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 the voyagers of the Starship Enterprise boldly went to explore new worlds week after week on Star Trek, they used a host of futuristic technologies - including tricorders, holodecks, teleportation systems and warp drives - that may have seemed almost beyond possibility to many of the shows` (and movies`) legion of devoted viewers. But, say many scientists interviewed on a new program airing on public television, real science and technology is starting to catch up to - and sometimes even surpass - some parts of that future. http://www.physorg.com/news179761611.html Other Sciences Fri, 11 Dec 2009 15:10:08 EST news179761611 (AP) -- A Vatican researcher has rekindled the age-old debate over the Shroud of Turin, saying that faint writing on the linen proves it was the burial cloth of Jesus. Experts say the historian may be reading too much into the markings, and they stand by carbon-dating that points to the shroud being a medieval forgery. http://www.physorg.com/news177954765.html Other Sciences Fri, 20 Nov 2009 15:53:35 EST news177954765 Using a wet ethanol production method that begins by soaking corn kernels rather than grinding them, results in more gallons of ethanol and more usable co-products, giving ethanol producers a bigger bang for their buck - by about 20 percent. http://www.physorg.com/news176996815.html Chemistry Mon, 09 Nov 2009 13:47:29 EST news176996815 Inside a cramped back room at Rushford Hypersonic, a start-up headquartered in southeastern Minnesota, sits a cube-like machine that throws a mean atomic fastball. At the push of a button, the reactor hurls atoms toward a substrate material at eight times faster than the speed of sound. http://www.physorg.com/news176637826.html Nanotechnology Thu, 05 Nov 2009 11:10:02 EST news176637826 (PhysOrg.com) -- Rice University scientists today unveiled a method for the industrial-scale processing of pure carbon-nanotube fibers that could lead to revolutionary advances in materials science, power distribution and nanoelectronics. The result of a nine-year program, the method builds upon tried-and-true processes that chemical firms have used for decades to produce plastics. The research is available online in the journal Nature Nanotechnology. http://www.physorg.com/news176396559.html Nanotechnology Mon, 02 Nov 2009 15:04:34 EST news176396559 (PhysOrg.com) -- Carbon nanotubes are being considered for use in everything from sports equipment to medical applications, but a great deal remains unknown about whether these materials cause respiratory or other health problems. Now a collaborative study from North Carolina State University, The Hamner Institutes for Health Sciences, and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences shows that inhaling these nanotubes can affect the outer lining of the lung, though the effects of long-term exposure remain unclear. http://www.physorg.com/news175702180.html Nanotechnology Sun, 25 Oct 2009 15:12:24 EST news175702180 Modern tissue engineering developed at the University of Michigan could improve the function of prosthetic hands and possibly restore the sense of touch for injured patients. http://www.physorg.com/news174747079.html Medicine & Health Wed, 14 Oct 2009 14:10:01 EST news174747079 (AP) -- Scientists have reproduced the Shroud of Turin - revered as the cloth that covered Jesus in the tomb - and say the experiment proves the relic was man-made, a group of Italian debunkers claimed Monday. http://www.physorg.com/news173977462.html Other Sciences Mon, 05 Oct 2009 16:04:47 EST news173977462 (PhysOrg.com) -- Two Cornell researchers have launched iFyber LLC, which markets fabrics with embedded nanoparticles to detect explosives and dangerous chemicals or to serve as antibacterials for hospitals. http://www.physorg.com/news172850156.html Nanotechnology Tue, 22 Sep 2009 15:40:05 EST news172850156 (PhysOrg.com) -- A team of archaeologists and paleobiologists has discovered flax fibers that are more than 34,000 years old, making them the oldest fibers known to have been used by humans. The fibers, discovered during systematic excavations in a cave in the Republic of Georgia, are described in this week's issue of Science. http://www.physorg.com/news171811682.html Other Sciences Thu, 10 Sep 2009 15:20:03 EST news171811682 A Medical Center scientist has been awarded a $2 million Era of Hope Scholar Research Award to study how breast cancer cells use collagen fibers to spread, and to investigate whether the process can be predicted and disrupted. http://www.physorg.com/news171642157.html Medicine & Health Tue, 08 Sep 2009 15:40:02 EST news171642157 (PhysOrg.com) -- Imagine a soldier's uniform made of a special fabric that allows him to look in all directions and identify threats that are to his side or even behind him. In work that could turn such science fiction into reality, MIT researchers have developed light-detecting fibers that, when weaved into a web, act as a flexible camera. Fabric composed of these fibers could be joined to a computer that could provide information on a small display screen attached to a visor, providing the soldier greater awareness of his surroundings. http://www.physorg.com/news166182832.html Nanotechnology Tue, 07 Jul 2009 10:55:48 EST news166182832 Scientists in Delaware say they have developed a new hydrogen storage method -- carbonized chicken feather fibers -- that can hold vast amounts of hydrogen, a promising but difficult to corral fuel source, and do it at a far lower cost than other hydrogen storage systems under consideration. http://www.physorg.com/news164977211.html Chemistry Tue, 23 Jun 2009 12:00:30 EST news164977211 In the clothing industry it's common to mix natural and synthetic fibers. Take cotton and add polyester to make clothing that's soft, breathable and wrinkle free. Now researchers at the University of Washington are using the same principle for biomedical applications. Mixing chitosan, found in the shells of crabs and shrimp, with an industrial polyester creates a promising new material for the tiny tubes that support repair of a severed nerve, and could serve other medical uses. http://www.physorg.com/news164384019.html Chemistry Tue, 16 Jun 2009 15:14:43 EST news164384019 A heart muscle protein can replace its missing skeletal muscle counterpart to give mice with myopathy a long and active life, show Nowak et al. The findings will be published online on Monday, May 25, 2009 and will appear in the June 1, 2009 print issue of the Journal of Cell Biology. http://www.physorg.com/news162465042.html Biology Mon, 25 May 2009 10:17:20 EST news162465042 (PhysOrg.com) -- Under a microscope they look like tiny pie charts or colorful candy canes: A team led by Joerg Lahann at the University of Michigan has been able to produce micrometer-wide discs and elongated rods precisely built out of multicolored compartments. As reported in the journal Angewandte Chemie, these scientists have developed a simple, cost-effective, reliable, and scalable method for the production of microcylinders with multiple compartments. The inner structure, aspect ratio, and surface chemistry can be tuned by means of the new production method which is based on electrodynamic co-spinning and microcutting processes. http://www.physorg.com/news162455075.html Chemistry Mon, 25 May 2009 07:26:04 EST news162455075 (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 (AP) -- Scientists unveiled on Tuesday what they hope will be one of the world's fastest biofuel vehicles, powered by waste from chocolate factories and made partly from plant fibers. http://www.physorg.com/news160755240.html Technology Tue, 05 May 2009 15:14:28 EST news160755240 Carbon nanotubes have made a meteoric career in the past 15 years, even if their applications are still limited. Recent research results show that - apart from their favorable mechanical and electrical properties - they also have disadvantageous characteristics. http://www.physorg.com/news160726972.html Nanotechnology Tue, 05 May 2009 07:23:41 EST news160726972 (PhysOrg.com) -- In future, cartilage, tendon and blood vessel tissue will be produced in the laboratory, with cells being grown on a porous frame, such as non-wovens. A new software program helps to characterize and optimize the non-wovens. http://www.physorg.com/news160672320.html Technology Mon, 04 May 2009 16:12:56 EST news160672320 Autoimmune disease is a condition in which the immune system attacks the body's own material just as aggressively as it would attack a foreign pathogen. Multiple sclerosis, MS for short, is just one such autoimmune disease, and is one of the most common neurological diseases in the 20 to 30 years age group. The disease can have very severe consequences for those afflicted, since the body's defenses attack the central nervous system. It has long been assumed that myelin is the most important target for the misdirected immune response. This white, fat-rich protective layer of specialized cells enshrouds the long extensions of neurons. However, the central nervous systems of MS patients also exhibit damage in the gray matter, where the nerve cell bodies are located. How the patient's disability develops depends greatly on the damage of the gray matter. An international group headed by medical scientist Professor Edgar Meinl of LMU Munich has now discovered a possible connection: The protein Contactin-2 is produced both in the myelin sheathing and by neurons in the gray matter - and is attacked by misdirected immune factors. "Our results suggest that these processes also play a role in MS patients," says Meinl. "It could even be that proteins existing both in myelin and in the gray matter are in fact the critical points of attack." http://www.physorg.com/news160305310.html Medicine & Health Thu, 30 Apr 2009 10:15:33 EST news160305310 (PhysOrg.com) -- Los Alamos National Laboratory researchers have discovered a potential chink in the armor of fibers that make the cell walls of certain inedible plant materials so tough. The insight ultimately could lead to a cost-effective and energy-efficient strategy for turning biomass into alternative fuels. http://www.physorg.com/news159623619.html Biology Wed, 22 Apr 2009 12:54:08 EST news159623619 New research at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies casts the role of a neuronal growth factor receptor -long suspected to facilitate the toxic effects of beta amyloid in Alzheimer's disease - in a new light, suggesting the molecule actually protects the neuron in the periphery from beta amyloid-induced damage. http://www.physorg.com/news159466987.html Medicine & Health Mon, 20 Apr 2009 17:23:31 EST news159466987 Researchers have cleared a safety hurdle in efforts to develop a gene therapy for a form of muscular dystrophy that disables patients by gradually weakening muscles near the hips and shoulders. http://www.physorg.com/news159030717.html Medicine & Health Wed, 15 Apr 2009 16:15:59 EST news159030717 (PhysOrg.com) -- NASA has chosen the material for a heat shield that will protect a new generation of space explorers when they return from the moon. After extensive study, NASA has selected the Avcoat ablator system for the Orion crew module. http://www.physorg.com/news158337577.html Space & Earth Tue, 07 Apr 2009 15:40:44 EST news158337577 (PhysOrg.com) -- A research group from the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel has discovered that adding carbon nanotubes to a widely used commercial plastic can greatly strengthen it. Their work is one example of how incorporating carbon nanotubes into plastics and other materials can yield composites with much improved properties. http://www.physorg.com/news158326124.html Nanotechnology Tue, 07 Apr 2009 12:29:33 EST news158326124 Scientists studying a mysterious neurological affliction in cats have discovered a surprising ability of the central nervous system to repair itself and restore function. http://www.physorg.com/news157654992.html Medicine & Health Mon, 30 Mar 2009 18:04:31 EST news157654992 February's brutal chimpanzee attack, during which a pet chimp inflicted devastating injuries on a Connecticut woman, was a stark reminder that chimps are much stronger than humans -as much as four-times stronger, some researchers believe. But what is it that makes our closest primate cousins so much stronger than we are? One possible explanation is that great apes simply have more powerful muscles. Indeed, biologists have uncovered differences in muscle architecture between chimpanzees and humans. But evolutionary biologist Alan Walker, a professor at Penn State University, thinks muscles may only be part of the story. http://www.physorg.com/news157653323.html Biology Mon, 30 Mar 2009 17:38:03 EST news157653323 Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have engineered transplantable living nerve tissue that encourages and guides regeneration in an animal model. Results were published this month in Tissue Engineering. http://www.physorg.com/news156703498.html Medicine & Health Thu, 19 Mar 2009 17:45:23 EST news156703498 (PhysOrg.com) -- Stanford University researchers have developed a synthetic wood substitute that may one day save trees, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and shrink landfills. http://www.physorg.com/news156526288.html Chemistry Tue, 17 Mar 2009 16:32:31 EST news156526288