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. 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 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 (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 Are you a verbal learner or a visual learner? Chances are, you've pegged yourself or your children as either one or the other and rely on study techniques that suit your individual learning needs. And you're not alone - for more than 30 years, the notion that teaching methods should match a student's particular learning style has exerted a powerful influence on education. The long-standing popularity of the learning styles movement has in turn created a thriving commercial market amongst researchers, educators, and the general public. http://www.physorg.com/news180202248.html Medicine & Health Wed, 16 Dec 2009 16:11:56 EST news180202248 (PhysOrg.com) -- NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has discovered the smallest object ever seen in visible light in the Kuiper Belt, a vast ring of icy debris that is encircling the outer rim of the solar system just beyond Neptune. http://www.physorg.com/news180197919.html Space & Earth Wed, 16 Dec 2009 15:50:02 EST news180197919 Beauty is not only in the eye of the beholder but also in the relationship of the eyes and mouth of the beholden. The distance between a woman's eyes and the distance between her eyes and her mouth are key factors in determining how attractive she is to others, according to new psychology research from the University of California, San Diego and the University of Toronto. http://www.physorg.com/news180195066.html Medicine & Health Wed, 16 Dec 2009 15:30:04 EST news180195066 Is that really Bob? You've seen him hundreds of mornings for the last 10 years at local coffee shops. Since he started dating Sara, he looks you in the eye -- and smiles. Sara takes every opportunity to let coffee shop cronies know that Bob is her guy and to gush about how funny he is. And he is. Who knew? http://www.physorg.com/news180195189.html Medicine & Health Wed, 16 Dec 2009 14:50:01 EST news180195189 Some geologic faults that appear strong and stable, slip and slide like weak faults. Now an international team of researchers has laboratory evidence showing why some faults that "should not" slip are weaker than previously thought. http://www.physorg.com/news180193925.html Space & Earth Wed, 16 Dec 2009 14:40:01 EST news180193925 Research teams led by the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute announce the first comprehensive analyses of cancer genomes. All cancers are caused by mutations in the DNA of cancer cells which are acquired during a person's lifetime. The studies, of a malignant melanoma and a lung cancer, reveal for the first time essentially all the mutations in the genomes of two cancers. http://www.physorg.com/news180192956.html Medicine & Health Wed, 16 Dec 2009 14:30:06 EST news180192956 (PhysOrg.com) -- The American coot is a drab, seemingly unremarkable marsh bird common throughout North America. But its reproductive life is full of deception and violence. http://www.physorg.com/news180193135.html Biology Wed, 16 Dec 2009 14:10:04 EST news180193135