Latest science news in Physics & Chemistry
The Energy Debates: Nuclear Power
The Energy Debates is a LiveScience series about the pros, cons, policy debates, myths and facts related to various alternative energy ideas.
Self-powered devices possible, says researcher
Imagine a self-powering cell phone that never needs to be charged because it converts sound waves produced by the user into the energy it needs to keep running. It's not...
How Fishy Technology Could Power the Future
A new technology inspired by fish could extract energy from slow-moving currents.
Carbon-neutral Way To Power Your Home
Scientists are working toward a biofuel-driven, zero-carbon home energy system. It works by burning vegetable oil to power a generator and provide electricity for the home.
Disappearing Superconductivity Reappears -- In 2-D
Scientists studying a material that appeared to lose its ability to carry current with no resistance say new measurements reveal that the material is indeed a superconductor -- but only...
Can you hear me now? How the inner ear's sensors are made
A UCLA study shows for the first time how microscopic crystals form sound and gravity sensors inside the inner ear. Located at the ends of cilia — tiny cellular hairs...
With vintage satellites still in orbit, sales are grounded
Their longevity surprises manufacturers but is bad for business. Upon retirement, they join the mass of space junk. ...
New Pipelines Cross Nation, Property Lines
In the push toward more energy independence, massive infrastructure projects that will help to deliver it have clashed with cherished rights of land ownership.
New Technology Could Power Laptop For Days
Tiny fuel cells, powered by combustible liquids or gasses, have been touted as the solution to recharging laptops, cell phones and iPods for extended periods of time. Potentially, they could...
Feature: Hairy electrodes for green cars
How plasma technology promises to greatly reduce the cost of fuel cell manufacture.
Scientists discover possible mechanism for creating 'handedness' in biological molecules
The basic molecules that make up all living things have a predetermined chirality or 'handedness,' similar to the way people are right- or left-handed. This chirality has a profound influence...
'The photon force is with us': Harnessing light to drive nanomachines
Science fiction writers have long envisioned sailing a spacecraft by the optical force of the sun's light. But, the forces of sunlight are too weak to fill even the oversized...
Opening up the last part of the spectrum
(PhysOrg.com) -- New European research on the last, hidden part of the electromagnetic spectrum is producing new, safe and non-destructive tests for medicine, security and industrial quality control.
Imidazolium Salts Show Powerful Antioxidant Properties To Fight Diseases And Are Efficient Catalysts For Converting Biofuels
Commonly used as solvents for various organic reactions, imidazolium salts are room-temperature ionic liquids that are chemically stable and have low vapor pressure. While their physical properties have been widely...
Polymer Solar Cells With Higher Efficiency Levels Created
Currently solar cells are difficult to handle, expensive to purchase and complicated to install. The hope is that consumers will one day be able to buy solar cells from their...
The Most Ambitious Engineering Problem Ever Solved
Construction on the $10-billion behemoth—housed 300 feet underground in a 17-mile circular tube—spanned 14 years and required the efforts of 10,000 engineers and physicists. But its real engineering feat comes...
Six coal research projects selected
WASHINGTON, Dec. 1 (UPI) -- The U.S. Department of Energy says it has selected six university-proposed projects under its University Coal Research Program.
Monitoring carbon storage 'more effective than closing power plants'
New research reveals that using existing technologies to monitor carbon storage could save more carbon than closing power plants.
Scientific research: What's wrong with this picture?
The field of science could rediscover a thing or two about approaches to research by paying attention to Christopher van Donkelaar's 100-Mile Art Project.
Interpol taps into the YouTube generation
The camera work is not perfect and the footage a little grainy, but the Toronto policewoman looks straight into the camera and immediately asks for help.
Bio-inspired Wing Design To Revolutionize Aircraft Flight
It's a bird, it's a plane, it's ... both! While aircraft have always borne a resemblance to their feathered counterparts in the sky, new research is bringing the two even...
Detroit, Check Out This Radical New Karma
A radical new car is getting its first workout. It's the zebra-striped brainchild of designer Henrik Fisker, who's trying to succeed where Detroit so far has failed. Anthony Mason checks...
How the beat of our feet can generate power
The beating of a patient's heart, the shudder of a tube train and the pounding of thousands of commuters' feet on crowded platforms are being exploited as new sources of...
Pesticides Are In For It Now
Chemists have developed a method to detect pesticide residues in foodstuffs -- a method that may also be of interest for other areas and may enable quality checks on a...
Cornell astrophysicist Edwin Salpeter dies at 83
(AP) -- Edwin E. Salpeter, an astrophysicist whose work in the "Salpeter-Bethe equation" showed how helium changes to carbon, has died. He was 83.
Carl D. Keith dies at 88; co-inventor of three-way catalytic converter
Carl D. Keith, who as a principal inventor of the three-way catalytic converter made major contributions to automotive progress, clean air and human health, died Nov. 9 at a hospital...
Spinning Into The Future Of Data Storage
Scientists have improved their understanding of the inner workings of our computers and MP3 players, thanks to an exciting new field of research called "organic spintronics."
Highly Efficient Lithium Batteries Could Greatly Extend Battery Life Of Laptop Computers
Scientists have developed a new material for anodes, which could clear a path for a new generation of rechargeable batteries. Their new material involves three-dimensional, highly porous silicon structures.