Latest science news in Physics & Chemistry
Scientists create precise 'thermometer'
BOULDER, Colo., June 5 (UPI) -- U.S. scientists say they have created a system that relies on the "noise" of electrons as a basis for very precisely measuring...
Physicists Determine Density Limit For Randomly Packed Spherical Materials
The problem of how many identical-sized spheres can be randomly packed into a container has challenged mathematicians for centuries. A team of physicists has come up with a solution that...
Measuring a pulsar's smoothness
The team operating the Laser Interferometer Gravity-wave Observatory, including a group from MIT, is reporting this week that the pulsar at the center of the Crab Nebula must have an...
New fingerprint method works on metals
LEICESTER, England, June 4 (UPI) -- British scientists say they've created a new technique for identifying fingerprints on metal in a breakthrough that could solve many cold criminal...
Obituary: Lorenzo Odone
Obituary: Spirited as a child, he developed ALD and became the inspiration behind Lorenzo's oil
Scientists develop 'cyborg engineering' for coronary bypass grafting
A team of London scientists have taken a major step in making the use of artificial veins and arteries in coronary bypass grafts a reality. In a study published in...
Finding out what the Big Bang and ink jets have in common
It often turns out there is more to commonplace everyday events than meets the eye. The folding of paper, or fall of water droplets from a tap, are two such...
Low-cost airlines are now the new major players
Leading low-cost airlines with a preference for small, inexpensive airports are now the largest airlines in the United States and Europe, according to an MIT expert on airport design and...
Better Way To Make A Wafer Of Polyethylene
Layers of plastic, much thinner than a strand of hair—this type of ultrathin polymer film is of great interest to scientists and engineers. A new method to produce wafer-thin layers...
Harnessing Microbes To Meet Our Future Energy Needs
The threat of global warming may also present a significant opportunity for innovation and fresh solutions to today's energy challenges. According to some researchers,there is a vast untapped potential in...
Plant waste biofuels benefit from food debate
TORONTO (Reuters) - In the search for renewable energy, turning low-value materials like switchgrass and corn husks into ethanol to fuel cars is something of a Holy Grail.
Fingerprints recovered from bullets after firing
Corrosion caused by sweat allows fingerprints to be detected on bullets after they have been fired
Printed Biochips: Laser Printing To Unleash Potential Of Peptide Arrays
Peptide arrays are powerful tools for developing new medical substances as well as for diagnosis and therapy techniques. A new production method based on laser printing will enable the potential...
New 'Quasiparticles' Discovered
Scientists have demonstrated, for the first time, the existence of "quasiparticles" with the one quarter the charge of an electron. While charges with odd denominators have been seen, the new,...
Engineers Whip Up First Long-lived Nanoscale Bubbles
With the aid of kitchen mixers, engineers at Harvard's School of Engineering and Applied Sciences have whipped up, for the first time, permanent nanoscale bubbles -- bubbles that endure for...
Micro-robots Dance On Something Smaller Than A Pin's Head
Microscopic robots crafted to maneuver separately without any obvious guidance are now assembling into self-organized structures after years of continuing research led by a Duke University computer scientist.
Quantum Systems Could Flout Physics Law
Scientists have shown how quantum systems might disobey a hard and fast rule of physics: While an ensemble of small systems in a larger heat bath should eventually reach thermal...
Metrics: Wasted Energy
As energy is unlocked from fuels at power plants, two-thirds of the energy consumed to create electricity is lost.
Industries Allied to Cap Carbon Differ on the Details
The difficult bottom line in the negotiations is that dealing with climate change will almost certainly hurt some industries and enrich others.
Humans can 'see' future
Humans can see into the future, says a cognitive scientist. It's nothing like the alleged predictive powers of Nostradamus, but we do get a glimpse of events one-tenth of a...
2007 Chemistry Graduates Find Job Market Healthy
The percentage of 2007 chemistry graduates with full-time jobs as of early last October was relatively high, extending an upturn in employment rates of the past several years, according to...
Interactive Web sites can shape perception
STATE COLLEGE, Pa., June 2 (UPI) -- A U.S. scientist says he's found the interactive look and feel of a corporate Web site can help shape positive perceptions...
Nanotech process produces plastics that are 10 times more stretchable
Move over, Rumplestiltskin. Researchers in China report the first successful “electrospinning” of a type of plastic widely used in automobiles and electronics. The high-tech process, which uses an electric charge...
Microgeneration could rival nuclear, report shows
Buildings equipped with solar, wind and other micro power equipment could generate as much electricity in a year as five nuclear power stations, a UK government-backed industry report has shown
Synergy Between Biology And Physics Drives Cell-imaging Technology
Developing techniques to image the complex biological systems found at the sub-cellular level has traditionally been hampered by divisions between the academic fields of biology and physics. However, a new...
Ultra-thin Image Sensor Based On Insect Eye Being Developed
Insects are a source of inspiration for technological development work. For example, researchers around the world are working on ultra-thin imaging systems based on the insect eye. The principle of...
Economic cost drives Senate climate debate
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The possible economic cost of confronting global warming - from higher electricity bills to more expensive gasoline - is driving the debate as climate change takes center...
Potential Tool For Selectively Manipulating Electron Spins In New Technologies Arises Unexpectedly
Researchers trying to flip the spin of electrons with laser bursts lasting picoseconds (a trillionth of a second) instead found a way to manipulate and control the spin -- knowledge...