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) -- A small but important uptick in electrical output from the solar panels on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit this month indicates a beneficial Martian wind has blown away some of the dust that has accumulated on the panels. http://www.physorg.com/news153682553.html Space & Earth Thu, 12 Feb 2009 17:39:08 EST news153682553 (PhysOrg.com) -- The use of uranium as a nuclear fuel and in weapons increases the risk that people may come into contact with it, and the storage of radioactive uranium waste poses an additional environmental risk. However, radioactivity is not the only problem related to contact with uranium; the toxicity of this metal is generally more dangerous to human health. http://www.physorg.com/news153632861.html Chemistry Thu, 12 Feb 2009 03:48:18 EST news153632861 (PhysOrg.com) -- What does uncovering the true authorship of plays attributed to Shakespeare have to do with identifying our genetic ancestors or classifying new life forms? All involve the comparative analysis of long sets of data and all will benefit from a unique new analytical tool developed by researchers at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. http://www.physorg.com/news153595290.html Technology Wed, 11 Feb 2009 17:21:58 EST news153595290 Exactly one year ago today, the European Columbus laboratory arrived at its berth on the International Space Station, signalling the start of a new era for Europe in human spaceflight. http://www.physorg.com/news153587665.html Space & Earth Wed, 11 Feb 2009 15:15:07 EST news153587665 (PhysOrg.com) -- A team of Los Alamos researchers led by Victor Klimov has shown that carrier multiplication -when a photon creates multiple electrons -is a real phenomenon in tiny semiconductor crystals and not a false observation born of extraneous effects that mimic carrier multiplication. The research, explained in a recent issue of Accounts of Chemical Research, shows the possibility of solar cells that create more than one unit of energy per photon. http://www.physorg.com/news153507595.html Nanotechnology Tue, 10 Feb 2009 17:01:15 EST news153507595 A new way to direct chemical modifications to specific sites on recombinant proteins - including the monoclonal antibodies so important in the pharmaceutical industry - has been developed by Carolyn Bertozzi and her colleagues at the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the University of California at Berkeley. http://www.physorg.com/news153404398.html Biology Mon, 09 Feb 2009 12:20:38 EST news153404398 (PhysOrg.com) -- Engineers from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and students at the California Institute of Technology have designed and tested a versatile, low-mass robot that can rappel off cliffs, travel nimbly over steep and rocky terrain, and explore deep craters. http://www.physorg.com/news153073287.html Space & Earth Thu, 05 Feb 2009 16:21:55 EST news153073287 Developed to sniff out extraterrestrial life on other planets, a portable device known as the Mars Organic Analyzer (MOA) is taking on a new role in detecting air pollutants on Earth. Researchers in California report the development of a modified MOA able to detect polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), potentially carcinogenic molecules from cigarette smoke and wood smoke, volcanic ash, and other sources. The report appeared in the Jan. 15 issue of ACS` semi-monthly journal Analytical Chemistry. http://www.physorg.com/news153071899.html Chemistry Thu, 05 Feb 2009 15:59:15 EST news153071899 In plant pollen grains, sperm cells, which carry the genetic material to be passed on to progeny, are cocooned within larger "companion" cells that are called pollen vegetative cells. These companions provide sperm with energy and nourishment, and push them towards their targets during fertilization. http://www.physorg.com/news153064281.html Biology Thu, 05 Feb 2009 13:51:37 EST news153064281 Scientists at the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) have recently demonstrated the ability to control the spin population of the individual quantum shell states of self-assembled indium arsenide (InAs) quantum dots (QDs). These results are significant in the understanding of QD behavior and scientists' ability to utilize QDs in active devices or for information processing. The scientists, from NRL's Materials Science and Technology Division, used a spin-polarized bias current from an iron (Fe) thin film contact and determined the strength of the interaction between spin-polarized electrons in the s, p and d shells. http://www.physorg.com/news153058811.html Physics Thu, 05 Feb 2009 12:20:43 EST news153058811 A law firm on Tuesday announced its intention to file age discrimination complaints with a state agency on behalf of 100 workers laid off in May by Lawrence Livermore National Security. http://www.physorg.com/news152980982.html Other Sciences Wed, 04 Feb 2009 14:43:50 EST news152980982 Influenza is and remains a disease to reckon with. Seasonal epidemics around the world kill several hundred thousand people every year. In the light of looming pandemics if bird flu strains develop the ability to infect humans easily, new drugs and vaccines are desperately sought. Researchers at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) and the joint Unit of Virus Host-Cell Interaction (UVHCI) of EMBL, the University Joseph Fourier (UJF) and the National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), in Grenoble, France, have now precisely defined an important drug target in influenza. In this week's Nature they publish a high-resolution image of a crucial protein domain that allows the virus to hijack human cells and multiply in them. http://www.physorg.com/news152976647.html Biology Wed, 04 Feb 2009 13:31:24 EST news152976647 (PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers have developed a new technique using sensors to constantly monitor the health of bacteria critical to wastewater treatment facilities and have verified a theory that copper is vital to the proper functioning of a key enzyme in the bacteria. http://www.physorg.com/news152973821.html Biology Wed, 04 Feb 2009 12:44:07 EST news152973821 An international collaboration of researchers has discovered a new enzyme in a species of bacteria with potential environmental cleanup and energy roles. This is the first multi-protein enzyme of its kind. Although many microbes use a single-protein version to consume certain food, the new study suggests that dozens of bacteria use only the multi-protein one instead. This advance in understanding of the microbe's metabolism will help researchers use the bugs to clean up toxic or radioactive pollutants. http://www.physorg.com/news152817968.html Chemistry Mon, 02 Feb 2009 17:26:42 EST news152817968 (PhysOrg.com) -- At the human scale, the tightly wrapped spinning columns of air in a tornado contain terrifying destructive power that ravages communities. At the nanoscale, however, closely coiled magnetic vortices hold the promise of a new generation of computers. http://www.physorg.com/news152810218.html Physics Mon, 02 Feb 2009 15:17:51 EST news152810218 (PhysOrg.com) -- `Ferroelectric materials are interesting scientifically, and, while they are used for some things now, they are potentially useful for even more applications in the future,` Brian Stephenson tells PhysOrg.com. Stephenson is a scientist at Argonne National Laboratory in Argonne, Illinois. He has been working on a project to study chemical switching in a ferroelectric film. http://www.physorg.com/news152796442.html Physics Mon, 02 Feb 2009 11:28:09 EST news152796442 (PhysOrg.com) -- NASA's first spacecraft dedicated to studying atmospheric carbon dioxide is in final preparations for a Feb. 23 launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. Carbon dioxide is the leading human-produced greenhouse gas driving changes in Earth's climate. http://www.physorg.com/news152462742.html Space & Earth Thu, 29 Jan 2009 14:47:43 EST news152462742 In the electronics industry, thin metal films are deposited on silicon wafers with a sputter gun, which uses energetic ions - atoms with a positive charge - to knock the metal atoms off a target. Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory have now developed a powerful new kind of sputter process that can deposit high-quality metal films in complex, three-dimensional nanoscale patterns at a rate that by one important measure is orders of magnitude greater than typical systems. http://www.physorg.com/news152456230.html Physics Thu, 29 Jan 2009 12:58:18 EST news152456230 (PhysOrg.com) -- The team operating NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit plans diagnostic tests this week after Spirit did not report some of its weekend activities, including a request to determine its orientation after an incomplete drive. http://www.physorg.com/news152385350.html Space & Earth Wed, 28 Jan 2009 17:16:33 EST news152385350 Two molecular biologists at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory have uncovered important new details about how a gene mutation causes a cellular editing error that results in a devastating disease called pontocerebellar hypoplasia (PCH). The new findings were published online, ahead of print, on January 25th in the journal Nature Structural and Molecular Biology. http://www.physorg.com/news152373171.html Biology Wed, 28 Jan 2009 13:55:59 EST news152373171 Researchers at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) announced today the discovery of a new class of small RNAs. At the same time, they reported that their discovery suggests the presence of a strikingly novel biochemical pathway for RNA processing in which these and possibly other small RNAs are produced. The research, which is part of a multinational project called ENCODE, also provided information concerning the biological function of the new short RNA class. http://www.physorg.com/news152211180.html Biology Mon, 26 Jan 2009 17:04:05 EST news152211180 (PhysOrg.com) -- Models of how Saturn and Jupiter formed may soon take on a different look. http://www.physorg.com/news152208969.html Space & Earth Mon, 26 Jan 2009 16:16:41 EST news152208969 (PhysOrg.com) -- Through work originally designed to remove contaminants from soil, scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory and their Belgium colleagues at Hasselt University have identified plant-associated microbes that can improve plant growth on marginal land. The findings, published in the February 1, 2009 issue of Applied and Environmental Microbiology, may help scientists design strategies for sustainable biofuel production that do not use food crops or agricultural land. http://www.physorg.com/news152191745.html Biology Mon, 26 Jan 2009 11:29:29 EST news152191745 (PhysOrg.com) -- A team of scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory, in collaboration with researchers from the University of Delaware and Yeshiva University, has developed a new catalyst that could make ethanol-powered fuel cells feasible. The highly efficient catalyst performs two crucial, and previously unreachable steps needed to oxidize ethanol and produce clean energy in fuel cell reactions. Their results are published online in the January 25, 2009 edition of Nature Materials. http://www.physorg.com/news152191425.html Nanotechnology Mon, 26 Jan 2009 11:24:09 EST news152191425 Genes that contain instructions for making proteins make up less than 2% of the human genome. Yet, for unknown reasons, most of our genome is transcribed into RNA. The same is true for many other organisms that are easier to study than humans. http://www.physorg.com/news152112434.html Biology Sun, 25 Jan 2009 13:27:47 EST news152112434 The principle behind whispering galleries - where words spoken softly beneath a domed ceiling or in a vault can be clearly heard on the opposite side of the chamber - has been used to achieve what could prove to be a significant breakthrough in the miniaturization of lasers. Ultrasmall lasers, i.e., nanoscale, promise a wide variety of intriguing applications, including superfast communications and data handling (photonics), and optical microchips for instant and detailed chemical analyses. http://www.physorg.com/news152012068.html Physics Sat, 24 Jan 2009 09:35:03 EST news152012068 Oak Ridge National Laboratory wants its energy operations to be as advanced as its energy research. http://www.physorg.com/news151934580.html Technology Fri, 23 Jan 2009 12:03:22 EST news151934580 (PhysOrg.com) -- Cosmic-rays detected half a mile underground in a disused U.S. iron-mine can be used to detect major weather events occurring 20 miles up in the Earth's upper atmosphere, a new study has revealed. http://www.physorg.com/news151775496.html Space & Earth Wed, 21 Jan 2009 15:52:16 EST news151775496 Scientists have always wanted to take a closer look at biological systems and materials. From the magnifying glass to the electron microscope, they have developed ever-increasingly sophisticated imaging devices. http://www.physorg.com/news151607928.html Biology Mon, 19 Jan 2009 17:19:20 EST news151607928 (PhysOrg.com) -- The U.S. Department of Energy has given its initial approval to begin plans for a second target station for the Spallation Neutron Source, expanding what is already the world's most powerful pulsed neutron scattering facility located at DOE's Oak Ridge National Laboratory. http://www.physorg.com/news151345806.html Physics Fri, 16 Jan 2009 16:30:06 EST news151345806