Latest science news in Physics & Chemistry
'Hella' Proposed as Official Big Number
A physics student is petitioning the International System of Units to declare "hella" the official designation of 10 to the 27th power, or a trillion trillions.
Venezuela's PDVSA eyes new hydrocarbons
CARACAS, Venezuela, March 4 (UPI) -- Petroleos de Venezuela, the state oil company, said it teamed with partners in Belarus to explore new areas of production in the Venezuelan...
GDF Suez tops Saudi electric bid
PARIS, March 4 (UPI) -- French energy giant GDF Suez and the Saudi al-Jomaih Group were chosen as the preferred bidders for a 1,730-megawatt gas-fired power facility in the...
New device may enable limbs to be controlled by thought alone
(PhysOrg.com) -- A portable, plugless, brain-to-computer interface using electroencephalography (EEG) electrodes strapped to the scalp has been developed by a team in the US. The device may allow paraplegics and...
Is ARPA-E Enough to Keep the U.S. on the Cutting-Edge of a Clean Energy Revolution?
WASHINGTON, D.C.--At the inaugural summit of ARPA–E, or the Advanced Research Projects Agency–Energy , no less an august personage than Norman Augustine declared that we were possibly witnessing an...
'Microrings' could nix wires for communications in homes, offices
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- Purdue University researchers have developed a miniature device capable of converting ultrafast laser pulses into bursts of radio-frequency signals, a step toward making wires...
Sorting device for analyzing biological reactions puts the power of a lab in a researcher’s pocket
Researchers have demonstrated a new microfluidic sorting device that rapidly analyzes millions of biological reactions. Smaller than an iPod Nano, the device analyzes reactions a 1,000-times faster and uses 10...
Aerial surveillance technology could keep soldiers safer
New technology that enables aerial vehicles to plan and verify missions could mean there is less need for military personnel to conduct dangerous surveillance operations in war zones. Developed for...
Hangover-Proof Booze? Fortifying Liquor With Oxygen Might Be the Key
The effects of alcohol are generally pleasant until they're not anymore, at which point they become blindingly painful and, in some cases, quite dangerous. Whether or not a hard-partying type is struck by...
Install and Forget: Batteryless Radio Sensors
Siemens has developed a variety of energy autarkic radio sensors that draw the energy they require for operation from their surroundings. The technology can be used to automatically monitor facilities...
Infineon's New 8-bit Microcontrollers Operate With No Limitations at 150 C
At the Embedded World Show 2010 in Nuremberg today, Infineon Technologies introduced a complete and scalable high-temperature 8-bit microcontroller (MCU) family capable of operating at up to 150 °C ambient...
Freescale introduces 90nm thin film storage flash with FlexMemory for next-generation microcontrollers
Freescale Semiconductor today announced 90 nanometer thin film storage (TFS) flash memory technology for its next-generation microcontroller (MCU) platforms. The advanced technology is expected to be deployed in Freescale MCUs...
Recipes for Health: Baked Frittata With Green Peppers and Yogurt
This beautiful bright yellow omelet will puff in the oven and then settle as it cools.
Measuring material hotter than the sun
(PhysOrg.com) -- Three Vanderbilt physicists are members of the scientific team that have reported creating an exotic state of matter with a temperature of four trillion degrees Celsius. It's the...
Portable Hydro-Electric Backpack Generator Goes Where the Grid Can't
Those of us who can plug directly into the grid likely don't think much about where our power comes from, but for people living in remote regions of the world or militaries...
France builds world's biggest photovoltaic solar plant
French energy giant EDF is building the world's biggest photovoltaic solar power plant at an abandoned NATO air base and plans to have it open by 2012, a spokesman said...
Nanotube Thermocells Hold Promise For Converting Heat Waste To Energy
(PhysOrg.com) -- A study published in the American Chemical Society's journal Nano Letters reveals that thermocells based on carbon nanotube electrodes might eventually be used for generating electrical energy from...
Sustainable Energy bets on Ontario solar market
VANCOUVER (Reuters) - Sustainable Energy Technologies Ltd, a solar equipment maker that recently relocated to Toronto from Calgary, may soon land its first large-scale orders in its new home province,...
Material developed to trap nuclear waste
ARGONNE, Ill., March 2 (UPI) -- U.S. scientists say they've created a material that mimics a Venus Flytrap, but instead of catching insects, it traps radioactive nuclear waste.
New high tech nuclear lab for EU
Europe gets new lab to significantly boost region’s ability to identify and characterise minute traces of nuclear material
New Material Patterned After Spider Hair Refuses to Get Wet
Scientists have created a flat surface patterned after the body hair of spiders that refuses to get wet.
RWE, Brabus go green for Tesla Roadster
GENEVA, Switzerland, March 2 (UPI) -- Automotive performance company Brabus and Germany energy giant RWE announced a so-called "green package" for electric vehicles in the country.
Researchers awarded patent for hydrophobic, corrosion-resistant coating
Sergiu M. Gorun, PhD, associate professor of chemistry at New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT), was awarded a patent today for a novel composition of matter. "Functional Coating Compositions...
Architects and engineers bridge the grid chasm
(PhysOrg.com) -- In the technology adoption cycle, a chasm separates powerful new technologies from the SMEs that could most benefit from them. Now, thanks to European researchers, architects and engineers...
In Profile: Alex Slocum
It’s Wednesday evening, so Alexander Slocum is hard at work cooking up a huge batch of spaghetti, green beans and garlic bread in a cramped kitchen on the top floor of MIT’s...
Why Anchors Don't Work
Why Anchors Don't Work From earliest times to today, from boat safety pamphlet to engineering treatise on marine architecture: all are agreed that the anchor does the work of keeping a...
Panasonic's Si-alloy anode technology to offer 30% increase in battery capacity
(PhysOrg.com) -- One promising modification to next-generation rechargeable Li-ion batteries involves using Si-alloy anodes instead of graphite, which is currently the most common anode material. Many battery manufacturers are developing...
Striving to Map the Shape-Shifting Net
Some believe that a practice called peering is fundamentally altering the Net. Others say it is of little consequence.