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) -- The use and control of fire are behavioral characteristics that distinguish humans from other animals. Now, a new study by Iowa State University anthropologist Jill Pruetz reports that savanna chimpanzees in Senegal have a near human understanding of wildfires and change their behavior in anticipation of the fire's movement. http://www.physorg.com/news180285365.html Biology Thu, 17 Dec 2009 15:16:50 EST news180285365 The research that brought to light the fossils of Ardipithecus ramidus, a hominid species that lived 4.4 million years ago in what is now Ethiopia, has topped Science's list of this year's most significant scientific breakthroughs. The monumental find predates "Lucy," -- previously the most ancient partial skeleton of a hominid on record -- by more than one million years, and it inches researchers ever-closer to the last common ancestor shared by humans and chimpanzees. http://www.physorg.com/news180282874.html Other Sciences Thu, 17 Dec 2009 14:35:25 EST news180282874 Society will be unable to take full advantage of real-time data analysis technologies that might improve health, reduce traffic congestion and give scientists new insights into human behavior until it resolves questions about how much of a person's life can be observed and by whom, a Carnegie Mellon University computer scientist contends in a commentary published Friday in the journal Science. http://www.physorg.com/news180282545.html Technology Thu, 17 Dec 2009 14:29:58 EST news180282545 The consumption of wild cereals among prehistoric hunters and gatherers appears to be far more ancient than previously thought, according to a University of Calgary archaeologist who has found the oldest example of extensive reliance on cereal and root staples in the diet of early Homo sapiens more than 100,000 years ago. http://www.physorg.com/news180282295.html Other Sciences Thu, 17 Dec 2009 14:28:06 EST news180282295 A network of cameras deployed around the Arctic in support of NASA's THEMIS mission has made a startling discovery about the Northern Lights. Sometimes, vast curtains of aurora borealis collide, producing spectacular outbursts of light. Movies of the phenomenon were unveiled at the Fall Meeting of the American Geophysical Union today in San Francisco. http://www.physorg.com/news180282059.html Space & Earth Thu, 17 Dec 2009 14:21:57 EST news180282059 (PhysOrg.com) -- Using new technology developed in his University of Oregon lab, chemist Andrew H. Marcus and his doctoral student Eric N. Senning have captured what they describe as well-orchestrated, actin-driven, mitochondrial movement within a single cell. http://www.physorg.com/news180279074.html Chemistry Thu, 17 Dec 2009 13:43:27 EST news180279074 Howard Hughes Medical Institute researchers have identified a naturally occurring human protein that helps prevent infection by H1N1 influenza and other viruses, including West Nile and dengue virus. http://www.physorg.com/news180275831.html Medicine & Health Thu, 17 Dec 2009 12:41:54 EST news180275831 If the planet is headed for another mass extinction like the previous five, each of which wiped out more than 75 percent of all species on the planet, then North American mammals are one-fifth to one-half the way there, according to a University of California, Berkeley, and Pennsylvania State University analysis. http://www.physorg.com/news180273689.html Biology Thu, 17 Dec 2009 12:02:16 EST news180273689 Maternal behavior itself can trigger the development of new neurons in the maternal brain independent of whether the female was pregnant or has nursed, according to a study released by researchers at Tufts University's Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine. These findings performed in adult, virgin rats were published in Brain Research Bulletin. http://www.physorg.com/news180272844.html Medicine & Health Thu, 17 Dec 2009 11:49:01 EST news180272844 (PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists at Harvard University have used light and genetic trickery to trace out neurons' ability to excite or inhibit one another, literally shedding new light on the question of how neurons interact with one another in live animals. http://www.physorg.com/news180269148.html Medicine & Health Thu, 17 Dec 2009 11:20:05 EST news180269148 Two common forms of cancer have been genetically mapped for the first time, British scientists announced, in a major breakthrough in understanding the diseases. http://www.physorg.com/news180267050.html Medicine & Health Thu, 17 Dec 2009 10:50:04 EST news180267050 At a very early age, children learn how to classify objects according to their shape. Now, new research suggests studying the shape of the aftermath of supernovas may allow astronomers to do the same. http://www.physorg.com/news180269012.html Space & Earth Thu, 17 Dec 2009 10:44:41 EST news180269012 (PhysOrg.com) -- Robovie-II, a retail-assistant robot designed to help elderly and disabled people shop in supermarkets, is being tested in Kyoto, in Japan. http://www.physorg.com/news180261433.html Electronics Thu, 17 Dec 2009 10:10:05 EST news180261433 (AP) -- The Obama administration on Thursday will hand out the first $182 million of a $7.2 billion pot of stimulus money that will go toward building high-speed Internet networks and encouraging more Americans to use them. http://www.physorg.com/news180265315.html Technology Thu, 17 Dec 2009 09:47:26 EST news180265315 (PhysOrg.com) -- In 1996, when scientists examined a meteorite from Mars previously uncovered in Antarctica, they were intrigued by what looked like microscopic fossils of ancient Martian life forms. Now, using new technology that wasn't available 13 years ago, NASA scientists have found further evidence that the materials and structures in the meteorite are likely signs of ancient life, rather than the results of inorganic processes. http://www.physorg.com/news180264793.html Space & Earth Thu, 17 Dec 2009 09:33:52 EST news180264793 (PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers at the University of Tokyo have developed a non-volatile memory that has the same basic structure as a flash memory but is made from cheap, flexible, organic materials. http://www.physorg.com/news180259614.html Technology Thu, 17 Dec 2009 08:07:41 EST news180259614 A single-atom-thick sheet of carbon, like those seen in pencil marks -- offers great potential for new types of nanoscale devices, if a good way can be found to mold the material into desired shapes. http://www.physorg.com/news180256587.html Nanotechnology Thu, 17 Dec 2009 07:18:00 EST news180256587 Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she was personally skeptical of manned space missions and warned that NASA's future funding could depend on whether it was likely to create jobs. http://www.physorg.com/news180255598.html Space & Earth Thu, 17 Dec 2009 07:15:12 EST news180255598 (AP) -- 'Tis the season for heart-melting tales of spontaneous good will among strangers, which, like the rest of our relationships, has gotten a lot more convenient since the advent of the Internet. http://www.physorg.com/news180249834.html Technology Thu, 17 Dec 2009 05:24:43 EST news180249834 Yesterday, Dec. 15, at the Copenhagen Conference on Climate Change, MIT researchers debuted the Copenhagen Wheel -- a revolutionary new bicycle wheel that not only boosts power, but can keep track of friends, fitness, smog and traffic. Though it looks like an ordinary bicycle wheel with an oversized center, the Wheel's bright red hub is a veritable Swiss army knife's worth of electronic gadgets and novel functions. http://www.physorg.com/news180212131.html Technology Wed, 16 Dec 2009 18:56:35 EST news180212131 Like an angry dog, a volcano growls before it bites, shaking the ground and getting "noisy" before erupting. This activity gives scientists an opportunity to study the tumult beneath a volcano and may help them improve the accuracy of eruption forecasts, according to Emily Brodsky, an associate professor of Earth and planetary sciences at the University of California, Santa Cruz. http://www.physorg.com/news180210955.html Space & Earth Wed, 16 Dec 2009 18:50:02 EST news180210955 (PhysOrg.com) -- Solitary waves that run a long distance without losing their shape or dying out are a special class of waves called solitons. These everlasting waves are exotic enough, but theoreticians at the Joint Quantum Institute (JQI) , a collaboration of the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the University of Maryland, and their colleagues in India and the George Mason University, now believe that there may be a new kind of soliton that`s even more special. Expected to be found in certain types of ultracold gases, the new soliton would not be just a low-temperature atomic curiosity, it also may provide profound insights into other physical systems, including the early universe. http://www.physorg.com/news180207149.html Physics Wed, 16 Dec 2009 18:10:11 EST news180207149 (PhysOrg.com) -- Over three decades, a world-recognized medical team at UC San Diego Medical Center has spurred the evolution of a complex surgery to destroy dangerous clusters of arteries and veins in the brain. Integrating innovative approaches in radiology, anesthesia and surgery, the team has perfected a method to systematically starve these abnormal brain lesions, artery by artery, vein by vein. http://www.physorg.com/news180208353.html Medicine & Health Wed, 16 Dec 2009 18:10:06 EST news180208353 (PhysOrg.com) -- If you've seen an Internet ad for capacitor-type power factor correction devices, you might be led to believe that using one can save you money on your residential electricity bill. However, a team including specialists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology have recently explained why the devices actually provide no savings by discussing the underlying physics. http://www.physorg.com/news180209041.html Technology Wed, 16 Dec 2009 18:04:46 EST news180209041 When it comes to finger sensitivity, bigger isn't always better. http://www.physorg.com/news180120296.html Medicine & Health Wed, 16 Dec 2009 17:45:43 EST news180120296 (AP) -- Netbooks have been a hit among laptop buyers because they're cheap and they're easy to carry. Now there's the option to pay a lot more and get a lot less - a lot less weight, that is. http://www.physorg.com/news180206914.html Electronics Wed, 16 Dec 2009 17:30:20 EST news180206914 (PhysOrg.com) -- The teeth of some apes are formed primarily to handle the most stressful times when food is scarce, according to new research performed at the National Institute of Standards and Technology. The findings imply that if humanity is serious about protecting its close evolutionary cousins, the food apes eat during these tough periods -and where they find it -must be included in conservation efforts. http://www.physorg.com/news180206837.html Biology Wed, 16 Dec 2009 17:28:02 EST news180206837 The most widely used human embryonic stem cell lines lack genetic diversity, a finding that raises social justice questions that must be addressed to ensure that all sectors of society benefit from stem cell advances, according to a University of Michigan research team. http://www.physorg.com/news180206563.html Biology Wed, 16 Dec 2009 17:23:43 EST news180206563 (PhysOrg.com) -- Spacetime, which consists of three dimensions of space and one time dimension, is such a large, abstract concept that scientists have a very difficult time understanding and defining it. Moreover, different theories offer different, contradictory insights on spacetime`s structure. While general relativity describes spacetime as a continuous manifold, quantum field theories require spacetime to be made of discrete points. Unifying these two theories into one theory of quantum gravity is currently one of the biggest unsolved problems in physics. http://www.physorg.com/news180203376.html Physics Wed, 16 Dec 2009 16:34:34 EST news180203376 Our cells are more like us than we may think. They're sensitive to their environment, poking and prodding deliberately at their surroundings with hand-like feelers and chemical signals as they decide whether and where to move. Such caution serves us well but has vexed engineers who seek to create synthetic tissue, heart valves, implants and other devices that the human body will accept. http://www.physorg.com/news180202451.html Biology Wed, 16 Dec 2009 16:17:58 EST news180202451