Latest science news in Physics & Chemistry
Electric current moves magnetic vortices: With the help of neutrons, physicists discover new ways to save data
One of the requirements to keep trends in computer technology on track -- to be ever faster, smaller, and more energy-efficient -- is faster writing and processing of data. New...
Comprehensive wind info collected to improve renewable energy
Scientists are researching how radar weather instruments can help improve predictions on when and how strongly winds will blow. They're testing the instruments from a working wind farm in southeastern...
LHC Reports Failure To Create Black Holes, a Setback For String Theory
CMS Black Hole The Compact Muon Solenoid seen under construction in late 2008. Wikimedia CommonsAt least not yet Physicists working at the Large Hadron Collider report that after a series of tests,...
Iowa State, Ames Lab physicist developing, improving designer optical materials
Advancements in fabrication technologies may lead to superlenses and other designer optical materials, according to an Iowa State University and Ames Laboratory physicist...
How do you cut a nanotube? Lots of compression
A pipefitter knows how to make an exact cut on a metal rod. But it's far harder to imagine getting a precise cut on a carbon nanotube, with a diameter...
Green: Tax Cuts for Energy, Too
The tax package includes an extension for renewable energy grants and a tax credit for ethanol producers.
Shuttle Fuel Tanks Loaded, No Problems Detected
Discovery's Liquid Oxygen and Hydrogen Tanks Stable; Engineers Hope Way Will Be Cleared for Feb. Launch
Computer Memory Takes A Spin in Research Supported by Magnet Lab
Using unique equipment developed by the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory at The Florida State University, an international team of researchers has used the spin of atomic nuclei in silicon...
EU denies funding for fusion reactor
BRUSSELS, Dec. 17 (UPI) -- A plan to save financing for a multinational nuclear fusion reactor project has been rejected at the last minute.
How plants counteract against the shade of larger neighbors
Plants that "lose the battle" during competitiveness for light because they are shaded by larger neighbours, counteract. They adapt by rapid shoot elongation and stretch their leaves towards the sun....
Carbon's magnetic personality: Persistent, but only skin-deep
(PhysOrg.com) -- It's a mainstay in biological molecules, but carbon isn't the kind of element you'd expect to find in a permanent magnet. Until now. Not only does carbon become...
Tangling the microscopic ladder
If a ladder had more than one rung at each step, it would look awkward and would be a bit dangerous to climb. Ladders in the microscopic world were thought...
Kiev moves to join EU energy community
KIEV, Ukraine, Dec. 17 (UPI) -- Integration into the European energy community would help Ukraine finance the modernization of its natural gas transport system, the energy minister said.
Lights, camera, action
Martyn Poliakoff talks to Kathleen Too about the periodic table of videos and passion for green chemistry
Canadian gas pipeline gets nod
CALGARY, Alberta, Dec. 17 (UPI) -- The Mackenzie natural gas pipeline in Canada could deliver enough gas to satisfy the demands of more than 60 percent of all Canadians,...
Scientists design system using RFID devices to guide blind visitors inside unfamiliar buildings
An electronic system developed by Aura Ganz, professor of electrical and computer engineering at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, allows visually impaired people to safely navigate unfamiliar buildings using a...
New Tool Helps Explain Behavior of Unusual Ultrathin Film
University of Arkansas researchers have developed a tool to determine what factors drive the dependency between the periodic pattern width and thickness of an ultrathin film that exhibits both magnetic...
Science's breakthrough of the year: The first quantum machine
Back in March, a group of researchers designed a gadget that moves in ways that can only be described by quantum mechanics -- the set of rules that governs the...
A 'spin ratchet' paves the way for spin computers: New electronic structure for generating spin current
Scientists have proposed and experimentally demonstrated a ratchet concept to control the spin motion. In analogy to a ratchet wrench, which provides uniform rotation from oscillatory motion, such ratchets achieve...
Holography with electrons
The principle of holography was discovered in 1947 by the Hungarian scientist Dennis Gábor, in connection with attempts to improve the resolution of electron microscopes. The experimental realization of the...
DOE Issues Plan to Ensure Access to Critical Materials
Ensuring the availability of rare earths and other strategic materials to the industries that...
Structural distortions emerge from nothing at the nanoscale
Scientists have discovered that a class of materials known to convert heat to electricity and vice versa behaves quite unexpectedly at the nanoscale. The discovery -- a new "opposite-direction" phase...
Green: The Energy Future Ain't What It Used To Be
An Energy Department forecast projects that the price of natural gas and electricity will remain relatively low over the next quarter-century.
Tiny 3-D images shed light on origin of Earth's core
(PhysOrg.com) -- A new method of capturing detailed, three-dimensional images of minute samples of material under extreme pressures is shedding light on the evolution of the Earth's interior. Early results...
Ionization by strong laser fields: Understanding the 'Ionization Surprise'
In 2009 researchers found an "ionization surprise" that defied explanation. Until that time, it had been commonly thought that the ionization of atoms by strong laser fields was well-understood, but...
Mass Migration: Chemists Revise Atomic Weights of 10 Elements
An international governing body has adopted a new definition of atomic mass (aka atomic weight) changing from specific values to intervals of masses to resolve 15 years of debate on one of...
Information technology needs fundamental shift to continue rapid advances in computing and help drive US competitiveness
WASHINGTON -- The rapid advances in information technology that drive many sectors of the U.S. economy could stall unless the nation aggressively pursues fundamental research and development of...
Films for façades: New building material offers new design options
The plastic film ETFE is experiencing a boom these days because it gives architects completely new design options. You can use this material not only for futuristic sports stadiums, but...