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) -- Fundamental constants, such as the standards for length and mass, are a given in our society. However, research has shown that these constants might be changing slightly with the expansion of the universe. http://www.physorg.com/news180287597.html Physics Thu, 17 Dec 2009 16:30:05 EST news180287597 (PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists at Cornell University in the U.S. have found a new way of breaking two of the strongest chemical bonds, at ambient temperature and pressure, and this breakthrough could lead to low-energy processes for making organic compounds containing nitrogen. http://www.physorg.com/news180170164.html Chemistry Wed, 16 Dec 2009 07:22:43 EST news180170164 A key question in the origin of biological molecules like RNA and DNA is how they first came together billions of years ago from simple precursors. Now, in a study appearing in this week's Journal of Biological Chemistry, researchers in Italy have reconstructed one of the earliest evolutionary steps yet: generating long chains of RNA from individual subunits using nothing but warm water. http://www.physorg.com/news177945116.html Chemistry Fri, 20 Nov 2009 13:12:36 EST news177945116 Every high school biology student learns the basics of how genes are expressed: DNA, the cell`s master information keeper, is copied into messenger RNA, which carries protein-building instructions to the ribosome, the part of the cell where proteins are assembled. http://www.physorg.com/news177231115.html Biology Thu, 12 Nov 2009 06:52:21 EST news177231115 University of California, Berkeley, chemists have discovered the secret to the success of a jellyfish protein whose green glow has made it the darling of biologists and the subject of the 2008 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. http://www.physorg.com/news177170607.html Chemistry Wed, 11 Nov 2009 14:04:59 EST news177170607 Where biology, chemistry and physics intersect, a Kansas State University professor expects to find applications to improve human health. http://www.physorg.com/news166105190.html Nanotechnology Mon, 06 Jul 2009 13:32:17 EST news166105190 From balloons to rubber bands, things always break faster when stretched. Or do they? University of Illinois scientists studying chemical bonds now have shown this isn't always the case, and their results may have profound implications for the stability of proteins to mechanical stress and the design of new high-tech polymers. http://www.physorg.com/news164457846.html Chemistry Wed, 17 Jun 2009 12:20:02 EST news164457846 A soil microbe that uses chemical warfare to fight off competitors employs an unusual chemical pathway in the manufacture of its arsenal, researchers report, making use of an enzyme that can do what no other enzyme is known to do: break a non-activated carbon-carbon bond in a single step. http://www.physorg.com/news163859483.html Biology Wed, 10 Jun 2009 13:31:48 EST news163859483 (PhysOrg.com) -- When Enrico Fermi investigated the Rydberg atom in the '30s, he never imagined that the giant atoms could form molecules. Later, in the '70s and '80s, theoretical physicist Chris Greene predicted that Rydberg molecules could exist. But it wasn't until recent advancements in ultracold physics that such an observation has been made possible. A recent study now shows that the Rydberg molecule can be created in the lab, and its observation supports decades of theory. http://www.physorg.com/news160126684.html Physics Tue, 28 Apr 2009 08:38:45 EST news160126684 (PhysOrg.com) -- Forget dancing angels, a research team from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the University of Colorado (CU) has shown how to detect and monitor the tiny amount of light reflected directly off the needle point of an atomic force microscope probe, and in so doing has demonstrated a 100-fold improvement in the stability of the instrument`s measurements under ambient conditions. Their recently reported work* potentially affects a broad range of research from nanomanufacturing to biology, where sensitive, atomic-scale measurements must be made at room temperature in liquids. http://www.physorg.com/news157206337.html Nanotechnology Wed, 25 Mar 2009 13:26:26 EST news157206337 MIT researchers who study the structure of protein-based materials with the aim of learning the key to their lightweight and robust strength have discovered that the particular arrangement of proteins that produces the sturdiest product is not the arrangement with the most built-in redundancy or the most complicated pattern. Instead, the optimal arrangement of proteins in the rope-like structures they studied is a repeated pattern of two stacks of four bundled alpha-helical proteins. http://www.physorg.com/news152985503.html Nanotechnology Wed, 04 Feb 2009 15:58:50 EST news152985503 People said it couldn't be done, but researchers from the University of Pittsburgh and the U.S. Department of Energy National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) in Pittsburgh demonstrated a molecular chain reaction on a metal surface, a nanoscale process with sizable potential in areas from nanotechnology to developing information storage technology. http://www.physorg.com/news148319548.html Chemistry Fri, 12 Dec 2008 15:52:28 EST news148319548 (PhysOrg.com) -- A pioneering forensic scientist at Northamptonshire Police and the University of Leicester has helped detectives move a step closer to solving a murder case. http://www.physorg.com/news147955845.html Other Sciences Mon, 08 Dec 2008 10:50:45 EST news147955845 Everybody loves the way breakfast eggs conveniently slide off of Teflon without leaving any pesky pieces of egg in the pan. Indeed, the carbon-fluorine bond at the heart of Teflon cookware is so helpful we also use it in clothing, lubricants, refrigerants, anesthetics, semiconductors, and even blood substitutes. But the very strength of the C-F bond that makes it useful in so many applications also gives it formidable greenhouse gas effects that persist in nature. In a groundbreaking study this week in Science, Brandeis scientists report they have identified a catalyst that efficiently breaks the C-F bond and converts it to a carbon-hydrogen bond, rendering it harmless to the environment. http://www.physorg.com/news139151103.html Chemistry Thu, 28 Aug 2008 14:05:03 EST news139151103 University of Leicester experts have held discussions with military personnel in Afghanistan following the discovery of new technology to identify fingerprints on metal. http://www.physorg.com/news138969094.html Chemistry Tue, 26 Aug 2008 11:31:34 EST news138969094 Scientists know that light water (H2O) and heavy water (D2O) have similar but not identical structures. Using quantum mechanics, researchers have recently identified several differences between the two water isotopes that previous research had not predicted. http://www.physorg.com/news138962912.html Physics Tue, 26 Aug 2008 09:48:32 EST news138962912