Latest science news in Physics & Chemistry
X-ray Vision Sheds New Light on Lightning Strikes
The world’s first x-ray images of lightning capture it just before it strikes the ground at almost 1/10 the speed of light.
Study probes link between magnetism, superconductivity
European and U.S. physicists this week are offering up the strongest evidence yet that magnetism is the driving force behind unconventional superconductivity. The findings by researchers from Rice University, the...
Cells 'feel' the difference between stiff or soft and thick or thin matrix
Cultured mesenchymal stem cells can "feel" at least several microns below surface of artificial microfilm matrix, gauging elasticity of extracellular bedding, a crucial variable in determining their fate.
Scientists take molecule's temperature
A new article details a technique that measures the temperature of molecules set between two gold nanowires and heated either by current applied to the wires or laser light.
Pratt & Whitney starts $1B R&D project
Pratt & Whitney is starting a $1-billion project to develop lighter aircraft engines with more power, better fuel consumption and improved durability.
German research centre widens misconduct probe
Investigation digs deeper after finding images were manipulated in six papers.
Canadian scientists identify a spontaneously chain-reacting molecule
In the burgeoning field of nano-science there are now many ways of 'writing' molecular-scale messages on a surface, one molecule at a time. The trouble is that writing a molecule...
Video: Genevieve Steele performs the Celtic Harp at Cern
Andy Duckworth, producer of the Guardian's Science Weekly podcast, visits Cern, where PhD student Genevieve Steele plays the Celtic Harp. She's one of the performers on the Resonance album released...
Small details between 'in vivo' and 'in vitro' studies make for big differences
Small details between "in vivo" and "in vitro" studies make for big differences in understanding diabetes and other secretory dysfunctions
Porous Compounds Prefer Paraffins
Metal-organic frameworks can selectively separate paraffins from mixtures with olefins.
Water Destabilizes Protein-Hydrophobic Ligand Complexes
The first quantitative comparison of dissociation rates of solvated and nonsolvated complexes gives surprising results.
Oil players team up on tech
LONDON, Dec. 13 (UPI) -- Oil major Royal Dutch Shell and oilfield services company Schlumberger announced plans to work on ways to extend the life of existing oil and...
Nanotube probe for cellular studies
Carbon nanotube-based endoscope can probe the internal workings of a cell without causing damage
NIST's New Scanning Probe Microscope is Supercool
Pushing the regime of the very cold into the realm of the very small, NIST researchers and their collaborators have designed and built the most advanced ultra-low temperature scanning probe...
Ukraine to open Chernobyl area to tourists in 2011
KIEV, Ukraine (AP) -- Want a better understanding of the world's worst nuclear disaster? Come tour the Chernobyl nuclear power plant....
LU researcher: NASA's ET hype does disservice to science
NASA researchers recently unveiled a major discovery -- the first identified microorganism on Earth able to thrive using toxic arsenic rather than phosphorus, which forms the DNA-backbone of all other...
Sony names Nobel chemist Negishi as research advisor
Electronics giant Sony said Monday it had named Eiichi Negishi, the Japanese co-recipient of this year's Nobel Prize for chemistry, as a senior advisor for research and development.
Power Plants: Engineers Mimic Photosynthesis to Harvest Light Energy
Plants take advantage of quantum mechanics to harvest sunlight with near-perfect efficiency--though only roughly 2 percent of that capture sunlight ultimately gets stored as chemical energy. Now scientists are studying how this light-harvesting...
An element of Nobel-ity: Michigan Tech's carbon connection
Who ever would have guessed that the business end of Dixon Ticonderoga No. 2 pencils would someday be the next big thing? John Jaszczak, perhaps.
Polymer scientists make imprint on nanolithography
(PhysOrg.com) -- Nanolithography, or surface patterning on a nanoscale, is critical for modern technology, but has been developed largely for patterning flat surfaces until recently. A team of University of...
Practical, tunable, 3-D microdroplet laser developed
Scientists have developed a microdroplet 3-D laser system in which laser light shines forth in all directions from dye molecules lodged within spherical drops of helical molecules dispersed in a...
Carbon fluxes in the oceans: The strange behavior of small particles at density interfaces
Researchers have found a remarkable effect while studying how marine particles sink, which could affect the way scientists assess global carbon fluxes. Their question: How fast does organic material and...
Physicists make atoms and dark matter add up
Physicists have proposed a unified explanation for dark matter and the so-called baryon asymmetry -- the apparent imbalance of matter with positive baryon charge and antimatter with negative baryon charge...
Images show atom ‘spinning top’ control
Precession of quantum mechanical angular momentum in atomic oxygen can be directed and pictured, potentially allowing more detailed reaction studies
Electric vehicles may bring new sticker shock: multiple mileage ratings
How do you gauge fuel economy when there's no gasoline? Government agencies can't agree.According to the government, the car with the highest mileage per gallon on the market doesn't use...
Students Bounce to the Top at JPL Competition
With rubber band contraptions, leaf blowers, balloons and other items, student teams used ping-pong lifting devices in JPL's annual Invention Challenge, held today, Dec. 10.
Nuclear reaction defies expectations
Unusual form of fission leaves theorists scratching their heads
Brazil's Science Ministry Goes From Physicist to Politician
The head of the Brazilian Association for the Advancement of Science (BAAS) says, "We...