Latest science news in Physics & Chemistry
iPanic? Headphones Can Hinder Pacemakers
Have a pacemaker or an implanted defibrillator? Don't keep your iPod earbuds in your shirt pocket or draped around your neck. A study finds that some headphones can interfere with...
Femtosecond, Chirped Laser Pulse Trains Could Reduce Decoherence
A physics professor is proposing to use femtosecond, chirped laser pulse trains to reduce decoherence. Controlling coherence can overcome current barriers in a variety of fields, from quantum computing to...
'Liquid Mirror' Advance May Lead To Better Eye Exams, Improved Telescopes
Scientists in Canada are reporting progress toward a new type of "liquid mirror" -- mirrors made with highly reflective liquids -- whose shape can be changed to provide superior optical...
Small generator makes electricity by stretching zinc wires
Researchers have developed a new type of small-scale electric power generator able to produce alternating current through the cyclical stretching and releasing of zinc oxide wires encapsulated in a flexible...
Novel spoiler design for vans reduces fuel consumption
As if the drivers of mini vans and utility vehicles needed any more encouragement to drive fast between jobs, US researchers have designed a new rear spoiler for bluff-backed vehicles...
Almost frictionless
Lubricants in bearings and gear units ensure that not too much energy is lost through friction. Yet it still takes a certain percentage of the energy to compensate for friction...
Stretching Silicon: A New Method To Measure How Strain Affects Semiconductors
Engineers and physicists have developed a method of measuring how strain affects thin films of silicon that could lay the foundation for faster flexible electronics.
Record High Performance With New Solar Cells
Researchers in China and Switzerland are reporting the highest efficiency ever for a promising new genre of solar cells, which many scientists think offer the best hope for making the...
Mini Nuclear Power Plants Could Power 20,000 Homes
(PhysOrg.com) -- Underground nuclear power plants no bigger than a hot tub may soon provide electricity for communities around the world. Measuring about 1.5 meters across, the mini reactors can...
NASA to host carbon dioxide seminar
WASHINGTON, Nov. 10 (UPI) -- The U.S. space agency is planning a seminar that will focus on the current state of knowledge of how Earth influences levels of...
YouTube to host MGM films, TV shows
YouTube and Metro Goldwyn Mayer (MGM) announced on Monday that the popular video-sharing website will host some full-length television shows and films from the famed Hollywood studio.
Fitness: Road Runner Rage
Nothing ruins a good run quite like a ton of steel in your path.
Forensic work named top invention
A technique, developed in Northamptonshire, to find fingerprints on bullets is named a top invention of 2008.
Warehouses Made More Efficient
In warehouses, tidiness is a flexible term. Storage areas can be rearranged or moved around at any time. Forklift trucks will soon make it easy to follow the material flow...
Why two lobsters were saved from the boiling pot
Two of Scotland's most unusually coloured lobsters are saved from the boiling pot.
Bigger Hockey Players Causing More Concussions
When two players collide, where does all of that kinetic energy go?
UK fingerprint 'developer' can read a letter from its envelope
(PhysOrg.com) -- UK scientists have discovered a fingerprint'“developer' which can highlight invisible prints on almost any surface - and read the text of a letter just from the envelope...
Hydrogen-powered race car unveiled
Melbourne researchers have built Australia's first hydrogen-powered racing car using a modified internal combustion motorcycle engine.
Opinion: Green light for grey buildings - new hope for old offices
Instead of starting from scratch we should invest in making existing buildings meet the demands of today’s tenants for energy efficiency and increased amenity, believes Paul Sloman.
Window into cancer-spread secrets
A technique which literally places a window in a mouse's chest could help scientists unlock cancer's most deadly process.
James C. Warf dies at 91; Manhattan Project chemist became peace activist, USC professor
James C. Warf, a retired USC chemistry professor who became a peace activist after studying nuclear energy and the effects of radiation, died Friday at his home in Silver Lake....
New synthesis approach could create more durable and elastic materials
In the not-so-distant future, plastics could be more durable and rubbers could be more... well... rubbery thanks to a novel new approach to polymer synthesis discovered by Texas Tech University...
Congolese soldiers advance toward rebel lines
KIBATI, Congo (AP) -- Congolese soldiers advanced toward rebel lines Saturday in renewed fighting that threatens a tenuous cease-fire around the eastern provincial capital Goma....
New Fighter Jet: Controversial Future of the U.S. Fleet
The F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) is slated to become the backbone of the U.S. tactical aviation fleet.
Utilities putting new energy into geothermal sources
Geothermal sources draw power firms in quest for renewables. ...
Roadside tributes to crash victims prompt better driving: study
Roadside memorials can work as visible deterrents to bad driving, a Calgary study has found.
Magnetic solution for sticky problem
Belgian scientists have discovered a new method to stop nanoparticles sticking together
Scientists revisit 1833 hydrogen production experiment
(PhysOrg.com) -- In the early 1800s, during the peak of the Industrial Revolution, modern science revolved around steam engines and other coal-powered applications. So it may seem a bit out...