Along the edge of ascending steps, an empty zone more than two atoms wide regularly emerges;
diffusing atoms will not settle there.
As surreal as his paintings, periscope-like skylights project through the star-shaped sheet of water
diffusing light into the space beneath.
Interactions among the reacting chemicals and the
diffusing reaction products created well-defined regions of low acidity.
"That mismatch is a strong anatomical indication that substance P generally acts by
diffusing away from its site of release."
This imbalance, says Russell, shows that polymers had to wriggle from one side to the other by moving their front ends first, then their middles, then their back ends, rather than by
diffusing randomly.
He also predicted that the exchange mechanism would produce a distinctive pattern of sites visited by a
diffusing atom, and that this pattern should be apparent in data compiled from field-ion microscope observations.
In Ryskin's model, a
diffusing particle pushes aside liquid, causing the liquid to flow out of the way.
The issue, says Kohlhase, is the possibility of much finer material, virtually undetectable from earth but perhaps
diffusing inward from the visible arcs in concentrations sufficient to damage Voyager 2.