Latest science news in Physics & Chemistry
Win Your Costume Contest: Tips for a DIY Techie Halloween
Using neon wires, LED lights and small motors, anyone with a modicum of technical skill can create a high-tech costume sure to stand out from the crowd of ersatz pimps...
Small particles show big promise in beating unpleasant odors
Scientists are reporting development of a new approach for dealing with offensive household and other odors -- one that doesn't simply mask odors like today's room fresheners, but eliminates them...
Air Force Outlines Shadow World of Cyberwarfare
Hackers Trying to Break Into Crucial Networks "Millions of Times a Day," Says Unclassified, 62-Page Report
Feds Push for Better Fuel Efficiency for Trucks
Future Longhaul Trucks, School Buses, and Large Pickups Will Be Required to Cut Fuel Consumption, Emissions by 10-20%
Emissions from consumption outstrip efficiency savings
Emissions from consumption growth have exceeded carbon savings from efficiency improvements in the global supply chain of products consumed in the UK, according to new research by Stockholm Environment Institute...
Trapping charged particles with laser light
Scientists have demonstrated the feasibility of optical trapping for ions, which may lead to a new kind of hybrid quantum systems.
Microwave oven key to self-assembly process meeting semi-conductor industry need
The fundamental nanotechnology process of self assembly may soon replace the lithographic processing use to make the ubiquitous semi-conductor chips. By using microwaves, researchers in Canada have dramatically decreased the...
Researchers Snap Most Detailed MRI Images Ever Taken of a Mammalian Brain
Using an MRI system operating at six times the magnetic field of a conventional clinical scanner, researchers at the Duke Center for In Vivo Microscopy have gathered the most detailed magnetic resonance images...
Robotic gripper runs on coffee ... and balloons
Opting for simple elegance, researchers have bypassed traditional designs based around the human hand and fingers, and created a versatile gripper using everyday ground coffee and a latex party balloon.
Heat acclimation benefits athletic performance
Turning up the heat might be the best thing for athletes competing in cool weather, according to a new study by human physiology researchers at the University of Oregon...
Breakdown of correlated tunneling
Scientists have shown how quantum-mechanical tunneling through a barrier can be altered drastically due to the interplay of many particles in low dimensions.
India and Japan boost nuclear power talks
TOKYO, Oct. 25 (UPI) -- India and Japan announced Monday the two countries would speed up negotiations on a civil nuclear deal.
Beauty from the bottom up
Flamingos apply natural make-up to their feathers to stand out and attract mates, according to a new study by Juan Amat, from the Estación Biológica de Doňana in Seville, Spain,...
Tracking golden eagles by satellite; Impact of large-scale wind farms studied
Large-scale wind farm establishment may have a negative effect on Sweden’s golden eagles. In a unique project in northern Sweden, scientists are trapping adult golden eagles and fitting them with...
Nabucco pipeline dead, Moscow says
MOSCOW, Oct. 25 (UPI) -- Gas reserved for Russia's planned South Stream pipeline makes the European-backed Nabucco project redundant and unnecessary, a Russian energy minister said.
Plot Of The Week - Quark Compositeness Is Nowhere Near
The CMS experiment has just released a new result which excludes the possibility that quarks have a substructure at energy scales below 4 TeV. The result comes from the analysis...
Close-ups of snowflakes win Lennart Nilsson Award
The Lennart Nilsson Award for 2010 is to be awarded to the US physicist Kenneth Libbrecht. He is awarded the prize, which is worth SEK 100,000, for his images of...
Gas contracts illegal, Iraqi party says
BAGHDAD, Oct. 25 (UPI) -- The secular Iraqiya slate in Iraq said the natural gas contracts signed during the latest bidding round are illegal because they need parliamentary approval.
Hydrogen-generating technology might power boats, store energy from wind, solar sources
Researchers have developed a method that uses aluminum and a liquid alloy to extract hydrogen from seawater to run engines in boats and ships, representing a potential replacement for gasoline...
New VECSEL could mean a step forward for spectroscopy
(PhysOrg.com) -- "Unfortunately, for spectroscopy, the beam quality of quantum cascade lasers is not satisfying," Hans Zogg tells PhysOrg.com. "We are developing lasers for the mid-infrared range which have an...
Dual purpose dyes offer new imaging options
Researchers develop combination imaging dyes that can be stored indefinitely and activated when warmed to body temperature
All the same size: Assembly of uniformly pure protein microparticles using calcium carbonate templates
(PhysOrg.com) -- Proteins are an interesting class of drugs because they demonstrate high biological activity and are highly specific in their effects. It has become possible to produce more and...
German auto sector voices concern over rare-earth spat
The German auto sector is voicing concern over supplies of rare earth minerals needed to develop electric vehicles after Japanese companies said access to the raw materials was restricted by...
Sensing Peroxide Explosives
Antiterrorism: Sensor array detects triacetone triperoxide at part-per-billion levels.
Wayward winds - Predicting the output of wind parks
For the first time, scientists are comparing methods for predicting the power output of wind parks in Austria. The project, supported by the Austrian Science Fund FWF, thus creates a...
Tabletop source of bright, coherent X-rays
Producing tightly focused beams of high energy X-rays, to examine everything from molecular structures to the integrity of aircraft wings, could become simpler and cheaper according to new research. Researchers...
Robot soldiers patrol Nasa's radioactive waste dump
Not exactly Terminator-terrifying – more like golf buggies armed with a bright light and loudspeakerAs fans of the Terminator films will know, the machines were due to rise up against their human masters...
Electron Scattering And The Proton Structure
Week number one of my course on Subnuclear Gauge Physics is over. I think that in the first five hours of lesson I have given to my students a reasonable...