Latest science news in Physics & Chemistry
LHC Restarted: Half-Power Run Is Full of Potential
The Large Hadron Collider, the world's largest atom smasher, has been fired up for its first long-term run, officials announced today. The LHC will be operating at half power but...
By tracking water molecules, physicists hope to unlock secrets of life
The key to life as we know it is water, a tiny molecule with some highly unusual properties, such as the ability to retain large amounts of heat and to...
Both answers correct in century-old optics dilemma
Different momenta of light reflect wave-particle duality
Diamond Sold for Record Breaking $35.3M
507-Carat Gem Fetches Highest Price Ever for a Rough Diamond
Physicists build basic quantum computing circuit
Exerting delicate control over a pair of atoms within a mere seven-millionths-of-a-second window of opportunity, physicists created an atomic circuit that may help quantum computing become a reality.
Athletes in red may seem to go faster
Athletes who wear red could have a subtle advantage, say Canadian researchers, who have found the eye perceives red as moving faster than other colours.
New material traps radioactive ions using 'Venus flytrap' method
(PhysOrg.com) -- Like a Venus flytrap, a newly discovered chemical material is a picky eater -- it won't snap its jaws shut for just anything. Instead of flies, however,...
Explained: Linear and nonlinear systems
Much scientific research across a range of disciplines tries to find linear approximations of nonlinear behaviors. But what does that mean?
CeBIT 2010: Live 3-D-TV
This is the year in which 3D cinema and 3D TV will make the breakthrough. At CeBIT in Hannover, Fraunhofer researchers are presenting technologies and standards that are hastening the...
Nanotube Thermocells Hold Promise as Energy Source
(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...
MSU scientists unlock key enzyme using newly created 'cool' method
EAST LANSING, Mich. -- A team of Michigan State University scientists ¬ -- using a new cooling method they created -- have uncovered the inner workings of...
Mechanical devices stamped on plastic
(PhysOrg.com) -- Microelectromechanical devices -- tiny machines with moving parts -- are everywhere these days: they monitor air pressure in car tires, register the gestures of video game players, and...
Observatory: Converting Body Movements Into Electricity
Researchers at Princeton said they found a way to harvest the body’s energy using piezoelectric crystals, an application that could first be used in shoes to keep a music player...
Incentives to rise for home solar arrays
At least 10 times a day Andrew Kin clicks onto the Internet for the pure joy of watching his electricity meter run backward.
MIND Reviews: The Perfect Swarm
The Perfect Swarm: The Science of Complexity in Everyday Life by Len Fisher. Basic Books, 2009
Quantum measurement precision approaches Heisenberg limit
(PhysOrg.com) -- In the classical world, scientists can make measurements with a degree of accuracy that is restricted only by technical limitations. At the fundamental level, however, measurement precision is...
German wind power firm to withdraw from Taiwan
Germany-based InfraVest, the largest private wind power company in Taiwan, said Friday it will withdraw from the island because it does not have confidence in the government's energy policies.
Toyota Woes Highlight Hi-Tech Car Pitfalls
Wires, Sensors and Computers Have Quickly Taken Over Our Vehicles; Can Quality Control Keep Pace?
Clearing the Air at American Ports
The Teamsters’ Union and environmental activists are allies in a push for the short-haul trucking companies working in ports to buy new, low-emission rigs.
The IPO is dead, and Silicon Valley can only benefit
Maybe it's the adrenaline rush. Maybe it's the craving of approval. Maybe it's greed.
Stellar, metal-free way to make carbon nanotubes
Space apparently has its own recipe for making carbon nanotubes, one of the most intriguing contributions of nanotechnology here on Earth, and metals are conspicuously missing from the list of...
Near-frictionless diamond material created using nanotechnology
Mechanical engineers have fabricated an ultra sharp, diamond-like carbon tip possessing such high strength that it is 3,000 times more wear-resistant at the nanoscale than silicon. The end result is...
The Science of Hollywood Films: It's All in the Chaos Theory
A new study turns to chaos theory to explain why some Hollywood films are so engaging -- and why your attention wanders during others.
Projects across U.S. turn landfill gas into energy
More U.S. communities are turning trash into power. Nationwide, the number of landfill gas projects, which convert methane gas emitted from decomposing garbage into power, jumped from 399 in 2005...
Solar panels go through extreme tests at San Jose lab
At a nondescript office park in San Jose, solar panels from manufacturers around the world are going through tests of extreme endurance to make sure they are safe to put...
New digital cameras add to zoom and toughen up
Most point-and-shoot cameras have a midsize LCD preview screen and short zoom lens that brings you slightly closer to the action. That's about to change.
New developments in nanotechnology tackle the 2 biggest problems associated with chemotherapy
Huixin He, associate professor, nanoscale chemistry at Rutgers University, Newark, and Tamara Minko, professor at the Rutgers Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy, have developed a nanotechnology...
Radiation Errors Reported in Missouri
CoxHealth in Springfield, Mo., said 76 patients over five years were overdosed because powerful new equipment had been set up incorrectly.