Latest science news in Physics & Chemistry
MIT develops camera for the blind
Elizabeth Goldring smiles as she shows a visitor photos she's taken — and can see — with her blind eye.
Google's CO2 Emissions: Some Puff, Lies & Good Old Fashion Hype
(PhysOrg.com) -- A January 11, 2009 article in the London Times (on-line version)entitled, Revealed: The Environmental Impact of Google Searches quoted Harvard Physicist, Alex Wissner-Gross that "two Google searches generate...
Scientists create eco-friendly fridge
Researchers have created 'smart fridges' that run on renewable energy and talk to each other in order to work out the most efficient way to keep food cool.
Smart lighting: New LED drops the 'droop'
Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have developed and demonstrated a new type of light emitting diode (LED) with significantly improved lighting performance and energy efficiency...
The auto change bicycle
Researchers in Taiwan are designing a computer for pedal cyclists that tells them when to change gear to optimise the power they develop while maintaining comfort. The system is described...
Unconventional Superconductivity Discovered In New Iron Arsenide Compounds
Scientists used inelastic neutron scattering to show that superconductivity in a new family of iron arsenide superconductors cannot be explained by conventional theories. Normally, electrons repel each other because of...
Let's Do the Twist
Silicon wafers, the backbone of the electronics industry, are brittle and fragile. So researchers have sought to create a more supple polymer surface that can be stretched, twisted, and bent...
IBM team boosts MRI resolution
Researchers at IBM demonstrate magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with a resolution 100 million times finer than the conventional type.
Big 3 Plug Electric Cars At Auto Show
Rather than focus solely on muscle cars, embattled U.S. automakers General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler touted a coming generation of electric vehicles at this year's North American International Auto Show...
'V-wing' turbine gets study cash
An unusual design of wind turbine is among four projects to receive the first funds from the UK's Energy Technologies Institute.
Putting heads (and computers) together
Imagine if the planet's collective brainpower and computing power could be brought together to tackle some of the world's toughest problems. It may sounds like science fiction, but researchers at...
Wireless microgrippers grab living cells in 'biopsy' tests
In experiments that pave the way for tiny mobile surgical tools activated by heat or chemicals, Johns Hopkins researchers have invented dust-particle-size devices that can be used to grab and...
Effective Solution To The Lack Of Directionality Of Some Lasers
*Terahertz cascade lasers are a new family of semi-conductor lasers which emit in the frequency range of the terahertz, or 1012 hertz. Because of their potential applications, they currently raise...
Organometallic compounds as new drugs? Cobalt-containing aspirin complex with potential anti-tumor properties
Despite considerable progress in modern chemotherapy, there remains a large demand for innovative anti-tumor agents. A new approach involves modeling the pharmacological properties of established drugs with organometallic fragments. As...
Infrared Light Visualizes Nanoscale Strain Fields
Scientists report the non-invasive and nanoscale resolved infrared mapping of strain fields in semiconductors. The method, which is based on near-field microscopy, opens new avenues for analyzing mechanical properties of...
Tiny Nanoparticle Capsules Deliver Medicines
A tiny particle syringe composed of polymer layers and nanoparticles may provide drug delivery that targets diseased cells without harming the rest of the body, according to a team of...
A Bicycle Evangelist With the Wind Now at His Back
Earl Blumenauer, the founder and proprietor of the Congressional Bicycle Caucus, advocates cycling as a remedy for everything from climate change to obesity.
MRI goes to the nanoscale
Picture of virus points way to kinder, gentler molecular imaging.
Microswimmers" make a big splash for improved drug delivery
They may never pose a challenge to Olympic superstar Michael Phelps, but the "microswimmers" developed by researchers in Spain and the United Kingdom could break a long-standing barrier to improving...
A Breakthrough in Imaging: Seeing a Virus in Three Dimensions
Researchers at an I.B.M. laboratory report that they have captured a 3-D image of a virus with a spatial resolution down to four nanometers.
Shrinking U.S. nuclear weapons labs poised for historic reinvention
Because of a changing global role for nuclear weapons, government officials are seeking to cut the size of the U.S. nuclear weapons labs by a third-over the next 20 years....
A crystal clear view of chalk formation
(PhysOrg.com) -- It has a beautiful, but also an unpleasant side: crystallization determines the shape of precious stones, but also causes the lime scale in washing machines. How this comes...
U-M and GM Open $5M Advanced Battery Research Lab
Engineers at the University of Michigan have formalized an important relationship with General Motors to accelerate the design and testing of advanced batteries for electric vehicles.
Keeping home life-support up when power goes out
(AP) -- Emergency planners are struggling to identify growing millions who need fast rescue when the lights go out: A power outage also shuts down their life-supporting home medical...
Observing the Quantum Hall Effect in 'Real' Space
(PhysOrg.com) -- When water transforms into steam, or magnetized iron changes to demagnetized iron, Katsushi Hashimoto explains to PhysOrg.com, a phase transition is taking place: “Classical phase transitions…often share many...
Solar house promises greener heating for Tibetans
Chinese scientists have created a solar house for Tibetans to curb the province's dung dependency and provide a more efficient heat source.
Yukon Energy cranks up search for geothermal heat source
Yukon Energy Corp. will spend about $285,000 this year to try to find an affordable source of geothermal power, the utility says.
Lamin B locks up Oct-1
A large fraction of the transcription factor Oct-1 is associated with the inner nuclear envelope, but how and why it is retained there was unknown.