supplied by Macrocyclics Company as an iodide complex.
NBD-TMA has an excitation maximum at 458 nm and an emission maximum at 530 nm. It also has a smaller local excitation maximum around 343 nm. The molar extinction coefficient is about 13,000 cm−1M−1 and its overall effective fluorescence is about 1% that of fluorescein. It is only mildly sensitive to halide ion collision quenching.
NBD-TMA was designed as a probe for monitoring renal transport of organic cations. As a small, positively charged fluorophore, it has also seen use as a tracer for measuring gap junction coupling in cases of cation selective connexin channels.
The Soyuz TMA-16 (Russian: Союз TMA-16) was a manned flight to and from the International Space Station (ISS). It transported two members of the Expedition 21 crew and a Canadian entrepreneur from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan to the ISS. TMA-16 was the 103rd flight of a Soyuz spacecraft, the first flight launching in 1967. The launch of Soyuz TMA-16 marked the first time since 1969 that three Soyuz craft were in orbit simultaneously.
Guy Laliberté, founder and CEO of Cirque du Soleil, was a spaceflight participant aboard TMA-16 during its flight to the ISS, paying approximately US$35 million for his seat through the American firm Space Adventures. He returned on board the Soyuz TMA-14 spacecraft left as an emergency vehicle during that previous flight. The Soyuz TMA-16 flight spacecraft flew back to Earth with only two crewmembers.
Soyuz TMA-16 was docked to the ISS at the aft port of the Zvezda module. On January 21, 2010, cosmonaut Suraev and Expedition 22 Commander Jeffrey Williams relocated the spacecraft to the zenith-facing port of the Poisk module. The Soyuz TMA-16 spacecraft undocked from the aft end of the Zvezda service module at 5:03 a.m. EST and backed away to a distance of about 100 feet from the space station. Undocking occurred as the station flew about 213 miles high off the southwest coast of Africa. Re-docking occurred at 5:24 a.m. EST after Suraev fired the Soyuz maneuvering thrusters to fly halfway around the orbiting space station and line up with the Poisk module.
Monoliths are machines built by an unseen extraterrestrial species that are described in Arthur C. Clarke's Space Odyssey series of novels and films. During the series, three monoliths are discovered in the solar system by humans and it is revealed that thousands, if not more, were created throughout the solar system, although none are seen. The subsequent response of the characters to their discovery drives the plot of the series. It also influences the fictional history of the series, particularly by encouraging humankind to progress with technological development and space travel.
The first monolith appears in the beginning of the story, set in prehistoric times. It is discovered by a group of hominids, and somehow triggers a considerable shift in evolution, starting with the ability to use tools and weaponry.
The extraterrestrial species that built the monoliths is never described in much detail, but some knowledge of its existence is given to Dave Bowman after he is transported by the stargate to the "cosmic zoo", as detailed in the novels 2001: A Space Odyssey and 2010: Odyssey Two. The existence of this species is only hypothesized by the rest of humanity, but it is obvious because the monolith was immediately identified as an artifact of non-human origin.
NBD can refer to: