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. There is more to the snowflake than its ability to delight schoolchildren and snarl traffic. http://www.physorg.com/news179416713.html Chemistry Mon, 07 Dec 2009 14:26:57 EST news179416713 People who drink may want to know that coffee won't sober them up, according to new laboratory research. Instead, a cup of coffee may make it harder for people to realize they're drunk. http://www.physorg.com/news179416153.html Medicine & Health Mon, 07 Dec 2009 13:50:48 EST news179416153 (PhysOrg.com) -- Middle-aged parents are more involved in their grown children's lives than ever, according to new research from Purdue University. http://www.physorg.com/news179415794.html Other Sciences Mon, 07 Dec 2009 13:44:48 EST news179415794 In the first study to demonstrate a clear positive association between adolescent fitness and adult cognitive performance, Nancy Pedersen of the University of Southern California and colleagues in Sweden find that better cardiovascular health among teenage boys correlates to higher scores on a range of intelligence tests - and more education and income later in life. http://www.physorg.com/news179415275.html Medicine & Health Mon, 07 Dec 2009 13:36:53 EST news179415275 (PhysOrg.com) -- Due to their violent nature and long distance from Earth, black holes and their surroundings are very difficult to study. Currently, the main method to observe a black hole is to use an X-ray satellite to detect the X-ray fluorescence emitted by a black hole`s companion star as the star`s material falls into the black hole. But now, scientists have developed a laser-driven method to generate a flash of brilliant Planckian X-rays in the lab that can be used to simulate the X-rays that exist near black holes. The new results contrast with the generally accepted explanation for the origins of these astronomical features, and may also help scientists test the complex computer codes used in X-ray astronomy. http://www.physorg.com/news179398351.html Physics Mon, 07 Dec 2009 11:30:02 EST news179398351 (AP) -- A spacecraft designed to rocket wealthy tourists into space as early as 2011 was unveiled Monday in what backers of the venture hope will signal a new era in aviation history. http://www.physorg.com/news179407567.html Space & Earth Mon, 07 Dec 2009 11:27:15 EST news179407567 (PhysOrg.com) -- An extensive study made with ESO's Very Large Telescope deepens a long-standing mystery in the study of stars similar to the Sun. Unusual year-long variations in the brightness of about one third of all Sun-like stars during the latter stages of their lives still remain unexplained. Over the past few decades, astronomers have offered many possible explanations, but the new, painstaking observations contradict them all and only deepen the mystery. The search for a suitable interpretation is on. http://www.physorg.com/news179403810.html Space & Earth Mon, 07 Dec 2009 10:26:07 EST news179403810 (PhysOrg.com) -- A new program, Eureqa, takes raw data and formulates scientific laws to suit, and it is available by free download to all scientists. http://www.physorg.com/news179394947.html Technology Mon, 07 Dec 2009 09:30:01 EST news179394947 The field of artificial-intelligence research (AI), founded more than 50 years ago, seems to many researchers to have spent much of that time wandering in the wilderness, swapping hugely ambitious goals for a relatively modest set of actual accomplishments. Now, some of the pioneers of the field, joined by later generations of thinkers, are gearing up for a massive 'do-over' of the whole idea. http://www.physorg.com/news179400180.html Technology Mon, 07 Dec 2009 09:23:41 EST news179400180 (PhysOrg.com) -- The skin is known for its ability to regenerate because the cells in the skin are constantly turning over. This "healing property" has attracted much attention from scientists wanting to know what makes the skin repair itself. Researchers at the University of Toronto and the Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) are now a step closer to understanding its regenerative power. The scientists are the first to identify a stem cell for the dermis or the second layer of the skin. http://www.physorg.com/news179399989.html Medicine & Health Mon, 07 Dec 2009 09:20:29 EST news179399989 (PhysOrg.com) -- "For years, we have been using laser cooling to trap and manipulate atoms," David DeMille tells PhysOrg.com. "This has been very useful for both basic science and many applications. Recently there has been great interest in cooling and trapping molecules as well. Their rich internal structure makes molecules useful for a wide range of new experiments and possible applications." http://www.physorg.com/news179397985.html Physics Mon, 07 Dec 2009 08:47:03 EST news179397985 (PhysOrg.com) -- Archaeologists studying a 7,000-year-old site in what is now south-west Germany have found evidence suggesting that more than 500 people may have been the victims of cannibalism. http://www.physorg.com/news179393799.html Other Sciences Mon, 07 Dec 2009 08:30:02 EST news179393799 (PhysOrg.com) -- Google is expected to release its Extensions Gallery for general users of the new Chrome browser this week, possibly at the Add-On Conference on browser extensions to be held on December 11, 2009. Google is a platinum sponsor of the conference. An extensions site was unveiled a couple of weeks ago, but only for the use of developers. http://www.physorg.com/news179392670.html Technology Mon, 07 Dec 2009 07:18:33 EST news179392670 Researchers from Yale University and Mirna Therapeutics, Inc., reversed the growth of lung tumors in mice using a naturally occurring tumor suppressor microRNA. The study reveals that a tiny bit of RNA may one day play a big role in cancer treatment, and provides hope for future patients battling one of the most prevalent and difficult to treat cancers. http://www.physorg.com/news179390588.html Medicine & Health Mon, 07 Dec 2009 06:43:35 EST news179390588 Neuroscientists at the Mayo Clinic campus in Jacksonville, Fla., have demonstrated how brain waves can be used to type alphanumerical characters on a computer screen. By merely focusing on the "q" in a matrix of letters, for example, that "q" appears on the monitor. http://www.physorg.com/news179378975.html Medicine & Health Mon, 07 Dec 2009 03:30:24 EST news179378975 Faced with a steady drumbeat of criticism from a shrinking newspaper industry, Google is out to prove that it is friend not foe. http://www.physorg.com/news179331459.html Technology Sun, 06 Dec 2009 15:10:01 EST news179331459 British billionaire Sir Richard Branson will unveil a craft on Monday that could soon carry tourists on an out-of-this-world trip into space -- for a mere 200,000 dollars. http://www.physorg.com/news179330421.html Space & Earth Sun, 06 Dec 2009 14:30:01 EST news179330421 (PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers from Helsinki University of Technology (Finland), University of New South Wales (Australia), and University of Melbourne (Australia) have succeeded in building a working transistor, whose active region composes only of a single phosphorus atom in silicon. The results have just been published in Nano Letters. http://www.physorg.com/news179331125.html Nanotechnology Sun, 06 Dec 2009 14:16:01 EST news179331125 Scientists in Cambridge have discovered that the loss of a key segment of DNA can lead to severe childhood obesity. This is the first study to show that this kind of genetic alteration can cause obesity. The results are published today in Nature. http://www.physorg.com/news179329112.html Medicine & Health Sun, 06 Dec 2009 13:39:23 EST news179329112 In an encouraging new development, a team led by Scripps Research Institute scientists has restored partial function to lung cells collected from patients with cystic fibrosis. While there is still much work to be done before the therapy can be tested in humans, the discovery opens the door to a new class of therapies for this and a host of other chronic diseases. http://www.physorg.com/news179328978.html Chemistry Sun, 06 Dec 2009 13:37:24 EST news179328978 In the long term, the Earth's temperature may be 30-50% more sensitive to atmospheric carbon dioxide than has previously been estimated, reports a new study published in Nature Geoscience this week. http://www.physorg.com/news179328817.html Space & Earth Sun, 06 Dec 2009 13:34:02 EST news179328817 Studies with fruit flies have shown that the specialized nerve cells called neurons can rebuild themselves after injury. http://www.physorg.com/news179328565.html Medicine & Health Sun, 06 Dec 2009 13:30:58 EST news179328565 Have you ever found yourself struggling to get your order taken at a crowded bar or lunch counter, only to walk away in disgust as more aggressive customers elbow their way to the front? It turns out that flies do much the same thing, according to biologists from the California Institute of Technology. http://www.physorg.com/news179328346.html Biology Sun, 06 Dec 2009 13:27:08 EST news179328346 With an eye on the readers of the future, US publisher Hearst Corp. announced plans Friday to launch a digital newsstand, advertising service and electronic reader for newspapers and magazines. http://www.physorg.com/news179256953.html Technology Sat, 05 Dec 2009 17:36:41 EST news179256953 (AP) -- Eric Horvitz illustrates the potential dilemmas of living with robots by telling the story of how he once got stuck in an elevator at Stanford Hospital with a droid the size of a washing machine. http://www.physorg.com/news179255617.html Electronics Sat, 05 Dec 2009 17:16:48 EST news179255617 (AP) -- Microsoft Corp. and Yahoo Inc. have signed off on their plan to team up against Google Inc. in the lucrative Internet search market. http://www.physorg.com/news179255285.html Technology Sat, 05 Dec 2009 17:09:41 EST news179255285 The body is a battle zone. Cells constantly compete with one another for space and dominance. Though the manner in which some cells win this competition is well known to be the survival of the fittest, how stem cells duke it out for space and survival is not as clear. A study on fruit flies published in the October 2 issue of Science by Johns Hopkins researchers describes how stem cells win this battle by literally sticking around. http://www.physorg.com/news179171035.html Medicine & Health Fri, 04 Dec 2009 17:47:06 EST news179171035 Working with mice, scientists at Johns Hopkins publishing in the December issue of Neoplasia have shown that a protein made by a gene called "Twist" may be the proverbial red flag that can accurately distinguish stem cells that drive aggressive, metastatic breast cancer from other breast cancer cells. http://www.physorg.com/news179170966.html Medicine & Health Fri, 04 Dec 2009 17:43:06 EST news179170966 "Why is it that men can be bastards and women must wear pearls and smile?" wrote author Lynn Hecht Schafran. The answer, according to an article in the Journal of Vision, may lie in our interpretation of facial expressions. http://www.physorg.com/news179170846.html Medicine & Health Fri, 04 Dec 2009 17:42:02 EST news179170846 Microsoft Corp. said Thursday it has unleashed a series of lawsuits and is cooperating in criminal prosecutions worldwide in an effort to stem piracy of its software. http://www.physorg.com/news179160647.html Technology Fri, 04 Dec 2009 16:00:02 EST news179160647