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. Cooling a supercomputer consumes more electricity than is required to run the machine, even machines as powerful as the IBM Blue Gene/P -called Intrepid -at the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory. Though Intrepid is one of the fastest and most energy-efficient computers in the world, researchers at Argonne's Leadership Computing Facility (ALCF) are continually looking for ways to further reduce the power needed to operate the machine. http://www.physorg.com/news158943764.html Technology Tue, 14 Apr 2009 16:03:07 EST news158943764 (PhysOrg.com) -- A novel system is enabling high energy physicists at CERN in Switzerland, to make production runs that integrate their existing pool of distributed computers with dynamic resources in "science clouds." The work was presented at the 17th annual conference on Computing in High Energy and Nuclear Physics, held in Prague, Czech Republic, March 21-27. http://www.physorg.com/news157127149.html Technology Tue, 24 Mar 2009 15:26:31 EST news157127149 (PhysOrg.com) -- The process to turn propane into industrially necessary propylene has been expensive and environmentally unfriendly. That was until scientists at U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory devised a greener way to take this important step in chemical catalysis. http://www.physorg.com/news156171726.html Chemistry Fri, 13 Mar 2009 14:02:33 EST news156171726 (PhysOrg.com) -- Shock waves are a well tested phenomenon on a large scale, but scientists at the Argonne National Laboratory and their collaborators from Wayne State University and Cornell University have made a breakthrough that reveals the interaction between shockwaves created by high-pressure supersonic fuel jets. http://www.physorg.com/news156088475.html Physics Thu, 12 Mar 2009 14:55:12 EST news156088475 (PhysOrg.com) -- For millions of years, green plants have employed photosynthesis to capture energy from sunlight and convert it into electrochemical energy. A goal of scientists has been to develop an artificial version of photosynthesis that can be used to produce liquid fuels from carbon dioxide and water. Researchers with the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have now taken a critical step towards this goal with the discovery that nano-sized crystals of cobalt oxide can effectively carry out the critical photosynthetic reaction of splitting water molecules. http://www.physorg.com/news156004532.html Chemistry Wed, 11 Mar 2009 15:36:17 EST news156004532 (PhysOrg.com) -- Los Alamos National Laboratory scientists have produced the world's first Map of Science -a high-resolution graphic depiction of the virtual trails scientists leave behind when they retrieve information from online services. The research, led by Johan Bollen, appears this week in PLoS ONE (the Public Library of Science). http://www.physorg.com/news155994010.html Other Sciences Wed, 11 Mar 2009 12:40:40 EST news155994010 (PhysOrg.com) -- Construction of the National Ignition Facility (NIF), the world's largest and highest-energy laser system, was essentially completed on Feb. 26, when technicians at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), where the laser is located, fired the first full system shot to the center of the NIF target chamber. http://www.physorg.com/news155846213.html Physics Mon, 09 Mar 2009 19:37:21 EST news155846213 Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory can now control how cells connect with one another in vitro and assemble themselves into three-dimensional, multicellular microtissues. The researchers demonstrated their method by constructing a tailor-made artificial cell-signaling system, analogous to natural cell systems that communicate via growth factors. http://www.physorg.com/news155485366.html Chemistry Thu, 05 Mar 2009 14:23:22 EST news155485366 (PhysOrg.com) -- Recent cocaine use may hide some of the cognitive deficits commonly experienced by individuals addicted to cocaine, scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy`s Brookhaven National Laboratory report in a study published in the April 2009 issue of Neuropsychopharmacology - a special issue dedicated to cocaine research. The study was part of an effort to better understand individual differences among cocaine-addicted subjects to help clinicians develop more effective treatment plans. http://www.physorg.com/news155317470.html Medicine & Health Tue, 03 Mar 2009 15:45:36 EST news155317470 As electronic circuits shrink from finely etched lines in silicon wafers to nearly elusive proportions, researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and Columbia University are studying how electrons flow through a molecular junction -a nanometer scale circuit element that contacts gold atoms with a single molecule. Their findings reveal the electrical resistance through this junction can be turned 'on' and 'off' simply by pushing and pulling the junction -a feature that could be used as a switch in nanoscale electronic devices. http://www.physorg.com/news155309783.html Nanotechnology Tue, 03 Mar 2009 13:36:54 EST news155309783 (PhysOrg.com) -- When squeezed, electrons increase their ability to move around. In compounds such as semiconductors and electrical insulators, such squeezing can dramatically change the electrical- and magnetic- properties. http://www.physorg.com/news154789238.html Physics Wed, 25 Feb 2009 13:01:25 EST news154789238 Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory has signed an agreement with Siemens Energy Inc. to provide high-resolution atmospheric modeling capabilities to improve the efficiency of wind farm sites, turbine design and wind farm operations. http://www.physorg.com/news154704816.html Technology Tue, 24 Feb 2009 13:34:40 EST news154704816 (PhysOrg.com) -- The smallest nano-sized silica particles used in biomedicine and engineering likely won't cause unexpected biological responses due to their size, according to work presented today. The result should allay fears that cells and tissues will react unpredictably when exposed to the finest silica nanomaterials in industrial or commercial applications. http://www.physorg.com/news154021822.html Nanotechnology Mon, 16 Feb 2009 15:51:37 EST news154021822 (PhysOrg.com) -- A brain scan of a person experiencing an epileptic seizure looks like the Great Plains during an early evening in midsummer. Fierce electrical storms pop up seemingly at random, proliferate over large areas and subside almost as quickly as they arose. http://www.physorg.com/news154020751.html Medicine & Health Mon, 16 Feb 2009 15:33:06 EST news154020751 (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 (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 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 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 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) -- 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 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 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