High-precision measurements confirm cosmologists' standard view of the universe

Precise picture of early Universe supports 'dark matter' theory

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Nov 02, 2009 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (17) | comments 9

A detailed picture of the seeds of structures in the universe has been unveiled by an international team co-led by a Cardiff University scientist.


Like humans, monkeys fall into the 'uncanny valley'

Like humans, monkeys fall into the 'uncanny valley'

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Oct 13, 2009 | popularity 4.4 / 5 (18) | comments 1

(PhysOrg.com) -- Princeton University researchers have come up with a new twist on the mysterious visual phenomenon experienced by humans known as the "uncanny valley." The scientists have found that monkeys ...


Rapid supernova could be new class of exploding star

Rapid supernova could be new class of exploding star

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Nov 05, 2009 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (17) | comments 5

(PhysOrg.com) -- An unusual supernova rediscovered in seven-year-old data may be the first example of a new type of exploding star, possibly from a binary star system where helium flows from one white dwarf ...


airpod

Car That Runs on Compressed Air Questioned by Critics (w/ Video)

Technology / Energy

created Nov 03, 2009 | popularity 3.8 / 5 (21) | comments 38

(PhysOrg.com) -- As electric cars begin breaking into the short-distance vehicle market, one French company thinks that it has an alternative to the electric vehicle: a car that runs on compressed air. Motor ...


Pinning Down Superconductivity to a Single Layer

Pinning Down Superconductivity to a Single Layer

Physics / Superconductivity

created Oct 29, 2009 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (16) | comments 15

(PhysOrg.com) -- Using precision techniques for making superconducting thin films layer-by-layer, physicists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory have identified a single layer ...


Seattle team wins $900,000 in Space Elevator Games (AP)

Seattle team wins $900,000 in Space Elevator Games

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Nov 07, 2009 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (17) | comments 6

(AP) -- A Seattle team has collected a $900,000 prize in a NASA-backed competition to develop the concept of an elevator to space - an idea spurred by science fiction novels.


Dark Matter in a Galaxy

Dark Matter in a Galaxy

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Oct 30, 2009 | popularity 4 / 5 (19) | comments 19

(PhysOrg.com) -- Stars, the most familiar objects in the night sky, make up only a tiny percentage of the total amount of matter in the universe -- about 2%.


Driver-less car in high-speed rally assault

Technology / Engineering

created Nov 02, 2009 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (16) | comments 3

Imagine driving at top speed on a steep, winding mountain pass in the Alps, or the Himalayas, or the Rocky Mountains.


algae

Killer algae a key player in mass extinctions

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

created Oct 19, 2009 | popularity 4.4 / 5 (17) | comments 4

Algae, not asteroids, were the key to the end of the dinosaurs, say two Clemson University researchers. Geologist James W. Castle and ecotoxicologist John H. Rodgers have published findings that toxin producing ...


Solar LED lamps

Solar Cells with LEDs Provide Inexpensive Lighting

Technology / Energy

created Nov 09, 2009 | popularity 4.4 / 5 (17) | comments 2

(PhysOrg.com) -- Of the 1.5 billion people in developing countries who do not have electricity, many rely on kerosene lamps for light after the sun goes down. But now, researchers from Denmark have designed ...


Moon crash: Public yawns, scientists celebrate (AP)

Moon crash: Public yawns, scientists celebrate

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Oct 10, 2009 | popularity 3.9 / 5 (19) | comments 11

(AP) -- NASA's great lunar fireworks finale fizzled. After gearing up for the space agency's much-hyped mission to hurl two spacecraft into the moon, the public turned away from the sky Friday anything but ...


'Culture of we' buffers genetic tendency to depression

Medicine & Health / Psychology & Psychiatry

created Oct 27, 2009 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (15) | comments 13

A genetic tendency to depression is much less likely to be realized in a culture centered on collectivistic rather than individualistic values, according to a new Northwestern University study.


Scientists build first 'frequency comb' to display visible 'teeth'

Scientists Build First 'Frequency Comb' To Display Visible 'Teeth'

Physics / General Physics

created Oct 29, 2009 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (15) | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- Finally, an optical frequency comb that visibly lives up to its name. Scientists at the University of Konstanz in Germany and the National Institute of Standards and Technology in the U.S. ...


Quantum Computer Chips Now One Step Closer To Reality

Physics / Quantum Physics

created Oct 15, 2009 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (16) | comments 0

In the quest for smaller, faster computer chips, researchers are increasingly turning to quantum mechanics -- the exotic physics of the small. The problem: the manufacturing techniques required to make quantum devices have ...


perception

Sensory deprivation can produce hallucinations in only 15 minutes

Medicine & Health / Psychology & Psychiatry

created Oct 23, 2009 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (16) | comments 7

(PhysOrg.com) -- A new study has found that even a short period of sensory deprivation is enough to produce hallucinations even in people who are not normally prone to them.