Latest science news in Physics & Chemistry
Discovery May Lead To Precision Engineering Of Superconducting Thin Films For Electronic Devices
Using precision techniques for making superconducting thin films layer-by-layer, physicists have identified a single layer responsible for one such material's ability to become superconducting, i.e., carry electrical current with no...
First Synthetic Cellulosome In Yeast Created
Scientist have constructed for the first time a synthetic cellulosome in yeast, which could make the production of bioethanol from biomass more efficient and economical.
Scientists witness nature's complexity unfold in self-assembling quasicrystals
(PhysOrg.com) -- Just a few decades ago, scientists believed that all ordered matter consists of self-repeating building blocks -- atoms, ions or molecules. In this view, the ordinary solids of...
Harvesting energy from nature's motions
By taking advantage of the vagaries of the natural world, Duke University engineers have developed a novel approach that they believe can more efficiently harvest electricity from the motions of...
Nano particle coating repels ice
PITTSBURGH, Oct. 30 (UPI) -- A coating developed at the University of Pittsburgh repels freezing rain and could be applied easily to roads, planes and power lines, researchers said.
Battery Of The Future: New Storage Material Improves Energy Density Of Lithium-ion Battery
High-performance energy storage technologies for the automotive industry or mobile phone batteries and notebooks providing long battery times – these visions of the future are being brought one step nearer....
Improved adhesive for products like transparent tape could benefit biofuels economy
An adhesive used in products like laminate countertops may also help cement a place for economically viable biofuels, according to a Kansas State University researcher...
LANL Roadrunner simulates nanoscale material failure
Very tiny wires, called nanowires, made from such metals as silver and gold, may play a crucial role as electrical or mechanical switches in the development of future-generation ultrasmall nanodevices...
Short heels make elite sprinters super speedy
When 100 m sprinters launches themselves from the starting blocks, the race can be won or lost in the first few strides. Acceleration through the first few strides is the...
Scientists build first 'frequency comb' to display visible 'teeth'
Finally, an optical frequency comb that visibly lives up to its name. Scientists at the University of Konstanz in Germany and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in...
New technology may cool the laptop, Texas A and M professor says
Does your laptop sometimes get so hot that it can almost be used to fry eggs? New technology may help cool it and give information technology a unique twist, says...
North America automobile sector bottom of 'world sustainability league'
The study, entitled Sustainable Value in Automobile Manufacturing, looks at the sustainability performance of 17 leading car manufacturers worldwide between 1999 and 2007.
China-U.S. Group Plans to Build Texas Wind Farm
The project marks the first time that China will export wind turbines into the United States.
Scientists Propose New Explanation For Flu Virus Antigenic Drift
Influenza viruses evade infection-fighting antibodies by constantly changing the shape of their major surface protein. Now, researchers have proposed a new explanation for the evolutionary forces that drive antigenic drift.
Intel Reports Breakthrough in Stacked, Cross Point Phase Change Memory Technology
Intel Corp. and Numonyx today announced a key breakthrough in the research of phase change memory (PCM), a new non-volatile memory technology that combines many of the benefits of today's...
So Just How Tiny Is a Virus?
One of the most difficult aspects of science is conceptualizing some of the unbelievably large, (and unimaginably small) numbers that routinely pop up. The Universe is 5.5 x 10^23 miles across. A human...
Dripless teapots: here's my handle, here's my superhydrophobic spout
Why do teapots dribble? French scientists say it's all about the simple subject of surface wettability
Birds sense magnetic fields through eye cells: study
Migratory birds navigate in the Earth's magnetic field using cells in their eyes sensitive to light, not cells in their beaks sensitive to magnetic fields, new research says.
P vs. NP -- The most notorious problem in theoretical computer science remains open
In the 1995 Halloween episode of The Simpsons, Homer Simpson finds a portal to the mysterious Third Dimension behind a bookcase, and desperate to escape his in-laws, he plunges through....
Tailoring the optical dipole force for use on molecules
(PhysOrg.com) -- "Scientists have been working with dipole fields for quite some time," Peter Barker tells PhysOrg.com. "However, most of the work is focused on very small particles, like atoms,...
New catalysts could lower cost
A researcher is looking for cheaper metals to use in making medicine – some catalysts cost tens to hundreds of dollars per gram.
A New "Space Age": Globalisation Is Shaping Urban Development
"Space" is defined and shaped by social forces. A project at the Vienna University of Technology is presently investigating how current changes in these forces are impacting on urban development.
Solar Cell Celebration or Confusion?
The following story, that readers of this blog may have read a couple of months ago, celebrated the discovery of a solar cell production method that generated a whopping 43%...
Research into renewable biofuel set to reduce reliance on fossil diesel imports
Aston University in Birmingham, UK is involved in a EUR 3.73m (GBP3.4 million) research project, which will transform organic residues from biofuel production processes into a renewable biofuel that can...
The Future of Video Game Input: Muscle Sensors
A muscle computer interface allows interaction with a computer without touching an keyboard, mouse or other input device.
Brief Highlights of the Fluid Dynamics Conference, Minneapolis, Nov. 22-24, 2009
Many of nature's most fascinating phenomena involve forms of fluid flow -- the motions of liquids and gases -- from the flight of golf and tennis balls to the slip...
Gamma-ray observations shrink known grain size of spacetime
Tininess of speed differences between photons from a gamma-ray burst uphold special relativity theory
Start-up Company Prepares to Commercialize Novel Detector for Medical, Military Applications
PAIR Technologies, a start-up company established by University of Delaware researchers and a former DuPont scientist, is preparing to commercialize a high-precision detector -- a planar array infrared spectrograph --...