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. As a chemical for industrial processes, butanol is used in everything from brake fluid, to paint thinners, to plastics. According to a University of Illinois researcher, butanol made from plant material could displace butanol made from petroleum, just not at the fuel pump. http://www.physorg.com/news150653472.html Biology Thu, 08 Jan 2009 16:11:12 EST news150653472 (PhysOrg.com) -- Using a simple chemical process, scientists at Cornell and DuPont have invented a method of preparing carbon nanotubes for suspension in a semiconducting "ink," which can then be printed into such thin, flexible electronics as transistors and photovoltaic materials. http://www.physorg.com/news150650570.html Nanotechnology Thu, 08 Jan 2009 15:22:50 EST news150650570 HIAPER, one of the nation's most advanced research aircraft, is scheduled to embark on an historic mission spanning the globe from the Arctic to the Antarctic. http://www.physorg.com/news150572564.html Space & Earth Wed, 07 Jan 2009 17:42:44 EST news150572564 Mercury pollution has already spurred public health officials to advise eating less fish, but it could become a more pressing concern in a warmer world. http://www.physorg.com/news150560491.html Space & Earth Wed, 07 Jan 2009 14:21:31 EST news150560491 (PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists have created an entirely natural and renewable method for producing hydrogen to generate electricity which could drastically reduce the dependency on fossil fuels in the future. http://www.physorg.com/news150472856.html Chemistry Tue, 06 Jan 2009 14:00:56 EST news150472856 (PhysOrg.com) -- A mysterious flash of light from somewhere near or far in the universe is still keeping astronomers in the dark long after it was first detected by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope in 2006. It might represent an entirely new class of stellar phenomena that has previously gone undetected in the universe, say researchers. http://www.physorg.com/news150472724.html Space & Earth Tue, 06 Jan 2009 13:58:44 EST news150472724 A new way to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and tackle climate change had been unveiled by leading economists. http://www.physorg.com/news150446777.html Space & Earth Tue, 06 Jan 2009 06:46:17 EST news150446777 (PhysOrg.com) -- A compound synthesized for the first time by Berkeley Lab scientists could help to push nanotechnology out of the lab and into faster electronic devices, more powerful sensors, and other advanced technologies. The scientists developed a hoop-shaped chain of benzene molecules that had eluded synthesis, despite numerous efforts, since it was theorized more than 70 years ago. http://www.physorg.com/news150395925.html Nanotechnology Mon, 05 Jan 2009 16:38:45 EST news150395925 A recent study shows that shade trees on the west and south sides of a house in California can reduce a homeowner's summertime electric bill by about $25.00 a year. The study, conducted last year on 460 single-family homes in Sacramento, is the first large-scale study to use utility billing data to show that trees can reduce energy consumption. http://www.physorg.com/news150384050.html Space & Earth Mon, 05 Jan 2009 13:20:50 EST news150384050 Scientists at the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) in Teddington have worked with the Wallace Collection to analyse the contents of Viking swords - and the results shed new light on trade routes in the middle ages. http://www.physorg.com/news150373962.html Physics Mon, 05 Jan 2009 10:32:42 EST news150373962 Eaton Corporation is using IBM modeling software to develop series hydraulic hybrid systems. Replacing a vehicle`s conventional drive train and transmission, the series hydraulic hybrid (SHH) system promises dramatic fuel savings and environmental benefits. The system uses hydraulic pumps and storage tanks to capture and store energy, similar to what is done with electric motors and batteries in a hybrid electric vehicle. http://www.physorg.com/news149349584.html Technology Wed, 24 Dec 2008 13:59:44 EST news149349584 (PhysOrg.com) -- For the first time, researchers at the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science have successfully pushed nature beyond its limits by genetically modifying Escherichia coli, a bacterium often associated with food poisoning, to produce unusually long-chain alcohols essential in the creation of biofuels. http://www.physorg.com/news148833955.html Chemistry Thu, 18 Dec 2008 14:45:55 EST news148833955 The power of viruses is well documented in human history. Swarms of little viral Davids have repeatedly laid low the great Goliaths of human civilization, most famously in the devastating pandemics that swept the New World during European conquest and settlement. http://www.physorg.com/news148817103.html Space & Earth Thu, 18 Dec 2008 10:05:03 EST news148817103 Former inhabitants of the Amazon Basin enriched their fields with charred organic materials-biochar-and transformed one of the earth's most infertile soils into one of the most productive. These early conservationists disappeared 500 years ago, but centuries later, their soil is still rich in organic matter and nutrients. Now, scientists, environmental groups and policymakers forging the next world climate agreement see biochar not only as an important tool for replenishing soils, but as a powerful tool for combating global warming. http://www.physorg.com/news148758064.html Space & Earth Wed, 17 Dec 2008 17:41:04 EST news148758064 The common wisdom is that the invention of the steam engine and the advent of the coal-fueled industrial age marked the beginning of human influence on global climate. http://www.physorg.com/news148753200.html Space & Earth Wed, 17 Dec 2008 16:20:00 EST news148753200 (PhysOrg.com) -- A single batch of carbon nanotubes -- molecular carbon cylinders that may one day revolutionize electronics engineering -- often includes more than 100 types of tubes, each with different optical and electrical properties. Individual electrical measurements of the molecules typically require such slow and expensive methods as electron-beam lithography. http://www.physorg.com/news148580751.html Nanotechnology Mon, 15 Dec 2008 16:25:51 EST news148580751 (PhysOrg.com) -- Carbon, the active ingredient in charcoal, is normally not considered a fire retardant, but researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology have determined that adding a small amount of carbon nanofibers to the polyurethane foams used in some upholstered furniture can reduce flammability by about 35 percent when compared to foam infused with conventional fire retardants. http://www.physorg.com/news148142548.html Nanotechnology Wed, 10 Dec 2008 14:42:28 EST news148142548 (PhysOrg.com) -- NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has discovered carbon dioxide in the atmosphere of a planet orbiting another star. This is an important step along the trail of finding the chemical biotracers of extraterrestrial life as we know it. http://www.physorg.com/news148053414.html Space & Earth Tue, 09 Dec 2008 13:56:54 EST news148053414 Contrary to earlier projections, few developing countries will be able to afford more efficient technologies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the next few decades, new research concludes. The study, by researchers at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) and the University of Colorado, warns that continuing economic and technological disparities will make it more difficult than anticipated to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and it underscores the challenges that poorer nations face in trying to adapt to global warming. http://www.physorg.com/news148051272.html Space & Earth Tue, 09 Dec 2008 13:21:12 EST news148051272 In the rainforests of equatorial Asia, a link between drought and deforestation is fueling global warming, finds an international study that includes a UC Irvine scientist. http://www.physorg.com/news147979472.html Space & Earth Mon, 08 Dec 2008 17:24:32 EST news147979472 A key challenge of nanotechnology research is investigating how different materials behave at lengths of merely one-billionth of a meter. When shrunk to such tiny sizes, many everyday materials exhibit interesting and potentially beneficial new properties. http://www.physorg.com/news147967643.html Nanotechnology Mon, 08 Dec 2008 14:07:23 EST news147967643 Animal feeding operations are an important emission source of air pollutants including methane and carbon dioxide -known greenhouse gases. Recent inventories suggest that animal manure makes a significant contribution to global methane emissions. As a consequence, greenhouse gas emissions can potentially become a limiting factor in the development and sustainability of animal production and technologies are needed to mitigate pollutant gas emissions. Oil spray has been used as a mitigation technique to reduce pollution from animal buildings. However, little is known about its effect on greenhouse gas emissions. http://www.physorg.com/news147959093.html Space & Earth Mon, 08 Dec 2008 11:44:53 EST news147959093 Intensifying winds in the Southern Ocean have had little influence on the strength of the Southern Ocean circulation and therefore its ability to absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, according to a study published in Nature Geoscience. http://www.physorg.com/news147955224.html Space & Earth Mon, 08 Dec 2008 10:40:24 EST news147955224 Scientists from around the world proved their green credentials by participating in a conference on climate change and carbon dioxide storage in the virtual world, this week (3 December). http://www.physorg.com/news147702946.html Technology Fri, 05 Dec 2008 12:35:46 EST news147702946 A recent ESA campaign has demonstrated how a technique using lasers could be employed to measure carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. The campaign supports one of the main objectives of the candidate Earth Explorer A-SCOPE mission. http://www.physorg.com/news147530366.html Space & Earth Wed, 03 Dec 2008 12:39:26 EST news147530366 As the United States continues to develop alternative energy methods and push towards energy independence, cellulosic-based ethanol has emerged as one of the most commercially viable technologies. Corn stover remains the most popular source available, but the loss of soil organic carbon (SOC) associated with the removal of corn fodder as a cellulosic ethanol feedstock is of agricultural and environmental concern. http://www.physorg.com/news147529240.html Space & Earth Wed, 03 Dec 2008 12:20:40 EST news147529240 (PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists have found that a polymer material is an excellent catalyst in a process to produce hydrogen fuel using sunlight and water. The material meets the basic requirements for an ideal catalyst -- including being abundant, easy to work with, and non-toxic -- and could help this "green" alternative-energy production method become mainstream. http://www.physorg.com/news147451495.html Physics Tue, 02 Dec 2008 14:44:55 EST news147451495 Converting forests or fields to biofuel crops can increase or decrease greenhouse gas emissions, depending on where - and which - biofuel crops are used, University of Illinois researchers report this month. http://www.physorg.com/news147443911.html Biology Tue, 02 Dec 2008 12:38:31 EST news147443911 (PhysOrg.com) -- Keeping tropical rain forests intact is a better way to combat climate change than replacing them with biofuel plantations, according to a new in-depth study by an international team of scientists, including Matt Struebig from Queen Mary, University of London. http://www.physorg.com/news147362397.html Biology Mon, 01 Dec 2008 13:59:57 EST news147362397 (PhysOrg.com) -- The planet`s present day greenhouse scourge, carbon dioxide, may have played a vital role in helping ancient Earth to escape from complete glaciation, say scientists in a paper published online today. http://www.physorg.com/news147361639.html Space & Earth Mon, 01 Dec 2008 13:47:19 EST news147361639