Latest science news in Physics & Chemistry
Shape Changes In Aroma-producing Molecules Determine The Fragrances We Detect
Shakespeare wrote "a rose by any other name would smell as sweet." But would it if the molecules that generate its fragrance were to change their shape?
This Machine Might* Save the World
digg_url = 'http://digg.com/general_sciences/This_Machine_Might_Save_the_World'; The source of endless energy for all humankind resides just off Government Street in Burnaby, British Columbia, up the little spit of blacktop on Bonneville Place and across...
Efficient Organic LEDs A Step Toward Better Lights
For those who love "green" compact fluorescent bulbs but hate their cold light, here's some good news: Researchers are closer to flipping the switch on cheaper, richer LED-type room lighting.
Georgia Tech physicist honored with Humboldt Award
Uzi Landman, professor of physics at the Georgia Institute of Technology, is the recipient of a Humboldt Research Award for Senior U.S. Scientists. He will accept the award in June...
New Type Of Laser Discovered
Researchers have discovered an entirely new mechanism for making common electronic materials emit laser beams. The finding could lead to lasers that operate more efficiently and at higher temperatures than...
The unequal effects of giving and taking
A new study appears to shed some light on why holiday gift-giving may be such a touchy matter and why your mother-in-law is still angry that you missed last year's...
Chaos Theory Simplified: Just Follow the Bouncing Droplet
Two researchers have created a strikingly simple model of chaotic behavior, in which variations in initial conditions become so tangled and magnified by the system's dynamics that the outcome appears...
Researchers Fabricate Complex SWNT Architectures Using Newly Developed Assembly Process
Given the sheer number of potential applications for carbon nanotubes, experts in the field of nanotechnology are developing effective ways to mass produce intricate nanoscale structures for electronics, sensing, energy...
First Images from Medical Beamline at Canadian Light Source
A University of Saskatchewan (U of S)-led research team at the Canadian Light Source (CLS) synchrotron has received an early Christmas present. After several years of research, construction and testing,...
Measuring Nanoparticle Behavior in the Body Using MRI
(PhysOrg.com) -- One of the key steps in the development of any drug or imaging agent intended for human use is measurement of the adsorption, metabolism, and excretion of the...
Fock states could hold clues to quantum memory components
(PhysOrg.com) -- “Fock states will play a role in the future of quantum computing,” Andrew Cleland tells PhysOrg.com. “We have completed the first experimental measurement of the time decay of...
Researchers create smaller, brighter probe tailored for molecular imaging and tumour targeting
Researchers have developed a new generation of microscopic particles for molecular imaging, constituting one of the first promising nanoparticle platforms that may be readily adapted for tumour targeting and treatment...
Study on cytotoxicity of carbon nanotubes
Owing to the novel properties of carbon nanotubes (CBNs), a series of problems associated with in vitro toxicity assessments of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have appeared in many papers. In order...
Leptin's long-distance call to the pancreas
Rube Goldberg - the cartoonist who devised complex machines for simple tasks - would have smiled at one of leptin's mechanisms for curbing insulin release. As Hinoi et al. show,...
Scientists reveal structure of new botulism nerve toxin subtype
Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory have determined the atomic-level structure of a third subtype of botulinum neurotoxin - a deadly toxin produced by certain...
At a Sleek Bioenergy Lab, a Lens on a Cabinet Pick
A look into the lab of Dr. Steven Chu, who President-elect Barack Obama has recently named the next energy secretary.
Feather scientists have Christmas all wrapped up
(PhysOrg.com) -- Material scientists at The University of Manchester are causing a festive flap after developing a way of making Christmas wrapping paper - from TURKEY FEATHERS.
Storing the Breeze: New Battery Might Make Wind Power More Reliable
Winter winds howl off the Dakota prairie through Minnesota, turning the 1,100 megawatts worth of wind turbines in Xcel Energy's system in that state. By 2020, the utility expects to...
E. coli engineered to produce important class of antibiotic, anti-cancer drugs
Researchers from the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science have taken a major step forward in the field of metabolic engineering, successfully using the bacterium Escherichia coli...
New 'smart' materials for the brain
Research done by scientists in Italy and Switzerland has shown that carbon nanotubes may be the ideal "smart" brain material. Their results, published December 21 in the advance online edition...
Can You "Superinsulate" It?
With the hopes of dramatically cutting energy use, a family embarks on an outsized project to put a foam blanket around their 80-year-old house.
Dream of quantum computing closer to reality as mathematicians chase key breakthrough
The ability to exploit the extraordinary properties of quantum mechanics in novel applications, such as a new generation of super-fast computers, has come closer following recent progress with some of...
Cancer-fighting antibodies
MIT engineers have found that antibodies do not need a particular sugar attachment long believed to be essential to their function, a discovery that could make producing therapeutic antibodies much...
Producing A More Effective Oral Form Of A Powerful Disease-fighting Protein
Scientists in Japan are reporting an advance toward using a natural disease-fighting protein in pills or syrups that patients can take by mouth rather than injection. Their study is the...
Inventor's 2020 vision: to help 1bn of the world's poorest see better
It was a chance conversation on March 23 1985 ("in the afternoon, as I recall") that
Feature: The promise of fusion
Though fusion power faces many technical difficulties, fusion technology may eventually be able to deliver a great deal of power without significant greenhouse emissions.
Breakup produces seafloor roughness
Research has explained why the seafloor is rough in some places and smooth in others – it’s partly to do with the break-up of supercontinents.
Small Cars Make Safety Gains
Small cars, which have become more popular with the fluctuation in gas prices, are becoming better equipped to protect motorists in serious crashes, according to tests by the insurance industry.