Latest science news in Physics & Chemistry
Shape Changes In Aroma-producing Molecules Determine The Fragrances We Detect
Shakespeare wrote "a rose by any other name would smell as sweet." But would it if the molecules that generate its fragrance were to change their shape?
New Type Of Laser Discovered
Researchers have discovered an entirely new mechanism for making common electronic materials emit laser beams. The finding could lead to lasers that operate more efficiently and at higher temperatures than...
The unequal effects of giving and taking
A new study appears to shed some light on why holiday gift-giving may be such a touchy matter and why your mother-in-law is still angry that you missed last year's...
Chaos Theory Simplified: Just Follow the Bouncing Droplet
Two researchers have created a strikingly simple model of chaotic behavior, in which variations in initial conditions become so tangled and magnified by the system's dynamics that the outcome appears...
Researchers create smaller, brighter probe tailored for molecular imaging and tumour targeting
Researchers have developed a new generation of microscopic particles for molecular imaging, constituting one of the first promising nanoparticle platforms that may be readily adapted for tumour targeting and treatment...
Study on cytotoxicity of carbon nanotubes
Owing to the novel properties of carbon nanotubes (CBNs), a series of problems associated with in vitro toxicity assessments of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have appeared in many papers. In order...
Leptin's long-distance call to the pancreas
Rube Goldberg - the cartoonist who devised complex machines for simple tasks - would have smiled at one of leptin's mechanisms for curbing insulin release. As Hinoi et al. show,...
Scientists reveal structure of new botulism nerve toxin subtype
Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory have determined the atomic-level structure of a third subtype of botulinum neurotoxin - a deadly toxin produced by certain...
At a Sleek Bioenergy Lab, a Lens on a Cabinet Pick
A look into the lab of Dr. Steven Chu, who President-elect Barack Obama has recently named the next energy secretary.
Feather scientists have Christmas all wrapped up
(PhysOrg.com) -- Material scientists at The University of Manchester are causing a festive flap after developing a way of making Christmas wrapping paper - from TURKEY FEATHERS.
Storing the Breeze: New Battery Might Make Wind Power More Reliable
Winter winds howl off the Dakota prairie through Minnesota, turning the 1,100 megawatts worth of wind turbines in Xcel Energy's system in that state. By 2020, the utility expects to...
E. coli engineered to produce important class of antibiotic, anti-cancer drugs
Researchers from the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science have taken a major step forward in the field of metabolic engineering, successfully using the bacterium Escherichia coli...
New 'smart' materials for the brain
Research done by scientists in Italy and Switzerland has shown that carbon nanotubes may be the ideal "smart" brain material. Their results, published December 21 in the advance online edition...
Can You "Superinsulate" It?
With the hopes of dramatically cutting energy use, a family embarks on an outsized project to put a foam blanket around their 80-year-old house.
Dream of quantum computing closer to reality as mathematicians chase key breakthrough
The ability to exploit the extraordinary properties of quantum mechanics in novel applications, such as a new generation of super-fast computers, has come closer following recent progress with some of...
Cancer-fighting antibodies
MIT engineers have found that antibodies do not need a particular sugar attachment long believed to be essential to their function, a discovery that could make producing therapeutic antibodies much...
Producing A More Effective Oral Form Of A Powerful Disease-fighting Protein
Scientists in Japan are reporting an advance toward using a natural disease-fighting protein in pills or syrups that patients can take by mouth rather than injection. Their study is the...
Inventor's 2020 vision: to help 1bn of the world's poorest see better
It was a chance conversation on March 23 1985 ("in the afternoon, as I recall") that
Feature: The promise of fusion
Though fusion power faces many technical difficulties, fusion technology may eventually be able to deliver a great deal of power without significant greenhouse emissions.
Breakup produces seafloor roughness
Research has explained why the seafloor is rough in some places and smooth in others – it’s partly to do with the break-up of supercontinents.
Small Cars Make Safety Gains
Small cars, which have become more popular with the fluctuation in gas prices, are becoming better equipped to protect motorists in serious crashes, according to tests by the insurance industry.
The "Detroit's A Loser" Myth
The inconvenient truth is GM, Ford and Chrysler build a lot of really good - and often great - cars and we buy a lot of them.
Seven easy actions you can do today to save the environment and gas
Want to save gasoline, lower your power bills and help save the environment? New Vanderbilt research identifies seven simple actions individuals can start today that have the potential to dramatically...
IBM researchers develop world's fastest graphene transistor
IBM researchers announced that they demonstrated the operation of graphene field-effect transistors at GHz frequencies, and achieved the highest frequencies reported so far using this novel non-silicon electronic material...
Scientists create titanium-based structural metallic-glass composites
Scientists from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) have created a range of structural metallic-glass composites, based in titanium, that are lighter and less expensive than any the group had...
Dot Earth: Ask Obama’s Science Team
What would you like to ask the science team advising the 44th president?
Computing in a molecule
(PhysOrg.com) -- Over the last 60 years, ever-smaller generations of transistors have driven exponential growth in computing power. Could molecules, each turned into miniscule computer components, trigger even greater growth...
Uranium exposed
US scientists have developed a way to tell if war veterans have been in contact with depleted uranium