Maglev launch assist technology may enable commercial space travel
Feb 21, 2007 |
4.5 / 5 (110) |
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The same technology used in magnetically levitated ("maglev") trains may give spaceships a low-cost, stable boost for the future of space travel—possibly even for joy rides. A research group from two universities ...
Vivid on-line videos demonstrate Superbot progress
Feb 21, 2007 |
4.6 / 5 (103) |
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Wei-Min Shen of the University of Southern California's Information Sciences Institute recently reported to NASA significant progress in developing "SuperBot," identical modular units that plug into each other ...
Boosting brain power -- with chocolate
Feb 21, 2007 |
4.4 / 5 (38) |
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Eating chocolate could help to sharpen up the mind and give a short-term boost to cognitive skills, a University of Nottingham expert has found.
Absence of Water in Distant Planet's Atmosphere Surprises Astronomers
Feb 21, 2007 |
4.8 / 5 (33) |
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A team of astronomers led by Carl Grillmair (Spitzer Science Center) and David Charbonneau (Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics) announced today that they have directly measured the first spectrum from ...
New research shakes belief that forethought is unique to humans
Biology /
Feb 21, 2007 |
4.7 / 5 (23) |
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Some birds recognise the idea of ‘future’ and plan accordingly, researchers at the University of Cambridge have discovered. According to their findings, published today in the journal Nature, western scrub- ...
Deep in the ocean, a clam that acts like a plant
Biology /
Feb 21, 2007 |
4.7 / 5 (22) |
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How does life survive in the black depths of the ocean? At the surface, sunlight allows green plants to "fix" carbon from the air to build their bodies. Around hydrothermal vents deep in the ocean live communities of giant ...
Bacteria Could Steady Buildings Against Earthquakes
Feb 21, 2007 |
4.6 / 5 (22) |
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Soil bacteria could be used to help steady buildings against earthquakes, according to researchers at UC Davis. The microbes can literally convert loose, sandy soil into rock.
Scientists Working to Deflect Asteroids Threatening Earth
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Feb 21, 2007 |
4.2 / 5 (23) |
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A team of scientists and engineers at The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) are conducting research that could one day save humanity from asteroids threatening Earth.
First astrophysical results with AMBER/VLTI
Feb 21, 2007 |
4.7 / 5 (20) |
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The AMBER instrument installed at the Very Large Telescope (VLT) of the European Southern Observatory (ESO) combines the light from three 8.2 meter telescopes, making the VLT the world’s largest optical telescope, ...
New stamping process creates metallic interconnects, nanostructures
Feb 21, 2007 |
4.3 / 5 (18) |
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Creating high-resolution metallic interconnects is an essential part of the fabrication of microchips and other nanoscale devices. Researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have developed a simple and ...
Lakes beneath Antarctic ice sheets found to initiate and sustain flow of ice to ocean
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Feb 21, 2007 |
4.6 / 5 (13) |
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The Earth Institute at Columbia University—One of the planet's most remote and little-understood features may play a crucial role in transporting ice from the remote interior of Antarctica towards the surrounding ocean according ...
Crime fighting potential for computerised lip-reading
Technology / Computer Sciences
Feb 21, 2007 |
4.3 / 5 (9) |
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Researchers at the University of East Anglia are about to embark on an innovative new project to develop computer lip-reading systems that could be used for fighting crime.
Microfluidic chip helps solve cellular mating puzzle
Biology /
Feb 21, 2007 |
4.5 / 5 (8) |
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Using a biochemical version of a computer chip, a team led by Johns Hopkins researchers has solved a long-standing mystery related to the mating habits of yeast cells.
Over a century after disappearing, wild elk return to Ontario
Biology /
Feb 21, 2007 |
4.4 / 5 (7) |
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After disappearing from Ontario due to over hunting in the 19th century, wild elk have returned to the province thanks to the efforts of the Ontario elk restoration program. According to a report on the program’s success, ...
Biologically inspired sensors can augment sonar, vision system in submarines
Feb 21, 2007 |
3.7 / 5 (6) |
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To find prey and avoid being preyed upon, fish rely on a row of specialized sensory organs along the sides of their bodies, called the lateral line. Now, a research team led by Chang Liu at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign ...
