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. New York University chemists have discovered how to make molecules with a twist -the molecules fold in to twisted helical shapes that can accelerate selected chemical reactions. The research, reported in the latest issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), could yield valuable methods for making pharmaceuticals and other chemicals that require precise assembly of complex structures. http://www.physorg.com/news169137106.html Chemistry Mon, 10 Aug 2009 16:10:02 EST news169137106 (PhysOrg.com) -- Bacteria play a role in myriad industrial processes from fermentation to cleaning up environmental pollution. But floating freely in solution, the microbial cells constantly multiply, generating biomass that must be removed periodically, causing downtime. Additionally, the microorganisms cannot be localized to a specific region of interest. http://www.physorg.com/news168617211.html Chemistry Tue, 04 Aug 2009 15:07:20 EST news168617211 US researchers have created 'bacterial computers' with the potential to solve complicated mathematics problems. The findings of the research, published in BioMed Central's open access Journal of Biological Engineering, demonstrate that computing in living cells is feasible, opening the door to a number of applications. The second-generation bacterial computers illustrate the feasibility of extending the approach to other computationally challenging math problems. http://www.physorg.com/news167636611.html Biology Fri, 24 Jul 2009 06:43:52 EST news167636611 Entrepreneurs at ESA`s Business Incubation centre in the Netherlands have used radar technology from the agency`s Envisat remote-sensing satellite to develop a compact, high-resolution radar that can monitor land and buildings from small aircraft. http://www.physorg.com/news167052877.html Space & Earth Fri, 17 Jul 2009 12:37:47 EST news167052877 Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's Savannah River National Laboratory have created a reversible route to generate aluminum hydride, a high capacity hydrogen storage material. This achievement is not only expected to accelerate the development of a whole class of storage materials, but also has far reaching applications in areas spanning energy technology and synthetic chemistry. http://www.physorg.com/news166098459.html Chemistry Mon, 06 Jul 2009 11:28:49 EST news166098459 China is in a very seismically active area and has had many catastrophic earthquakes during its history. A joint European-Chinese team is using satellite radar data to monitor ground deformation across major continental faults in China to understand better the seismic cycle and how faults behave. http://www.physorg.com/news166096488.html Space & Earth Mon, 06 Jul 2009 10:55:20 EST news166096488 (PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers have discovered that extremely thin sheets of nickel oxide with hexagonally shaped holes can absorb hazardous dyes from wastewater nearly as well as the best traditional methods, but are recyclable. The research was reported recently in the journal Nanotechnology. http://www.physorg.com/news165655977.html Nanotechnology Wed, 01 Jul 2009 10:10:02 EST news165655977 The risk of cancer possibly increases if patients with diabetes use the long-acting insulin analogue glargine instead of human insulin. The Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG), in collaboration with the "Wissenschaftliches Institut der AOK" (WIdO), the research institute of the German Local Health Care Fund, analysed the data of almost 130,000 patients with diabetes in Germany who had been treated with either human insulin or the insulin analogues lispro (trade name: Humalog), aspart (Novorapid) or glargine (Lantus) between January 2001 and June 2005. http://www.physorg.com/news165254669.html Medicine & Health Fri, 26 Jun 2009 17:06:30 EST news165254669 (PhysOrg.com) -- Synthetic fertilizers have dramatically increased food production worldwide. But the unintended costs to the environment and human health have been substantial. Nitrogen runoff from farms has contaminated surface and groundwater and helped create massive `dead zones` in coastal areas, such as the Gulf of Mexico. And ammonia from fertilized cropland has become a major source of air pollution, while emissions of nitrous oxide form a potent greenhouse gas. http://www.physorg.com/news164918496.html Space & Earth Mon, 22 Jun 2009 20:20:01 EST news164918496 Synthetic fertilizers have dramatically increased food production worldwide. But the unintended costs to the environment and human health have been substantial. Nitrogen runoff from farms has contaminated surface and groundwater and helped create massive "dead zones" in coastal areas, such as the Gulf of Mexico. And ammonia from fertilized cropland has become a major source of air pollution, while emissions of nitrous oxide form a potent greenhouse gas. http://www.physorg.com/news164553776.html Space & Earth Thu, 18 Jun 2009 14:23:17 EST news164553776 In the clothing industry it's common to mix natural and synthetic fibers. Take cotton and add polyester to make clothing that's soft, breathable and wrinkle free. Now researchers at the University of Washington are using the same principle for biomedical applications. Mixing chitosan, found in the shells of crabs and shrimp, with an industrial polyester creates a promising new material for the tiny tubes that support repair of a severed nerve, and could serve other medical uses. http://www.physorg.com/news164384019.html Chemistry Tue, 16 Jun 2009 15:14:43 EST news164384019 Biomedical engineers at Boston University have taught bacteria how to count. Professor James J. Collins and colleagues have wired a new sequence of genes that allow the microbes to count discrete events, opening the door for a host of potential applications, which could include drug delivery and sensing environmental hazards. http://www.physorg.com/news162738836.html Biology Thu, 28 May 2009 14:14:23 EST news162738836 In what could be a major pharmaceutical breakthrough, research published online in The FASEB Journal describes how scientists from St George's, University of London have devised a one-two punch to stop HIV. First the report describes a new protein that can kill the virus when used as a microbicide. Then the report shows how it might be possible to manufacture this protein in quantities large enough to make it affordable for people in developing countries. http://www.physorg.com/news162729674.html Medicine & Health Thu, 28 May 2009 11:41:43 EST news162729674 A synoptic view of European shipping routes can be seen for the first time thanks to a new map created using seven years of radar data from ESA's Envisat satellite. http://www.physorg.com/news162208553.html Space & Earth Fri, 22 May 2009 10:57:21 EST news162208553 (PhysOrg.com) -- For modern implants and the growth of artificial tissue and organs, it is important to generate materials with characteristics that closely emulate nature. http://www.physorg.com/news161598692.html Nanotechnology Fri, 15 May 2009 09:33:56 EST news161598692 Parachute cords, climbing ropes, and smart coatings for bridges that change color when overstressed are several possible uses for force-sensitive polymers being developed by researchers at the University of Illinois. http://www.physorg.com/news160834918.html Chemistry Wed, 06 May 2009 13:22:39 EST news160834918 With equipment readily available to health officials and businesses, a Purdue University researcher has found a way to detect trace amounts of melamine in infant formula. http://www.physorg.com/news160326471.html Chemistry Thu, 30 Apr 2009 16:09:11 EST news160326471 Crops and other plants are constantly confronted with adverse environmental conditions, lowering yield and costing farmers billions of dollars annually. Plants use specialized signals, called stress hormones, to sense difficult times and adapt to stressful conditions to enhance survival. http://www.physorg.com/news160319874.html Biology Thu, 30 Apr 2009 14:18:50 EST news160319874 In a recent issue of The Journal of Chemical Physics, published by the American Institute of Physics (AIP), a group of researchers at the University of California, Berkeley and Los Alamos National Laboratory describe the first comprehensive, molecular-level numerical study of gene therapy. Their work should help scientists design new experimental gene therapies and possibly solve some of the problems associated with this promising technique. http://www.physorg.com/news160238845.html Physics Wed, 29 Apr 2009 15:47:50 EST news160238845 (PhysOrg.com) -- Spiderman would definitely have an easier time of things with this spider silk - for example, if he had to stop a getaway car moving off at 100 kilometres per hour. A five-millimetre-thick thread would do the job from a distance of 20 metres - assuming it had been treated by a team of researchers from the Max Planck Institute of Microstructure Physics. The same task would require a finger-thick thread of untreated spider silk and a steel rod as thick as a forearm. The Max Planck scientists strengthen the natural material by infiltrating it with metal ions. It may also be possible to strengthen other natural and synthetic fibres in this way. http://www.physorg.com/news159793291.html Physics Fri, 24 Apr 2009 12:02:42 EST news159793291 (PhysOrg.com) -- Certain fish species blend with their environment by changing color. Sandia National Laboratories researchers have demonstrated that, in theory, they could cause synthetic materials to change color like fish do. http://www.physorg.com/news159198454.html Nanotechnology Fri, 17 Apr 2009 14:47:58 EST news159198454 (AP) -- Advocates of the female condom are promoting a less costly, more user-friendly version that they hope will vastly expand its role in the global fight against AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases. http://www.physorg.com/news159113524.html Medicine & Health Thu, 16 Apr 2009 15:17:21 EST news159113524 (PhysOrg.com) -- Studying satellite radar data from ESA's Envisat and the Italian Space Agency's COSMO-SkyMed, scientists have begun analysing the movement of Earth during and after the 6.3 earthquake that shook the medieval town of L'Aquila in central Italy on 6 April 2009. http://www.physorg.com/news159015099.html Space & Earth Wed, 15 Apr 2009 11:52:41 EST news159015099 (PhysOrg.com) -- A new method developed by Cornell biological engineers offers an efficient way to make proteins for use in medicine or industry without the use of live cells. The proteins made in this way include many that cannot be produced by current biotechnology. http://www.physorg.com/news157827444.html Biology Wed, 01 Apr 2009 17:57:48 EST news157827444 Using the natural glue that marine mussels use to stick to rocks, and a variation on the inkjet printer, a team of researchers led by North Carolina State University has devised a new way of making medical adhesives that could replace traditional sutures and result in less scarring, faster recovery times and increased precision for exacting operations such as eye surgery. http://www.physorg.com/news156599804.html Chemistry Wed, 18 Mar 2009 12:57:14 EST news156599804 (PhysOrg.com) -- Stanford University researchers have developed a synthetic wood substitute that may one day save trees, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and shrink landfills. http://www.physorg.com/news156526288.html Chemistry Tue, 17 Mar 2009 16:32:31 EST news156526288 Even after nine months soaking in the womb, a newborn's skin is smooth - unlike an adult's in the bath. While occupying a watery, warm environment, the newborn manages to develop a skin fully equipped to protect it in a cold, dry and bacteria-infected world. http://www.physorg.com/news156512767.html Chemistry Tue, 17 Mar 2009 12:46:41 EST news156512767 Genetic researchers at Children's National Medical Center and the National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry in Tokyo published the results of the first successful application of "multiple exon-skipping" to curb the devastating effects of Duchenne muscular dystrophy in an animal larger than a mouse. Multiple exon-skipping employs multiple DNA-like molecules as a "DNA band-aids" to skip over the parts of the mutated gene that block the effective creation of proteins. http://www.physorg.com/news156435829.html Medicine & Health Mon, 16 Mar 2009 15:25:36 EST news156435829 Researchers have crafted a gene circuit that permits precise tuning of a gene's expression in a cell, an advance that should allow for more accurate analysis of the gene's role in normal and abnormal cellular function. http://www.physorg.com/news155938720.html Medicine & Health Tue, 10 Mar 2009 21:18:56 EST news155938720 In addition to providing a simple and much less expensive means of making artemisinin, the most powerful anti-malaria drug in use today, synthetic biology can also help to extend the effectiveness of this drug. Fermenting artemisinin via engineered microbes, such as yeast, can be done at far lower costs than extracting the drug from Artemsisia annua, the sweet wormwood tree, making microbial-based artemisinin a much cheaper but equally effective treatment. Restricting access to this technology to responsible manufacturers who will bundle artemisinin as part of an anti-malarial drug "cocktail" rather than selling it as a monotherapy should delay or even prevent malaria parasites from developing resistance. Recently, there have been reports of malaria parasites in West Africa showing some signs of resistance to artemisinin. http://www.physorg.com/news155588531.html Biology Fri, 06 Mar 2009 19:02:34 EST news155588531