Latest science news in Physics & Chemistry
Process in big-screen plasma TVs can produce ultra-clean fuel
The process that lights up big-screen plasma TV displays is getting a new life in producing ultra-clean fuels, according to a new report. It describes a small, low-tech, inexpensive device...
New PV cell generates electricity from IR and UV light
(PhysOrg.com) -- A prototype of a new type of photovoltaic (PV) cell that generates electricity from visible, infrared and ultraviolet light has been demonstrated by a group of Japanese scientists....
Ukrainians wary of gas consortium
KIEV, Ukraine, March 24 (UPI) -- Less than half of the population in Ukraine supports a measure to create a gas consortium with Russia in the energy transit sector,...
Nuclear Bombs Expose Fake Wines
Here are two seemingly unrelated facts. One: from the late 1940s through 1963, we tested atomic bombs in the atmosphere. Two: wine lovers are sometimes duped into spending exorbitant amounts...
New approach to water desalination
A new approach to desalination being developed by researchers at MIT and in Korea could lead to small, portable desalination units that could be powered by solar cells or batteries...
From pollutant to profit -- nanoscience turns carbon on its head
Three new complementary research projects will turn carbon from a pollutant into useful products that could help both industry and the environment.
Incorporating biofunctionality into nanomaterials for medical, health devices
A team led by researchers from North Carolina State University has published a paper that describes the use of a technique called atomic layer deposition to incorporate 'biological functionality' into...
Chavez battered by energy crisis
CARACAS, Venezuela, March 23 (UPI) -- With no substantial rain in sight, the electricity crisis hitting Venezuela is creating an opening for political opposition to President Hugo Chavez.
Quantum dots could boost performance of mobile phone cameras
(PhysOrg.com) -- As it's becoming more and more difficult for silicon alone to improve the sensors used in today's digital cameras, a new material may be emerging from physics labs...
A more sensitive sensor
Scientists have set out to make sensors for microelectromechanical systems significantly more sensitive and reliable than they are today, shrinking their work to nano-size to do it.
Purifying the sea one drop at a time
Microfluidic channels offer promise of cheap, portable desalination.
Printable sensors
In the future every home will have one: electronic devices that you can control just by pointing a finger. To turn this vision into reality the 3Plast research consortium is...
Sandia to Break Ground for New Computational Laboratories Building
A groundbreaking ceremony for a new facility - the Combustion Research Computation and Visualization (CRCV) building, part of the Combustion Research Facility (CRF) - will take place at 2 p.m.,...
'Smart' Roof Responds to Temperature, Saves Energy
A new material made from cooking oil could change your roof into a chameleon of sorts. Instead of changing the color of its skin, the roof coating morphs its optical...
Gold Dust Extends Raman's Reach
Spectroscopy: Nanoparticles open scattering technique to new applications.
Nuclear energy on the table for Pakistan?
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, March 22 (UPI) -- Washington may consider a civilian nuclear energy package for Pakistan at a major bilateral conference scheduled for the end of the week, U.S....
Fairness With Strangers May Be Invention of Large Societies
We’re nice to our families. From an evolutionary perspective, that makes sense. But what makes us deal fairly with strangers? One theory holds that the development of large societies necessitated...
Taming the wild phonon
(PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers at MIT and elsewhere have succeeded in creating a synthetic crystal that can very effectively control the transmission of heat -- stopping it in its tracks and...
New way to cool computers is developed
ROCHESTER, N.Y., March 22 (UPI) -- U.S. scientists say they have used tiny structures in silicon to force liquid to flow vertically upward along the silicon surface, defying gravity.
Iron-nitrogen compound forms strongest magnet known
(PhysOrg.com) -- A group of scientists from the University of Minnesota say that Fe16N2 crystals are more magnetic than the most magnetic material previously known, and its magnetism exceeds the...
URI pharmacy researcher finds beneficial compounds in pure maple syrup
Before you dig in to your next stack of French toast or waffles, you might want to pour on pure maple syrup...
Spying on a cellular director in the cutting room
Like a film director cutting out extraneous footage to create a blockbuster, the cellular machine called the spliceosome snips out unwanted stretches of genetic material and joins the remaining pieces...
Caltech-led team provides proof in humans of RNA interference using targeted nanoparticles
A California Institute of Technology (Caltech)-led team of researchers and clinicians has published the first proof that a targeted nanoparticle - used as an experimental therapeutic and injected directly into...
In Cement, the Stirrings of a Potential Trap for Some Carbon
A start-up called Calera says it has found a way to capture carbon dioxide by using it to make cement, but skeptics have doubts.
Mastery of rare-earth elements vital to America's security
Used in everything from batteries to electric motors, rare earth elements are vital to America's security, a senior metallurgist at the US Department of Energy's Ames Laboratory, told members of...
Imperfect chips pave the way for new quantum technology
When it comes to optical chips, disorder can actually be desirable. The surprising finding was made by a research group in Denmark, overturning the common notion that optical chips must...
'Cold fusion' moves closer to mainstream acceptance
"Cold fusion," a controversial energy source once relegated to the scientific equivalent of banishment to Siberia, is now moving closer toward acceptance by the mainstream scientific community, as evidenced by...
The Perpetual Notion Of Perpetual Motion
The Perpetual Notion Of Perpetual Motion Is there some way we can teach our children that there is no such thing as a free lunch? Perhaps then they will not grow...