http://www.physorg.com/ en-us Physorg.com internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. (PhysOrg.com) -- One of the most controversial questions in cosmology is why the fundamental constants of nature seem fine-tuned for life. One of these fundamental constants is the fine-structure constant, or alpha, which is the coupling constant for the electromagnetic force and equal to about 1/137.0359. If alpha were just 4% bigger or smaller than it is, stars wouldn't be able to make carbon and oxygen, which would have made it impossible for life as we know it to exist. Now, results from a new study show that alpha seems to have varied a tiny bit in different directions of the universe billions of years ago, being slightly smaller in the northern hemisphere and slightly larger in the southern hemisphere. One intriguing possible implication is that the fine-structure constant is continuously varying in space, and seems fine-tuned for life in our neighborhood of the universe. http://www.physorg.com/news202921592.html Physics Sun, 05 Sep 2010 16:07:15 EST news202921592 A tiny optical device built into a silicon chip has achieved the slowest light propagation on a chip to date, reducing the speed of light by a factor of 1,200 in a study reported in Nature Photonics (published online September 5 and in the November print issue). http://www.physorg.com/news202911983.html Physics Sun, 05 Sep 2010 13:26:55 EST news202911983 Biologists at the University of California, San Diego have discovered that a gene critical for programmed cell death is also important in the loss of adult stem cells, a finding that could help to improve the health and well-being of patients undergoing cancer treatment. http://www.physorg.com/news202911869.html Biology Sun, 05 Sep 2010 13:24:42 EST news202911869 One of the key drivers of human evolution and diversity, accounting for changes that occur between different generations of people, is explained by new research published today by world-renowned scientist Professor Sir Alec Jeffreys, who discovered DNA fingerprinting at the University of Leicester. http://www.physorg.com/news202911833.html Medicine & Health Sun, 05 Sep 2010 13:24:10 EST news202911833 Plants are good at doing what scientists and engineers have been struggling to do for decades: converting sunlight into stored energy, and doing so reliably day after day, year after year. Now some MIT scientists have succeeded in mimicking a key aspect of that process. http://www.physorg.com/news202911719.html Nanotechnology Sun, 05 Sep 2010 13:22:32 EST news202911719 Sally Harrison is developmentally disabled, but on Facebook the 35-year-old woman is just like anyone else. http://www.physorg.com/news202909285.html Technology Sun, 05 Sep 2010 13:00:02 EST news202909285 The first launch attempt of a homemade rocket built by two Danes failed on Sunday because of a technical glitch, according to Danish media. http://www.physorg.com/news202909247.html Space & Earth Sun, 05 Sep 2010 12:41:05 EST news202909247 South Korean telecom operator KT Corp said on Sunday it planned to begin selling Apple's iPhone 4 this week amid growing competition to expand in the potentially lucrative smartphone market. http://www.physorg.com/news202888680.html Technology Sun, 05 Sep 2010 07:20:01 EST news202888680 (AP) -- A leading virus expert urged health authorities around the world Sunday to stay vigilant even though the recent swine flu pandemic was less deadly than expected, warning that bird flu could spark the next global outbreak. http://www.physorg.com/news202888262.html Medicine & Health Sun, 05 Sep 2010 06:56:53 EST news202888262 (AP) -- East Asia is the world's electronics factory, yet unless they are Japanese, producers are largely anonymous. Now HTC Corp., a Taiwanese maker of smart phones, is moving out of the shadows and trying to establish its own brand name as it competes with Apple's iPhone. http://www.physorg.com/news202888122.html Technology Sun, 05 Sep 2010 06:49:50 EST news202888122 The Macondo well, which spilled an estimated 4.9 million barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, has been secured and no longer constitutes "a threat," a senior US official said Saturday. http://www.physorg.com/news202839622.html Space & Earth Sat, 04 Sep 2010 17:50:02 EST news202839622 China successfully launched a satellite for radio and television broadcasts early Sunday, state media said. http://www.physorg.com/news202839726.html Space & Earth Sat, 04 Sep 2010 17:50:01 EST news202839726 More than one million users joined Apple's new music-focused social network Ping in the 48 hours following its launch, the company said. http://www.physorg.com/news202839693.html Technology Sat, 04 Sep 2010 17:40:01 EST news202839693 (AP) -- Inon Beracha envisions a world where your movements control the gadgets and devices around you. There's no remote control to lose, no buttons to push. The air conditioner senses your presence and changes the temperature to your liking. http://www.physorg.com/news202839567.html Technology Sat, 04 Sep 2010 17:19:45 EST news202839567 (AP) -- Craigslist appears to have surrendered in a legal fight over erotic ads posted on its website, shutting down its adult services section Saturday and replacing it with a black bar that simply says "censored." http://www.physorg.com/news202839497.html Technology Sat, 04 Sep 2010 17:18:33 EST news202839497 The French yacht Tara leaves Sunday on the second leg of a three-year voyage across the world's oceans to chart the effects of climate change on micro-organisms which produce half our oxygen. http://www.physorg.com/news202804964.html Space & Earth Sat, 04 Sep 2010 08:10:01 EST news202804964 (AP) -- Health officials in Chad say an outbreak of cholera in the Central African nation has killed at least 41 people. http://www.physorg.com/news202804776.html Medicine & Health Sat, 04 Sep 2010 07:39:44 EST news202804776 (AP) -- Google Inc.'s methods for recommending websites are being reviewed by Texas' attorney general in an investigation spurred by complaints that the company has abused its power as the Internet's dominant search engine. http://www.physorg.com/news202756643.html Technology Fri, 03 Sep 2010 18:50:02 EST news202756643 Google has agreed to pay 8.5 million dollars (US) to settle a privacy lawsuit over a Buzz social networking tool added to free email service Gmail in February, according to court documents. http://www.physorg.com/news202756695.html Technology Fri, 03 Sep 2010 18:50:01 EST news202756695 (AP) -- Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales believes relief may be in sight for the beleaguered news media industry. http://www.physorg.com/news202756574.html Technology Fri, 03 Sep 2010 18:30:01 EST news202756574 More American adults are texting but they are not tapping out nearly as many messages per day on their cellphones as teenagers, according to a new survey from the Pew Research Center. http://www.physorg.com/news202756805.html Technology Fri, 03 Sep 2010 18:20:25 EST news202756805 (AP) -- A German court ruled Friday that Google Inc.'s subsidiary YouTube LLC must pay compensation after users uploaded several videos of performances by singer Sarah Brightman in violation of copyright laws. http://www.physorg.com/news202756612.html Technology Fri, 03 Sep 2010 18:17:07 EST news202756612 One of the most severe complications of brain surgery is a life-threatening blood clot in the lungs called a pulmonary embolism. http://www.physorg.com/news202756428.html Medicine & Health Fri, 03 Sep 2010 18:14:14 EST news202756428 An international collaboration led by a University of Pennsylvania anthropologist has shown that environmental factors, like temperature and light, play as much of a role in the activity of traditionally nocturnal monkeys as the circadian rhythm that regulates periods of sleep and wakefulness. http://www.physorg.com/news202756359.html Biology Fri, 03 Sep 2010 18:12:59 EST news202756359 NASA satellites and the International Space Station are keeping eyes on Hurricane Earl as it heads for New England. Watches and Warnings are posted in the U.S. northeast. http://www.physorg.com/news202753934.html Space & Earth Fri, 03 Sep 2010 17:32:33 EST news202753934 One of the big, unsolved problems in explaining how life arose on Earth is a chicken-and-egg paradox: How could the basic biochemicals -- such as amino acids and nucleotides -- have arisen before the biological catalysts (proteins or ribozymes) existed to carry out their formation? http://www.physorg.com/news202753830.html Chemistry Fri, 03 Sep 2010 17:30:48 EST news202753830 Google updated its privacy policy on Friday, a day after a video cartoon featuring the Internet firm's chief giving away ice cream to snoop on children aired on a giant screen in Times Square. http://www.physorg.com/news202742867.html Technology Fri, 03 Sep 2010 15:10:01 EST news202742867 NASA satellite data has noticed that Tropical Storm Fiona is getting "longer." That is, the storm is elongating in almost a north-south direction, indicating that she's weakening and may not make it through the weekend. Meanwhile, forecasters are watching two other areas for development in the eastern Atlantic this weekend. http://www.physorg.com/news202742604.html Space & Earth Fri, 03 Sep 2010 14:40:02 EST news202742604 Forty-six countries gained a clearer view on Friday of what it may take to secure a deal worth hundreds of billions of dollars in climate aid, an issue that threatens hopes for a treaty on global warming. http://www.physorg.com/news202742901.html Space & Earth Fri, 03 Sep 2010 14:28:45 EST news202742901 (PhysOrg.com) -- Vaccinating horses for eastern equine encephalitis at the proper time of the year is critical to ensuring animal health and protection, according to Michigan State University equine veterinarian Judy Marteniuk. http://www.physorg.com/news202742249.html Biology Fri, 03 Sep 2010 14:18:13 EST news202742249