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) -- For centuries, people have preserved fruit by mixing it with sugar, making thick jams that last for months without spoiling. Now scientists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology have discovered* a fundamental property of mixture behavior that might help extend the life of many things including vaccines, food and library books -and save money while doing it. http://www.physorg.com/news154769529.html Chemistry Wed, 25 Feb 2009 07:32:41 EST news154769529 (PhysOrg.com) -- First responders could boost their radio communications quickly at a disaster site by setting out just four extra transmitters in a random arrangement to significantly increase the signal power at the receiver, according to theoretical analyses, simulations and proof-of-concept experiments performed at the National Institute of Standards and Technology. http://www.physorg.com/news154769323.html Physics Wed, 25 Feb 2009 07:29:31 EST news154769323 (PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology and The Johns Hopkins University have constructed a unique tool for exploring the properties of promising new materials with unprecedented sensitivity and speed -potentially allowing them to identify quickly those most useful for nanotechnology and industrial applications. http://www.physorg.com/news154769190.html Nanotechnology Wed, 25 Feb 2009 07:27:35 EST news154769190 (PhysOrg.com) -- Pushing the envelope of Albert Einstein's "spooky action at a distance," known as entanglement, researchers at the Joint Quantum Institute (JQI) of the Commerce Department's National Institute of Standards and Technology and the University of Maryland have demonstrated a "quantum buffer," a technique that could be used to control the data flow inside a quantum computer. Quantum computers could potentially speed up or expand present capabilities in decrypting data, searching large databases, and other tasks. The new research is published in the Feb. 12 issue of the journal Nature. http://www.physorg.com/news153681740.html Physics Thu, 12 Feb 2009 17:22:40 EST news153681740 The National Institute of Standards and Technology has developed a new certified reference material that can be an important quality assurance tool for measuring the amounts of vitamins, carotenoids, and trace elements in dietary supplements. The new Standard Reference Material (SRM) 3280 for multivitamin/multimineral tablets was created in collaboration with the Office of Dietary Supplements (ODS) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). http://www.physorg.com/news153574183.html Medicine & Health Wed, 11 Feb 2009 11:30:57 EST news153574183 A new study demonstrates that a chemical mediator in the blood that influences immune cell migration also plays a key role in maintaining the balance between the build-up and breakdown of bones in the body. This mediator, which acts on cells that degrade bone, may provide a new target for scientists developing therapies and preventions for bone-degenerating diseases such as osteoporosis and rheumatoid arthritis. http://www.physorg.com/news153322772.html Medicine & Health Sun, 08 Feb 2009 13:40:09 EST news153322772 The bacterium behind one of mankind's deadliest scourges, tuberculosis, is helping researchers at the Commerce Department's National Institute of Standards and Technology and the Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory move closer to answering the decades-old question of what controls the switching on and off of genes that carry out all of life's functions. http://www.physorg.com/news153210369.html Chemistry Sat, 07 Feb 2009 06:27:11 EST news153210369 (PhysOrg.com) -- Engineers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology are patenting a method that is expected to double the service life of concrete. The key, according to a new paper*, is a nano-sized additive that slows down penetration of chloride and sulfate ions from road salt, sea water and soils into the concrete. A reduction in ion transport translates to reductions in both maintenance costs and the catastrophic failure of concrete structures. The new technology could save billions of dollars and many lives. http://www.physorg.com/news152380871.html Nanotechnology Wed, 28 Jan 2009 16:01:45 EST news152380871 (PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology have discovered that a carefully built magnetic sandwich that interleaves layers of a magnetic alloy with a few nanometers of silver `spacer` has dramatically enhanced sensitivity -a 400-fold improvement in some cases. This material could lead to greatly improved magnetic sensors for a wide range of applications from weapons detection and non-destructive testing to medical devices and high-performance data storage. http://www.physorg.com/news152380708.html Physics Wed, 28 Jan 2009 15:58:58 EST news152380708 (PhysOrg.com) -- Your refrigerator`s humming, electricity-guzzling cooling system could soon be a lot smaller, quieter and more economical thanks to an exotic metal alloy discovered by an international collaboration working at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)`s Center for Neutron Research (NCNR).* http://www.physorg.com/news152380484.html Physics Wed, 28 Jan 2009 15:55:15 EST news152380484 Brain cells called astrocytes help to cause the urge to sleep that comes with prolonged wakefulness, according to a study in mice, funded by the National Institutes of Health. The cells release adenosine, a chemical known to have sleep-inducing effects that are inhibited by caffeine. http://www.physorg.com/news152375402.html Medicine & Health Wed, 28 Jan 2009 14:30:46 EST news152375402 In the United States, nearly 13 percent of adults age 20 and older have diabetes, but 40 percent of them have not been diagnosed, according to epidemiologists from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), whose study includes newly available data from an Oral Glucose Tolerance Test (OGTT). Diabetes is especially common in the elderly: nearly one-third of those age 65 and older have the disease. An additional 30 percent of adults have pre-diabetes, a condition marked by elevated blood sugar that is not yet in the diabetic range. http://www.physorg.com/news152194107.html Medicine & Health Mon, 26 Jan 2009 12:09:01 EST news152194107 People who received a mild electrical current to a motor control area of the brain were significantly better able to learn and perform a complex motor task than those in control groups. The findings could hold promise for enhancing rehabilitation for people with traumatic brain injury, stroke and other conditions. http://www.physorg.com/news151608273.html Medicine & Health Mon, 19 Jan 2009 17:25:15 EST news151608273 When cells are under stress, they blow off steam by releasing minute amounts of nitrogen oxides and other toxic gases. In a recent paper,* researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology described a new method for creating gas detectors so sensitive that some day they may be able to register these tiny emissions from a single cell, providing a new way to determine if drugs or nanoparticles harm cells or to study how cells communicate with one another. Based on metal oxide nanotubes, the new sensors are a hundred to 1,000 times more sensitive than current devices based on thin films and are able to act as multiple sensors simultaneously. http://www.physorg.com/news151090490.html Nanotechnology Tue, 13 Jan 2009 17:34:50 EST news151090490 Nanotubes, the tiny honeycomb cylinders of carbon atoms only a few nanometers wide, are perhaps the signature material of modern engineering research, but actually trying to organize the atomic scale rods is notoriously like herding cats. A new study* from the National Institute of Standards and Technology and Rice University, however, offers an inexpensive process that gets nanotubes to obediently line themselves up -- that is, self-assemble -- in neat rows, more like ducks. http://www.physorg.com/news151090330.html Nanotechnology Tue, 13 Jan 2009 17:32:10 EST news151090330 Physicists at the Joint Quantum Institute (JQI) of the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the University of Maryland have proposed a recipe for turning ultracold `boson` atoms -the ingredients of Bose-Einstein condensates -into a `supersolid,` an exotic state of matter that behaves simultaneously as a solid and a friction-free superfluid. While scientists have found evidence for supersolids in complex liquid helium mixtures, a supersolid formed from such weakly interacting gas atoms would be simpler to understand, potentially providing clues for making a host of new `quantum materials` whose bizarre properties could expand physicists` notions of what is possible with matter. http://www.physorg.com/news151090051.html Physics Tue, 13 Jan 2009 17:27:31 EST news151090051 While exploring the properties of polymer formation, a team of scientists at the National Institute for Standards and Technology has made a fundamental discovery* about these materials that could improve methods of creating the stable crystalline films that are widely used in electronics applications -and also offer insight into a range of other phenomena. http://www.physorg.com/news151089776.html Physics Tue, 13 Jan 2009 17:22:56 EST news151089776 The National Institute of Standards and Technology has developed a method to accelerate stability testing of biodiesel fuel made from soybeans and also identified additives that enhance stability at high temperatures. The results, described in a new paper,* could help overcome a key barrier to practical use of biofuels. http://www.physorg.com/news151088426.html Chemistry Tue, 13 Jan 2009 17:00:26 EST news151088426 The ability of biomolecules to flex and bend is important for the performance of many functions within living cells. However, researchers interested in how biomolecules such as amino acids and proteins function have long had to make inferences from a series of X-ray-like `still pictures` of pure crystalline samples. http://www.physorg.com/news151088065.html Physics Tue, 13 Jan 2009 16:54:25 EST news151088065 In the comics, the Phantom is a masked crimefighter who protected the innocent from pirates, hijackers and other evildoers. While not as dashing or exciting as its costumed namesake, this electromagnetic phantom -- a carbon and polymer mixture that simulates the human body -- is being readied by the National Institute of Standards and Technology for its upcoming role as a different kind of protector. The NIST phantom serves as a mannequin in a standardized performance test for walk-through metal detectors or WTMDs such as those used at airports. http://www.physorg.com/news149276153.html Physics Tue, 23 Dec 2008 17:35:53 EST news149276153 Although naturally occurring smallpox was eradicated in 1977, there is concern that bioterrorists might obtain smallpox from a laboratory and release it into the population. Under such circumstances, the supply of smallpox vaccine may be insufficient for universal administration. In a study published in the December 2008 issue of The American Journal of Medicine, researchers found that lifetime protection is obtained from just one vaccination, even when that vaccination occurred as much as 88 years ago. They conclude that in the event of a smallpox bioterrorist attack, vaccinia smallpox vaccine should be used first on individuals who have not been vaccinated previously. http://www.physorg.com/news147337295.html Medicine & Health Mon, 01 Dec 2008 07:01:35 EST news147337295 A team of materials scientists and toxicologists announced the formation of a new international research alliance to establish protocols for reproducible toxicological testing of nanomaterials in both cultured cells and animals. The International Alliance for NanoEHS Harmonization (IANH) was unveiled today at Nanotox 2008, one of the world's largest biennial nanotoxicological research meetings. http://www.physorg.com/news140173465.html Nanotechnology Tue, 09 Sep 2008 10:04:25 EST news140173465