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) -- Özlem Durmaz Incel, researcher at the University of Twente, the Netherlands, has developed a spectacular new method that enables wireless sensor networks to function up to ten times more efficiently. Networks based on this revolutionary method can be used for an extremely wide range of applications. They can, for example, be used for the surveillance of bridges, ports and distribution centres. They can also greatly increase efficiency in transport and logistics, for example in large ports. http://www.physorg.com/news160061305.html Technology Mon, 27 Apr 2009 14:29:10 EST news160061305 Steve and Sue Kirkham's home sits atop a hill where the wind can be strong enough to mute conversations and rattle lawn chairs. Instead of complaining, they decided to harness its power. http://www.physorg.com/news159867426.html Technology Sat, 25 Apr 2009 08:37:26 EST news159867426 (AP) -- President Barack Obama, standing Wednesday in the shell of a once-giant Maytag appliance factory that now houses a wind energy company, declared that a "new era of energy exploration in America" would be a crucial to leading the nation out of an economic crisis. http://www.physorg.com/news159694323.html Technology Thu, 23 Apr 2009 08:32:28 EST news159694323 A new study published in Nature this week reveals that asteroid surfaces age and redden much faster than previously thought -- in less than a million years, the blink of an eye for an asteroid. This study has finally confirmed that the solar wind is the most likely cause of very rapid space weathering in asteroids. This fundamental result will help astronomers relate the appearance of an asteroid to its actual history and identify any after effects of a catastrophic impact with another asteroid. http://www.physorg.com/news159625643.html Space & Earth Wed, 22 Apr 2009 13:28:26 EST news159625643 Today, humans perform visual inspections every two years of most of the nation's older bridges. But with a scarcity of inspectors and tens of thousands of bridges, that process can be long and laborious. http://www.physorg.com/news159116064.html Technology Thu, 16 Apr 2009 15:55:04 EST news159116064 You may want to thank David French in advance. Because, in the event that a comet or asteroid comes hurtling toward Earth, he may be the guy responsible for saving the entire planet. http://www.physorg.com/news159106148.html Space & Earth Thu, 16 Apr 2009 13:09:44 EST news159106148 (PhysOrg.com) -- An international scientific consortium has developed a series of autonomous observatories in Antarctica that for the first time provide critical year-round "space weather" data from the Earth's harshest environment. http://www.physorg.com/news158513978.html Space & Earth Thu, 09 Apr 2009 16:41:01 EST news158513978 Since Congress lifted a moratorium on offshore drilling last year, federal lawmakers have grappled with the issue of how best to regulate U.S. ocean waters to allow oil, wave and wind energy development, while sustainably managing critical fisheries and marine animal habitats. http://www.physorg.com/news158508309.html Space & Earth Thu, 09 Apr 2009 15:05:55 EST news158508309 (PhysOrg.com) -- At a time when ever more aspects of our lives are moving toward the virtual, online world -- stores, newspapers, games and even social interactions -- Hiroshi Ishii seems to be swimming against that current: His aim is to bring the world of computers into more real and tangible form, seamlessly integrated with our daily lives. http://www.physorg.com/news158250258.html Technology Mon, 06 Apr 2009 15:25:09 EST news158250258 Plans to build the biggest wind farm in Europe are underway in Sweden after winning approval from a local county administrative board on Monday, officials said. http://www.physorg.com/news158246291.html Technology Mon, 06 Apr 2009 14:20:36 EST news158246291 The breezes blowing across the shallow waters of the mid-Atlantic coast, including North Carolina, hold some of the nation's highest potential for harvesting wind energy, a new federal report says. http://www.physorg.com/news158238482.html Technology Mon, 06 Apr 2009 12:09:16 EST news158238482 (PhysOrg.com) -- The sunspot cycle is behaving a little like the stock market. Just when you think it has hit bottom, it goes even lower. http://www.physorg.com/news157820871.html Space & Earth Wed, 01 Apr 2009 16:08:26 EST news157820871 Opened in September as a world "first" in producing electricity from waves, a pioneering installation here is dead in the water having functioned for only a few weeks in a stormy process of research and development. http://www.physorg.com/news157098213.html Technology Tue, 24 Mar 2009 07:24:18 EST news157098213 A Purdue University aerospace researcher helped shape plans to install a new experiment currently on the space shuttle Discovery to collect data for controlling deadly friction and heating in the design of future spacecraft. http://www.physorg.com/news157033602.html Physics Mon, 23 Mar 2009 13:27:29 EST news157033602 Illinois is the Prairie State and home to the Windy City. And sometimes, when standing out in that prairie and feeling the wind racing across the state, you begin to wonder if there is anything between here and Kansas that is slowing down the wind at all. With people thinking more and more about alternative energy sources, it appears sure that wind power would be a logical source of energy for Illinois. http://www.physorg.com/news156782104.html Technology Fri, 20 Mar 2009 15:36:06 EST news156782104 Tiny, lightweight fruit flies need to know when it's windy out so they can steady themselves and avoid being knocked off their feet or blown off course. But how do they figure out that it's time to hunker down? According to a team led by California Institute of Technology (Caltech) scientists reporting in this week's issue of the journal Nature, the flies have evolved a specialized population of neurons in their antennae that let them know not only when the wind is blowing, but also the direction from which it is coming. http://www.physorg.com/news156088179.html Biology Thu, 12 Mar 2009 14:50:19 EST news156088179 With adequate financial and political support, renewable energy technologies like wind and photovoltaics could supply 40 percent of the world's electricity by 2050, according to findings from the International Scientific Congress "Climate Change: Global Risks, Challenges & Decisions." However, if such technologies are marginalized, its share is likely to hover below 15 percent. http://www.physorg.com/news155995147.html Space & Earth Wed, 11 Mar 2009 12:59:35 EST news155995147 (PhysOrg.com) -- Titan's vast dune fields, which may act like weather vanes to determine general wind direction on Saturn's biggest moon, have been mapped by scientists who compiled four years of radar data collected by the Cassini spacecraft. http://www.physorg.com/news154966417.html Space & Earth Fri, 27 Feb 2009 14:14:26 EST news154966417 With a new 3D-model for energy simulation scientists from Bochum, Germany, and Huntsville, USA, are studying the 'physical mystery' of the Voyager. Over 30 years ago the spacecraft detected particles in solar wind which were 'hotter' than they should have been according to the existing theory expounded by the mathematician Andrey Kolmogorov in 1941. http://www.physorg.com/news154966140.html Physics Fri, 27 Feb 2009 14:09:31 EST news154966140 Geothermal energy is increasingly contributing to the power supply world wide. Iceland is world-leader in expanding development of geothermal utilization: in recent years the annual power supply here doubled to more than 500 MW alone in the supply of electricity. And also in Germany, a dynamic development is to be seen: over 100 MW of heat are currently being provided through geothermal energy. http://www.physorg.com/news154960844.html Space & Earth Fri, 27 Feb 2009 12:41:47 EST news154960844 (PhysOrg.com) -- A new 3D model linking magnetic fields to the transfer of energy in space might help solve a physics mystery first observed in the solar wind 15 years ago. http://www.physorg.com/news154893335.html Physics Thu, 26 Feb 2009 17:56:36 EST news154893335 MIT's Solar Electric Vehicle Team, the oldest such student team in the country, has just finished construction of its latest high-tech car and will be unveiling it to the public this Friday from 3 to 5 p.m. in Lobby 13. http://www.physorg.com/news154797894.html Technology Wed, 25 Feb 2009 15:25:27 EST news154797894 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 Research by TU Delft, Netherlands, proves that Dutch power stations are able to cope at any time in the future with variations in demand for electricity and supply of wind power, as long as use is made of up-to-date wind forecasts. PhD candidate Bart Ummels also demonstrates that there is no need for energy storage facilities. Ummels will receive his PhD on this topic on Thursday 26 February. http://www.physorg.com/news154614318.html Technology Mon, 23 Feb 2009 12:34:47 EST news154614318 Northwest Michigan could generate hundreds of new jobs and generate enough electricity for thousands of its residents by converting abandoned factories and other brownfield sites for renewable energy production. http://www.physorg.com/news152463643.html Technology Thu, 29 Jan 2009 15:01:24 EST news152463643 (Physorg.com) -- A Seattle man has invented a small wind turbine that can be installed on homeowners' rooftops. The "Jellyfish" wind turbine generates about 40 kilowatt hours each month, which is enough to light a home using high-efficiency bulbs. http://www.physorg.com/news152460451.html Technology Thu, 29 Jan 2009 14:07:57 EST news152460451 (PhysOrg.com) -- NASA is using powerful computers and software programs to design the rocket that will carry crew and cargo to space after the space shuttle retires. But those computers will have their work checked the old-fashioned way with the first of several uncrewed demonstration launches beginning in 2009. http://www.physorg.com/news151861629.html Space & Earth Thu, 22 Jan 2009 15:48:00 EST news151861629 Following two months of commissioning, during which the spacecraft and sensors were tuned for optimum mission performance, the Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX) spacecraft began gathering data to build the first maps of the edge of the heliosphere, the region of space influenced by the Sun. http://www.physorg.com/news151152484.html Space & Earth Wed, 14 Jan 2009 10:48:04 EST news151152484 Rocks on Mars are on the move, rolling into the wind and forming organized patterns, according to new research. http://www.physorg.com/news150644809.html Space & Earth Thu, 08 Jan 2009 13:46:49 EST news150644809 At first, figuring out how pebble-sized rocks organize themselves in evenly-spaced patterns in sand seemed simple and even intuitive. But once Andrew Leier, an assistant geoscience professor at the U of C, started observing, he discovered that the most commonly held notions did not apply. http://www.physorg.com/news150556841.html Space & Earth Wed, 07 Jan 2009 13:20:41 EST news150556841