Number 196, September 28, 1994 by Phillip F. Schewe and Ben Stein AN ALL-POLYMER TRANSISTOR has been developed by scientists at the Laboratoire des Materiaux Moleculaires in Thiais, France. Previously semiconducting polymers had been used as the active layer (the material in which electrons and holes are active) in transistors and light emitting diodes. The French device, the first to employ polymers for all the components, even the electrodes, is made solely with printing techniques and does not require high-vacuum or high- temperature conditions. Although the polymer transistors are large by industry standards, the fact that they can be run off on large flexible sheets means that they may be valuable for low-cost, large-area electronics applications, such as in flat-panel displays. (Francis Garnier et al., Science, 16 Sept. 1994.) A QUASAR IN A NEARBY RADIO GALAXY has been discovered using the Hubble Space Telescope. Although the galaxy, Cygnus A, is the most luminous object in the nearby universe, its spectrum (particularly at visible wavelengths) had not hinted at the presence of a quasar. But new ultraviolet observations exhibit broad emission lines characteristic of a quasar, which must lie hidden at the heart of the galaxy. The ultraviolet radiation, arising from magnesium ions in the quasar, is probably being reflected toward Earth by dust surrounding the galaxy. Quasars are a class of compact objects no larger than stars but packing the energy output of hundreds or thousands of galaxies. With a redshift of only 0.057, Cygnus A is closer than all other comparable energy sources. (Robert Antonucci et al., Nature, 22 Sept.) FRACTAL DRUMS are hypothetical structures with which scientists can study what happens when you strike a membrane stretched across a fractal-shaped frame. An example of such a shape is a "Koch snowflake," whose perimeter features an infinite regress of large triangular edges studded with ever smaller triangular edges. Computer simulations performed by Bernard Sapoval at the Ecole Polytechnique in Palaiseau, France show that the waveforms produced on drums with fractal snowflake boundaries (or as fractal as a computer with finite resources can provide) exhibit drastic cusps near the rim, with a consequential damping of the drumhead's movements. This may explain why heavily-indented coastlines seem to soak up the sea's energy more successfully (with less erosion) than smoother coastlines. The indentation effect might even be at work in the way porous silicon (with a myriad of nanoscopic filaments) emits light. (Science News, 17 Sept.) PORTABLE ANTIPROTONS may soon be available. Gerald Smith of Penn State is developing a 55-kg vessel that can store about 10 billion antiprotons. Researchers normally must encamp at one of the few labs (Fermilab, CERN) capable of creating antiprotons by smashing high-energy proton beams into a target. Smith's contraption, which includes cryogenics, a battery, and an array of magnets and electrodes for trapping its precious cargo, would bring antiprotons to smaller labs worldwide. For instance, oxygen-15, a radioisotope used in Positron Emission Tomography (PET) scanners, could be made more handily (closer in time and space to the patient) by bombarding water with antiprotons. (New Scientist, 17 Sept.)