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. In late 2007, hundreds of dead and stranded seabirds washed up on the shores of Monterey Bay, their feathers saturated with water and coated with an unknown substance. After an intensive investigation, scientists determined that a massive "red tide" bloom of marine algae had produced a foamy soap-like substance that stripped the natural waterproofing from the birds' feathers. http://www.physorg.com/news154446627.html Space & Earth Sat, 21 Feb 2009 13:52:09 EST news154446627 Astronomers have observed the intense heating of a distant planet as it swung close to its parent star, providing important clues to the atmospheric properties of the planet. The observations enabled astronomers at the University of California, Santa Cruz, to generate realistic images of the planet by feeding the data into computer simulations of the planet's atmosphere. http://www.physorg.com/news152371245.html Space & Earth Wed, 28 Jan 2009 13:21:19 EST news152371245 (PhysOrg.com) -- Theorists have long wondered how massive stars--up to 120 times the mass of the Sun--can form without blowing away the clouds of gas and dust that feed their growth. But the problem turns out to be less mysterious than it once seemed. A study published this week by Science shows how the growth of a massive star can proceed despite outward-flowing radiation pressure that exceeds the gravitational force pulling material inward. http://www.physorg.com/news151252308.html Space & Earth Thu, 15 Jan 2009 14:31:48 EST news151252308 (PhysOrg.com) -- Jacob Rosen, associate professor of computer engineering at the Jack Baskin School of Engineering, University of California, Santa Cruz, is developing a wearable robotic "exoskeleton" that could enable a person to lift heavy objects with little effort. It's a bit like the robotic armor that has long been a staple of futuristic battle scenes in science fiction books and movies. But what excites Rosen is the device's potential to help people disabled by stroke or degenerative diseases. http://www.physorg.com/news151173103.html Electronics Wed, 14 Jan 2009 16:31:43 EST news151173103 (PhysOrg.com) -- Fishing and hunting are having broad, swift impacts on the body size and reproductive abilities of fish and other commercially harvested species, potentially jeopardizing the ability of entire populations to recover, according to the results of a new study that will appear in the January 12, 2009, online issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. http://www.physorg.com/news151002984.html Biology Mon, 12 Jan 2009 17:16:24 EST news151002984 Last winter, government agencies killed one third of Yellowstone National Park's bison herd due to concerns about the possible spread of a livestock disease to cattle that graze in areas around the park. Such drastic measures may be unnecessary, however, according to researchers who have assessed the risk of disease transmission from Yellowstone bison to cattle. http://www.physorg.com/news150991706.html Biology Mon, 12 Jan 2009 14:08:26 EST news150991706 (PhysOrg.com) -- The brilliant afterglow of a powerful gamma-ray burst (GRB) has enabled astronomers to probe the star-forming environment of a distant galaxy, resulting in the first detection of molecular gas in a GRB host galaxy. By analyzing the spectrum of light emitted in the GRB afterglow, the researchers are gleaning insights into an active stellar nursery in a galaxy so far away it appears as it was 10 billion years ago. http://www.physorg.com/news150478619.html Space & Earth Tue, 06 Jan 2009 15:36:59 EST news150478619