Latest science news in Physics & Chemistry
Feature: Can a piece of thread save a life?
Expensive technologies for analysing body microfluids have been replaced by a much simpler device: a cotton thread.
New graphene 'nanomesh' could change the future of electronics
Scientists have created a new graphene nanostructure called the graphene nanomesh (GNM). The new structure is able to open up a band gap in a large sheet of graphene to...
Lasers lift dirt of ages from art
Physicists have applied the same laser techniques commonly used for tattoo removal to clean several famous works of art.
All-optical computing moves a step closer
ATLANTA, Feb. 25 (UPI) -- Scientists at the Georgia Institute of Technology say they have developed a photonic material that could facilitate all-optical switching and computing.
The toxicity of antimicrobial silver in products can be reduced
Chemists at the University of Helsinki have managed to manufacture new polymer-stabilised silver nanoparticles. The result is significant because the antimicrobial characteristics of silver are used in textiles, floor coatings...
Neutrons poised to play big role in future scientific advances
Subatomic particles called neutrons are poised to play a big role in fighting HIV, slowing global warming, and improving manufacturing processes. The reason: They are the focus of a process...
An electrifying discovery: New material to harvest electricity from body movements
Scientists are reporting an advance toward scavenging energy from walking, breathing, and other natural body movements to power electronic devices like cell phones and heart pacemakers. In a study in...
Chemical element 112 is named 'copernicium'
IUPAC accepted the name proposed by the international discovering team around Sigurd Hofmann at the GSI Helmholtzzentrum. The team had suggested 'Cp' as the chemical symbol for the new element....
OSA, APS highlight history and future of laser technology at 2010 AAAS Annual Meeting
WASHINGTON, Feb. 24 -- As part of LaserFest, the year-long celebration of the 50th anniversary of the first working laser, the Optical Society (OSA) and the American Physical Society (APS)...
Physicists discover odd fluctuating magnetic waves
Physicists have discovered magnetic waves that fluctuate when exposed to certain conditions in a superconducting material. The discovery may help scientists understand more fully the relationship between magnetism and superconductivity...
Scientists Introduce The Cell Phone Of Undersea Communications
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) scientists and engineers have devised an undersea optical communications system that—complemented by acoustics—enables a virtual revolution in high-speed undersea data collection and transmission. Its developers...
How to turn blueprints green
(PhysOrg.com) -- Even in today's increasingly energy-conscious world, it's rare for the subject of energy efficiency to be addressed in the early stages of designing a new building, whether it's...
Understanding chaotic motion of a solid body in a fluid
Scientists shed new light on the chaotic motion of a solid body moving through a fluid. They claim to have discovered two basic mechanisms that lead to chaotic motion of...
Fusion's False Dawn (preview)
Ignition is close now. Within a year or two the 192 laser beams at the National Ignition Facility (NIF)--the world’s largest and most powerful laser system, a 13-year, $4-billion enterprise--will...
Dartmouth researchers create new nano switch
(PhysOrg.com) -- Dartmouth researcher Ivan Aprahamian and his team have developed a new molecular switch that changes its configuration as a function of the pH of the environment. This discovery...
The science of Hollywood blockbusters
There is something about the rhythm and texture of early cinema that has a very different 'feel' than modern films. But it's hard to put one's finger on just what...
Engineers design, build major component for hydrogen cars
(PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers have completed work on a crucial component for an experimental hydrogen storage system for cars, part of efforts to reduce pollution and the use of fossil fuels...
Neighborhood grids promise energy gains
Researchers are creating technology that will treat neighborhoods like a miniature power grid, sharing energy generated at each house according to need. Allied to a host of other developments, the...
Molecular attraction keeps asteroids together
Dust particles hold on by van der Waals forces
Quantum Tunnelling Composite Materials to Aid Next Generation Tactile Robotic Skin Development
Peratech Limited has been commissioned by the MIT Media Lab to develop a new type of electronic 'skin' that enables robotic devices to detect not only that they have been...
Bose-Einstein Interferences: The Collider View
One of the few physics measurements that the LHC experiments are already in the position of producing, with the week-worth of proton-proton collision data they have collected last December, is...
AURP Releases The Power of Place 2.0: The Power of Innovation
On the eve of high-level policy discussions about the federal role in job creation, university technology transfer, and regional clusters, the Association of University Research Parks (AURP) releases "The Power...
TMS Installs New President: George T. "Rusty" Gray III
Los Alamos National Laboratory Fellow George T. "Rusty" Gray III takes the helm as 2010 president of The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society (TMS)
Stressed nanomaterials display unexpected movement
Johns Hopkins researchers have discovered that, under the right conditions, newly developed nanocrystalline materials exhibit surprising activity in the tiny spaces between the geometric clusters of atoms called nanocrystals from...
Epson Toyocom Develops the World's Smallest Single Package 6-Axis Sensor
Epson Toyocom Corporation, the leader in crystal devices, today announced the development of the AH-6100LR, the world's smallest 6-axis sensor. This low-noise, low-power product comprises a 3-axis QMEMS quartz gyro-sensor...
Berlin wants to cut solar power subsidies: lawmaker
The German government wants to slash its support to the solar energy industry to prevent the market from overheating, a member of Chancellor Angela Merkel's CDU party said Tuesday.
Electromagnetic Fields Eyed in Toyota Woes
Toyota Says Electrical Interference Not a Cause for Sudden Acceleration; NHTSA Says It Will Review
Did design flaws doom the LHC?
Catastrophic failure that caused accelerator shutdown was not a freak accident, says project physicist.