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. Except for the sound of tires rolling on the ground, the latest generation of Polaris all-terrain vehicles moves almost silently across a snowy field. Powered by an electric battery instead of a gasoline engine, the new Ranger EV (for electric vehicle) is in sharp contrast to its noisy predecessors, sounding more like an electric golf cart cruising down a fairway. Also missing is the exhaust generated by a gas engine. http://www.physorg.com/news187620309.html Technology Fri, 12 Mar 2010 12:45:57 EST news187620309 It seems longer, but it was only seven years ago that the Human Genome Project deciphered the sequence of the 3 billion nucleotides that make up a single human blueprint or genome. That project cost more than $3 billion and took 13 years. But the speed of sequencing has been increasing dramatically while the cost has been dropping in a similar fashion. On Wednesday, researchers revealed the sequences of the genomes for five more people, bringing the total number of known genomes close to 20. http://www.physorg.com/news187619636.html Medicine & Health Fri, 12 Mar 2010 12:35:54 EST news187619636 New findings that shed light on how genetic damage to muscle cell proteins can lead to the development of the rare muscle-wasting disease, nemaline myopathy, are reported today (15 March) in the Biochemical Journal. http://www.physorg.com/news187618966.html Chemistry Fri, 12 Mar 2010 12:23:23 EST news187618966 Blind scorpions that live in the stygian depths of caves are throwing light on a long-held assumption that specialized adaptations are irreversible evolutionary dead-ends. According to a new phylogenetic analysis of the family Typhlochactidae, scorpions currently living closer to the surface (under stones and in leaf litter) evolved independently on more than one occasion from ancestors adapted to life further below the surface (in caves). The research, currently available in an early online edition, will be published in the April issue of Cladistics. http://www.physorg.com/news187613062.html Biology Fri, 12 Mar 2010 10:45:48 EST news187613062 (PhysOrg.com) -- Space physicists from the University of Leicester are part of an international team that has identified the impact of the Sun on Mars' atmosphere. http://www.physorg.com/news187612933.html Space & Earth Fri, 12 Mar 2010 10:42:33 EST news187612933 UCSF scientists have discovered how a mutated gene known as Kras is able to hijack mouse cells damaged by acute pancreatitis, putting them on the path to becoming pancreatic cancer cells. http://www.physorg.com/news187609363.html Medicine & Health Fri, 12 Mar 2010 09:43:08 EST news187609363 The usual excuse of "lack of time" for not doing enough exercise is blown away by new research published in The Journal of Physiology. http://www.physorg.com/news187607307.html Medicine & Health Fri, 12 Mar 2010 09:10:29 EST news187607307 (PhysOrg.com) -- Psychology scientists found that when an object is desirable, we perceive it to be closer than it actually is. http://www.physorg.com/news187606855.html Medicine & Health Fri, 12 Mar 2010 09:01:50 EST news187606855 Wind power has emerged as a viable renewable energy source in recent years -- one that proponents say could lessen the threat of global warming. Although the American Wind Energy Association estimates that only about 2 percent of U.S. electricity is currently generated from wind turbines, the U.S. Department of Energy has said that wind power could account for a fifth of the nation's electricity supply by 2030. http://www.physorg.com/news187606383.html Space & Earth Fri, 12 Mar 2010 08:53:32 EST news187606383 (PhysOrg.com) -- Normal vertebrate brain ventricle formation relies upon the stretchiness or "relaxation" of the neuroepithelium, which is regulated by the motor protein myosin. This process was discovered in zebrafish and may play a role in the proper expansion of tubes in other organs throughout development. http://www.physorg.com/news187605555.html Medicine & Health Fri, 12 Mar 2010 08:39:41 EST news187605555 Dozens of decapitated skeletons have been unearthed in southern England believed to be those of 1,000-year-old Vikings, scientists said Friday. http://www.physorg.com/news187605092.html Other Sciences Fri, 12 Mar 2010 08:31:55 EST news187605092 In what could be the ultimate marine smack-down, great white sharks off the California coast may be migrating 1,600 miles west to do battle with creatures that rival their star power: giant squids. http://www.physorg.com/news187598410.html Biology Fri, 12 Mar 2010 06:40:59 EST news187598410 Ever noticed how two people can suffer from back pain, say, but one will moan and groan and take to bed while the other will get up and about and on with life? Pain specialists have often noted that conditions that seem similar on the outside can cause widely varying amounts of reported pain. http://www.physorg.com/news187597426.html Medicine & Health Fri, 12 Mar 2010 06:24:23 EST news187597426 (PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers at the University of Minnesota have created a molecular image of a system that moves electrons between proteins in cells. The achievement is a breakthrough for biology and could provide insights to minimize energy loss in other systems, from nanoscale devices to moving electricity around the country. http://www.physorg.com/news187554798.html Chemistry Thu, 11 Mar 2010 18:33:53 EST news187554798 A new NASA-funded study has concluded that Amazon rain forests were remarkably unaffected in the face of once-in-a-century drought in 2005, neither dying nor thriving, contrary to a previously published report and claims by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. http://www.physorg.com/news187554246.html Space & Earth Thu, 11 Mar 2010 18:24:34 EST news187554246 (PhysOrg.com) -- Part of the headache of having to constantly recharge batteries is not just how often they need to be charged, but also the time it takes to charge them. In a new study, researchers have proposed a charging method that could greatly reduce the charging time of lithium-ion batteries, which are used in everything from electronic devices to electric vehicles. The new method uses an additional oscillating electric field (besides the charging field) that should be capable of charging a lithium-ion battery in a fraction of the time compared with traditional methods. http://www.physorg.com/news187554124.html Physics Thu, 11 Mar 2010 18:22:58 EST news187554124 Pictures of widespread devastation leave no doubt: Last month's 8.8 magnitude earthquake in coastal Chile was extremely strong. Indeed, say NASA scientists, it might have shifted the axis of Earth itself. http://www.physorg.com/news187550459.html Space & Earth Thu, 11 Mar 2010 17:21:50 EST news187550459 (PhysOrg.com) -- Meet asteroid 1999 RQ36, a chunk of rock and dust about 1,900 feet in diameter that could tell us how the solar system was born, and perhaps, shed light on how life began. It also might hit us someday. http://www.physorg.com/news187550107.html Space & Earth Thu, 11 Mar 2010 17:16:57 EST news187550107 (PhysOrg.com) -- A driverless, electric-powered light rail system designed to whisk commuters more efficiently around central Auckland (New Zealand) and across the harbour bridge could appeal to people who snub existing public transport, says its creator. http://www.physorg.com/news187549790.html Technology Thu, 11 Mar 2010 17:10:56 EST news187549790 (PhysOrg.com) -- Berkeley Lab researchers have shown that the biochemical activity of a key player in cancer metastasis can be altered by the application of a direct physical force. This new way in which cells can sense and respond to physical forces presents a new road for future cancer therapies. http://www.physorg.com/news187547920.html Medicine & Health Thu, 11 Mar 2010 16:39:09 EST news187547920 (PhysOrg.com) -- By precisely tracking NASA's Cassini spacecraft on its low swoops over Saturn's moon Titan, scientists have determined the distribution of materials in the moon's interior. The subtle gravitational tugs they measured suggest the interior has been too cold and sluggish to split completely into separate layers of ice and rock. http://www.physorg.com/news187544807.html Space & Earth Thu, 11 Mar 2010 15:52:19 EST news187544807 By studying the hydra, a member of an ancient group of sea creatures that is still flourishing, scientists at UC Santa Barbara have made a discovery in understanding the origins of human vision. The finding is published in this week's issue of the Proceedings of the Royal Society B, a British journal of biology. http://www.physorg.com/news187542933.html Biology Thu, 11 Mar 2010 15:50:01 EST news187542933 The consortium of agencies building the International Space Station (ISS) wants to see if the orbital outpost can operate until 2028, the European Space Agency (ESA) said on Thursday. http://www.physorg.com/news187542236.html Space & Earth Thu, 11 Mar 2010 15:04:10 EST news187542236 (PhysOrg.com) -- Intel has just released its 6-core processor, the Core i7-980X Extreme Edition. The 6-core processor is built using advance 32nm manufacturing and runs at 3.33GHz and is capable of running 12 threads simultaneously with 12MB L3 cache. http://www.physorg.com/news187542124.html Electronics Thu, 11 Mar 2010 15:02:31 EST news187542124 (PhysOrg.com) -- In most animal species, males and females show obvious differences in body size. But how can this be, given that both sexes share the same genes governing their growth? University of Arizona entomologists studied this conundrum in moths and found clues that had been overlooked by previous efforts to explain this mystery of nature. http://www.physorg.com/news187541354.html Biology Thu, 11 Mar 2010 14:50:02 EST news187541354 (PhysOrg.com) -- Arizona State Univeristy scientist N.J. Tao and his colleagues at the Biodesign Institute have hit on a new, versatile method to significantly improve the detection of trace chemicals important in such areas as national security, human health and the environment. http://www.physorg.com/news187537969.html Chemistry Thu, 11 Mar 2010 14:00:12 EST news187537969 Emory University chemists have developed the most potent homogeneous catalyst known for water oxidation, considered a crucial component for generating clean hydrogen fuel using only water and sunlight. The breakthrough, published March 11 in the journal Science, was made in collaboration with the Paris Institute of Molecular Chemistry. http://www.physorg.com/news187538062.html Chemistry Thu, 11 Mar 2010 14:00:09 EST news187538062 The increased frequency and intensity of oxygen-deprived "dead zones" along the world's coasts can negatively impact environmental conditions in far more than just local waters. In the March 12 edition of the journal Science, University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science oceanographer Dr. Lou Codispoti explains that the increased amount of nitrous oxide (N2O) produced in low-oxygen (hypoxic) waters can elevate concentrations in the atmosphere, further exacerbating the impacts of global warming and contributing to ozone "holes" that cause an increase in our exposure to harmful UV radiation. http://www.physorg.com/news187537818.html Space & Earth Thu, 11 Mar 2010 14:00:07 EST news187537818 A research team led by the University of Colorado at Boulder has discovered a previously unknown cellular "switch" that may provide researchers with a new means of triggering programmed cell death, findings with implications for treating cancer. http://www.physorg.com/news187538128.html Medicine & Health Thu, 11 Mar 2010 14:00:04 EST news187538128 Mother birds communicate with their developing chicks before they even hatch by leaving them messages in the egg, new research by a team from the Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, has found. http://www.physorg.com/news187537761.html Biology Thu, 11 Mar 2010 14:00:01 EST news187537761