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) -- A Cornell researcher has created an extremely efficient transistor made from gallium nitride, which may soon replace silicon as king of semiconductors for power applications. http://www.physorg.com/news179518616.html Physics Tue, 08 Dec 2009 18:17:33 EST news179518616 (AP) -- An Australian coroner said Tuesday that participation in an intense self-help course led a woman to suffer a psychotic breakdown before she stripped naked and leaped to her death from an office window in front of horrified co-workers. http://www.physorg.com/news179479418.html Medicine & Health Tue, 08 Dec 2009 07:24:13 EST news179479418 It is thought that the elevated levels of urea (the byproduct of protein breakdown that is excreted in the urine) in patients with end-stage kidney failure are not particularly toxic. http://www.physorg.com/news178952586.html Medicine & Health Wed, 02 Dec 2009 06:00:01 EST news178952586 Sustainable farming, initially adopted to preserve soil quality for future generations, may also play a role in maintaining a healthy climate, according to researchers at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge and Los Alamos national laboratories. http://www.physorg.com/news177864926.html Space & Earth Thu, 19 Nov 2009 15:20:06 EST news177864926 The natural cycle of building bone to maintain skeletal strength and then breaking it down for the body's calcium needs is delicately balanced, but diseases like osteoporosis break down too much bone without adequate bone replacement, leading to bone fractures. http://www.physorg.com/news174144258.html Medicine & Health Wed, 07 Oct 2009 14:40:01 EST news174144258 (PhysOrg.com) -- Psychiatry professor George Bartzokis introduces a new theory about the fundamental cause of Alzheimer's and other neurodegenerative diseases. http://www.physorg.com/news172855170.html Medicine & Health Tue, 22 Sep 2009 16:22:56 EST news172855170 Attempts to eradicate tuberculosis (TB) are stymied by the fact that the disease-causing bacteria have a sophisticated mechanism for surviving dormant in infected cells. Now, a team of scientists led by researchers from Weill Cornell Medical College has identified compounds that inhibit that mechanism -- without damaging human cells. The results, described in the next issue of Nature and published online today, include structural studies of how the inhibitor molecules interact with bacterial proteins, and could lead to the design of new anti-TB drugs. http://www.physorg.com/news172333376.html Medicine & Health Wed, 16 Sep 2009 15:23:29 EST news172333376 Experts at The University of Nottingham are working on ground-breaking research to determine, for the first time, precisely what damage obesity can inflict on the muscles in our body. http://www.physorg.com/news172317762.html Medicine & Health Wed, 16 Sep 2009 11:30:02 EST news172317762 (PhysOrg.com) -- Have you ever noticed that people have thinner arms and legs as they get older? As we age it becomes harder to keep our muscles healthy. They get smaller, which decreases strength and increases the likelihood of falls and fractures. New research is showing how this happens -- and what to do about it. http://www.physorg.com/news171884331.html Medicine & Health Fri, 11 Sep 2009 10:50:01 EST news171884331 (PhysOrg.com) -- Recent research into the properties of graphene nanoribbons provides two new reasons for using the material as interconnects in future computer chips. In widths as narrow as 16 nanometers, graphene has a current carrying capacity approximately a thousand times greater than copper -while providing improved thermal conductivity. http://www.physorg.com/news168103210.html Nanotechnology Wed, 29 Jul 2009 16:21:00 EST news168103210 (PhysOrg.com) -- Materials researchers at Penn State University have reported the highest known breakdown strength for a bulk glass ever measured. Breakdown strength, along with dielectric constant, determines how much energy can be stored in an insulating material before it fails and begins to conduct electricity. http://www.physorg.com/news160757818.html Physics Tue, 05 May 2009 15:57:51 EST news160757818 (AP) -- Google Inc.'s recent pledge to be more open about periodic service outages appears to be drawing more attention to the breakdowns when they occur, even if it's a minor hiccup affecting a sliver of its users. http://www.physorg.com/news156105369.html Technology Thu, 12 Mar 2009 19:36:54 EST news156105369 Chemists can analyze the composition of a suspected bomb -- without actually touching and possibly detonating it -- using a technique called laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy, or LIBS. The tool is also commonly used for "stand-off" detection in such harsh or potentially dangerous environments as blast furnaces, nuclear reactors and biohazard sites and on unmanned planetary probes like the Mars rovers. http://www.physorg.com/news155994383.html Chemistry Wed, 11 Mar 2009 12:46:55 EST news155994383 The agglutination and accumulation of proteins in nerve cells are major hallmarks of age-related neurodegenerative illnesses such as Alzheimer's disease. Cellular survival thus depends on a controlled removal of excessive protein. Scientists at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (Germany) have now discovered exactly how specific control proteins regulate protein breakdown during the ageing process. http://www.physorg.com/news155141336.html Biology Sun, 01 Mar 2009 14:49:58 EST news155141336 Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, have identified a new enzyme that plays a far more important role than expected in controlling the breakdown of fat. In a new study to be published Jan. 11 in the journal Nature Medicine, researchers report that mice that have had this enzyme disabled remained lean despite eating a high-fat diet and losing a hormone that suppresses appetite. http://www.physorg.com/news150905309.html Medicine & Health Sun, 11 Jan 2009 14:08:29 EST news150905309 The so called bad cholesterol (LDL) inhibits the breakdown of fat in cells of peripheral deposits, according to a study from the Swedish medical university Karolinska Institutet. The discovery reveals a novel function of LDL as a regulator of fat turnover besides its well-established detrimental effects in promoting atherosclerosis. http://www.physorg.com/news146399602.html Medicine & Health Thu, 20 Nov 2008 10:33:22 EST news146399602 (PhysOrg.com) -- Ripe bananas are of course yellow. However, under black light, the yellow bananas are bright blue, as discovered by scientists at the University of Innsbruck (Austria) and Columbia University (New York, USA). The team, headed by Bernhard Kräutler, reports in the journal Angewandte Chemie that the blue glow is connected to the degradation of chlorophyll that occurs during ripening. In this process, colorless but fluorescing breakdown products of chlorophyll are concentrated in the banana peel. http://www.physorg.com/news143457581.html Chemistry Fri, 17 Oct 2008 10:19:41 EST news143457581 Fujitsu today announced the development of a new type of gallium nitride (GaN)-based high electron mobility transistor (HEMT) that features a new structure ideal for use in amplifiers for microwave and millimeter-wave transmissions, frequency ranges for which usage is expected to grow. http://www.physorg.com/news142864069.html Technology Fri, 10 Oct 2008 13:27:49 EST news142864069 An infectious ocean-dwelling bacterium found in oysters and other shellfish kills its host's cells by causing them to burst, providing the invader with a nutrient-rich meal, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have found. http://www.physorg.com/news138297409.html Medicine & Health Mon, 18 Aug 2008 16:56:49 EST news138297409 When a person is losing a significant amount of weight, they expect to notice changes in their body. However, they may overlook changes happening in their bones. During weight loss through calorie-restricted diets, bones are being remodeled - breaking down old bone and forming new bone - at an accelerated rate. At the same time, bone density is decreasing, causing increased fragility. http://www.physorg.com/news136481781.html Medicine & Health Mon, 28 Jul 2008 16:36:21 EST news136481781