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. Scientists may not be able to tell a good book by its cover, but they now can tell the condition of an old book by its smell. In a report in ACS' Analytical Chemistry, a semi-monthly journal, they describe development of a new test that can measure the degradation of old books and precious historical documents based on their smell. The nondestructive "sniff" test could help libraries and museums preserve a range of prized paper-based objects, some of which are degrading rapidly due to advancing age, the scientists say. http://www.physorg.com/news179002489.html Chemistry Wed, 02 Dec 2009 18:55:46 EST news179002489 Air quality in homes, offices, and other indoor spaces is becoming a major health concern, particularly in developed countries where people often spend more than 90% of their time indoors. Surprisingly, indoor air has been reported to be as much as 12 times more polluted than outdoor air in some areas. Indoor air pollutants emanate from paints, varnishes, adhesives, furnishings, clothing, solvents, building materials, and even tap water. http://www.physorg.com/news176571050.html Biology Wed, 04 Nov 2009 16:00:04 EST news176571050 (PhysOrg.com) -- In the past, restoration of paintings and other old artwork often involved application of acrylic resins to consolidate and protect them. One of the most important tasks for modern restorers is thus to remove these layers, because it turns out that acrylic resins not only drastically change the optics of the treated artwork, but in many cases they accelerate their degradation. http://www.physorg.com/news175805911.html Chemistry Mon, 26 Oct 2009 19:59:12 EST news175805911 (PhysOrg.com) -- Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists may soon find a way to enhance the weed-killing capabilities of a cereal grain that enriches the soil when used as a winter cover crop. http://www.physorg.com/news175181061.html Space & Earth Mon, 19 Oct 2009 14:50:01 EST news175181061 (PhysOrg.com) -- Research at the University of Warwick have taken high tech gas sensors normally used to test components for premium cars and applied the same techniques to human blood,  human urine, and even cow dung samples from local cow pats. The results could lead to a new high tech medical tool that could provide a fast diagnosis for some of the most difficult gastrointestinal  illnesses and metabolic diseases http://www.physorg.com/news174554222.html Technology Mon, 12 Oct 2009 08:40:01 EST news174554222 Discovery by Hebrew University of Jerusalem researchers of an additional role for a key molecule in our bodies provides a further step in world-wide efforts to develop genetic regulation aimed at controlling many diseases, including AIDS and various types of cancers. http://www.physorg.com/news172401540.html Chemistry Thu, 17 Sep 2009 10:20:43 EST news172401540 A dark red area discovered on dwarf planet Haumea appears to be richer in minerals and organic compounds than the surrounding icy surface. The discovery will be presented at the European Planetary Science Congress in Potsdam by Dr Pedro Lacerda on Wednesday 16 September. http://www.physorg.com/news172316850.html Space & Earth Wed, 16 Sep 2009 11:40:10 EST news172316850 Potted plants add a certain aesthetic value to homes and offices, bringing a touch of nature to indoor spaces. It has also been shown that many common house plants have the ability to remove volatile organic compounds -gases or vapors emitted by solids and liquids that may have adverse short- and long-term health effects on humans and animals -from indoor air. But take heed when considering adding some green to your environment; in addition to giving off healthy oxygen and sucking out harmful VOCs, a new study shows that some indoor plants actually release volatile organic compounds into the environment. http://www.physorg.com/news171207382.html Biology Thu, 03 Sep 2009 14:36:58 EST news171207382 Taiwanese scientists said Tuesday they had developed an organic compound which could help control the global swine flu epidemic as the worldwide death toll from the disease passed 700. http://www.physorg.com/news167381259.html Medicine & Health Tue, 21 Jul 2009 08:20:03 EST news167381259 (PhysOrg.com) -- Deciphering the very early history of life on Earth is difficult. In the darkest recesses of the first billion years there are no 'body' fossils - no physical remains. Instead, scientists use chemical signals left behind in the rock record. http://www.physorg.com/news166284392.html Space & Earth Wed, 08 Jul 2009 15:07:08 EST news166284392 (PhysOrg.com) -- Tough new fire-resistant coating materials called HIPS (‘hybrid inorganic polymer system`) are being developed by CSIRO researchers in Melbourne. http://www.physorg.com/news165158181.html Chemistry Thu, 25 Jun 2009 14:17:21 EST news165158181 In revisiting a chemical reaction that's been in the literature for several decades and adding a new wrinkle of their own, researchers with Berkeley Lab and the University of California (UC) Berkeley have discovered a mild and relatively inexpensive procedure for removing oxygen from biomass. This procedure, if it can be effectively industrialized, could allow many of today's petrochemical products, including plastics, to instead be made from biomass. http://www.physorg.com/news164381686.html Chemistry Tue, 16 Jun 2009 15:10:03 EST news164381686 (PhysOrg.com) -- Formic acid, a compound implicated in the origins of life, has been found at record levels on a meteorite that fell onto a frozen Canadian lake in 2000. http://www.physorg.com/news163259938.html Space & Earth Wed, 03 Jun 2009 15:00:34 EST news163259938 (PhysOrg.com) -- Global warming may include some periods of local cooling, according to a new study by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley. Results from satellite and ground-based sensor data show that sweltering summers can, paradoxically, lead to the temporary formation of a cooling haze in the southeastern United States. http://www.physorg.com/news161886252.html Space & Earth Mon, 18 May 2009 17:24:39 EST news161886252 A research project that aims to produce hydrogen on an environmentally friendly and cost-effective basis by using energy from the sun has won a prestigious E.ON research award. http://www.physorg.com/news161870957.html Technology Mon, 18 May 2009 13:09:43 EST news161870957 A popular television commercial from the 1970s shows a Native American man in buckskin and feathers paddling his canoe through ink-black waters, past refineries billowing smoke. He comes aground on a litter-strewn shoreline and finds a freeway clogged with cars and exhaust fumes. Someone chucks fast-food garbage out a car window and it splatters onto his moccasins. The camera zooms in on a single tear streaming down his cheek, while the voiceover tells us "People start pollution. People can stop it." http://www.physorg.com/news160328375.html Medicine & Health Thu, 30 Apr 2009 16:41:15 EST news160328375 (PhysOrg.com) -- University of Michigan researchers have developed a nanoporous material with a surface area significantly higher than that of any other porous material reported to date. http://www.physorg.com/news155814659.html Nanotechnology Mon, 09 Mar 2009 10:51:46 EST news155814659 (PhysOrg.com) -- Complex computer simulations have, for the first time, allowed scientists to examine in detail the processes that help to ensure the stability of DNA when exposed to UV light. The findings, achieved primarily in relation to DNA component 9H-adenine, have been published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society (JACS). Moreover, in recognition of the high quality of the work, they have also been posted in the publication's newly established online section JACS Select. The results of the project, which was supported by the Austrian Science Fund FWF, show that an ultrafast, two-step process forms one basis for the photostability of DNA. http://www.physorg.com/news154621056.html Chemistry Mon, 23 Feb 2009 14:18:13 EST news154621056 The identity and origin of tiny, potentially hazardous particles emitted from common laser printers have been revealed by a new study at Queensland University of Technology. http://www.physorg.com/news153569767.html Medicine & Health Wed, 11 Feb 2009 10:17:03 EST news153569767 Miles below us, deep within Earth's crust, life is astir. Organisms there are not the large creatures typically envisioned when thinking of life. Instead, thriving there are microbes, the smallest and oldest form of life on Earth. Although the biological diversity of these deep biosphere microorganisms may surpass that of the more familiar surface biosphere, much about them is still unknown, including the origin of the organic compounds they consume. Arizona State University researchers are using a novel approach that integrates physical organic chemistry with organic geochemistry and biogeochemistry to uncover the source of these organic compounds. http://www.physorg.com/news143305017.html Chemistry Wed, 15 Oct 2008 15:56:57 EST news143305017 Miles below us, deep within Earth's crust, life is astir. Organisms there are not the large creatures typically envisioned when thinking of life. Instead, thriving there are microbes, the smallest and oldest form of life on Earth. Although the biological diversity of these deep biosphere microorganisms may surpass that of the more familiar surface biosphere, much about them is still unknown, including the origin of the organic compounds they consume. Arizona State University researchers are using a novel approach that integrates physical organic chemistry with organic geochemistry and biogeochemistry to uncover the source of these organic compounds. http://www.physorg.com/news142675948.html Space & Earth Wed, 08 Oct 2008 09:12:28 EST news142675948 A University of Washington study of top-selling laundry products and air fresheners found the products emitted dozens of different chemicals. All six products tested gave off at least one chemical regulated as toxic or hazardous under federal laws, but none of those chemicals was listed on the product labels. http://www.physorg.com/news136035644.html Medicine & Health Wed, 23 Jul 2008 12:40:44 EST news136035644