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) -- NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter put itself into a safe standby mode on Saturday, Nov. 28, and the team operating the spacecraft has begun implementing careful steps designed to resume Odyssey's science and relay operations within about a week. http://www.physorg.com/news178907664.html Space & Earth Tue, 01 Dec 2009 16:34:56 EST news178907664 This year, many of college football's biggest rivalry games take place over Thanksgiving weekend. A win earns bragging rights for the year. Visiting teams are often thought to be at a considerable disadvantage, especially in the disruptive environment of a rival's home stadium. http://www.physorg.com/news178906935.html Other Sciences Tue, 01 Dec 2009 16:23:16 EST news178906935 (PhysOrg.com) -- The Web site Neuroanthropology asks visitors to complete this quote, "One of the difficulties in understanding the brain is ...". In addition to the typical facetious remarks, such as "so few of us seem to have one" and "the damn thing is smart enough to realize what you are doing, and contrary enough to change the way it reacts just to spite you...," there are more serious ones, such as "... it's not a computer" and the methods we have available "are not enough accurate in saying how neural mechanisms correlates to behavior." http://www.physorg.com/news178906562.html Physics Tue, 01 Dec 2009 16:16:45 EST news178906562 (PhysOrg.com) -- As the world`s seawater becomes more acidic due to rising atmospheric carbon dioxide, some shelled marine creatures may actually become bigger and stronger, according to a new study. http://www.physorg.com/news178904818.html Space & Earth Tue, 01 Dec 2009 15:51:26 EST news178904818 A series of newly discovered pits in the bottom of the Hudson Canyon, 100 miles southeast of New York Harbor, may be a key ingredient for the abundant and diverse marine ecosystem in and around the canyon, according to research by scientists from Rutgers University and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. http://www.physorg.com/news178903141.html Space & Earth Tue, 01 Dec 2009 15:20:30 EST news178903141 Toddlers are distractible. Their minds flit constantly here and there, and they have a terrible time concentrating on even the most stimulating project. They might be fascinated by a colorful new toy, but only until the next best toy comes along. This can be maddening for parents or teachers, who often try to rein in a toddler's impulsivity. http://www.physorg.com/news178903032.html Medicine & Health Tue, 01 Dec 2009 15:17:44 EST news178903032 (PhysOrg.com) -- A whole microcosm of various bizarrely shaped life forms opens up when you look at diatoms, the primary component of ocean plankton, under a microscope. The regularly structured silica shells of these tiny individual life forms have attracted scientists because they are particularly interesting examples of natural hybrid materials and also demonstrate unusual mechanistic and optical properties. The mechanisms of the underlying biomineralization process are not yet fully understood, but the silica shells often provide inspiration for the synthesis of man-made nanostructures. http://www.physorg.com/news178901054.html Chemistry Tue, 01 Dec 2009 14:51:39 EST news178901054 On Earth, we tend to find dust nothing more than a nuisance that blankets our furniture and causes us to sneeze. Cosmic dust can also be a hindrance to astronomers because cameras using visible light cannot see through it. However, studying cosmic dust in detail helps astronomers to pin down the ingredients of the raw mixture that eventually gives birth to stars. http://www.physorg.com/news178899301.html Space & Earth Tue, 01 Dec 2009 14:16:51 EST news178899301 Antennas aren't just for listening to the radio anymore. They're used in everything from cell phones to GPS devices. Research from North Carolina State University is revolutionizing the field of antenna design - creating shape-shifting antennas that open the door to a host of new uses in fields ranging from public safety to military deployment. http://www.physorg.com/news178897908.html Technology Tue, 01 Dec 2009 13:52:19 EST news178897908 (AP) -- Media companies wishing to thrive in the digital age need to persuade consumers to pay for news online by providing compelling information in any form they want, News Corp. Chairman and CEO Rupert Murdoch said Tuesday. http://www.physorg.com/news178896377.html Technology Tue, 01 Dec 2009 13:26:45 EST news178896377 Broadly speaking, ants have two different feeding strategies. A large proportion of all species are "carnivorous," meaning that they are generalist predators feeding on other small animals or scavenging on their remains. Some, however, are "herbivorous". http://www.physorg.com/news178893395.html Biology Tue, 01 Dec 2009 12:37:42 EST news178893395 Even the anticipation of sweets may cause our muscles to start taking up more blood sugar, say researchers reporting in the December issue of Cell Metabolism. That message is delivered via neurons in the brain's hypothalamus containing the chemical known as orexin and the sympathetic nervous system, the studies in mice and rats suggest. http://www.physorg.com/news178892306.html Medicine & Health Tue, 01 Dec 2009 12:19:29 EST news178892306 A Université de Montréal researcher, funded by the Interdisciplinary Research Center on Family Violence and Violence Against Women, has launched a new study to examine the effects of pornography on men. "We started our research seeking men in their twenties who had never consumed pornography. We couldn't find any," says Simon Louis Lajeunesse, a postdoctoral student and professor at the School of Social Work. http://www.physorg.com/news178892132.html Other Sciences Tue, 01 Dec 2009 12:16:49 EST news178892132 In a world first, a Monash University-led international research team has developed an innovative way to boost the output of the next generation of solar cells. http://www.physorg.com/news178889850.html Chemistry Tue, 01 Dec 2009 11:38:01 EST news178889850 (PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists at the University of Bonn have found a new signalling pathway which stimulates the production and function of so-called brown fat cells. They propose using these cells that serve as a "natural heating system" in order to just 'burn' unwanted excess fat. The results will be published in the journal Science Signaling on Dec. 1. http://www.physorg.com/news178888230.html Medicine & Health Tue, 01 Dec 2009 11:20:01 EST news178888230 Ohio State University cancer researchers have developed a tumor-attacking virus that both kills brain-tumor cells and blocks the growth of new tumor blood vessels. http://www.physorg.com/news178888627.html Medicine & Health Tue, 01 Dec 2009 11:19:03 EST news178888627 Online social networks such as Facebook are being used to express and communicate real personality, instead of an idealized virtual identity, according to new research from psychologist Sam Gosling at The University of Texas at Austin. http://www.physorg.com/news178888379.html Medicine & Health Tue, 01 Dec 2009 11:16:31 EST news178888379 To Charles Darwin it was an 'abominable mystery' and it is a question which has continued to vex evolutionists to this day: when did flowering plants evolve and how did they come to dominate plant life on earth? Today a study in Ecology Letters reveals the evolutionary trigger which led to early flowering plants gaining a major competitive advantage over rival species, leading to their subsequent boom and abundance. http://www.physorg.com/news178887468.html Biology Tue, 01 Dec 2009 10:58:49 EST news178887468 (PhysOrg.com) -- Plastic cards with security features are ubiquitous these days, having a wide variety of uses such as credit cards, employee cards, licenses, and so on. Many have holographic images, but they are relatively easy to tamper with. Now researchers at SABIC Innovative Plastics and GE Global Research have developed a new class of thermoplastic holographic materials that embed holograms within the plastic of cards, making them virtually impossible to copy or alter. http://www.physorg.com/news178869483.html Technology Tue, 01 Dec 2009 09:00:01 EST news178869483 Time-lapsed video of individual breast tissue cells reveals a never-before-seen event in the life of a cell: a protein that cycles between two major compartments in the cell. The results give researchers a more complete view of the internal signals that cause breast tissue cells to grow, events that go awry in cancer and are targets of drug development. http://www.physorg.com/news178879135.html Biology Tue, 01 Dec 2009 08:39:58 EST news178879135 (PhysOrg.com) -- As technology shrinks ever smaller, interest in objects and devices on the nanoscale becomes more apparent. However, visualizing these objects in three dimensions comes with special challenges. Alexander Govyadinov, a scientist at the University of Pennsylvania, points out that imaging nano-objects in 3-D typically requires measurements of the optical phase, a task which is so difficult that it is rarely done. http://www.physorg.com/news178870057.html Physics Tue, 01 Dec 2009 08:30:02 EST news178870057 (PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists from Eindhoven University in The Netherlands have for the first time grown pork meat in the laboratory by extracting cells from a live pig and growing them in a petri dish. http://www.physorg.com/news178869104.html Biology Tue, 01 Dec 2009 07:00:01 EST news178869104 A space capsule carrying a Belgian, a Canadian and a Russian landed safely in the steppes of Kazakhstan on Tuesday after the trio spent half a year on the International Space Station (ISS). http://www.physorg.com/news178868775.html Space & Earth Tue, 01 Dec 2009 06:10:02 EST news178868775 Loneliness, like a bad cold, can spread among groups of people, research at the University of Chicago, the University of California-San Diego and Harvard shows. http://www.physorg.com/news178867501.html Medicine & Health Tue, 01 Dec 2009 05:25:43 EST news178867501 Researchers have characterised a new multi drug resistant strain of Salmonella Typhimurium that is causing life-threatening disease in Africa. http://www.physorg.com/news178826947.html Biology Mon, 30 Nov 2009 18:13:07 EST news178826947 (PhysOrg.com) -- New research by Simon Fraser University evolutionary biologist Bernard Crespi reinforces his theory that autism and schizophrenia are diametric or opposite conditions based on genes. http://www.physorg.com/news178822577.html Medicine & Health Mon, 30 Nov 2009 17:50:02 EST news178822577 (PhysOrg.com) -- `There`s no crying in baseball!` So said Jimmy Dugan, the manager portrayed by Tom Hanks in the movie `A League of Their Own.` Not so fast, says Vince Waldron, an Arizona State University professor of communication studies who has spent years examining how people express emotions in the workplace. http://www.physorg.com/news178822776.html Other Sciences Mon, 30 Nov 2009 17:50:01 EST news178822776 (PhysOrg.com) -- The first experiment using the Linac Coherent Light Source to illuminate molecules via a "pump-probe" technique has been completed by an international team of more than 30 scientists from institutions including Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, LCLS and the joint SLAC/Stanford PULSE Institute. Ryan Coffee, physicist with the LCLS Laser Group, presented initial results in a seminar at SLAC on Wednesday, November 18. http://www.physorg.com/news178822370.html Physics Mon, 30 Nov 2009 17:30:03 EST news178822370 (PhysOrg.com) -- Lara Estroff and colleagues have taken a deep, detailed look at the way lab-created calcite crystals, similar to those found in nature, grow in tandem with proteins and other large molecules. http://www.physorg.com/news178823885.html Chemistry Mon, 30 Nov 2009 17:19:17 EST news178823885 As the nation ponders its energy choices, Americans keep asking themselves: how can the country make better use of its resources and emit fewer greenhouse gases without hurting U.S. industries? A research project at Idaho National Laboratory may have part of the answer. http://www.physorg.com/news178821091.html Technology Mon, 30 Nov 2009 17:10:01 EST news178821091