Latest science news in Physics & Chemistry
New Microscope Ditches The Lenses
Researchers have come up with a microscopic microscope, tiny enough to fit on a fingertip, that can be cheaply mass-produced and used to scan blood and water for pathogens.
Rocket Racing Could be Futuristic NASCAR Sport
With its first demonstration of a rocket-powered plane, the Rocket Racing League is hoping to have invented a new sport. Thousands of spectators witnessed the league´s first flight, held at...
Scientists create a nanoscale scale
BERKELEY, Calif., July 31 (UPI) -- U.S. scientists say they have created a nanoelectromechanical scale system sensitive enough to measure the mass of a single atom of gold...
Nanoparticles + Light = Dead Tumor Cells
Medical physicists at the University of Virginia have created a novel way to kill tumor cells using nanoparticles and light. The technique, devised by Wensha Yang, an instructor in radiation...
New Class Of Glassy Material Discovered
Scientists are dealing with an entirely new type of frustration, but it's not stressing them out. Dynamic frustration has been found to be the cause of glassy behavior in materials...
Water-stingy Agriculture Reduces Arsenic In Rice Markedly
A new farming method first developed to conserve precious irrigation water may have the added benefit of producing rice containing much less arsenic than rice grown using traditional rice-farming methods,...
New 'green' transit bus is developed
OAK RIDGE, Tenn., July 30 (UPI) -- U.S. engineers say they've created a lightweight urban transit bus with double the fuel efficiency of conventional hybrid transit buses.
Cars band together to avoid being swiped
Cars in a parking lot could soon keep track of each other and, like sheep, complain if one of their numbers is stolen or meets a bad end.
Scientists find quick method to make magnets
(PhysOrg.com) -- Ultra-strong, high-temperature, high-performance permanent magnet compounds, such as Samarium Cobalt, are the mainstay materials for several industries that rely on high-performance motor and power generation applications, including the...
Killer pulses help characterize special surfaces
Detecting deadly fumes in subways, toxic gases in chemical spills, and hidden explosives in baggage is becoming easier and more efficient with a measurement technique called surface-enhanced Raman scattering. To...
Nearly Waterless Washing Machine to Debut in 2009
A new washing machine that uses just a cup of water, a pinch of detergent, and about 1,000 small plastic chips to clean clothes may be available for consumers in...
After Bike-Sharing Success, Paris Considers Electric Cars
The new car-sharing program, expected to begin in late 2009 or early 2010, would bring a fleet of 4,000 electric cars and would be run by the city of Paris.
Observatory: Bringing Microscopes Down to Size in Quest for More Compact Labs
Researchers are reporting the development of two fully functioning microscopes-on-a-chip.
The Jetpack: From Comics to a Liftoff in the Yard
An inventor unveiled what he calls “the world’s first practical jetpack” at an air show in Wisconsin.
The Nature of Glass Remains Anything but Clear
Peer into its molecules, and glass is indiscernible from a liquid. So how can it be hard? And how does it get that way? For scientists, the puzzle persists.
Air freshener chemical concerns revived
US study adds to controversy surrounding scented household products
Beyond Cold: How the World Works at Minus 459 Degrees
Most of us would agree that 32 degrees Fahrenheit (F), the temperature at which water freezes, is a pretty cold day, but what about minus 320 degrees F, the boiling...
Scientists test computer energy efficiency
SAN DIEGO, July 29 (UPI) -- U.S. scientists, noting information technologies use as much energy as the airline industry, are creating a method to assess computer energy efficiency.
PolyOne Will Close Eight Plants
Polymer compounder is latest to respond to poor economic conditions
Can Ball Lightning Be Created in Microwave Ovens?
Are glowing orbs in a reheating appliance the same thing as ball lightning?
Everyday Electromagnetism
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f43fXde2S78&feature=related Try to pick up a penny with a magnet. Can't do it, can you? And yet as the person in the video moves a magnet close to a copper penny,...
If you can't measure the heat...
Accurate measurement of thermal performance is crucial if new government legislation aimed at producing dramatic reductions in CO2 emissions is to be successful. The UK's National Physical Laboratory (NPL)...
Slippery Customer: A Greener Antiwear Additive For Engine Oils
Titanium, a protean element with applications from pigments to aerospace alloys, could get a new role as an environmentally friendly additive for automotive oil.
Students' Device Aims to Protect Electric Utility Workers
Engineering students at Johns Hopkins have invented a tool that would allow utility workers to disconnect power lines from residential transformers at a safe distance, beyond the range of dangerous...
Nanoparticle Research Points To Energy Savings
NIST experiments with varying concentrations of nanoparticle additives indicate a major opportunity to improve the energy efficiency of large industrial, commercial, and institutional cooling systems known as chillers.
Phonon Floodgate In Monolayer Carbon: Unexpected Gap-like Feature Found In Energy Spectrum Of Electrons Tunneling Into Graphene's Single Layer Of Atoms
The first scanning tunneling spectroscopy of graphene flakes equipped with a "gate" electrode has found an unexpected gap-like feature in the energy spectrum of electrons tunneling into graphene's single layer...
Breast Cancer Detection: A Simpler Alternative To Mammograms?
Whether a painless, portable device that uses electrical current rather than X-ray to look for breast cancer could be an alternative to traditional mammograms is under study. New research will...
Science Weekly podcast: Ted Bianco and Lonesome George
Alok Jha and Ian Sample are joined by Ted Bianco, the Wellcome Trust's director of technology transfer. Plus Edzard Ernst on homeopathy. Solar power from the Sahara. And why Lonesome...