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. (AP) -- The e-book reading device is the gadget gift of the season. Both Sony and Barnes & Noble have sold out of their new models, and new buyers will have to wait until January for delivery. So why are e-book readers still such clumsy, annoying devices? http://www.physorg.com/news179596042.html Electronics Wed, 09 Dec 2009 15:48:49 EST news179596042 (PhysOrg.com) -- A specialized camera on a telescope operated by U.K. astronomers from Liverpool has made the first measurement of magnetic fields in the afterglow of a gamma-ray burst (GRB). The result is reported in the Dec.10 issue of Nature magazine by the team of Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU) astronomers who built and operate the telescope and its unique scientific camera, named RINGO. http://www.physorg.com/news179593825.html Space & Earth Wed, 09 Dec 2009 15:11:24 EST news179593825 Nerve cells transplanted into brain-damaged rats helped them to fully recover their ability to learn and remember, probably by promoting nurturing, protective growth factors, according to a new study. http://www.physorg.com/news179589260.html Medicine & Health Wed, 09 Dec 2009 14:50:11 EST news179589260 Despite their ability to fly, tropical birds waited until the formation of the land bridge between North and South America to move northward, according to a University of British Columbia study published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Early Edition. http://www.physorg.com/news179591830.html Biology Wed, 09 Dec 2009 14:45:31 EST news179591830 Scientists in France have isolated a new giant virus that lurks inside amoeba and whose gene pool includes genetic material from other species. http://www.physorg.com/news179588551.html Biology Wed, 09 Dec 2009 14:30:13 EST news179588551 (PhysOrg.com) -- In a study that elevates the role of entropy in creating order, research led by the University of Michigan shows that certain pyramid shapes can spontaneously organize into complex quasicrystals. http://www.physorg.com/news179588725.html Chemistry Wed, 09 Dec 2009 14:30:10 EST news179588725 Spain on Wednesday handed back to the United States a robot which last week completed the first underwater crossing of the Atlantic Ocean to help monitor climate change by tracking temperatures. http://www.physorg.com/news179588220.html Space & Earth Wed, 09 Dec 2009 14:30:06 EST news179588220 (PhysOrg.com) -- Microchip manufacturers have long faced challenges miniaturizing transistors, the key active components in nearly every modern electronic device, which are used to amplify or switch electronic signals. http://www.physorg.com/news179590555.html Nanotechnology Wed, 09 Dec 2009 14:16:53 EST news179590555 Researchers at the Program in Cellular and Molecular Medicine and the Immune Disease Institute at Children's Hospital Boston (PCMM/IDI) have found a link between a common mutation that can lead to cancer and a distant gene regulator that enhances its activity. Discovery of this relationship could lead to drugs targeting B-cell lymphomas, including Burkitt's lymphoma, an aggressive cancer in children, as well as multiple myelomas and other blood-related cancers. http://www.physorg.com/news179587127.html Medicine & Health Wed, 09 Dec 2009 14:10:01 EST news179587127 Scientists have for the first time selectively blocked a conditioned fear memory in humans with a behavioral manipulation. Participants remained free of the fear memory for at least a year. The research builds on emerging evidence from animal studies that reactivating an emotional memory opens a 6-hour window of opportunity in which a training procedure can alter it. http://www.physorg.com/news179587833.html Medicine & Health Wed, 09 Dec 2009 13:31:48 EST news179587833 Cells are not static. They can transform themselves over time - but change can have dangerous implications. Benign cells, for example, can suddenly change into cancerous ones. http://www.physorg.com/news179586833.html Biology Wed, 09 Dec 2009 13:14:24 EST news179586833 Female birds in species that breed in groups can find themselves under pressure to sexually show off and evolve the same kinds of embellishments - like fanciful tail feathers or chest-puffing courtship dances - as males, according to new research in the latest issue of Nature (Dec. 10, 2009). http://www.physorg.com/news179586770.html Biology Wed, 09 Dec 2009 13:13:22 EST news179586770 Carnegie Mellon University scientists Timothy Keller and Marcel Just have uncovered the first evidence that intensive instruction to improve reading skills in young children causes the brain to physically rewire itself, creating new white matter that improves communication within the brain. http://www.physorg.com/news179584529.html Medicine & Health Wed, 09 Dec 2009 12:38:38 EST news179584529 Thinking of rewarding your sales department for a job well done? You might not want to make cash part of the pay-off. http://www.physorg.com/news179584657.html Medicine & Health Wed, 09 Dec 2009 12:38:06 EST news179584657 (PhysOrg.com) -- Recent studies show that one in three Canadians suffer from stress and the number is on the rise. But stress isn't a new problem. http://www.physorg.com/news179583199.html Other Sciences Wed, 09 Dec 2009 12:16:39 EST news179583199 (PhysOrg.com) -- A startup company, Neuropace in Mountain View Ca., has developed a device that offers new hope for epilepsy patients. The device is designed to neutralize the abnormal electrical activity in the region of the brain that causes seizures. http://www.physorg.com/news179580918.html Medicine & Health Wed, 09 Dec 2009 11:36:42 EST news179580918 (PhysOrg.com) -- Augmented reality (AR) systems are being developed for real applications in store windows and shopping malls in Japan. http://www.physorg.com/news179569499.html Technology Wed, 09 Dec 2009 10:10:01 EST news179569499 (PhysOrg.com) -- UConn ornithologist Chris Elphick and his colleagues carried out DNA tests to discover the paternity of Saltmarsh Sparrow nestlings. http://www.physorg.com/news179575597.html Biology Wed, 09 Dec 2009 10:07:46 EST news179575597 (PhysOrg.com) -- Toshiba Corporation today announced that it has developed MOSFET cell based on spin transport electronics, or spintronics, an advanced semiconductor technology that makes use of the spin and magnetic moment inherent in electrons. Toshiba has fabricated a spintronics cell and verified its stable performance for the first time, and will present full details of the cell and its technologies on December 7 (EST), at the International Electronics Devices Meeting in Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.A. http://www.physorg.com/news179572434.html Technology Wed, 09 Dec 2009 09:26:31 EST news179572434 (PhysOrg.com) -- A laboratory connection between Alzheimer's disease and brain-wasting diseases such as the human form of mad cow disease has moved into the clinic for what is believed to be the first time, manifesting itself in the brains of patients with a rare inherited disorder. http://www.physorg.com/news179570626.html Medicine & Health Wed, 09 Dec 2009 08:45:01 EST news179570626 Microblogging service Twitter has branched into the market for electronic payments, unveiling a mini credit card swiper that plugs into the iPhone, at a European internet fair on Wednesday. http://www.physorg.com/news179570506.html Electronics Wed, 09 Dec 2009 08:42:11 EST news179570506 (PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists in Israel and the UK have uncovered the details of how certain fish and spiders create their iridescent scales and silvery skins. http://www.physorg.com/news179569783.html Physics Wed, 09 Dec 2009 08:30:45 EST news179569783 (PhysOrg.com) -- A new scientific study has found that at least some of the stereotypes associated with older siblings are true: the oldest sibling is often less trusting, less cooperative, and less reciprocating than younger siblings. http://www.physorg.com/news179568469.html Medicine & Health Wed, 09 Dec 2009 08:18:43 EST news179568469 A monster iceberg nearly twice the size of Hong Kong island has been spotted drifting towards Australia in what scientists Wednesday called a once-in-a-century event. http://www.physorg.com/news179556530.html Space & Earth Wed, 09 Dec 2009 04:49:33 EST news179556530 A diet that incorporates a daily dose of pistachios may help reduce the risk of lung and other cancers, according to data presented at the American Association for Cancer Research Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research Conference, held Dec. 6-9. http://www.physorg.com/news179522302.html Medicine & Health Tue, 08 Dec 2009 21:20:02 EST news179522302 (PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists studying how bacteria under stress collectively weigh and initiate different survival strategies say they have gained new insights into how humans make strategic decisions that affect their health, wealth and the fate of others in society. http://www.physorg.com/news179521562.html Physics Tue, 08 Dec 2009 19:40:01 EST news179521562 A new Northwestern University study suggests that American parents should ease up on antibacterial soap and perhaps allow their little ones a romp or two in the mud --- or at least a much better acquaintance with everyday germs. http://www.physorg.com/news179522243.html Medicine & Health Tue, 08 Dec 2009 19:18:02 EST news179522243 (PhysOrg.com) -- A visit to your local graveyard can provide not only a history lesson, but a science lesson as well. Historians know that gravestones can reflect the lives of people whose memories are lost in time, and they have long scoured old burial sites to piece together the stories of those who rest there. http://www.physorg.com/news179520331.html Space & Earth Tue, 08 Dec 2009 18:48:03 EST news179520331 (PhysOrg.com) -- A single bacterium can act alone, performing the same kinds of actions that a group normally does. The behavior of that bacterium can be manipulated at the cellular level. That`s the intriguing finding by a group of researchers from UNM, the Dartmouth Medical School, the New Mexico Veterans Health Care System, and Sandia National Laboratories. The results are reported in the Nov. 22 issue of Nature Chemical Biology. A possible application is halting drug resistant bacteria found in hospital settings. http://www.physorg.com/news179520110.html Chemistry Tue, 08 Dec 2009 18:42:40 EST news179520110 (PhysOrg.com) -- Being irritable, grumpy and seeking social isolation are also hallmarks of depression, and could explain the Grinch's disdain for the Who -- the tall and the small -- his mistreatment of his dog Max and, ultimately, why he tried to stop Christmas from coming. http://www.physorg.com/news179519904.html Medicine & Health Tue, 08 Dec 2009 18:38:58 EST news179519904