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. When given the chance to consume alcohol at will, fruit flies behave in ways that look an awful lot like human alcoholism. That's according to a study published online on December 10th in Current Biology that is one of the first to consider alcohol self-administration in the insects. http://www.physorg.com/news179674844.html Biology Thu, 10 Dec 2009 13:50:02 EST news179674844 Have you ever found yourself struggling to get your order taken at a crowded bar or lunch counter, only to walk away in disgust as more aggressive customers elbow their way to the front? It turns out that flies do much the same thing, according to biologists from the California Institute of Technology. http://www.physorg.com/news179328346.html Biology Sun, 06 Dec 2009 13:27:08 EST news179328346 A Briton accused of hacking into US military and NASA computers faces extradition to the United States after the British government Thursday rejected last-ditch requests to block the move. http://www.physorg.com/news178480644.html Technology Thu, 26 Nov 2009 17:58:08 EST news178480644 (PhysOrg.com) -- Flying robot fairies are joining human actors in Texas A&M University?s production of William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, which runs through Sunday (Nov. 15) in the Rudder Forum. http://www.physorg.com/news177347142.html Other Sciences Fri, 13 Nov 2009 15:06:11 EST news177347142 Just in time for Halloween, researchers have announced the discovery of a new, real-world "monster" - what they are calling a "unicorn" fly that lived about 100 million years ago and is being described as a new family, genus and species of fly never before observed. http://www.physorg.com/news175787192.html Biology Mon, 26 Oct 2009 14:47:29 EST news175787192 A Briton accused of hacking into US military and NASA space agency computers was on Saturday given more time to fight his extradition to the United States, officials and lawyers said. http://www.physorg.com/news175016908.html Technology Sat, 17 Oct 2009 16:49:06 EST news175016908 By directly manipulating the activity of individual neurons, scientists have given flies memories of a bad experience they never really had, according to a report in the October 16th issue of the journal Cell. http://www.physorg.com/news174827907.html Medicine & Health Thu, 15 Oct 2009 13:10:01 EST news174827907 A Briton accused of hacking into US military and NASA space agency computers was on Friday refused permission to appeal to the new Supreme Court in London against his extradition to the United States. http://www.physorg.com/news174545639.html Technology Mon, 12 Oct 2009 06:10:01 EST news174545639 Without at least a temporary reprieve from hunting, the world's largest species of fruit bat, Pteropus vampyrus or the "large flying fox", could be driven to extinction in Peninsular Malaysia at the current hunting rate, scientists have warned. Writing in the new issue of the British Ecological Society's Journal of Applied Ecology, they say around 22,000 flying foxes are legally hunted (in addition to those illegally hunted) each year in Peninsular Malaysia, a level of hunting that is unsustainable based on their estimates of the number of bats in the country. http://www.physorg.com/news170447435.html Biology Tue, 25 Aug 2009 19:40:02 EST news170447435 With more than 1,500 eyes, not much escapes the fruit fly's sight. Now, a new research report in the journal Genetics, describes how researchers from the United States and Ireland used those eyes to "see" new proteins necessary for memory. In addition to shedding light on this critical neurological process, the study also provides information on a form of mental retardation in humans. http://www.physorg.com/news170345536.html Medicine & Health Mon, 24 Aug 2009 15:15:07 EST news170345536 Why is it that you can instantly recall your own phone number but have to struggle with your mental Rolodex to remember a new number you heard a few moments ago? The two tasks "feel" different because they involve two different types of memory - long-term and short-term, respectively - that are stored very differently in the brain. The same appears to be true across the animal kingdom, even in insects such as the fruit fly. http://www.physorg.com/news169750319.html Medicine & Health Mon, 17 Aug 2009 17:52:30 EST news169750319 Over 350 new species including the world's smallest deer, a "flying frog" and a 100 million-year old gecko have been discovered in the Eastern Himalayas, a biological treasure trove now threatened by climate change. http://www.physorg.com/news169111679.html Biology Mon, 10 Aug 2009 08:28:31 EST news169111679 There is a long held belief among engineers and biologists that micro flying robots that fly like airplanes and helicopters consume much more energy than micro robots that fly like flies. A new study now shows that a fly wing that spins like a helicopter blade generates the same amount of lift as a flapping fly wing while consuming only half the energy to move the wing. This finding can inspire the design of efficient micro flying robots with spinning fly-like wings. http://www.physorg.com/news168354449.html Technology Sat, 01 Aug 2009 14:09:23 EST news168354449 To understand how a fly's tiny brain processes visual information efficiently enough to guide its aerobatic feats -- and ultimately to build more capable robots -- researchers in Munich, Germany, have set up a flight simulator for flies. http://www.physorg.com/news168256071.html Technology Fri, 31 Jul 2009 10:48:41 EST news168256071 (AP) -- The rusty van creaks to a halt and two men jump out, binoculars in hand, heads pivoting. Quickly, questioningly, they call out evocative names: Is that a Pearl Crescent? A Carolina Satyr? A Sleepy Orange? A Swarthy Skipper? http://www.physorg.com/news168240715.html Biology Fri, 31 Jul 2009 07:00:01 EST news168240715 In order to increase their chances of reproductive success, male flies of the species Drosophila montana try to copulate for much longer than the females would like. Researchers writing in the open access journal BMC Evolutionary Biology have shown that females engaged in extended intercourse wait longer before they mate again, increasing the first fly's chances of fathering offspring. http://www.physorg.com/news163989479.html Biology Fri, 12 Jun 2009 07:50:01 EST news163989479 (PhysOrg.com) -- A prototype of what is being touted as the world's first practical flying car took to the air for the first time this month, a milestone in a project started four years ago by students in MIT's Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics. http://www.physorg.com/news156699617.html Technology Thu, 19 Mar 2009 16:41:02 EST news156699617 (PhysOrg.com) -- What began as an MIT student project has evolved into a working prototype of a two-seater airplane that can be quickly converted into a road-worthy car. The car-plane has begun test flights and is expected to go on sale next year. But at a price similar to that of a new Lamborghini, this is one car that you really don't want to get dinged in traffic. http://www.physorg.com/news152896737.html Technology Tue, 03 Feb 2009 15:20:00 EST news152896737 (PhysOrg.com) -- In the past few decades, researchers have been investigating a variety of flying machines. Most studies have focused on improving the flying performance of standard flying mechanisms, rather than developing innovative flying mechanisms. http://www.physorg.com/news151855869.html Electronics Thu, 22 Jan 2009 14:12:11 EST news151855869 Modern aircraft have been fabulously successful with rigid wings and rotors. But just imagine the flying machines that would be possible if we could understand and harness the most efficient and acrobatic airfoils in nature: the flexible wings of the bat. http://www.physorg.com/news146335017.html Physics Wed, 19 Nov 2008 16:36:57 EST news146335017 While paleontologists may scour remote, exotic places in search of prehistoric specimens, Tufts researchers have found what they believe to be the world's oldest whole-body fossil impression of a flying insect in a wooded field behind a strip mall in North Attleboro, Mass. http://www.physorg.com/news143209419.html Other Sciences Tue, 14 Oct 2008 13:23:39 EST news143209419 The emergence of a new generation of ‘bleeding-heart jetsetters` has disturbing implications for the UK`s spiralling emissions from air travel, according to new research by the University of Exeter. The results of the research by the School of Geography, Archaeology and Earth Resources and University of Exeter Business School were presented by Dr Stewart Barr at the Royal Geographical Society with IBG Annual Conference. http://www.physorg.com/news139499055.html Space & Earth Mon, 01 Sep 2008 14:44:15 EST news139499055 Aphids are emerging as sentinels of climate change, researchers at BBSRC-supported Rothamsted Research have shown. One of the UK's most damaging aphids - the peach-potato aphid (Myzus persicae) - has been found to be flying two weeks earlier for every 1°C rise in mean temperature for January and February combined. http://www.physorg.com/news137234495.html Space & Earth Wed, 06 Aug 2008 09:41:35 EST news137234495 A new analysis indicates that birds don't fly alone when migrating at night. Some birds, at least, keep together on their migratory journeys, flying in tandem even when they are 200 meters or more apart. http://www.physorg.com/news134654860.html Biology Mon, 07 Jul 2008 13:07:40 EST news134654860