Latest science news in Physics & Chemistry
Measuring flow using a wobbling tube
One milligram per hour: fluid flow can be measured with great precision using a tiny 'wobbling' tube with a diameter of only 40 micrometres. Thanks to a new technique, the...
Optics turn smartphones into microscopes
BERKELEY, Calif., Dec. 17 (UPI) -- Smartphones connected to magnifying optics could become diagnostic-quality microscopes for use by clinics in developing countries, U.S. researchers say.
Nanofibers clean sulfur from fuel
Sulfur compounds in petroleum fuels have met their nano-structured match. Researchers developed mats of metal oxide nanofibers that scrub sulfur from petroleum-based fuels much more effectively than traditional materials. Sulfur...
Hybrid tunnel may help guide severed nerves back to health
Building a tunnel made up of both hard and soft materials to guide the reconnection of severed nerve endings may be the first step toward helping patients who have suffered...
World's largest atom smasher now faster
The Large Hadron Collider is working more efficiently, physicists announced Monday, with more particles than ever before crammed into the particle accelerator's beams.
Ophthalmologists warn: Flying champagne corks cause serious, blinding eye injuries each year
Warm bottles of champagne and improper cork-removal techniques cause serious, potentially blinding eye injuries each year, according experts. Champagne bottles contain pressure as high as 90 pounds per square inch...
Japan Likely to Reembrace Nuclear Power in Wake of Elections
New stimulus spending could benefit big science
New air pollution standards restrict soot particles
The Environmental Protection Agency, announcing the limits, predicts that they could save on healthcare costs from respiratory ailments.The Obama administration announced a new air pollution standard Friday that would bring...
The First LHC Protons Run Ends with New Milestone
Geneva, 17 December 2012. This morning CERN completed the first LHC proton run. The remarkable first three-year run of the world's most powerful particle accelerator was crowned by a...
A layer of cool, healthy air
Stratum ventilation systems have been touted as a much more energy efficient system for cooling buildings such as school rooms and offices in hotter climes based on the provisions of...
CMS, ATLAS experiments report Higgs-like particle close to the 7 sigma level
(Phys.org)—The latest research findings from the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN show that the CMS and ATLAS experiments are now reporting that the significance of their observation of the...
Are We Living Inside a Computer Simulation?
A philosopher and team of physicists imagine that we might actually be living inside a computer-generated universe that you could call, The Lattice.
Electron spin transport demonstrated for first time in an organic device
(Phys.org)—Researchers in the Semiconductor and Dimensional Metrology Division's Nanoelectronic Device Metrology (NEDM) Project have demonstrated the first documented case of electron spin transport in an organic device.
Researchers use quantum properties to create jammer-proof radar
(Phys.org)—A trio of researchers from the University of Rochester in New York, has created a radar system based on polarized photons that they describe as jam-proof. The new system relies...
Adhesion disturbed by noise
Imagine a solid ball rolling down a slightly inclined ramp. What could be perceived as child's play is the focus of serious theoretical research by Manoj Chaudhury and Partho Goohpattader,...
Hot electrons do the impossible in catalytic chemistry
(Phys.org)—From petroleum refining to food processing, the vast majority of commercial chemical applications involve catalysts to control the rate of chemical reactions. Anything that can increase the efficiency of catalysts...
Flexing fingers for micro-robotics: Scientists create a powerful, microscale actuator
Researchers have developed an elegant and powerful new microscale actuator that can flex like a tiny beckoning finger. Based on an oxide material that expands and contracts dramatically in response...
Speeding up electronics to light frequencies
(Phys.org)—Modern information processing allows for breathtaking switching rates of about a 100 billion cycles per second. New results from the Laboratory for Attosecond Physics (LAP) of Prof. Ferenc Krausz (Max Planck Institute of...
Sometimes size does matter: 25 years with the largest wind tunnel in the world
(Phys.org)—California's Silicon Valley has become known for its ability to make things almost infinitely tiny. Unbeknownst to many, it is also home to a few huge structures, including the largest...
Plutonium at 150 years
Planning the future needs of the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile as well as the nuclear weapons complex depends in part on maintaining confidence in the long-term stability of the pit,...
Nano oscillators synchronized by light
(Phys.org)—Synchronization phenomena are everywhere in the physical world—from circadian rhythms to side-by-side pendulum clocks coupled mechanically through vibrations in the wall. Researchers have now demonstrated synchronization at the nanoscale, using...
New research could offer better cell reception at lower cost
(Phys.org)—Have you ever been in the middle of an important phone call when suddenly the line goes dead for no apparent reason? Dropped cell phone calls are irritating and far...
Nation needs marketing campaign to reduce vehicle fuel use, says new paper
(Phys.org)—A new paper from Rice University's Baker Institute for Public Policy proposes a national marketing campaign to better inform consumers about measures that they can take to decrease fuel use,...
Falling slinky explains physics
The humble slinky helps us understand everyday physics and may help researchers improve theoretical models.
Quantum Stealth material designed to make target invisible
(Phys.org)—Scientists are exploring better methods of camouflage, a so-called scientific invisibility cloak, and news has spread fast about a Canadian company with substantial claims on how far they have come...
SciTechTalk: Will the technological step forward by 'The Hobbit' find an audience?
JIM ALGAR || United Press International As film reviewers weighed in on "The Hobbit" -- the latest offering from "Lord of the Rings" director Peter Jackson -- many gave space...
Inside the Centre: The Life of J Robert Oppenheimer by Ray Monk – review
A life of J Robert Oppenheimer is magnificent in its retelling of a great 20th-century tragedyWhen J Robert Oppenheimer first saw the awful power of the atomic bomb, in the Trinity test...
Colliding Particles: Higgs | Jon Butterworth | Life & Physics
Episode 11: Includes a lovely interview with the man himself.As I say in the video, I wasn't in the room at CERN that day. This made me feel like I...