Latest science news in Physics & Chemistry
Glowing Jellyfish Leads To Chemistry Nobel
Two Americans and a U.S.-based Japanese scientist won the Nobel Prize in chemistry for their discovery and development of a protein that literally illuminates key processes such as the spread...
Scientists Engineer Superconducting Thin Films
Scientists have successfully produced two-layer thin films where neither layer is superconducting on its own, but which exhibit a nanometer-thick region of superconductivity at their interface. The work is one...
New spintronics effect could lead to magnetic batteries
Physicists have recently discovered that heating one side of a magnetized nickel-iron rod causes electrons to rearrange themselves according to their spins. This so-called "spin Seebeck effect" could lead to...
Student Experiments Fly High on Helium Balloons
Four teams of students sponsored by ESA are jubilant after their experiments returned safely to Earth at the end of the latest Balloon Experiments for University Students (BEXUS) campaign inside...
Researchers design artificial cells that could power medical implants
Researchers at Yale University have created a blueprint for artificial cells that are more powerful and efficient than the natural cells they mimic and could one day be used to...
Thermoelectrics could boost gas mileage
EVANSTON, Ill., Oct. 10 (UPI) -- U.S. researchers said the technology used to heat and cool car seats has the potential to improve gas mileage.
Baked Slug: New Method To Test Fireproofing Material
Researchers have developed a technique for measuring a key thermal property of fire-resistive materials at high temperatures. The measurement technique has already been adopted commercially and incorporated into a national...
Car Or Pedestrian? How We Follow Objects With Our Eyes
When an object moves fast, we follow it with our eyes: our brain correspondingly calculates the speed of the object and adapts our eye movement to it. This in itself...
New Sensor Could Help Avert Pipeline Failures
Researchers have developed a prototype sensor that quickly detects very small amounts of hydrogen accumulation in coated pipeline steel. The new sensor could provide early warning of pipes that have...
Warm welcome for house powered by hydrogen fuel cell
House in Lye, near Stourbridge, will be opened as the first of its kind connected to the national grid
Flying Cars
Paul Moller's flying cars look like UFOs or vehicles out of the Jetsons. Moller explains how they work. Credit: Moller Int.
Former head of MIT math department dies
WASHINGTON, Oct. 9 (UPI) -- Ken Hoffman, a former head of the math department at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and author of a textbook on linear algebra,...
Mimicking Gecko Feet: Dry Adhesive Based On Carbon Nanotubes Gets Stronger
The race for the best "gecko foot" dry adhesive just got a new competitor this week with a stronger and more practical material reported by US researchers.
Spallation Neutron Source Sends First Neutrons to 'Big Bang' Beam Line
New analytical tools coming on line at the Spallation Neutron Source, the Department of Energy's state-of-the-art neutron science facility at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, include a beam line dedicated to...
The Science of Spinning
Why does a spinning skater speed up when she pulls her arms closer to her body? It's the same phenomenon that causes the carousel in the video to rotate faster...
Intermediate eXperimental Vehicle – new video
In 2012, Vega will carry ESA’s Intermediate eXperimental Vehicle into space. The vehicle will then return to Earth to test a range of enabling systems and technologies for atmospheric re-entry....
‘Stamp’ method brings bendy, transparent solar cells
US researchers create start-up firm to commercialize their concept
Mushroom enzyme could strip pollutants from fuel cells
An enzyme from fungus that grows on rotting wood could be used as clean alternative to expensive and polluting and rare metals in fuel cells and batteries, say scientists
Biopesticides face obstacles in EU
LONDON, Oct. 9 (UPI) -- A study suggests Britain has been slow to embrace biopesticides over conventional pesticides because of the way regulations are structured.
New Optics For Improved Solar Power Generators
Researchers are hoping to achieve higher solar cell efficiency involves using special coatings on solar cells that split light into colors like blue and red, which scientists estimate will increase...
Highest Power Tabletop Laser Ever Built
Physicists at the University of Texas have built a tabletop laser that produces, at the present time, the largest peak power of any laser in the world: 1.1 petawatts (PW),...
Liquid Lenses Promise Picture-Perfect Phone Cam Photos
TROY, N.Y.--Despite their ubiquity, cell phones are not known for their ability to take picture-perfect photos. But budding "liquid lens" technology promises to change that by providing phone photogs with...
Twice as Nice: Combining a Wind Farm and Solar Energy in Italy
Companies that specialize in harvesting renewable energy tend to focus in one area, whether it's solar, waves or wind power. Moncada Energy Group, s.r.l., an Italian maker of wind farm...
A breakthrough is expected in the research to develop artificial life
As significant advances in artificial life are predicted to arrive soon, there remain conceptual challenges to be overcome before synthetic cells are possible
Researchers Moving Closer to Creating Viable Energy From Sewage
(PhysOrg.com) -- When a newly developed technology for producing hydrogen gas from biowaste is brought to commercial use - as researchers believe it can be - then it...
Brightening the future for optical circuits
(PhysOrg.com) -- By working together to share costs and know-how, European researchers are shaking up the way research and development is carried out on optical chips.
Lock and Roll
Werner O. Merlo’s patio umbrella refused to stay locked in a tilted position. Frustrated, he replaced the sagging sunshade’s flimsy ball-and-joint with a self-designed mechanism that swiveled smoothly yet held...
ZPower claims its silver-zinc batteries last 40% longer than lithium-ion
A company called ZPower has designed batteries with silver- and zinc-based electrodes that it says will offer up to 40% more computer time per charge than today´s lithium-ion batteries. Consumers...