Latest science news in Physics & Chemistry
Atomic Force Microscopy Reveals Liquids Adjust Viscosity When Confined, Shaken
Getting ketchup out of the bottle isn't always easy. However, shaking the bottle before trying to pour allows the thick, gooey ketchup to flow more freely because it becomes more...
Graphene-based Gadgets May Be Just Years Away
Researchers have produced tiny liquid crystal devices with electrodes made from graphene -- an exciting development that could lead to computer and TV displays based on this technology. They report...
Making A Good Impression: Nanoimprint Lithography Tests
In what should be good news for integrated circuit manufacturers, recent studies have helped resolve two important questions about an emerging microcircuit manufacturing technology called nanoimprint lithography.
New Basic Element For Electronic Circuits: 'Memristor' Could Lead To Energy-efficient Computing Systems With Memories That Don't Forget
Researchers from HP Labs have proven the existence of what had previously been only theorized as the fourth fundamental circuit element in electrical engineering. This scientific advancement could make it...
The heaviest element yet?
Researchers claim to have seen an element with an atomic number of 122, but some are sceptical.
Nanotechnology studied in heat transfer
ANN ARBOR, Mich., May 1 (UPI) -- The U.S. Air Force has awarded a $7 million grant to a University of Michigan-led team to apply nanotechnology to problems...
U.S. withdraws patent for yellow bean
WASHINGTON, May 1 (UPI) -- The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has rejected all patent claims for a bean commonly grown by Latin American farmers for more than...
Simulations May Explain Nanoparticles 'Pinned' To Graphene
It was hard to understand how a graphene sheet -- a featureless, flat sheet of carbon atoms -- lying on an equally featureless iridium surface, somehow converted itself into a...
At the heart of the matter
Ancient Greek philosophers argued for the existence of atoms, but post-Einsteinian science has delved much deeper, says Robert Matthews
Period drama
A Russian chemist was the first to draw up a successful periodic table. But it wasn't until years later that its far-reaching predictions were proved correct. John Emsley explains
Use the force
Our understanding of electromagnetism is key to the modern world we live in, but how much do we know about nature's other three forces, asks Robert Matthews
Why one is still the loneliest number
Creating a theory of everything is the greatest intellectual challenge ever attempted by scientists. But with every breakthrough comes another hurdle, says Robert Matthews
How To Measure A Carbon Nanotube
NIST, in collaboration with NASA, has published detailed guidelines for making essential measurements on samples of single-walled carbon nanotubes. The new guide constitutes the current "best practices" for characterizing one...
Peer pressure brings docs up to speed: study
BOSTON (Reuters) - Is your doctor's practice on the cutting edge of medicine? If not, maybe he or she needs a little peer pressure.
Faster than a Speeding Bubble
What do melting chocolate and bubbles in a champagne glass have in common? Besides being treats one might sample at a sophisticated soiree, they are both handy examples of first-order...
Research Could Cut Aircraft Development Costs, Improve Safety
A distressing fact for aeronautical engineers: Scale model airplanes don't fly anything like their full-sized counterparts. And that makes aircraft design a lot more difficult.
Pioneer in spintronics celebrates birthday
What might be Harvard’s oddest birthday party unfolded last over Feb. 29 and March 1. In a lecture hall at Maxwell Dworkin, 50 physicists gathered to share the latest research in spintronics,...
Jeremy Knowles, eminent chemist, Harvard leader, 72
Jeremy R. Knowles, an eminent chemist and longtime leader of Harvard's Faculty of Arts and Sciences, died April 3 at his home in Cambridge, after a struggle with cancer. read more
Physics Advance Leads To A Better Understanding Of Optics At The Atomic Scale
An advance by physicists improves our understanding of how light interacts with matter, and could make possible the development of new integrated-circuit technologies that result in faster computers that use...
Inexpensive Roof Vent Could Prevent Billions Of Dollars In Wind Damage
Hurricanes often lift the roofs off buildings and expose them to havoc and damaging conditions, even after the worst of the wind has passed. A local roofer, Virginia Tech faculty...
Micro-origami: Micrometer-scale 'Voxels' Folded Up For Drug Delivery
Researchers have demonstrated a way to manufacture minuscule closed containers that might be used to deliver precise micro- or even nano-quantities of drugs. First the scientists create flat patterns, origami,...
High-flying Electrons May Provide New Test Of Quantum Theory
Researchers believe they can achieve a significant increase in the accuracy of one of the fundamental constants of nature by boosting an electron to an orbit as far as possible...
Nanoengineered Barrier Is World's Best Protection From Moisture And Oxygen
A breakthrough barrier technology that protects sensitive devices such as organic light emitting diodes and solar cells from moisture 1000 times more effectively than any existing technology has been invented...
Iron Exposed as High-Temperature Superconductor [News]
Editor's note: This article will appear in the June 2008 issue of Scientific American.For more than 20 years, the only known superconductors that worked far above liquid-helium temperatures were a...
Plugging Away in a Prius
Jonathan Sawyer spent $30 000--and voided the warranty--to add a plug to his Prius hybrid.
The New Economics of Semiconductor Manufacturing
Now that the Toyota production system has been applied to chip making, the electronics industry may never be the same.
Tiger Teams Reach Out with Solar
DOE photovoltaic funding for years has gone to programs that promise more efficient conversion of sunlight to electricity, or in aiding solar start-up companies. It's called "technology push." Now for...
Feature: Applying 'resilience thinking' for sustainable development
Dr Leonie Pearson explains that we need to better understand that nature and humanity are dynamic and co-evolving, and that achieving sustainability is not the single goal of decreased consumption,...