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. (PhysOrg.com) -- Nanoscale machines expected to have wide application in industry, energy, medicine and other fields may someday operate far more efficiently thanks to important theoretical discoveries concerning the manipulation of famous Casimir forces that took place at the U.S. Department of Energy's Ames Laboratory. http://www.physorg.com/news179421062.html Nanotechnology Mon, 07 Dec 2009 15:11:42 EST news179421062 (PhysOrg.com) -- NASA has partnered with Lockheed Martin Space Systems in Denver, Colo., and MT Aerospace in Augsburg, Germany, to successfully manufacture the first full-scale friction stir welded and spun formed tank dome designed for use in large liquid propellant tanks. http://www.physorg.com/news178992679.html Space & Earth Wed, 02 Dec 2009 16:40:01 EST news178992679 The National Institute of Justice (NIJ) has awarded researchers at Virginia Tech a two-year, $854,907 grant to develop a quantitative approach to measuring and establishing a standard for "sufficiency" of information available in friction ridge (fingerprint) patterns. http://www.physorg.com/news178810066.html Technology Mon, 30 Nov 2009 14:10:03 EST news178810066 (PhysOrg.com) -- Nanotubes and nanowires are promising building blocks for future integrated nanoelectronic and photonic circuits, nanosensors, interconnects and electro-mechanical nanodevices. But some fundamental issues remain to be resolved - among them, how to position and manipulate the tiny tubes. http://www.physorg.com/news172231468.html Nanotechnology Tue, 15 Sep 2009 11:04:58 EST news172231468 (PhysOrg.com) -- Friction limits the speed and efficiency of macroscopic engines. Is this also true for nanomachines? A Dresden research team used laser tweezers to measure the friction between a single motor protein molecule and its track. The team found that also within our cells, motors work against the resistance of friction and are restrained in its operation -- usually by far not as much though as their macroscopic counterparts. These first experimental measurements of protein friction could help researchers to better understand key cellular processes such as cell division which is driven by such molecular machines. http://www.physorg.com/news169466895.html Biology Fri, 14 Aug 2009 11:08:59 EST news169466895 The high-intensity training undertaken by triathletes has a significant impact on the quality of their sperm, the 25th annual conference of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology heard today (Monday 29 June). Professor Diana Vaamonde, from the University of Cordoba Medical School, Cordoba, Spain, said that the triathletes who did the most cycling training had the worst sperm morphology. http://www.physorg.com/news165493540.html Medicine & Health Mon, 29 Jun 2009 11:26:06 EST news165493540 Fingerprints mark us out as individuals and leave telltale signs of our presence on every object that we touch, but what are fingerprints really for? According to Roland Ennos, from the University of Manchester, other primates and tree-climbing koalas have fingerprints and some South American monkeys have ridged pads on their tree-gripping tails, so everyone presumed that fingerprints are there to help us hang onto objects that we grasp. http://www.physorg.com/news163989137.html Biology Fri, 12 Jun 2009 01:32:36 EST news163989137 (PhysOrg.com) -- Whether it`s driving on icy roads, rock climbing, or getting a better grip on a bat, the science of friction and adhesion plays a role -large and small -in many human activities. In a new research paper published in the Royal Society journal Interface, biology professor Kellar Autumn shows how the nano-hairs on gecko toes can reveal new insights into the fundamental nature of friction and adhesion. http://www.physorg.com/news163351620.html Nanotechnology Thu, 04 Jun 2009 16:27:51 EST news163351620 (PhysOrg.com) -- Fingerprints do not help primates grip, as previously thought, scientists have discovered. They actually reduce the friction needed to hold onto flat surfaces. Now Dr Roland Ennos and his team at The University of Manchester are trying to find out: why do we have them? http://www.physorg.com/news162822562.html Biology Fri, 29 May 2009 13:33:32 EST news162822562 Molecular biologists, including the cool dudes from CSI, use gel electrophoresis to separate DNA fragments from each other in order to analyze the DNA. A team of researchers under the leadership of Vici winner Serge Lemay, has now shown for the first time how the gel influences the movement of the DNA. The researchers drove a single DNA molecule through a nanopore in order to analyze the forces on the DNA. The results of the research were published on March 29 in Nature Physics. http://www.physorg.com/news161519158.html Nanotechnology Thu, 14 May 2009 11:26:30 EST news161519158 (PhysOrg.com) -- To understand friction on a very small scale, a team of University of Wisconsin-Madison engineers had to think big. http://www.physorg.com/news154790620.html Nanotechnology Wed, 25 Feb 2009 13:24:33 EST news154790620 Rocks formed only under the extreme heat and friction during earthquakes, called pseudotachylytes, may be more abundant than previously reported, according to new research focused on eight faults found in the Sierra Nevada. The research appears in the February issue of the Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America. http://www.physorg.com/news152375539.html Space & Earth Wed, 28 Jan 2009 14:32:41 EST news152375539 (PhysOrg.com) -- For the first time, researchers have measured a long-theorized force that operates at distances so tiny they`re measured in billionths of a meter, which may have important applications in nanotechnology as scientists and engineers seek new ways to create devices far too small for the eye to see. http://www.physorg.com/news150557049.html Physics Wed, 07 Jan 2009 13:24:09 EST news150557049 Friction is the bane of any machine. When moving parts are subject to friction, it takes more energy to move them, the machine doesn't operate as efficiently, and the parts have a tendency to wear out over time. http://www.physorg.com/news146232321.html Nanotechnology Tue, 18 Nov 2008 12:05:21 EST news146232321