Latest science news in Physics & Chemistry
Building A Better Protein: Researchers Use Computers To Find Keys To Stabilizing Proteins
Scientists are searching for ways to increase the stability of proteins. In a new study, researchers detail a targeted strategy to substantially increase the thermodynamic stability of nearly any protein,...
New technique to tackle nuclear waste
Novel fusion reactor design paves the way to destroy ‘transuranic’ elements
Emirate Government Agrees To Buy Nova
Deal allows Nova Chemicals to live on as an independent chemical firm
Shredding corn silage: lower cost ethanol
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind., Feb. 24 (UPI) -- A Purdue University researcher says shedding corn stover saves about 40 percent of the energy needed to process cellulosic material to...
Building a better protein
Proteins are widely viewed as a promising alternative to synthetic chemicals in everything from medications to hand lotion. The naturally occurring molecules have been shown to be more efficient and...
Patience Pays Off With Methanol For Uranium Bioremediation
Uranium contamination is a devastating legacy of nuclear weapon and energy development, but new testing has shown that adding organic molecules can positively affect the bioremediation of this uranium, converting...
Why Hair Turns Gray Is No Longer A Gray Area: Our Hair Bleaches Itself As We Grow Older
Wash away your gray? Maybe. Scientists have now solved a mystery that has perplexed humans throughout the ages: why we turn gray. These researchers show that going gray is caused...
Superconductivity: the new high critical temperature superconductors
(PhysOrg.com) -- The paper published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society (JACS) by a team led by professor Francesc Illas of the University of Barcelona's Department of Physical...
New twist on 40-year-old discovery
The rotating black hole has been described as one of nature's most perfect objects. As described by the Kerr solution of Einstein's gravitational field equations, its spacetime geometry is completely...
Coating helps smelter anodes
Material researchers have developed a new coating for smelter anodes, to prevent them from changing at high temperatures.
Hidden before our eyes: Tiny world makes giant leap to silver screen
It's something of an understatement to say Shekhar Garde has an eye for detail. A global leader in his field, Garde works to shed new light on the hidden world...
Caltech and UCSD researchers shed light on how proteins find their shapes
Researchers from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and the University of California at San Diego (UCSD) have brought together UCSD theoretical modelling and Caltech experimental data to show just...
Life-giving technology
Camera pills and ultrasound creating maps of the body: health has become high technology. For more than ten years, senior medical officer Ronald Marvik at St. Olav's Hospital in Trondheim...
What the heck is it? Consumers can be primed to understand hybrid products
Hybrid products are ubiquitous in today's marketplace: phones with cameras, watch/cameras, MP3 players with GPS systems. How can consumers understand the functions and features of these new products? A new...
Stainless Steel Catalyst Lowers Cost of Microbial Fuel Cells
(PhysOrg.com) -- Tiny bacteria munching on and metabolizing biodegradable materials can produce electrons that could be harnessed by microbial fuel cells for energy. By taking advantage of the catalytic reactions...
Vital Signs: Behavior: On Sunblock Use, Lifeguards Follow Along
A new study reports that the more seriously a pool takes sun safety, the more likely it is that the lifeguard will take precautions.
Engineering students score a slam dunk (Video)
(PhysOrg.com) -- When a 240-pound forward slam dunks a basketball, some fans probably wonder how much force is being generated into the goal. Students at Clemson University now can answer...
Hamster Power
Researchers believe they have conducted the first instance of an animal producing current with nano-generators, by harnessing the power of exercising hamsters. Plus -- the answer to the question that...
Electricity systems can cope with large-scale wind power
Research by TU Delft, Netherlands, proves that Dutch power stations are able to cope at any time in the future with variations in demand for electricity and supply of wind...
Using wireless sensors to monitor bridge safety
University of Texas (UT) professor, Dean Neikirk, will be field-testing a new bridge monitoring system within the year. The project is a collaboration between industry, government, and academia that will...
Online layoff tracker captures economy's carnage
(AP) -- In a sour economy like this, entrepreneurs inevitably dream up new ways to turn lemons into lemonade.
Revolutionary method generates new template for microelectronics
Researchers say a newly tested method for producing super dense, defect-free, thin polymer films is the fastest, most efficient method ever achieved and it may dramatically improve microelectronic storage capabilities...
'Quantum Data Buffering' Scheme Demonstrated; Potentially Useful For Quantum Computers
Pushing the envelope of Albert Einstein's "spooky action at a distance," known as entanglement, researchers have demonstrated a "quantum buffer" -- a technique that could be used to control the...
One of the most important problems in materials science solved
Together with three colleagues Professor Peter Oppeneer of Uppsala University has explained the hitherto unsolved mystery in materials science known as 'the hidden order' ? how a new phase arises...
Ikerlan designs silicon-free photoelectric module of easy incorporation
A team of researchers at the Ikerlan-IK4 technological centre have made a laboratory-scale photoelectric panel which, apart from fulfilling the function of converting solar light into electricity, solves the problems...
Quantum dots as midinfrared emitters
(PhysOrg.com) -- “People are interested in the mid-infrared,” Dan Wasserman tells PhysOrg.com. Infrared light has a wavelength longer than visible light, and many molecules have numerous very strong optical resonances...
Taking The Stress Out Of Magnetic Field Detection
Researchers have discovered that a carefully built magnetic sandwich has dramatically enhanced sensitivity to magnetic fields and could lead to greatly improved magnetic sensors for a wide range of applications...
Nanoscale Materials Grow With The Flow
Scientists have shown that nanoscale, uniform lead islands on silicon are spontaneously and quickly created by unusually mobile atoms. The discovery of the "liquid-like" nanogrowth mechanism is promising for nanotechnology...