Linux Evolution Reveals Origins of Curious Mathematical Phenomenon
Dec 01, 2008 |
4.2 / 5 (118) |
16
(PhysOrg.com) -- Zipf’s law is a testament to the order in our world, showing that the same patterns emerge in a wide variety of situations. The linguist George Kingsley Zipf first proposed the law in 1949, ...
Self-powered devices possible, researcher says
Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials
Dec 01, 2008 |
4.5 / 5 (71) |
11
Imagine a self-powering cell phone that never needs to be charged because it converts sound waves produced by the user into the energy it needs to keep running. It's not as far-fetched as it may seem thanks to the recent ...
Fujitsu's 'Laptop4Life' program gives you a new laptop every 3 years
Electronics / Consumer & Gadgets
Dec 01, 2008 |
4.1 / 5 (54) |
13
(PhysOrg.com) -- Buy any LifeBook laptop from Fujitsu Siemens, and the company will provide you with a new laptop every three years until you die. The only requirements are that you need to buy a three-year ...
Foretelling a major meltdown: Rare mineral might portend return to hothouse climate of old
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Dec 01, 2008 |
3.3 / 5 (47) |
27
By discovering the meaning of a rare mineral that can be used to track ancient climates, Binghamton University geologist Tim Lowenstein is helping climatologists and others better understand what we're probably in for over ...
Disappearing Superconductivity Reappears -- in 2-D
Dec 01, 2008 |
4.6 / 5 (30) |
6
(PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists studying a material that appeared to lose its ability to carry current with no resistance say new measurements reveal that the material is indeed a superconductor — but only in ...
Opening up the last part of the spectrum
Dec 01, 2008 |
4.7 / 5 (25) |
0
(PhysOrg.com) -- New European research on the last, hidden part of the electromagnetic spectrum is producing new, safe and non-destructive tests for medicine, security and industrial quality control.
Eating eggs when pregnant affects breast cancer in offspring
Dec 01, 2008 |
4.5 / 5 (23) |
0
A stunning discovery based on epigenetics (the inheritance of propensities acquired in the womb) reveals that consuming choline—a nutrient found in eggs and other foods—during pregnancy may significantly affect breast cancer ...
Using challenging concepts to learn promotes understanding of new material
Medicine & Health / Psychology & Psychiatry
Dec 01, 2008 |
4.8 / 5 (21) |
0
It's a question that confronts parents and teachers everywhere- what is the best method of teaching kids new skills? Is it better for children to learn gradually, starting with easy examples and slowly progressing to more ...
Oetzi's last supper
Other Sciences / Archaeology & Fossils
Dec 01, 2008 |
4.2 / 5 (23) |
3
What we eat can say a lot about us – where we live, how we live and eventually even when we lived. From the analysis of the intestinal contents of the 5,200-year-old Iceman from the Eastern Alps, Professor James Dickson from ...
No place like home: New theory for how salmon, sea turtles find their birthplace
Biology /
Dec 01, 2008 |
4.2 / 5 (22) |
2
How marine animals find their way back to their birthplace to reproduce after migrating across thousands of miles of open ocean has mystified scientists for more than a century. But marine biologists at the University of ...
Scientists discover possible mechanism for creating 'handedness' in biological molecules
Dec 01, 2008 |
4.5 / 5 (20) |
1
(PhysOrg.com) --The basic molecules that make up all living things have a predetermined chirality or "handedness,” similar to the way people are right- or left-handed. This chirality has a profound influence ...
Modern day scourge helped ancient Earth escape a deathly deep freeze
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Dec 01, 2008 |
3.7 / 5 (23) |
9
(PhysOrg.com) -- The planet’s present day greenhouse scourge, carbon dioxide, may have played a vital role in helping ancient Earth to escape from complete glaciation, say scientists in a paper published online ...
Researchers discover how mosquitoes avoid succumbing to viruses they transmit
Biology /
Dec 01, 2008 |
4.7 / 5 (18) |
0
Mosquitoes are like Typhoid Mary. They can spread viruses which cause West Nile fever, dengue fever, or yellow fever without themselves getting sick. Scientists long thought that the mosquito didn't care whether it had a ...
Persistent pollutant may promote obesity
Dec 01, 2008 |
4.7 / 5 (15) |
6
Tributyltin, a ubiquitous pollutant that has a potent effect on gene activity, could be promoting obesity, according to an article in the December issue of BioScience. The chemical is used in antifouling paints for boats, ...
Antioxidants are unlikely to prevent aging, study suggests
Dec 01, 2008 |
4.1 / 5 (17) |
3
Diets and beauty products which claim to have anti-oxidant properties are unlikely to prevent ageing, according to research funded by the Wellcome Trust. Researchers at the Institute of Healthy Ageing at UCL (University College ...
