Latest science news in Physics & Chemistry
Diamagnetic Cavity Shields For Spacecraft?
Radiation force shields may leap from science fiction to fact via magnetic fields.
New type of fuel found in Patagonia fungus
A team led by a Montana State University professor has found a fungus that produces a new type of diesel fuel, which they say holds great promise.
Game changing advance for solar power?
Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have discovered and demonstrated a new method for overcoming two major hurdles facing solar energy. read more
Fuels of the future may come from 'ice that burns,' water and sunshine
Move over, oil, gasoline, and coal. Researchers are describing key advances in developing new fuels to help supply an energy-hungry world in the 21st Century in the eighth and ninth...
Inside Windows 7's New Desktop
The differences between Vista and Windows 7 are subtle -- sometimes so subtle that they can go unnoticed.
Nanotubes Deemed Different From Carbon
EPA clarifies to industry that material must be treated as new substance
Stretching silicon: A new method to measure how strain affects semiconductors
University of Wisconsin-Madison 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...
Protein-printing technique gives snapshots of immune system defence
When Albrecht Durer and other Renaissance artists painstakingly etched images onto plates, swabbed ink into the fine grooves and transferred the images to paper with a press, they never could...
Cheaper than chips
Capillary tubes may offer an inexpensive alternative to on-chip diagnostics, say French scientists.
The Safety Gap
China is becoming the biggest producer of pharmaceutical ingredients in the world but the F.D.A. inspects just a tiny fraction of China’s drug plants. Can we be sure what...
Car Runs Mostly on Air
Developer Zero Pollution Motors is working on a compressed air vehicle (CAV).
Physicists Cue Nanosecond Beat of Nano-Baton
By perfecting a technique to control the vibrations of high frequency nano-cantilevers, Canadian physicists have overcome a roadblock to using nano-electro-mechanical systems (NEMS) for digital logic and memory applications and...
Robodoc: surgeon of the future in theaters now
LONDON (Reuters) - A mechanical snake that can enter the body through natural orifices -- not an incision -- to perform operations is just one futuristic device researchers believe will...
MIT pieces together the mechanism that allows 2 pacemakers to control breathing
Two pacemakers in the brain work together in harmony to ensure that breathing occurs in a regular rhythm, according to new research from MIT scientists.
Smart Fabrics, The New Black
Smart fabrics and intelligent textiles – material that incorporates cunning molecules or clever electronics – is thriving and European research efforts are tackling some of the sector’s toughest challenges.
Fluid Transducer: Electricity From Gas And Water
A large number of technical systems work with air or water. Air compression systems and water pipes are just two examples. Researchers have now successfully managed to convert this fluidic...
Diesel Fuel From a Tree Fungus?
Microbe's hydrocarbon stew could one day supplant fossil fuels
Nanomechanical Swimmers
Platinum/gold nanorods in distilled water migrate toward a source of hydrogen peroxide.
Olive pits: Tomorrow's fuel?
GRANADA, Spain, Nov. 3 (UPI) -- Spanish scientists say olive pits, also know as stones, can be turned into bioethanol and used as an alternative power source for...
NIST develops improved chemical sensor
GAITHERSBURG, Md., Nov. 3 (UPI) -- U.S. government scientists say they've created an improved electronic chemical detector comprised of 16 microheater elements and eight types of sensors.
Streamlining Brain Signals For Speed And Efficacy
Life exists at the edge of chaos, where small changes can have striking and unanticipated effects, and major stimuli may go unheard. But there is no space for ambiguity when...
Utilities putting new energy into geothermal sources
Geothermal sources draw power firms in quest for renewables. ...
Nanoscale torsion resonator is developed
BOSTON, Nov. 3 (UPI) -- A team of U.S., French, German and South Korean scientists has developed a nanoscale device that can detect torque-generating molecules and DNA strands.
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...
Efficiency’s Mark: City Glitters a Little Less
Rising energy costs and more sophisticated lighting systems have dimmed Manhattan’s venerable nightscape.
Software for safe bridges
Spanning deep gorges, rivers and freeways, bridges are an indispensable part of the traffic network. Yet their condition in Germany is appalling: In a survey carried out by the German...
Satellites Approach Theoretical Shannon Limit
Satellites are achieving unparalleled efficiency with a new protocol, DVB-S2. The performance of DVB-S2 satellite systems is very close to the theoretical maximum, defined by the Shannon Limit. That efficiency...
The inaudible symphony analysed
By measuring 'inaudible' sounds, events like illegal nuclear tests can be detected. This 'infrasound' can also help us understand more about the upper atmosphere, according to Laeslo Evers. Evers will...