Turning metal black more than just a novelty

Physics / General Physics

created Dec 08, 2009 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (20) | comments 5

(PhysOrg.com) -- University of Rochester optics professor Chunlei Guo made headlines in the past couple of years when he changed the color of everyday metals by scouring their surfaces with precise, high-intensity laser bursts.


New planet discoveries suggest low-mass planets are common around nearby stars

New planet discoveries suggest low-mass planets are common around nearby stars (w/ Video)

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Dec 14, 2009 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (19) | comments 14

(PhysOrg.com) -- An international team of planet hunters has discovered as many as six low-mass planets around two nearby Sun-like stars, including two "super-Earths" with masses 5 and 7.5 times the mass of ...


Why females live longer than males: is it due to the father's sperm?

Medicine & Health / Research

created Dec 01, 2009 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (20) | comments 12

Researchers in Japan have found that female mice produced by using genetic material from two mothers but no father live significantly longer than mice with the normal mix of maternal and paternal genes. Their findings provide ...


Bacteria offer insights into human decision making

Bacteria offer insights into human decision making

Physics / General Physics

created Dec 08, 2009 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (20) | comments 1

(PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists studying how bacteria under stress collectively weigh and initiate different survival strategies say they have gained new insights into how humans make strategic decisions that ...


Study reveals H1N1 unexpected weakness

Study reveals H1N1 unexpected weakness

Medicine & Health / Research

created Dec 10, 2009 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (19) | comments 7

The H1N1 influenza virus has been keeping a secret that may be the key to defeating it and other flu viruses as well.


Dwave processor

Google Collaborates with D-Wave on Possible Quantum Image Search

Physics / General Physics

created Dec 15, 2009 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (21) | comments 5 weblog

(PhysOrg.com) -- Always on the cutting edge of new computing technologies, Google has recently announced that it is investigating the use of quantum computing schemes to achieve faster image recognition rates. ...


Researchers show brain waves can 'write' on a computer in early tests

Medicine & Health / Research

created Dec 07, 2009 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (18) | comments 3

Neuroscientists at the Mayo Clinic campus in Jacksonville, Fla., have demonstrated how brain waves can be used to type alphanumerical characters on a computer screen. By merely focusing on the "q" in a matrix of letters, ...


Researchers demonstrate that stem cells can be engineered to kill HIV

Medicine & Health / HIV & AIDS

created Dec 08, 2009 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (18) | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- UCLA AIDS Institute researchers have for the first time demonstrated that human blood stem cells can be engineered to target and kill HIV-infected cells.


Financial instruments could be spiked with unfindable risks

Financial instruments could be spiked with unfindable risks

Other Sciences / Economics

created Dec 21, 2009 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (19) | comments 42

(PhysOrg.com) -- In a result that may have implications for financial regulation, researchers from computer science and economics have revealed potentially impenetrable problems with the pricing of financial ...


Student sleuths using DNA reveal zoo of 95 species in NYC homes -- and new evidence of food fraud

Student sleuths using DNA reveal zoo of 95 species in NYC homes -- and new evidence of food fraud

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Dec 28, 2009 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (18) | comments 6

Two New York City high school students exploring their homes using the latest high-tech DNA analysis techniques were astonished to discover a veritable zoo of 95 animal species surrounding them, in everything ...


Are the effects of pornography negligible?

Other Sciences / Social Sciences

created Dec 01, 2009 | popularity 4.2 / 5 (21) | comments 5

A Université de Montréal researcher, funded by the Interdisciplinary Research Center on Family Violence and Violence Against Women, has launched a new study to examine the effects of pornography on men. "We ...


A see-through surprise: Scientists make solid material transparent to terahertz waves

Physics / Condensed Matter

created Dec 07, 2009 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (19) | comments 1

Very often in science, the unexpected discovery turns out to be the most significant. Rice University Professor Junichiro Kono and his team weren't looking for a breakthrough in the transmission of terahertz signals, but ...


Physicists propose quantum entanglement for motion of microscopic objects

Physics / Quantum Physics

created Dec 21, 2009 | popularity 4.4 / 5 (20) | comments 14

Researchers at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) have proposed a new paradigm that should allow scientists to observe quantum behavior in small mechanical systems.


Scientists map speed of climate change

Space & Earth / Environment

created Dec 23, 2009 | popularity 2.8 / 5 (31) | comments 41

New study finds that the average ecosystem will need to shift about a quarter mile per year to keep pace with global climate change.


Balancing protein intake, not cutting calories, may be key to long life

Balancing protein intake, not cutting calories, may be key to long life

Medicine & Health / Research

created Dec 02, 2009 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (18) | comments 5

Getting the correct balance of proteins in our diet may be more important for healthy ageing than reducing calories, new research funded by the Wellcome Trust and Research into Ageing suggests.