Latest science news in Physics & Chemistry
New Superconductors Present New Mysteries, Possibilities
Researchers gave unlocked some of the secrets of newly discovered iron-based high-temperature superconductors, research that could result in the design of better superconductors for use in industry, medicine, transportation and...
Perfect Night Vision? New Superlattice Structure Enables High Performance Infrared Imaging
Scientists have demonstrated for the first time a high-performance infrared imager, based on a Type II superlattice, which looks at wavelengths 20 times longer than visible light. The technology has...
World's Rarest Rhino Caught Wrecking Video Camera
A Javan Rhino was captured on video attacking a camera in an Indonesian jungle.
Tiny Particles Solve Big Problems
Cutting edge nanotechnology research at North Carolina State University is leading to advances in everything from revitalizing HIV drugs to creating harder, stronger nanocrystalline iron that can really take the...
Scientists in Japan Design First Optical Pacemaker for Laboratory Research
The world's first optical pacemaker is described in an article published today in Optics Express, the Optical Society's open-access journal. A team of scientists at Osaka University in Japan show...
High Throughput Microscopy Quantifies Regulation Of Estrogen Receptor
High throughput microscopy that uses robots and special microscopes and techniques to generate thousands of images of a cell in a short time enabled researchers to describe how the genetic...
New Design Enables More Cost-effective Quantum Key Distribution
Researchers have demonstrated a simpler and potentially lower-cost method for distributing cryptographic keys using quantum cryptography, the most secure method of transmitting data. The new method minimizes the required number...
A Molecular 'Salve' to Soothe Surface Stresses
Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology have shown for the first time that a single layer of molecular “salve” can significantly soothe the stresses affecting clean metal...
Carbon Nanoribbons Could Make Smaller, Speedier Computer Chips
Stanford chemists have developed a new way to make transistors out of carbon nanoribbons. The devices could someday be integrated into high-performance computer chips to increase their speed and generate...
Five US Students Selected to International Physics Competition
Five US students have been chosen to travel to Hanoi in Vietnam July 20-30 for the International Physics Olympiad.
Ex-adviser backs nuclear increase
Expanding nuclear power capacity would help meet demands caused by electric cars, a leading scientist says.
Ships re-write temperature chart
An apparent cooling period in the mid-20th Century was due to different measurement methods, scientists say.
Water Used To Make Complicated Chain Of Chemical Reactions For Plastics And Medicines Much More Environmentally Friendly
Chemists unlock water's potential for the new "green chemistry" movement. Researchers have discovered a way to use water to make certain steps of a complicated chain of chemical reactions more...
Examining The Physics Of Carbon Nanotubes
Carbon nanotubes, described as the reigning celebrity of the advanced materials world, are all the rage. Recently researchers used them to make the "blackest black" -- the darkest known material,...
Physicists Don't Flip Spin but Find Possible Electron Switch
University of Oregon 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...
Acute artificial compound eyes
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...
U.S. cable providers move to ditch set-top boxes
Sony Electronics Inc. and six of the biggest U.S. cable companies have agreed to eliminate set-top boxes with a new design that would be built into the television sets themselves.
Massive diamond under the hammer
A 101.27 carat diamond the size of a squash ball, has been sold at auction in Hong Kong for more than $6m (£3m).
A way to hear the electric car coming down the road
"Close your eyes," engineering graduate student Bryan Bai called out from his Prius at the far end of the Tresidder parking lot, before the car began moving forward. A Toyota...
MIT student ingenuity plus high-tech batteries yields advanced all-electric Porsche
With a click and a hum, the sleek Porsche 914 pulled away from the curb while onlookers watched anxiously and the passenger gazed down at a laptop plugged into the...
Pisa's leaning tower safe for 300 years
The leaning tower of Pisa has been successfully stabilized and is out of danger for at least 300 years, said an engineer who has been monitoring the iconic Italian tourist...
Method Uses 'Bluetooth' To Track Travel Time For Vehicles, Pedestrians
Engineers have created a method that uses pervasive Bluetooth signals from cell phones and other wireless devices to constantly update how long it takes vehicles and pedestrians to travel from...
Large Hadron Collider Enables Hunt For 'God' Particle To Complete 'Theory Of Everything'
When the world's most powerful subatomic particle collider begins gathering data this summer, it will be a major milestone for a number of University of Washington scientists. UW physicists and...
Nortel to close Calgary operations
Telecommunications equipment-maker Nortel Networks is closing down its operations in Calgary by 2009, the company said Tuesday.
Nuclear clean-up costs 'to soar'
The cost of decommissioning the UK's ageing nuclear facilities is set to rise above £73bn, the BBC learns.
Quantum dots that produce white light
Take an LED that produces intense, blue light. Coat it with a thin layer of special microscopic beads called quantum dots. And you have what could become the successor to...
Cornell receives federal grants to create fabrics to render toxic chemicals harmless
Cornell fiber scientist Juan Hinestroza is working with the U.S. government to create fabrics made of functional nanofibers that would decompose toxic industrial chemicals into harmless byproducts.
Looking at methane sources in the right light
Plants store one greenhouse gas, but emit another. Whereas they bind carbon dioxide, they release methane - albeit in small quantities. This has now been confirmed by scientists from the...