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. The goal of an integrated, miniaturized laboratory analysis system, also known as a "lab-on-a-chip," is simple: sample in, answer out. However, researchers wanting to use these microfluidic devices to analyze complex solutions containing particulates or other contaminating materials often find that the first part of the process isn't so easy. Effective sample preparation from these solutions can be laborious, expensive and time-consuming, involving complicated laboratory methods that must be performed by skilled technicians. This can significantly diminish the benefits associated with using miniaturized analytical techniques. Recent work at the National Institute of Standards and Technology could help change that. http://www.physorg.com/news177763391.html Chemistry Wed, 18 Nov 2009 11:00:01 EST news177763391 To exploit the quantum world to the fullest, a key commodity is entanglement -the spooky, distance-defying link that can form between objects such as atoms even when they are completely shielded from one another. Now, physicists at the Joint Quantum Institute (JQI), a collaborative organization of the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the University of Maryland, have developed a promising new source of entangled photons using quantum dots tweaked with a laser. The JQI technique may someday enable more compact and convenient sources of entangled photon pairs than presently available for quantum information applications such as the distribution of "quantum keys" for encrypting sensitive messages. http://www.physorg.com/news177763808.html Physics Wed, 18 Nov 2009 10:50:39 EST news177763808 (PhysOrg.com) -- First, it was the soccer-ball-shaped molecules dubbed buckyballs. Then it was the cylindrically shaped nanotubes. Now, the hottest new material in physics and nanotechnology is graphene: a remarkably flat molecule made of carbon atoms arranged in hexagonal rings much like molecular chicken wire. http://www.physorg.com/news177689867.html Nanotechnology Tue, 17 Nov 2009 14:22:12 EST news177689867 (PhysOrg.com) -- Physicists, chemists and engineers at the University of Pennsylvania have demonstrated a novel method for the controlled formation of patchy particles, using charged, self-assembling molecules that may one day serve as drug-delivery vehicles to combat disease and perhaps be used in small batteries that store and release charge. http://www.physorg.com/news175276626.html Nanotechnology Tue, 20 Oct 2009 16:57:56 EST news175276626 (PhysOrg.com) -- Opposites may always attract. But they may not remain together long-term. In a counter-intuitive discovery published in the current edition of the journal Nature, researchers from Harvard, the University of California at Davis, Princeton, and Penn State University report that oppositely charged drops of water will not attract permanently, but instead will bounce off each other indefinitely when subjected to a force of attraction created by what physicists call an electric field that is too strong. http://www.physorg.com/news173033503.html Physics Thu, 24 Sep 2009 17:57:26 EST news173033503 (PhysOrg.com) -- Whether gazing into lava lamps or watching balsamic vinegar mix with olive oil, people have long been transfixed by the seemingly mystical way that droplets of one liquid find each other within another liquid and join together. Conventional scientific wisdom has held that this merging of liquid droplets, a process called coalescence, is enhanced by applying an electrical field, but a new study, which will be published in the Sept. 17 issue of the journal Nature, shows that an increased electrical field actually can prevent droplets from merging. http://www.physorg.com/news172335053.html Physics Wed, 16 Sep 2009 15:51:31 EST news172335053 Air Force Office of Scientific Research(AFOSR)-supported physicists at the University of Michigan are developing innovative components for quantum, or super-fast, computers that will improve security for data storage and transmission. http://www.physorg.com/news171731312.html Physics Wed, 09 Sep 2009 16:20:02 EST news171731312 (PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists have long known that molecules dance about as the temperature rises, but now researchers know the exact steps that water takes with a certain molecule. Results with small, electrically charged cyanide ions and water molecules reveal that water zips around ions to a greater extent than expected. The findings improve our understanding of a chemical interaction important in atmospheric sciences. http://www.physorg.com/news171641348.html Chemistry Tue, 08 Sep 2009 15:10:13 EST news171641348 (PhysOrg.com) -- The century-old challenge of transporting acetylene may have been solved in principle by a team of scientists working at the National Institute of Standards and Technology. A NIST research team has figured out why a recently discovered material can safely store at low pressure up to 100 times as much of the volatile chemical as can be done with conventional methods. http://www.physorg.com/news170517346.html Chemistry Wed, 26 Aug 2009 15:30:03 EST news170517346 (PhysOrg.com) -- With a very lucky shot, scientists have captured a one-second image and the electrical fingerprint of huge lightning that flowed 40 miles upward from the top of a storm. http://www.physorg.com/news170254828.html Space & Earth Sun, 23 Aug 2009 14:01:19 EST news170254828 (PhysOrg.com) -- A chemist at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (UWM) has developed a kind of invisible fence for trapping and controlling particles as small as a single virus or large protein. http://www.physorg.com/news169754920.html Nanotechnology Mon, 17 Aug 2009 19:20:02 EST news169754920 Ytterbium was discovered in 1878, but until it recently became useful in atomic clocks, the soft metal rarely made the news. Now ytterbium has a new claim to scientific fame. Measurements with ytterbium-174, an isotope with 70 protons and 104 neutrons, have shown the largest effects of parity violation in an atom ever observed - a hundred times larger than the most precise measurements made so far, with the element cesium. http://www.physorg.com/news167487928.html Physics Wed, 22 Jul 2009 13:26:17 EST news167487928 French physicists said on Sunday they had used ultra-fast lasers that could accelerate storage and retrieval of data on hard discs by up to 100,000 times, pointing the way to a new generation of IT wizardry. http://www.physorg.com/news162995052.html Physics Sun, 31 May 2009 13:24:50 EST news162995052 If one University of Houston professor has his way, the inexpensive plastic now used to manufacture CDs and DVDs will one day soon be put to use in improving the integrity of electronics in aircraft, computers and iPhones. http://www.physorg.com/news161612897.html Nanotechnology Fri, 15 May 2009 13:28:55 EST news161612897 (PhysOrg.com) -- In his office, MIT Professor of Chemical Engineering Gregory Rutledge keeps a small piece of fabric that at first glance resembles a Kleenex. This tissue-like material, softer than silk, is composed of fibers that are a thousand times thinner than a human hair and holds promise for a wide range of applications including protective clothing, drug delivery and tissue engineering. http://www.physorg.com/news160760875.html Nanotechnology Tue, 05 May 2009 16:48:15 EST news160760875 (PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers hit the jackpot in late March, when, for the first time, they began recording data on lightning in a volcanic eruption--right from the start of the eruption. http://www.physorg.com/news158430510.html Space & Earth Wed, 08 Apr 2009 17:29:13 EST news158430510 Engineers and scientists at The University of Texas at Austin have achieved a breakthrough in the use of a one-atom thick structure called "graphene" as a new carbon-based material for storing electrical charge in ultracapacitor devices, perhaps paving the way for the massive installation of renewable energies such as wind and solar power. http://www.physorg.com/news140787110.html Nanotechnology Tue, 16 Sep 2008 12:31:50 EST news140787110 View a video of MIT scientists explaining how they recently discovered a catalyst that produces oxygen gas from water. http://www.physorg.com/news139571374.html Technology Tue, 02 Sep 2008 10:49:34 EST news139571374