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. Sprays of dirt flew out of a soil box that held a retaining wall as it violently shook from a simulated 7.4 magnitude earthquake. The wall was put to test recently by engineers at the UC San Diego Englekirk Structural Engineering Center, which has the largest outdoor shake table in the United States. During the first series of tests, led by Dawn Cheng, a UCSD engineering alumna and now a civil engineering professor at UC Davis, researchers investigated the seismic response of a semi-gravity reinforced concrete cantilever wall. http://www.physorg.com/news180116153.html Technology Tue, 15 Dec 2009 16:40:02 EST news180116153 (PhysOrg.com) -- Every month, Sarah Stewart-Mukhopadhyay fires her 20-foot gun in the basement of Harvard's Hoffman Lab, sending shivers through the concrete and steel structure that can be picked up by seismometers upstairs. http://www.physorg.com/news176050830.html Space & Earth Thu, 29 Oct 2009 16:01:07 EST news176050830 (PhysOrg.com) -- Dr. Jeffery Volz, assistant professor of civil, architectural and environmental engineering at Missouri University of Science and Technology, and his team have received $567,000 to explore how adding carbon fibers could improve the blast and impact resistance of conventional reinforced concrete. The research is funded by the through a cooperative agreement with the Leonard Wood Institute. http://www.physorg.com/news175279051.html Chemistry Tue, 20 Oct 2009 18:20:01 EST news175279051 (PhysOrg.com) -- A group of researchers at Missouri University of Science and Technology has developed a handheld camera that uses microwave signals to non-destructively peek inside materials and structures in real time. http://www.physorg.com/news174054998.html Technology Tue, 06 Oct 2009 13:37:14 EST news174054998 Dr. Erez Allouche, assistant professor of civil engineering at Louisiana Tech University and associate director of the Trenchless Technology Center, is conducting innovative research on geopolymer concrete and providing ways to use a waste byproduct from coal fired power plants and help curb carbon dioxide emissions. http://www.physorg.com/news173454176.html Technology Tue, 29 Sep 2009 14:43:23 EST news173454176 (PhysOrg.com) -- When a series of rigorous simulated earthquakes - measuring up to a 7.5 magnitude - jolted the three-story, 1920s era reinforced concrete structure, UC San Diego engineers were not quite sure what would happen. The structure suffered some damage but it was still standing - just what the engineers had hoped for. http://www.physorg.com/news170439303.html Technology Tue, 25 Aug 2009 17:30:02 EST news170439303 Cleaning oily smears from kitchen countertops, mirrors, garage floors, and other surfaces with plain water - rather than strong detergents or smelly solvents - may seem like pure fantasy. But scientists in Indiana today describe what they believe to be a simple and effective state-of-the-art oil stain remover. They have developed a new coating for glass, plastics, and a range of other materials that would enable consumers to wipe away those pesky oils with plain water. http://www.physorg.com/news169644578.html Chemistry Sun, 16 Aug 2009 12:30:10 EST news169644578 (PhysOrg.com) -- Concrete accounts for about 5% of all human-related CO2 emissions. The fact that we use so much cement in building could mean that the issue becomes even more pronounced in the future. But what if there was a way to make concrete that was more environmentally friendly? A team of researchers in Texas things there might be -- by adding rice to concrete. http://www.physorg.com/news167405443.html Chemistry Tue, 21 Jul 2009 14:31:08 EST news167405443 Conventional means of internal reinforcement for concrete member in buildings involve steel bars. Yet for structures that function in harsh environments like coastal regions, or for structures that support sensitive equipment, such as magnetic resonance imaging units; the use of fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) is emerging as a valuable option, due to its natural resistance to corrosion, its high strength, light weight, transparency to electrical and magnetic fields and ease of manufacturing and installment. http://www.physorg.com/news166807178.html Technology Tue, 14 Jul 2009 16:21:03 EST news166807178 MIT civil engineers have for the first time identified what causes the most frequently used building material on earth - concrete - to gradually deform, decreasing its durability and shortening the lifespan of infrastructures such as bridges and nuclear waste containment vessels. http://www.physorg.com/news164337623.html Technology Tue, 16 Jun 2009 03:20:01 EST news164337623 Shoreview, Minn., is betting on a new "green" concrete paving method that lets rainwater pass right through the street surface to prevent damaging runoff. http://www.physorg.com/news164267918.html Space & Earth Mon, 15 Jun 2009 07:30:02 EST news164267918 (PhysOrg.com) -- Many scientists currently think at least 5 percent of humanity's carbon footprint comes from the concrete industry, both from energy use and the carbon dioxide (CO2) byproduct from the production of cement, one of concrete's principal components. http://www.physorg.com/news161869002.html Space & Earth Mon, 18 May 2009 12:39:05 EST news161869002 (PhysOrg.com) -- A concrete material developed at the University of Michigan can heal itself when it cracks. No human intervention is necessary--just water and carbon dioxide. http://www.physorg.com/news159641694.html Technology Wed, 22 Apr 2009 17:55:46 EST news159641694 A one-story masonry structure survived two days of intense earthquake jolts after engineering researchers at the University of California, San Diego put it to the test. The series of tests, performed at UC San Diego's Englekirk Structural Engineering Center, which has the largest outdoor shake table in the world. The tests were part of a collaborative research project between the University of Texas at Austin, UC San Diego, Washington State University, and North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University. http://www.physorg.com/news158951156.html Technology Tue, 14 Apr 2009 18:06:30 EST news158951156 A new type of eco-friendly residential house made of bamboo now stands in Changsha, Hunan Province, China. http://www.physorg.com/news158409739.html Technology Wed, 08 Apr 2009 11:42:43 EST news158409739 People are always looking for ways to make something less expensive and more environmentally friendly - and a team of researchers from North Carolina State University has figured out how to do both of those things at once when raising the large-scale buildings, such as parking garages, of the future. http://www.physorg.com/news155282307.html Technology Tue, 03 Mar 2009 06:00:27 EST news155282307 (PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers at the University of Michigan simulated an off-the-charts earthquake in a laboratory to test their new technique for bracing high-rise concrete buildings. Their technique passed the test, withstanding more movement than an earthquake would typically demand. http://www.physorg.com/news154888577.html Technology Thu, 26 Feb 2009 16:37:01 EST news154888577 The 6.7 magnitude earthquake that struck the Los Angeles community of Northridge at 4:30 a.m. on Jan. 17, 1994, killed 57 people, injured more than 5,000, and caused an estimated $20 billion in damage, making it the costliest seismic disaster in U.S. history. http://www.physorg.com/news154119920.html Space & Earth Tue, 17 Feb 2009 19:05:56 EST news154119920 (PhysOrg.com) -- Engineers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology are patenting a method that is expected to double the service life of concrete. The key, according to a new paper*, is a nano-sized additive that slows down penetration of chloride and sulfate ions from road salt, sea water and soils into the concrete. A reduction in ion transport translates to reductions in both maintenance costs and the catastrophic failure of concrete structures. The new technology could save billions of dollars and many lives. http://www.physorg.com/news152380871.html Nanotechnology Wed, 28 Jan 2009 16:01:45 EST news152380871 Engineers at the University of Liverpool have tested a new form of concrete designed to reduce the impact of bomb blasts in public areas. http://www.physorg.com/news151840460.html Technology Thu, 22 Jan 2009 09:54:57 EST news151840460 (PhysOrg.com) -- Each year, coal-burning power plants, steel factories and similar facilities in the United States produce more than 125 million tons of waste, much of it fly ash and bottom ash left over from combustion. Mulalo Doyoyo has plans for that material. http://www.physorg.com/news146851488.html Technology Tue, 25 Nov 2008 16:04:48 EST news146851488 Engineering researchers from UC San Diego and the University of Arizona have concluded three months of rigorous earthquake simulation tests on a half-scale three-story structure, and will now begin sifting through their results so they can be used in the future designs of buildings across the nation. The engineers produced a series of earthquake jolts as powerful as magnitude 8.0 on a structure resembling a parking garage. http://www.physorg.com/news138625441.html Technology Fri, 22 Aug 2008 12:04:01 EST news138625441