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) -- In the binding pockets of enzymes their natural binding partners fit exactly. The principle by which many pharmacological agents work also relies on the fact that these substances fit exactly into the pockets of specific enzymes. Not only the chemical properties but also the shape of the pocket determines if a molecule fits or not. http://www.physorg.com/news176020509.html Chemistry Thu, 29 Oct 2009 07:35:59 EST news176020509 (PhysOrg.com) -- A study of domesticated pigs has found that with just a little experimentation they can find food based only on a reflection in a mirror. http://www.physorg.com/news174293682.html Biology Fri, 09 Oct 2009 10:00:02 EST news174293682 (PhysOrg.com) -- With the casting today of a 6.5-meter mirror in Arizona, Mexican and American astronomers have taken the first step toward creation of a major new telescope that will survey infrared objects in the northern sky with unprecedented sensitivity. http://www.physorg.com/news170595726.html Space & Earth Thu, 27 Aug 2009 12:42:36 EST news170595726 (PhysOrg.com) -- Research at the University of Liverpool has found how mirror-image molecules gain control over each other and dictate the physical state of superstructures. http://www.physorg.com/news169375753.html Chemistry Thu, 13 Aug 2009 09:51:53 EST news169375753 Catalysts do function, despite the fact that not all the chemical reactions (and partial reactions) which occur are fully understood, including those which take place during the treatment of automobile exhaust. If scientists understood these processes better not only would they be able to optimize exhaust gas catalysts but also other phenomena which are observed on surfaces, for instance when molecules orient themselves in either right or left handed fashion (i.e. as an image or mirror image). Knowing this would, not least, open new avenues of development in pharmacology for the manufacturers of medicines. http://www.physorg.com/news162828115.html Nanotechnology Fri, 29 May 2009 15:02:32 EST news162828115 Whether a monkey is looking to the left or merely watching another monkey looking that way, the same neurons in his brain are firing, according to researchers at the Duke University Medical Center. http://www.physorg.com/news161886058.html Medicine & Health Mon, 18 May 2009 17:21:22 EST news161886058 The Large Hadron Collider is an enormous particle accelerator whose 17-mile tunnel straddles the borders of France and Switzerland. A group of physicists at the University of Nevada, Reno has analyzed data from the accelerator that could ultimately prove or disprove the possibility of a fifth force of nature. http://www.physorg.com/news160128782.html Physics Tue, 28 Apr 2009 09:13:26 EST news160128782 Researchers at the University of Amsterdam (UvA) have succeeded in making the first ever piece of chiral palladium metal. The findings, by a research team led by Gadi Rothenberg, professor of Heterogeneous Catalysis and Sustainable Chemistry at the UvA, are significant because they lead to an entirely new class of materials. These are metallo-organics - they combine the variety of organic molecules with the special properties of metals. The research results are published this week in Nature Chemistry. http://www.physorg.com/news159686508.html Chemistry Thu, 23 Apr 2009 06:22:23 EST news159686508 (PhysOrg.com) -- The first mirror segment that will fly on the James Webb Space Telescope, built by Northrop Grumman Corporation, has completed its first series of cryogenic temperature tests in the X-ray and Cryogenic Facility at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. http://www.physorg.com/news158409413.html Space & Earth Wed, 08 Apr 2009 11:37:25 EST news158409413 (PhysOrg.com) -- University of Queensland developmental psychologists have taken a step into our evolutionary past by studying gibbons. http://www.physorg.com/news155402848.html Biology Wed, 04 Mar 2009 15:28:26 EST news155402848 Mathematician Andrew Hicks was in his Drexel University office, puzzling over some problem he can no longer recall, when colleague Ron Perline walked in with a challenge. Fresh from his morning bicycle ride, Perline was unhappy with the rearview mirror mounted on his handlebars. Its tiny surface was curved, reflecting a wide-angle view of the road behind him, but the image was badly distorted. http://www.physorg.com/news151510306.html Other Sciences Sun, 18 Jan 2009 14:11:46 EST news151510306 In the game of astronomy, size matters. To get crisp, clear images of things billions of light years away, a telescope needs to be big. http://www.physorg.com/news151166571.html Space & Earth Wed, 14 Jan 2009 14:42:51 EST news151166571 (PhysOrg.com) -- Distorted cell-phone photos and big, clunky telephoto lenses could be things of the past. UW-Madison Electrical and Computer Engineering Associate Professor Zhenqiang (Jack) Ma and colleagues have developed a flexible light-sensitive material that could revolutionize photography and other imaging technologies. http://www.physorg.com/news151079814.html Physics Tue, 13 Jan 2009 14:36:54 EST news151079814 The James Webb Space Telescope, targeted for launch in 2013, is already taking an incredible journey right here on Earth. It's zigzagging up, down, and across the US to be "spit and polished" to perfection for its lofty space mission. http://www.physorg.com/news148229836.html Space & Earth Thu, 11 Dec 2008 14:57:16 EST news148229836 (PhysOrg.com) -- A simple and reliable method for converting one of the simplest chemical entities into one of the most difficult-to-make molecular building blocks of life, with complete control over its shape, is reported by scientists at the University of Bristol in this week's Nature [11 December]. http://www.physorg.com/news148138547.html Chemistry Wed, 10 Dec 2008 13:35:47 EST news148138547 (PhysOrg.com) -- Men tend to perform better than women at tasks that require rotating an object mentally, studies have indicated. Now, developmental psychologists at Pitzer College and UCLA have discovered that this type of spatial skill is present in infancy and can be found in boys as young as 5 months old. http://www.physorg.com/news148046936.html Medicine & Health Tue, 09 Dec 2008 12:08:56 EST news148046936 (PhysOrg.com) -- The 3D objects in the display box may at first look like a product of smoke-and-mirrors trickery. That impression would be about half right, as a rapidly spinning mirror is one important component of the display. http://www.physorg.com/news145514544.html Electronics Mon, 10 Nov 2008 04:42:24 EST news145514544 Researchers at The University of Nottingham are hoping to learn more about the causes of autism and Asperger's Syndrome, by putting a controversial theory to the test. http://www.physorg.com/news143198433.html Medicine & Health Tue, 14 Oct 2008 10:20:33 EST news143198433 A team of internationally renowned astronomers and opticians may have found a way to make "unbelievably large" telescopes on the Moon. http://www.physorg.com/news142780587.html Space & Earth Thu, 09 Oct 2008 14:16:27 EST news142780587 A nose that's too big, hair that's too curly or a beauty mark in the wrong place - who hasn't focused on a small detail of their appearance while staring at a mirror? http://www.physorg.com/news140100870.html Medicine & Health Mon, 08 Sep 2008 13:54:30 EST news140100870 (PhysOrg.com) -- The single-piece primary and tertiary mirror blank cast for the LSST is "perfect", say project astronomers and engineers. http://www.physorg.com/news139583107.html Space & Earth Tue, 02 Sep 2008 14:05:07 EST news139583107 (PhysOrg.com) -- Wouldn`t it be nice if we could shop for clothes without constantly having to try them on in the fitting room? The vision could soon become a reality thanks to the `virtual mirror` presented by Fraunhofer researchers at the IFA consumer electronics show in Berlin from August 29 to September 3. This mirror-like display enables shoppers to see themselves wearing different items of clothing without having to undo a single button. http://www.physorg.com/news138985395.html Technology Tue, 26 Aug 2008 16:03:15 EST news138985395 Self-recognition, it has been argued, is a hallmark of advanced cognitive abilities in animals. It was previously thought that only the usual suspects of higher cognition -some great apes, dolphins, and elephants -were able to recognize their own bodies in a mirror. In this week's issue of PLoS Biology, psychologist Helmut Prior and colleagues show evidence of self-recognition in magpies -a species with a brain structure very different from mammals. http://www.physorg.com/news138338728.html Biology Tue, 19 Aug 2008 04:25:28 EST news138338728