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) -- Electronic devices can't work well unless all of the transistors, or switches, within them allow electrical current to flow easily when they are turned on. A team of engineers has determined why some transistors made of organic crystals don't perform well, yielding ideas about how to make them work better. http://www.physorg.com/news177103252.html Nanotechnology Tue, 10 Nov 2009 19:37:05 EST news177103252 (PhysOrg.com) -- It sounds like a classic horror story -- eyeless, mouthless worms lurk in the dark, settling onto dead animals and sending out green "roots" to devour their bones. In fact, such worms do exist in the deep sea. They were first discovered in 2002 by researchers at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, who were using a robot submarine to explore Monterey Canyon. But that wasn't the end of the story. After "planting" several dead whales on the seafloor, a team of biologists recently announced that as many as 15 different species of boneworms may live in Monterey Bay alone. http://www.physorg.com/news177100746.html Biology Tue, 10 Nov 2009 18:39:38 EST news177100746 (PhysOrg.com) -- Although often seen as an inconsequential feature of digital technologies, one's self-representation, or avatar, in a virtual environment can affect the user's thoughts, according to research by a University of Texas at Austin communication professor. http://www.physorg.com/news177100524.html Other Sciences Tue, 10 Nov 2009 18:36:03 EST news177100524 Fossil plants are windows to the past, providing us with clues as to what our planet looked like millions of years ago. Not only do fossils tell us which species were present before human-recorded history, but they can provide information about the climate and how and when lineages may have dispersed around the world. Identifying fossil plants can be tricky, however, when plant organs fail to be preserved or when only a few sparse parts can be found. http://www.physorg.com/news177096593.html Other Sciences Tue, 10 Nov 2009 18:00:02 EST news177096593 (PhysOrg.com) -- The kelp forests off southern California are considered to be some of the most diverse and productive ecosystems on the planet, yet a new study indicates that today's kelp beds are less extensive and lush than those in the recent past. http://www.physorg.com/news177095541.html Biology Tue, 10 Nov 2009 17:40:02 EST news177095541 (PhysOrg.com) -- A University of Arkansas professor and his colleagues have shown that the Earth's mantle contains the same isotopic signatures from magnesium as meteorites do, suggesting that the planet formed from meteoritic material. This resolves a long-standing debate in the field over the planet's origins. http://www.physorg.com/news177097140.html Space & Earth Tue, 10 Nov 2009 17:39:32 EST news177097140 (PhysOrg.com) -- Big things often come in small packages. That's certainly the case with the potential created by recent successes in hydrogen research at Idaho National Laboratory. http://www.physorg.com/news177096285.html Technology Tue, 10 Nov 2009 17:25:39 EST news177096285 (PhysOrg.com) -- Engineers at the University of California, Santa Cruz, have developed a powerful new approach to a fundamental problem in computer vision: how to program a computer to recognize or categorize what it "sees" in an image or video. Their software could change the way people search the Web for photos and videos, and it may have applications in many other areas as well, such as video surveillance and security systems. http://www.physorg.com/news177095786.html Technology Tue, 10 Nov 2009 17:17:31 EST news177095786 Predators with experience of skunks avoid them both because of their black-and-white coloration and their distinctive body shape, according to UC Davis wildlife researcher Jennifer Hunter. The study was published online Oct. 21 in the journal Behavioral Ecology. http://www.physorg.com/news177095422.html Biology Tue, 10 Nov 2009 17:11:28 EST news177095422 Scientists studying how Bengalese finches use sets of syllables to communicate are a step closer to understanding how humans develop and use vocabulary. After studying the neural networks in finch brains, the researchers developed a model of the neurons in the bird's vocal center. http://www.physorg.com/news177094178.html Medicine & Health Tue, 10 Nov 2009 16:50:21 EST news177094178 The Voyager spacecraft are now in the outermost layer of the heliosphere, traveling toward interstellar space - the first man-made spacecraft to travel such a vast distance from Earth. http://www.physorg.com/news177092513.html Space & Earth Tue, 10 Nov 2009 16:40:01 EST news177092513 (PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy`s (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory have refined a technique to manufacture solar cells by creating tubes of semiconducting material and then "growing" polymers directly inside them. The method has the potential to be significantly cheaper than the process used to make today`s commercial solar cells. http://www.physorg.com/news177092235.html Nanotechnology Tue, 10 Nov 2009 16:17:54 EST news177092235 (PhysOrg.com) -- Purdue University researchers are making progress in developing a new type of transistor that uses a finlike structure instead of the conventional flat design, possibly enabling engineers to create faster and more compact circuits and computer chips. http://www.physorg.com/news177088957.html Technology Tue, 10 Nov 2009 15:24:39 EST news177088957 California experienced centuries-long droughts in the past 20,000 years that coincided with the thawing of ice caps in the Arctic, according to a new study by UC Davis doctoral student Jessica Oster and geology professor Isabel Montaņez. http://www.physorg.com/news177088772.html Space & Earth Tue, 10 Nov 2009 15:20:55 EST news177088772 (PhysOrg.com) -- Sensors, communications devices and imaging equipment that use a prism and a special form of light -- a surface plasmon-polariton -- may incorporate multiple channels or redundant applications if manufacturers use sculptured thin films. http://www.physorg.com/news177086474.html Physics Tue, 10 Nov 2009 14:42:05 EST news177086474 Google said on Tuesday, in response to threats by Rupert Murdoch to ban the search engine from listing content from his news empire, that any company could ask to have stories taken off. http://www.physorg.com/news177083680.html Technology Tue, 10 Nov 2009 14:10:02 EST news177083680 Penguins that died 44,000 years ago in Antarctica have provided extraordinary frozen DNA samples that challenge the accuracy of traditional genetic aging measurements, and suggest those approaches have been routinely underestimating the age of many specimens by 200 to 600 percent. http://www.physorg.com/news177083943.html Biology Tue, 10 Nov 2009 13:59:42 EST news177083943 A potential new drug for lung cancer has eliminated tumours in 50% of mice in a new study published today in the journal Cancer Research. In the animals, the drug also stopped lung cancer tumours from growing and becoming resistant to treatment. The authors of the research, from Imperial College London, are now planning to take the drug into clinical trials, to establish whether it could offer hope to patients with an inoperable form of lung cancer. http://www.physorg.com/news177083483.html Medicine & Health Tue, 10 Nov 2009 13:52:13 EST news177083483 A Soyuz rocket carrying a new Russian-made module for the International Space Station blasted off on Tuesday from the Baikonur space base in Kazakhstan, television pictures showed. http://www.physorg.com/news177083298.html Space & Earth Tue, 10 Nov 2009 13:49:54 EST news177083298 A number of U.S. states now use facial recognition technology when issuing drivers licenses. Similar methods are also used to grant access to buildings and to verify the identities of international travelers. Historically, obtaining accurate results with this type of technology has been a time intensive activity. Now, a researcher from the University of Miami College of Engineering and his collaborators have developed ways to make the technology more efficient while improving accuracy. http://www.physorg.com/news177075934.html Technology Tue, 10 Nov 2009 12:30:01 EST news177075934 (PhysOrg.com) -- When it comes to carbon nanotubes, the majority of research so far has focused on small-scale applications. But now, a team of researchers from Rice University has created carbon nanotubes that are hundreds of meters long, yet just 50 micrometers thick. The researchers say there is no limit to how long the nanotubes can be made, which opens the doors to large-scale applications including using nanotubes as electrical transmission lines and as the basis of structural materials. http://www.physorg.com/news177075782.html Nanotechnology Tue, 10 Nov 2009 12:20:01 EST news177075782 Getting a flu shot this fall? Canadians scientists have found that focusing on a pretty image could alleviate the sting of that vaccine. According to a new Université de Montréal study, published in the latest edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), negative and positive emotions have a direct impact on pain. http://www.physorg.com/news177074239.html Medicine & Health Tue, 10 Nov 2009 11:39:41 EST news177074239 (PhysOrg.com) -- While astronomers have studied lightweight and heavyweight black holes for decades, the evidence for black holes with intermediate masses has been much harder to come by. Now, astronomers at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., find that an X-ray source in galaxy NGC 5408 represents one of the best cases for a middleweight black hole to date. http://www.physorg.com/news177073969.html Space & Earth Tue, 10 Nov 2009 11:14:51 EST news177073969 In work that someday may lead to the development of novel types of nanoscale electronic devices, an interdisciplinary team of researchers at the California Institute of Technology has combined DNA's talent for self-assembly with the remarkable electronic properties of carbon nanotubes, thereby suggesting a solution to the long-standing problem of organizing carbon nanotubes into nanoscale electronic circuits. http://www.physorg.com/news177073039.html Nanotechnology Tue, 10 Nov 2009 11:11:43 EST news177073039 Researchers at the McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science at Northwestern University have developed, characterized, and modeled a new kind of probe used in atomic force microscopy (AFM), which images, measures, and manipulates matter at the nanoscale. http://www.physorg.com/news177073639.html Nanotechnology Tue, 10 Nov 2009 11:08:34 EST news177073639 (PhysOrg.com) -- Seiko Epson Corporation has announced the world's first 4K panel for 3LCD (liquid crystal display) projectors. The panel will enable the projectors to produce a bright image of 4096 x 2160 pixels resolution (2160p), which is four times the resolution of a top range high definition television or Blu-Ray Disc. http://www.physorg.com/news177063891.html Technology Tue, 10 Nov 2009 10:30:02 EST news177063891 (PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists in Australia have identified a single gene that strongly influences whether you have curly or straight hair. http://www.physorg.com/news177063334.html Medicine & Health Tue, 10 Nov 2009 08:16:43 EST news177063334 (PhysOrg.com) -- A Cornell research team has invented a simple way to make graphene electrical devices by growing the graphene directly onto a silicon wafer. http://www.physorg.com/news177062908.html Nanotechnology Tue, 10 Nov 2009 08:10:01 EST news177062908 (PhysOrg.com) -- The first human embryonic stem cell treatment approved by the FDA for human testing has been shown to restore limb function in rats with neck spinal cord injuries - a finding that could expand the clinical trial to include people with cervical damage. http://www.physorg.com/news176993886.html Medicine & Health Tue, 10 Nov 2009 07:54:28 EST news176993886 (PhysOrg.com) -- New data show that the balance between the airborne and the absorbed fraction of CO2 has stayed approximately constant since 1850, despite emissions of CO2 having risen from about 2 billion tons a year in 1850 to 35 billion tons a year now. http://www.physorg.com/news177059550.html Space & Earth Tue, 10 Nov 2009 07:50:02 EST news177059550