Ultra-intense laser blast creates true 'black metal'
Nov 21, 2006 |
4.6 / 5 (101) |
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"Black gold" is not just an expression anymore. Scientists at the University of Rochester have created a way to change the properties of almost any metal to render it, literally, black. The process, using an incredibly intense ...
Icelandic volcano caused historic famine in Egypt, study says
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Nov 21, 2006 |
4.5 / 5 (44) |
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An environmental drama played out on the world stage in the late 18th century when a volcano killed 9,000 Icelanders and brought a famine to Egypt that reduced the population of the Nile valley by a sixth.
Agile new plastics change shape with heat
Nov 21, 2006 |
4.5 / 5 (37) |
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Researchers at MIT and the Helmholtz Association of German Research Centers have invented a class of materials so remarkable for their agility in changing shape as they react to heat, they might be described ...
Genesis Findings Solve Apollo Lunar Soil Mystery
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Nov 21, 2006 |
4.1 / 5 (38) |
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Ever since astronauts returned from another world, scientists have been mystified by some of the moon rocks they brought back. Now one of the mysteries has been solved. "We learned a great deal about the sun ...
Teeth: a future renewable natural resource?
Nov 21, 2006 |
4.4 / 5 (35) |
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Most vertebrates have continuous tooth generation, meaning that lost teeth are replaced with new teeth. Mammals, however, including humans, have teeth that are generally only replaced once, when milk teeth are replaced with ...
Nations Sign Nuclear Fusion Reactor Pact
Nov 21, 2006 |
4.1 / 5 (30) |
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Today, Ministers from the seven Parties of the international nuclear fusion project ITER (China, European Union, India, Japan, the Republic of Korea, the Russian Federation and the United States of America) ...
Maximizing Confidence in Quantum Information Decoding
Nov 21, 2006 |
4.6 / 5 (23) |
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When it comes to quantum information processing and cryptography, retrieving information encoded in orthogonal quantum states can, in principle, be done perfectly (although in practice it may be hard to implement). When it ...
Samsung Develops World’s Slimmest Mobile LCD Screen
Nov 21, 2006 |
3.3 / 5 (30) |
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Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., the world’s largest provider of thin-film transistor, liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD) panels announced today that it has developed the thinnest reported LCD panel, one no thicker ...
Proteins anchor memories in our brain
Nov 21, 2006 |
4.9 / 5 (18) |
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A University of Utah study suggests that memories are held in our brains because certain proteins serve as anchors, holding other proteins in place to strengthen synapses, which are connections between nerve cells.
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor May Be at Mission's End
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Nov 21, 2006 |
4 / 5 (14) |
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NASA's Mars Global Surveyor has likely finished its operating career. The orbiter has not communicated with Earth since Nov. 2. Preliminary indications are that a solar panel became difficult to pivot, raising ...
Newly Adult-born Neurons Are Functionally Similar to Mature Neurons
Biology /
Nov 21, 2006 |
4.7 / 5 (11) |
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In mammals, the production of new brain cells occurs primarily at the time the nervous system is developing, although certain brain areas generate neurons throughout adulthood. One such area is the hippocampus, ...
Professor Publishes Whimsical Book on Gravity and Black Holes
Nov 21, 2006 |
2.6 / 5 (20) |
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"The bubbles were swirling all around me, massaging my body…As I luxuriated in this fantastic bubble bath, my eyes grew heavy and I drifted into a supremely blissful slumber." So begins Alfie's encounter with a remarkable ...
Study: Hospital staffs have poor hygiene
Nov 21, 2006 |
4.8 / 5 (9) |
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A new study suggests most hospital-acquired infections are the result of poor hospital procedures and are not caused by patient maladies.
Thanksgiving Skies
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Nov 21, 2006 |
2.8 / 5 (13) |
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Thanksgiving is the biggest travel holiday of the year in the United States. Millions of people board airplanes and fly long hours to visit friends and family. Dreading the trip? Think of it as a sky watching ...
Rice as a source of electricity
Nov 21, 2006 |
3.4 / 5 (11) |
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Rice yields an abundance of biowaste: Husks make up around one quarter of the weight. Only a small fraction of this is utilized, for instance, to fire distillery furnaces. Researchers at Hanoi University of Technology now ...
