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 givens in physics is the weak equivalence principle. This principle has been considered solid since Einstein proposed that it is not possible to detect the difference between uniform acceleration and a uniform static gravitational field. The uniqueness of freefall allows uniform acceleration, even between masses that are different, according to Einstein's postulate in the theory of General Relativity. The weak equivalence principle is well established amongst the science community, but it has yet to be demonstrated completely. This is where Phillippe Bouyer at Laboratoire Charles Fabry de l`Institut d`Optique, Campus Polytechnique in Palaiseau, France, and his colleagues are attempting to go. http://www.physorg.com/news179481148.html Physics Tue, 08 Dec 2009 10:00:01 EST news179481148 (PhysOrg.com) -- Research scientists in California and elsewhere are deliberately setting out to compromise the mobile phone system used by around three billion people. The system uses Global System for Mobile communications (GSM) encryption technology to prevent eavesdropping. http://www.physorg.com/news179479214.html Technology Tue, 08 Dec 2009 09:50:01 EST news179479214 (PhysOrg.com) -- The deadly bacterium behind cholera epidemics spends only a fraction of its life infecting humans. Most of the time, Vibrio cholerae lurks in estuaries and other semisalty aquatic habitats. http://www.physorg.com/news179483903.html Biology Tue, 08 Dec 2009 09:10:03 EST news179483903 (PhysOrg.com) -- Blue whales, the largest animals on earth, are singing with deeper voices every year, but scientists are unsure of the reason. http://www.physorg.com/news179478332.html Biology Tue, 08 Dec 2009 08:40:03 EST news179478332 (PhysOrg.com) -- UCLA AIDS Institute researchers have for the first time demonstrated that human blood stem cells can be engineered to target and kill HIV-infected cells. http://www.physorg.com/news179483720.html Medicine & Health Tue, 08 Dec 2009 08:35:54 EST news179483720 An Arizona State University research team has developed a process that removes a key obstacle to producing lower-cost, renewable biofuels. The team has programmed a photosynthetic microbe to self-destruct, making the recovery of high-energy fats--and their biofuel byproducts--easier and potentially less costly. http://www.physorg.com/news179483099.html Biology Tue, 08 Dec 2009 08:26:13 EST news179483099 (PhysOrg.com) -- Google recently sent out 100,000 stickers to selected US businesses for use on their storefront windows. The stickers have the Google Maps logo and a QR code that can be scanned by smart phone cameras and display Google listings for the business on the phone screen. http://www.physorg.com/news179477830.html Technology Tue, 08 Dec 2009 06:57:47 EST news179477830 (PhysOrg.com) -- A serendipitous discovery of deaf zebra fish larvae has helped narrow down the function of an elusive protein necessary for hearing and balance. The work, led by Rockefeller University`s A. James Hudspeth, suggests that hearing loss may arise from a faulty pathway that translates sound waves into electrical impulses the brain can understand. http://www.physorg.com/news179470963.html Medicine & Health Tue, 08 Dec 2009 05:03:48 EST news179470963 (PhysOrg.com) -- While it is too early for physicians to start advising their male patients to take up the habit of regular coffee drinking, data presented at the American Association for Cancer Research Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research Conference revealed a strong inverse association between coffee consumption and the risk of lethal and advanced prostate cancers. http://www.physorg.com/news179436072.html Medicine & Health Mon, 07 Dec 2009 21:00:03 EST news179436072 (PhysOrg.com) -- A new University of Pittsburgh study reveals that craving a cigarette while performing a cognitive task not only increases the chances of a person's mind wandering, but also makes that person less likely to notice when his or her mind has wandered. http://www.physorg.com/news179430373.html Medicine & Health Mon, 07 Dec 2009 20:10:02 EST news179430373 (PhysOrg.com) -- An ancestor of the AIDS virus hijacked an entire gene, perhaps from some prehistoric cat it had infected, a gene that makes it much better able to infect humans, according to a study published online today in the journal Nature Structural and Molecular Biology. The discovery represents the first instance in which researchers have found an entire animal gene within the genome of the human immunodeficiency virus despite 30 years of intense analyses. http://www.physorg.com/news179433709.html Biology Mon, 07 Dec 2009 19:01:34 EST news179433709 (PhysOrg.com) -- MIT chemists have developed a new platinum compound that is as powerful as the commonly used anticancer drug cisplatin but better able to destroy tumor cells. http://www.physorg.com/news179426472.html Chemistry Mon, 07 Dec 2009 19:00:03 EST news179426472 (AP) -- Fresh information from blogs, news sites, Twitter and other popular hangouts will appear in Google's search results more quickly as the company aims to give people a more comprehensive look at what's happening on the Web. http://www.physorg.com/news179428078.html Technology Mon, 07 Dec 2009 18:40:02 EST news179428078 (PhysOrg.com) -- A thin rain of charged particles continually bombards our atmosphere from outer space. The mysterious particles were first detected 100 years ago but until 10 years ago when a new type of telescope began to come online physicists weren't sure where the "cosmic rays" came from or how they were generated. They suspected the particles were accelerated by supernova shockwaves, but suspicions aren't proof. http://www.physorg.com/news179427195.html Space & Earth Mon, 07 Dec 2009 18:30:01 EST news179427195 A team from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has won a 40,000-dollar prize for using social networking tools to identify the locations of 10 large weather balloons in a contest sponsored by the Pentagon's research agency. http://www.physorg.com/news179430944.html Technology Mon, 07 Dec 2009 17:56:21 EST news179430944 University of Georgia scientists looking to understand the genetic mechanisms of plant defense and growth have found for the first time in plants an inverse relationship between gene duplication and alternative splicing. The finding has implications for diversity not only in plants, but in animals and humans. http://www.physorg.com/news179424298.html Biology Mon, 07 Dec 2009 17:40:04 EST news179424298 (AP) -- Amazon.com Inc. will add two features to the Kindle e-book reader to make the gadget more accessible to blind and vision-impaired users. http://www.physorg.com/news179428198.html Electronics Mon, 07 Dec 2009 17:40:02 EST news179428198 Very often in science, the unexpected discovery turns out to be the most significant. Rice University Professor Junichiro Kono and his team weren't looking for a breakthrough in the transmission of terahertz signals, but there it was: a plasmonic material that would, with adjustments to its temperature and/or magnetic field, either stop a terahertz beam cold or let it pass completely. http://www.physorg.com/news179426778.html Physics Mon, 07 Dec 2009 17:40:01 EST news179426778 The ubiquitous coin toss is not so random after all, and can easily be manipulated to turn up heads, or tails, a Canadian study has found. http://www.physorg.com/news179429795.html Other Sciences Mon, 07 Dec 2009 17:37:52 EST news179429795 Humans share at least 97 percent of their genes with chimpanzees, but, as a new study of transcription factors makes clear, what you have in your genome may be less important than how you use it. http://www.physorg.com/news179423972.html Biology Mon, 07 Dec 2009 17:30:05 EST news179423972 A gut-level connection with workers may be the key to encouraging whistle-blowing that could chip away at an estimated $652 billion lost to fraud annually by U.S. businesses, an ongoing University of Illinois study suggests. http://www.physorg.com/news179426399.html Other Sciences Mon, 07 Dec 2009 17:30:04 EST news179426399 (PhysOrg.com) -- Stanford scientists are harnessing nanotechnology to quickly produce ultra-lightweight, bendable batteries and supercapacitors in the form of everyday paper. http://www.physorg.com/news179427849.html Nanotechnology Mon, 07 Dec 2009 17:04:51 EST news179427849 (PhysOrg.com) -- With a small card reader that attaches to a cell phone, a new company is making it easier for small businesses and even individuals to accept credit card payments. The San Francisco start-up, called Square, which opened just last week, is headed by Twitter cofounder Jack Dorsey. http://www.physorg.com/news179427538.html Technology Mon, 07 Dec 2009 17:00:32 EST news179427538 Neurology researchers have shown that feeding amino acids to brain-injured animals restores their cognitive abilities and may set the stage for the first effective treatment for cognitive impairments suffered by people with traumatic brain injuries. http://www.physorg.com/news179423402.html Medicine & Health Mon, 07 Dec 2009 16:40:05 EST news179423402 New information about lightning-emitted X-rays, gamma rays and high-energy electrons during thunderstorms is prompting scientists to raise concerns about the potential for airline passengers and crews to be exposed to harmful levels of radiation. http://www.physorg.com/news179426300.html Space & Earth Mon, 07 Dec 2009 16:39:14 EST news179426300 An ultra-high-resolution imaging technique using X-ray diffraction is a step closer to fulfilling its promise as a window on nanometer-scale structures in biological samples. In the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers report progress in applying an approach to "lensless" X-ray microscopy that they introduced one year ago. http://www.physorg.com/news179423148.html Physics Mon, 07 Dec 2009 16:30:02 EST news179423148 We have all had the embarrassing experience of seeing an acquaintance in an unfamiliar setting. We know we know them but can't recall who they are. But with the correct cues from conversation or context, something seems to click and we can readily access very rich and vivid memories about the individual. http://www.physorg.com/news179422949.html Medicine & Health Mon, 07 Dec 2009 16:20:01 EST news179422949 (PhysOrg.com) -- The nation is still debating the effects of antidepressant medications on brain chemistry almost 20 years after publication of the best-seller "Listening to Prozac." Though selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are widely used to treat depression today, understanding of their mechanisms remains limited. http://www.physorg.com/news179424614.html Medicine & Health Mon, 07 Dec 2009 16:10:44 EST news179424614 (PhysOrg.com) -- Facebook figures out that you know Holly, although you haven't seen her in 10 years, because you have four mutual friends -- a good predictor of direct friendship. But sometimes Facebook gets it wrong. "Hey, I don't know Harry!" http://www.physorg.com/news179424418.html Technology Mon, 07 Dec 2009 16:07:44 EST news179424418 A team led by Yale University scientists has developed a way to rapidly manipulate and sort different cells in the blood using magnetizable liquids. The findings, which will be published the week of December 7 in the online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, could dramatically improve the speed and sensitivity of tests used to detect cancer biomarkers, blood disorders, viruses and other diseases. http://www.physorg.com/news179423243.html Nanotechnology Mon, 07 Dec 2009 15:48:29 EST news179423243