Avatar's moon Pandora could be real

Avatar's moon Pandora could be real

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Dec 17, 2009 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (27) | comments 10

In the new blockbuster Avatar, humans visit the habitable - and inhabited - alien moon called Pandora. Life-bearing moons like Pandora or the Star Wars forest moon of Endor are a staple of science fiction. ...


Panasonic develops direct methanol fuel cell system with high power output and durability

Technology / Energy

created Dec 26, 2009 | popularity 4.4 / 5 (26) | comments 9

Panasonic Corporation announced it has developed a direct methanol fuel cell system which can produce an average power output of 20 W by increasing the output per cubic centimeter twice that of its previous prototype. Using ...


A scale model of the Virgin Galactic SpaceShipTwo

Virgin Galactic readies maiden suborbital flight

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Dec 06, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (23) | comments 10

British billionaire Sir Richard Branson will unveil a craft on Monday that could soon carry tourists on an out-of-this-world trip into space -- for a mere 200,000 dollars. (Update: Virgin Galactic unveils commercial spaceship) ...


Saturn's Mysterious Hexagon Emerges from Winter Darkness

Saturn's Mysterious Hexagon Emerges from Winter Darkness

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Dec 09, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (23) | comments 21

(PhysOrg.com) -- After waiting years for the sun to illuminate Saturn's north pole again, cameras aboard NASA's Cassini spacecraft have captured the most detailed images yet of the intriguing hexagon shape ...


A Superbright Supernova That’s the First of Its Kind

A Superbright Supernova That’s the First of Its Kind

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Dec 02, 2009 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (24) | comments 6

(PhysOrg.com) -- An extraordinarily bright, extraordinarily long-lasting supernova named SN 2007bi, snagged in a search by a robotic telescope, turns out to be the first example of the kind of stars that first ...


New way to break some of the strongest chemical bonds

New way to break some of the strongest chemical bonds

Chemistry / Materials Science

created Dec 16, 2009 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (24) | comments 0 weblog

(PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists at Cornell University in the U.S. have found a new way of breaking two of the strongest chemical bonds, at ambient temperature and pressure, and this breakthrough could lead to ...


violin

Secret behind the composition of the varnish on Stradivari violins revealed

Chemistry / Analytical Chemistry

created Dec 04, 2009 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (23) | comments 3

(PhysOrg.com) -- Antonio Stradivari is the most famous instrument maker of all time. He was especially famous for his violins, which he produced in Cremona from about 1665 until his death in 1737. In particular, ...


A picture shows Tel Aviv's sea front promenade on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline

Mediterranean Sea filled in less than two years: study

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

created Dec 09, 2009 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (23) | comments 2

The Mediterranean Sea was mostly filled in less than two years in a dramatic flood around 5.33 million years ago in which water poured in from the Atlantic, according to a study published Wednesday.


Aussie galaxy survey to lead to 'new physics'

Aussie galaxy survey to lead to 'new physics'

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Dec 08, 2009 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (23) | comments 7

(PhysOrg.com) -- Australian astronomers have released the first set of data from the first project to look at the effects of "dark energy" halfway back in the Universe's lifetime.


Next generation lens promises more control

Next generation lens promises more control

Physics / Condensed Matter

created Dec 20, 2009 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (22) | comments 1

(PhysOrg.com) -- Duke University engineers have created a new generation of lens that could greatly improve the capabilities of telecommunications or radar systems to provide a wide field of view and greater ...


Close-up photos of dying star show our sun's fate

Close-up photos of dying star show our sun's fate (w/ Video)

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Dec 15, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (21) | comments 5

(PhysOrg.com) -- About 550 light-years from Earth, a star like our Sun is writhing in its death throes. Chi Cygni has swollen in size to become a red giant star so large that it would swallow every planet ...


Researchers discover new 'golden ratios' for female facial beauty

Researchers discover new 'golden ratios' for female facial beauty

Medicine & Health / Psychology & Psychiatry

created Dec 16, 2009 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (24) | comments 14

(PhysOrg.com) -- Beauty is not only in the eye of the beholder but also in the relationship of the eyes and mouth of the beholden. The distance between a woman's eyes and the distance between her eyes and ...


Why a short run is better than a long walk

Why a short run is better than a long walk

Medicine & Health / Research

created Dec 02, 2009 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (22) | comments 2

(PhysOrg.com) -- Using the latest technology, researchers are uncovering evidence of exactly how major a role activity plays in the battle to keep obesity at bay. In new report published in the British Me ...


Santa's Sleigh: NC State Researcher Explains Science Behind St. Nick?s Christmas Magic

Santa's Sleigh: Researcher Explains Science Behind St. Nick's Christmas Magic

Other Sciences / Other

created Dec 02, 2009 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (21) | comments 7

(PhysOrg.com) -- Santa skeptics have long considered St. Nick’s ability to deliver toys to the world’s good girls and boys in the course of one night a scientific impossibility. But new research shows that ...


Entropy alone creates complex crystals from simple shapes, study shows

Entropy alone creates complex crystals from simple shapes, study shows

Chemistry / Materials Science

created Dec 09, 2009 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (21) | comments 2

(PhysOrg.com) -- In a study that elevates the role of entropy in creating order, research led by the University of Michigan shows that certain pyramid shapes can spontaneously organize into complex quasicrystals.