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. Ultrafast laser research at Kansas State University has allowed physicists to build on Nobel Prize-winning work in photo-electronics by none other than Albert Einstein. http://www.physorg.com/news162131852.html Physics Thu, 21 May 2009 13:38:14 EST news162131852 (PhysOrg.com) -- New work by condensed-matter theorists at the Stanford Institute for Materials and Energy Science at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory points to a material that could one day be used to make faster, more efficient computer processors. http://www.physorg.com/news161615953.html Physics Fri, 15 May 2009 14:21:02 EST news161615953 (PhysOrg.com) -- Applying innovative measurement techniques, researchers from the Georgia Institute of Technology and the National Institute of Standards and Technology have directly measured the unusual energy spectrum of graphene, a technologically promising, two-dimensional form of carbon that has tantalized and puzzled scientists since its discovery in 2004. http://www.physorg.com/news161529738.html Nanotechnology Thu, 14 May 2009 14:23:08 EST news161529738 Researchers from the Kavli Institute of NanoScience in Delft are the first to have successfully captured a single electron in a highly tunable carbon nanotube double quantum dot. This was made possible by a new approach for producing ultraclean nanotubes. Moreover, the team of researchers, under the leadership of Spinoza winner Leo Kouwenhoven, discovered a new sort of tunneling as a result of which electrons can fly straight through obstacles. The results of the research were published by Nature Nanotechnology on April 5, 2009. http://www.physorg.com/news161521344.html Nanotechnology Thu, 14 May 2009 12:03:58 EST news161521344 Scientists using NASA's fleet of THEMIS spacecraft have discovered how radio waves produced by electrons injected into Earth's near-space environment both generate and remove high-speed "killer" electrons. http://www.physorg.com/news160928968.html Physics Thu, 07 May 2009 15:30:29 EST news160928968 New research findings could lead to faster, smaller and more versatile computer chips. A team of scientists and engineers from Stanford, the University of Florida and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory is the first to create one of two basic types of semiconductors using an exotic, new, one-atom-thick material called graphene. http://www.physorg.com/news160925180.html Nanotechnology Thu, 07 May 2009 14:26:54 EST news160925180 (PhysOrg.com) -- Detecting the coherent motion of a single electron is a challenge, for the simple reason of scale: the timescale of the coherent motion of a single-electron wave function is in the picosecond regime (one trillionth of a second), which presents significant technical difficulties. However, understanding single-electron dynamics is very important for a wide range of future quantum technologies. http://www.physorg.com/news160824176.html Physics Wed, 06 May 2009 10:23:36 EST news160824176 (PhysOrg.com) -- Something in our galactic neighborhood seems to be producing large numbers of high-energy electrons, according to new data gathered by the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope. The electrons could be coming from nearby pulsars -or they could be a longed-for signal of dark matter, the elusive, invisible material thought to make up nearly a quarter of the universe. http://www.physorg.com/news160764898.html Physics Tue, 05 May 2009 17:56:20 EST news160764898 (PhysOrg.com) -- A material just six atoms thick in which electrons appear to be guided by conflicting laws of physics depending on their direction of travel has been discovered by a team of physicists at the University of California, Davis. Working with computational models, the team has found that the electrons in a thin layer of vanadium dioxide sandwiched between insulating sheets of titanium dioxide exhibit one set of properties when moving in forward-backward directions, and another set when moving left to right. http://www.physorg.com/news160670034.html Nanotechnology Mon, 04 May 2009 15:34:40 EST news160670034 (PhysOrg.com) -- When helium is cooled to around 4 degrees above absolute zero, it turns liquid. Make it a couple of degrees cooler, and it becomes a "superfluid" that flows without resistance from its container, just as electrons flow without resistance in a superconductor. http://www.physorg.com/news160408487.html Physics Fri, 01 May 2009 14:55:07 EST news160408487 (PhysOrg.com) -- Construction begins this month on a cutting-edge physics laboratory in northern Minnesota, supported by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Congressman James Oberstar of Minnesota and Congressman Bill Foster of Illinois today are joining officials from the U.S. Department of Energy, Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory and the University of Minnesota to break ground for NOvA, the world`s most advanced neutrino experiment. http://www.physorg.com/news160405383.html Physics Fri, 01 May 2009 14:04:04 EST news160405383 (PhysOrg.com) -- When Enrico Fermi investigated the Rydberg atom in the '30s, he never imagined that the giant atoms could form molecules. Later, in the '70s and '80s, theoretical physicist Chris Greene predicted that Rydberg molecules could exist. But it wasn't until recent advancements in ultracold physics that such an observation has been made possible. A recent study now shows that the Rydberg molecule can be created in the lab, and its observation supports decades of theory. http://www.physorg.com/news160126684.html Physics Tue, 28 Apr 2009 08:38:45 EST news160126684 (PhysOrg.com) -- Organic semiconductors are promising building blocks for many devices, from LEDs to transistors, offering potential advantages such as cost-effectiveness, flexibility, and high performance. Currently, most research in organic semiconductors has focused on p-channel semiconductors, which transport positively charged holes, rather than n-channel semiconductors, which transport negatively charged electrons. The choice of semiconductor depends on the application, and many applications require a combination of both types. However, the few n-channel semiconductors that exist today have performance that lags considerably behind their p-channel counterparts. http://www.physorg.com/news159789536.html Physics Fri, 24 Apr 2009 10:59:38 EST news159789536 (PhysOrg.com) -- The most accurate timekeepers in the world are atomic clocks, which tell time based on the absorption of a very specific and unchanging microwave frequency, which induces electrons in an atom to `jump` from one particular energy level to another. But to improve atomic clocks further, a new basis is needed. http://www.physorg.com/news159624756.html Physics Wed, 22 Apr 2009 13:13:10 EST news159624756 Renesas Technology Corp. and NEC Electronics Corp. are in merger talks to create Japan's top chipmaker as they seek to survive the global recession, reports said Thursday. http://www.physorg.com/news159079696.html Technology Thu, 16 Apr 2009 05:49:03 EST news159079696 In the first demonstration of its kind, researchers at the University of British Columbia have controlled the spin of electrons using a ballistic technique--bouncing electrons through a microscopic channel of precisely constructed, two-dimensional layer of semiconductor. http://www.physorg.com/news159022445.html Physics Wed, 15 Apr 2009 13:54:39 EST news159022445 Kansas State University engineers think the possibilities are deep for a very thin material. http://www.physorg.com/news158850916.html Nanotechnology Mon, 13 Apr 2009 14:16:07 EST news158850916 (PhysOrg.com) -- By controlling the collective spin state of highly mobile electrons in semiconductors, researchers in the Materials Sciences Division (MSD) at the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory have taken a major step forward in the technology of spintronics. At the same time they have discovered a new conservation law, an important advance in fundamental physics. http://www.physorg.com/news157889543.html Physics Thu, 02 Apr 2009 11:12:51 EST news157889543 Physicists at Michigan Technological University have filled in some longtime blank spaces on the periodic table, calculating electron affinities of the lanthanides, a series of 15 elements known as rare earths. http://www.physorg.com/news157043333.html Physics Mon, 23 Mar 2009 16:09:02 EST news157043333 In the quest to pack ever-smaller electronic devices more densely with integrated circuits, nanotechnology researchers keep running up against some unpleasant truths: higher current density induces electromigration and thermomigration, phenomena that damage metal conductors and produce heat, which leads to premature failure of devices. http://www.physorg.com/news156779285.html Nanotechnology Fri, 20 Mar 2009 14:53:08 EST news156779285 (PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists at the University of Illinois have successfully demonstrated a microwave signal mixer made from a tunnel-junction transistor laser. Development of the device brings researchers a big step closer to higher speed electronics and higher performance electrical and optical integrated circuits. http://www.physorg.com/news156712542.html Physics Thu, 19 Mar 2009 20:16:31 EST news156712542 (PhysOrg.com) -- The idea of generating hydrogen from salt water has often been claimed to work effectively. However, the systems proposed so far generally require a much greater energy input than the energy they produce, making them impractical for energy generation. Now, a recently revived system may be able to cheaply generate a small amount of power. http://www.physorg.com/news156596965.html Physics Wed, 18 Mar 2009 12:09:57 EST news156596965 Japanese hi-tech giant Hitachi Ltd. said Monday that it was replacing its president and splitting off its automotive systems and consumer electronics operations as it braces for a massive loss. http://www.physorg.com/news156407118.html Technology Mon, 16 Mar 2009 07:25:54 EST news156407118 An international team of scientists have discovered a transparent form of the element sodium (Na). The team, led by Artem Oganov, Professor of Theoretical Crystallography at Stony Brook University, and Yanming Ma, the lead author and professor of physics at Jilin University in China, was able to demonstrate that sodium defies normal physical expectations by going transparent under pressure. The results are published in the March 12 edition of the journal Nature. http://www.physorg.com/news156104532.html Physics Thu, 12 Mar 2009 19:22:47 EST news156104532 (PhysOrg.com) -- The transition to environmentally benign energy sources is one of the most significant challenges of the 21st century. Solar power, which uses sunlight to generate electricity, is one promising source. It has many benefits: sunlight is free; operating solar cells emits no greenhouse gasses; and solar power can be generated almost anywhere in the world. Unfortunately, today's solar energy technologies are inefficient, and thus significantly more expensive than traditional power sources. But hope is on the horizon. Recent results from the joint SLAC-Stanford PULSE Institute for Ultrafast Energy Science may help increase efficiency more than previously thought possible. http://www.physorg.com/news156016623.html Nanotechnology Wed, 11 Mar 2009 18:58:06 EST news156016623 (PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists of the DZero collaboration at the Department of Energy's Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory have achieved the world's most precise measurement of the mass of the W boson by a single experiment. Combined with other measurements, the reduced uncertainty of the W boson mass will lead to stricter bounds on the mass of the elusive Higgs boson. http://www.physorg.com/news156002472.html Physics Wed, 11 Mar 2009 15:02:14 EST news156002472 For decades, distant galaxies that emitted their light six billion years ago were no more than small specks of light on the sky. With the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope in the early 1990s, astronomers were able to scrutinise the structure of distant galaxies in some detail for the first time. Under the superb skies of Paranal, the VLT's FLAMES/GIRAFFE spectrograph - which obtains simultaneous spectra from small areas of extended objects - can now also resolve the motions of the gas in these distant galaxies. http://www.physorg.com/news155940094.html Space & Earth Tue, 10 Mar 2009 21:41:56 EST news155940094 (PhysOrg.com) -- Research led by the University of Warwick has found a way to use doughnuts shaped by-products of quantum dots to slow and even freeze light, opening up a wide range of possibilities from reliable and effective light based computing to the possibility of "slow glass". http://www.physorg.com/news155830401.html Physics Mon, 09 Mar 2009 15:14:21 EST news155830401 (PhysOrg.com) -- Using a single-walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT) as a test tube, scientists can explore chemistry at the nanoscale, which involves some unique effects. Nanotubes provide a confined, one-dimensional space in which to isolate molecules, allowing nanoscale confinement effects to influence the chemical reactions. http://www.physorg.com/news155563699.html Nanotechnology Fri, 06 Mar 2009 12:10:08 EST news155563699 (PhysOrg.com) -- Traditionally, magnetism and superconductivity don't mix. For more than 20 years, the only known superconductors that worked at so-called "high" temperatures (above 30 K, or about -406 degrees Fahrenheit) were almost all based on copper. Materials with strong magnetism, scientists thought, would disrupt the pairing of electrons that is key to achieving the frictionless flow of superconductivity. So when a group of researchers recently found high-temperature superconductivity present in a class of iron-based materials, their discovery shocked and excited the scientific community. http://www.physorg.com/news155494328.html Physics Thu, 05 Mar 2009 16:52:46 EST news155494328