Latest science news in Physics & Chemistry
Carcinogens and poisons found in electronic cigarettes
Here's an item you shouldn't include in your ever-growing arsenal of electronic devices, including cellphones, iPods, PDAs, GPS trackers and laptops: the e-cigarette.
Beyond Flash: Memories Are Made Of This
The race is on for a successor to the popular ‘flash’ memory used in portable devices. Researchers think they have found a candidate in novel materials combined with a simple,...
Cell Membranes Applied To Manufactured Surfaces Could Lead To New Class Of Self-assembling Materials
Applying biological molecules from cell membranes to the surfaces of artificial materials is opening peepholes on the very basics of cell-to-cell interaction. Two new articles suggest that putting lipids and...
New Method To Cleaner And More Efficient Carbon Dioxide Capture
Researchers have developed a screening method that would use ionic liquids -- a special type of molten salt that becomes liquid under the boiling point of water (100 degrees Celsius)...
Delaware State U. scientists refine hydrogen fuel-cell vehicle power plants
DOVER, Del. -- Hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles (FCVs) can be an important part of the solution to America's energy crisis, says Dr. Andrew Goudy of Delaware State University. He...
Gull killer turbines are removed
An aquarium in Devon takes down two wind turbines because of a number of difficulties with the generators, including their killing birds.
First Ever Nanoscale Mass Spectrometer
When I was taking chemistry in college, the mass spectrometer was a desk-mounted machine about twice the size of a PC. Oh, how times do change. Researchers at the California Institute of Technology...
Technology to Treat Blindness Earns Award
Research performed at Caltech as part of a collaborative U.S. Department of Energy-funded artificial-retina project designed to restore sight to the blind has received one of R&D Magazine's 2009 R&D...
Ytterbium's broken symmetry
Ytterbium was discovered in 1878, but until it recently became useful in atomic clocks, the soft metal rarely made the news. Now ytterbium has a new claim to scientific fame....
Music is the engine of new U-M lab-on-a-chip device
Music, rather than electromechanical valves, can drive experimental samples through a lab-on-a-chip in a new system developed at the University of Michigan. This development could significantly simplify the process of...
Experiments Show 'Artificial Gravity' Can Prevent Muscle Loss In Space
Researchers have conducted the first human experiments using a device intended to counteract the muscle-wasting effect of long periods in weightlessness -- a NASA centrifuge that spins a test subject...
Purer Water With Long Shelf Life Made Possible With One Atom Change To Water Purification Product
By substituting a single atom in a molecule widely used to purify water, researchers have created a far more effective decontaminant with a shelf life superior to products currently on...
Humans glow in visible light
The human body literally glows, emitting a visible light in extremely small quantities at levels that rise and fall with the day, scientists now reveal.
A New Path of Conduction for Future Electronics
(PhysOrg.com) -- Last month, researchers from SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory made headlines when they revealed experimental evidence of a topological insulator: a material that could revolutionize computer processors by allowing...
Research looks at how light and matter behave around black holes, other celestial objects
Dr. Dentcho Genov, an assistant professor of physics and electrical engineering at Louisiana Tech University and a Louisiana Optical Network Initiative (LONI) Institute fellow, is featured in the most recent...
Long-distance creativity to be studied
COLLEGE STATION, Texas, July 22 (UPI) -- Texas A&M University is taking the lead on a multi-school, multi-continent, multi-year research program on how technology promotes long-distance creativity.
NRL scientist receives patent for rugged-lightweight spectrometer assembly
Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) Space Science Division scientist, Dr. Christoph R. Englert, is awarded patent by the United States Patent and Trademark Office for a more cost effective, rugged and...
The Virus That Binds: A Novel Idea Marries Biology And Mining
Researchers often make progress by applying a proven scientific method from one realm to another, connecting seemingly disparate disciplines. Such interdisciplinary approaches are powerful tools in the drive for scientific...
A diamond in the rough: Carbon lucky dip contains diamond ring among coal booby prizes
Tomorrow one lucky member of the public will pull a diamond ring from a lucky dip, celebrating the glamour and importance of carbon in our lives...
More than meets the eye: New blue light nanocrystals
Berkeley Lab researchers have produced non-toxic magnesium oxide nanocrystals that efficiently emit blue light and could also play a role in long-term storage of carbon dioxide, a potential means of...
Twinkling nanostars cast new light into biomedical imaging
Purdue University researchers have created magnetically responsive gold nanostars that may offer a new approach to biomedical imaging...
Cosmic Log: New snag for big bang machine
Science editor Alan Boyle's Weblog: The scheduled restart of Europe's Large Hadron Collider has been delayed another few weeks, until mid-November, due to vacuum leaks.
Putting the "Cell" in Cell Phone: Adapter Turns Its Camera into a Microscope
A few years ago University of California, Berkeley, professor Daniel Fletcher challenged the undergraduate students in his optics and microscopy course to develop an instrument using only a cell phone and a few...
Controversy bubbles over particle physics prize
Award to neutrino experiment omits key contribution, say physicists
Nanoparticles Image Breast Cancer
Current methods of detecting breast cancer suffer from low sensitivity, limited spatial resolution, or the need to use complicated and expensive radioisotope-based technologies. A new report from investigators at the...
Building a Better Battery
Amid corporate restructuring plans, car czars and a waning economy, the struggling automotive industry is tasked with providing more efficient and economical options for car buyers. While foreign markets have...
Coca-Cola Freestyle Is the Most Advanced Soda Fountain Ever
If you never thought that soda machines would adapt to the high-tech world, think again. Coca-Cola's Freestyle fountain comes equipped with a touchscreen that is able to mix flavors on the spot, using...
New Integrated Circuits Consume No Standby Power
NEC and Rohm are going back and forth on new engineering breakthroughs that will allow integrated circuits inside chips to consume no power when they're briefly inactive between cycles. And unlike most chip-level...