Latest science news in Physics & Chemistry
3 share 2009 Nobel Prize in physics
STOCKHOLM (AP) -- The 2009 Nobel Prize in physics has been awarded to Charles K. Kao, Willard S. Boyle and George E. Smith for breakthroughs involving...
Conditions combined for devastating tsunami
Because of a lethal combination of geology and geography, the people of American Samoa didn't stand much of a chance. Almost every condition that triggers bad tsunamis was in place...
Energy-autonomous sensors for aircraft
Aircraft maintenance will be easier in future, with sensors monitoring the aircraft skin. If they discover any dents or cracks they will send a radio message to a monitoring unit....
Oxygen in place of chlorine: Towards a more environmentally friendly propylene oxide synthesis
(PhysOrg.com) -- Propylene oxide is an important bulk chemical that is used primarily in the production of polyurethane plastics. Currently, propylene oxide is usually made from propylene (propene) in a...
Step forward for nanotechnology: Controlled movement of molecules
Scientists in the United Kingdom are reporting an advance toward overcoming one of the key challenges in nanotechnology: Getting molecules to move quickly in a desired direction without help from...
Cars may one day mimic fish to avoid collisions
Engineers in Japan say they are a step closer to developing technology they hope will cut the risk of car crashes -- by mimicking the behaviour of fish.
A minor that's major
Starting this year, all MIT undergraduate students have a new academic option available to them: a minor in energy, which can be combined with any major subject. The new minor, unlike most...
Fujitsu Develops Millimeter-Wave Gallium-Nitride Transceiver Amplifier Chipset
Fujitsu announced today the development of the world's first gallium-nitride HEMT-based transceiver amplifier chipset for broadband wireless transmission equipment operating in the millimeter bandwidth, the range of 70 to 100...
3-D Scanning Brings the Future of Fingerprinting
A new touchless fingerprinting system is faster and more accurate than rolling your fingertips on an ink pad Fingerprinting with ink or even sensor plates poses a chore for everyone involved, except...
Gaming Tech Aids Scientists Building Virtual Synthetic Chromatophore
The study of processes that make life possible is hardly a leisurely pursuit, but that doesn't preclude researchers from taking advantage of the most advanced video gaming technology available to aid in their...
Predictive simulation successes on Dawn supercomputer
(PhysOrg.com) -- The 500-teraFLOPS Advanced Simulation and Computing program's Sequoia Initial Delivery System (Dawn), an IBM machine of the same lineage as BlueGene/L, has immediately proved itself useful as...
To flap, or not to flap? Flapping wings can be more efficient than fixed wings, study shows
(PhysOrg.com) -- According to a new Cornell study, an optimized flapping wing could actually require 27 percent less power than its optimal steady-flight counterpart at small scales.
Warming, heat waves projected to grow worse with large regional variability
(PhysOrg.com) -- While long-term projections call for higher temperatures and heat waves even more intense than previously thought, considerable geographic variability is also in the forecast, according to a study...
Why leave it to nature? Chemistry professor wants to understand, simplify, photosynthesis
(PhysOrg.com) -- Amid calls for transformative change in the world`s energy supply, Harvard chemist Ted Betley is taking a back-to-basics approach and examining the mother of all energy supplies --...
Novel Chemistry For Ethylene And Tin
Chemists show that ethylene, a gas that is important both as a hormone that controls fruit ripening and as a raw material in industrial chemistry, can bind reversibly to tin...
Putting the squeeze on sperm DNA
In the quest for speed, olympic swimmers shave themselves or squeeze into high-tech super-suits. In the body, sperm are the only cells that swim and, as speed is crucial to...
Rensselaer researchers to develop and test next-generation radar systems
Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have received a grant for $792,000 from the U.S. Air Force to create a new laboratory for developing and testing next-generation radar systems that overcome...
Stripped down: Hubble highlights 2 galaxies that are losing it
Ram pressure is the drag force that results when something moves through a fluid -- much like the wind you feel in your face when bicycling, even on a still...
Australian study sheds light on kidney repair and disease
A study by Monash University researchers has shed new light on the microscopic antennas in the kidney that are involved in the organ's repair process.
Physicists work to understand atomic collisions important to ultracold quantum gasses
A Kansas State University physicist is continuing his study of atomic collisions with the help of a National Science Foundation grant awarded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
Physicists Investigate Unusual Four-Qubit Entanglement
(PhysOrg.com) -- For the first time, physicists have experimentally demonstrated a four-qubit bound-entangled state - a peculiar form of entanglement that cannot be distilled (optimized) by the usual means. However,...
Laser tweezers scan specks
Reseachers have developed a way to probe the internal structure of tiny objects while holding them with intense laser beams.
Iranian ministers in plagiarism row
investigation reveals duplications in papers by science and transport chiefs.
Cosmic Log: Green energy needn’t be grim
Science editor Alan Boyle's Weblog: If someone told you America's long-term energy needs could be met without oil or nuclear power, would you think he was crazy?
Samso Journal: From Turbines and Straw, Danish Self-Sufficiency
A tiny island just completed a 10-year experiment to see whether it could become energy self-sufficient, and its residents say they have met the goal.
Sony opens electronic bookstore to self-publishers
Sony opened its electronic bookstore to would-be authors Tuesday in a partnership with two self-publishing companies.
Scientists engineer E. coli to trace faces, images
Engineered E. coli can now trace the outline of an image in a feat that shows how manipulating organisms could lead to synthetic biological devices useful to technology and medicine.
Carmakers and Utilities Charge Ahead on Making Electric Cars "Smart"
It will take years before there are enough electric cars and gas–electric hybrids on the road to put much of a dent in the output of the electrical grid . But once...