Future space devices inspired by spider legs
Sep 07, 2006 |
4.5 / 5 (50) |
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Are spiders ideal space travelers? Not quite, but according to a new study, their legs may be. Scientists Carlo Menon and Cristian Lira have designed and built lightweight, bendable joints based on the micro-hydraulic ...
Spinning new theory on particle spin brings science closer to quantum computing
Sep 07, 2006 |
4.5 / 5 (70) |
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Physicists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory have devised a potentially groundbreaking theory demonstrating how to control the spin of particles without using superconducting magnets — a development ...
Organic semiconductors make cheap, flexible photovoltaics and LEDs
Sep 07, 2006 |
4.4 / 5 (76) |
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Imagine T-shirts that light up, or a beach umbrella that collects solar energy to run a portable TV. How about really cheap solar collectors for the roof? All this and more could come from cutting-edge research ...
Physicists trap, map tiny magnetic vortex
Sep 07, 2006 |
4.6 / 5 (64) |
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In a research first that could lead to a new generation of hard drives capable of storing thousands of movies per square inch, physicists at Rice University have decoded the three-dimensional structure of a tornado-like magnetic ...
Genetic Surprise Confirms Neglected 70-Year-Old Evolutionary Theory
Biology /
Sep 07, 2006 |
4.5 / 5 (53) |
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Biologists at the University of Rochester have discovered that an old and relatively unpopular theory about how a single species can split in two turns out to be accurate after all, and acting in nature.
Earth-like planets may be more common than once thought
Sep 07, 2006 |
4.3 / 5 (38) |
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More than one-third of the giant planet systems recently detected outside Earth's solar system may harbor Earth-like planets, many covered in deep oceans with potential for life, according to a new study led ...
Probing Question: Can you train yourself to need less sleep?
Sep 07, 2006 |
4.1 / 5 (31) |
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Not long ago I took a fishing trip with two friends. We woke before dawn after only four hours of sleep and headed out on the road. Fatigue set in quickly: As heads bobbed and eyelids eased shut, we drifted ...
Sex is Good for Evolution, Researcher Says
Biology /
Sep 07, 2006 |
3.1 / 5 (14) |
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University of British Columbia evolution biologist Sarah Otto has proof that sex is good for you -- and the human species as a whole. Previous evolutionary theories -- typically based on the assumption of an infinite population ...
Hubble Photographs One of the Smallest Stellar Companions Ever Seen
Sep 07, 2006 |
4.3 / 5 (12) |
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Astronomers using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope have photographed one of the smallest objects ever seen around a normal star beyond our Sun. Weighing in at 12 times the mass of Jupiter, the object is small ...
Enriched Xenon Observatory Makes Progress
Sep 07, 2006 |
4.6 / 5 (20) |
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A group of physicists will soon be working in the salt mines to learn the mass of neutrinos and determine if neutrinos are their own antiparticle. Only recently shown to have mass, neutrinos stream through ...
Seeing two figures in coordinated action helps brain pick out movements of one
Sep 07, 2006 |
3.7 / 5 (3) |
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A new study by vision scientists at the University of California, Berkeley, finds that the human visual system is better able to discriminate the movements of a single person when his or her actions are coordinated ...
From Bubbles to Capsules
Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials
Sep 07, 2006 |
4.3 / 5 (11) |
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Nanocapsules are vessels with diameters in the nanometer range and very thin shells. They can store a tiny volume of liquid and can protect their cargo while transporting it through a foreign medium — such as a human blood ...
Researchers tackle problem of data storage for next-generation supercomputers
Technology / Computer Sciences
Sep 07, 2006 |
2.8 / 5 (19) |
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The U.S. Department of Energy has awarded a five-year, $11 million grant to researchers at three universities and five national laboratories to find new ways of managing the torrent of data that will be produced by the coming ...
Hot dust and moisture collide to fuel Asian summer rainy season
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Sep 07, 2006 |
2.7 / 5 (6) |
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Who would think that something like dust in the air could trigger rain? According to a new NASA study, this is just what's happening over South Asia's Tibetan Plateau. Very small dust particles called aerosols ...
How big is the energy gap in obesity? Top expert warns of public misunderstanding
Sep 07, 2006 |
2.8 / 5 (10) |
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The oversimplification of the “energy-in/energy out” equation is generating a fundamental public misunderstanding of the challenges of obesity, an eminent expert has warned at the International Congress on Obesity in Sydney ...
