Did 'Dark Matter' Create the First Stars?

Physics /

Mar 15, 2006 | 4.5 / 5 (51) | 0

Dark matter may have played a major role in creating stars at the very beginnings of the universe. If that is the case, however, the dark matter must consist of particles called "sterile neutrinos". Peter Biermann ...

Scientists to develop bacteria-powered fuel cells

Other Sciences /

Mar 15, 2006 | 4.1 / 5 (47) | 0

A diverse team of microbiologists, engineers and geochemists from the University of Southern California and Rice University are joining forces to create bacteria-powered fuel cells that could power spy drones that fit in ...

Magnetic nanoparticles boost green chemistry

Nanotechnology /

Mar 15, 2006 | 4.3 / 5 (32) | 0

Using the unique properties of new nanometer-scale magnetic particles, researchers have for the first time separated for reuse two different catalysts from a multi-step chemical reaction done in a single vessel.

Tomato vaccines: New bird flu weapon?

Other Sciences /

Mar 15, 2006 | 4.7 / 5 (16) | 0

Australian scientist Amanda Walmsley says she is trying to grow a bird flu vaccine in tomatoes to be used to prevent the disease in chickens.

Researchers grow bone cells on carbon nanotubes

Nanotechnology /

Mar 15, 2006 | 4.3 / 5 (16) | 0

Researchers at the University of California, Riverside have published findings that show, for the first time, that bone cells can grow and proliferate on a scaffold of carbon nanotubes.

Astronomers, at last, get a chance to size up a brown dwarf

Space & Earth /

Mar 15, 2006 | 4.2 / 5 (15) | 0

Brown dwarfs -- failed stars that fall somewhere between the smallest stars and the largest planets on the spectrum of heavenly objects -- have always been viewed by astronomers as a critical link in the understanding ...

Electrons 'in limbo' seen for first time

Physics /

Mar 15, 2006 | 4.7 / 5 (13) | 0

Hrvoje Petek, University of Pittsburgh professor of physics and codirector of Pitt's Gertrude E. and John M. Petersen Institute of NanoScience and Engineering (PINSE), has published two papers in recent weeks that literally ...

Briefs: Egyptian pharaoh's tomb is not a tomb

Other Sciences /

Mar 15, 2006 | 3.6 / 5 (15) | 0

Archaeologists say a chamber they found last month in Egypt's Valley of the Kings was not a tomb, as first thought, but a room used to mummify pharaohs.

The cosmic dance of distant galaxies

Space & Earth /

Mar 15, 2006 | 4.4 / 5 (11) | 0

Studying several tens of distant galaxies, an international team of astronomers found that galaxies had the same amount of dark matter relative to stars 6 billion years ago as they have now. If confirmed, this ...

Rare Chinese frogs communicate by means of ultrasonic sound

Other Sciences /

Mar 15, 2006 | 4.1 / 5 (11) | 0

First came word that a rare frog (Amolops tormotus) in China sings like a bird, then that the species produces very high-pitch ultrasonic sounds. Now scientists say that these concave-eared torrent frogs also ...

SpaceX Plans Reusable Seven Person Capsule

Space & Earth /

Mar 15, 2006 | 4.7 / 5 (9) | 0

SpaceX said it plans to develop a reusable capsule that could carry a crew of up to seven into low Earth orbit, making it a competitor to assume some of the tasks of NASA's space shuttle fleet after it is retired.

Big Alaskan oil spill initially undetected

Space & Earth /

Mar 15, 2006 | 4.6 / 5 (8) | 0

A 267,000-gallon oil spill, the largest on Alaska's North Slope, reportedly went undetected for up to five days before it was discovered this month.

Radar altimetry revolutionises the study of the ocean

Space & Earth /

Mar 15, 2006 | 5 / 5 (7) | 0

Imagine a space tool so revolutionary it can determine the impact of climate change, monitor the melting of glaciers, discover invisible waves, predict the strength of hurricanes, conserve fish stocks and measure ...

Microsoft looks to StepUI

Electronics /

Mar 15, 2006 | 3.4 / 5 (9) | 0

In the midst of this year's recent TechFest, an internal event where Microsoft demonstrated over 150 internal projects currently in development, the world's largest software company proved it could take a step in a new direction. ...

Molecule by molecule, new assay shows real-time gene activity

Other Sciences /

Mar 15, 2006 | 4.4 / 5 (7) | 0

Chemists at Harvard University have developed the first technique providing a real-time, molecule-by-molecule "movie" of protein production in live cells. Their direct observation of fluorescently tagged molecules in single ...