New fossil plant discovery links Patagonia to New Guinea in a warmer past

New fossil plant discovery links Patagonia to New Guinea in a warmer past

Other Sciences / Archaeology & Fossils

created Nov 10, 2009 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (3) | comments 0

Fossil plants are windows to the past, providing us with clues as to what our planet looked like millions of years ago. Not only do fossils tell us which species were present before human-recorded history, ...


Earth

Atomic Particles Help Solve Planetary Puzzle

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

created Nov 10, 2009 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (11) | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- A University of Arkansas professor and his colleagues have shown that the Earth's mantle contains the same isotopic signatures from magnesium as meteorites do, suggesting that the planet formed ...


Hydrogen milestone moves energy independence one step forward

Hydrogen milestone moves energy independence one step forward

Technology / Energy

created Nov 10, 2009 | popularity 4.1 / 5 (11) | comments 4

(PhysOrg.com) -- Big things often come in small packages. That's certainly the case with the potential created by recent successes in hydrogen research at Idaho National Laboratory.


Striped skunk

Skunk's Strategy Not Just Black and White

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Nov 10, 2009 | popularity 4 / 5 (3) | comments 4

Predators with experience of skunks avoid them both because of their black-and-white coloration and their distinctive body shape, according to UC Davis wildlife researcher Jennifer Hunter. The study was published ...


Noise Evidence Could Expand Hurricane Record

Noise Evidence Could Expand Hurricane Record

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

created Nov 10, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (3) | comments 0

As sea-surface temperatures rise across the globe, some scientists believe that hurricane frequency and intensity may increase. A fresh technique offers promise to generate new data from long-dead storms, ...


The Link Between Birdsong And Human Language

The Link Between Birdsong And Human Language

Medicine & Health / Neuroscience

created Nov 10, 2009 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (6) | comments 0

Scientists studying how Bengalese finches use sets of syllables to communicate are a step closer to understanding how humans develop and use vocabulary. After studying the neural networks in finch brains, ...


The 2009 Leonid Meteor Shower

The 2009 Leonid Meteor Shower

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Nov 10, 2009 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (4) | comments 0

This year's Leonid meteor shower peaks on Tuesday, Nov. 17th. If forecasters are correct, the shower should produce a mild but pretty sprinkling of meteors over North America followed by a more intense outburst ...


The Stars My Destination

The Stars My Destination

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Nov 10, 2009 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (21) | comments 1

The Voyager spacecraft are now in the outermost layer of the heliosphere, traveling toward interstellar space - the first man-made spacecraft to travel such a vast distance from Earth.


Cave study links climate change to California droughts

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

created Nov 10, 2009 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (6) | comments 0

California experienced centuries-long droughts in the past 20,000 years that coincided with the thawing of ice caps in the Arctic, according to a new study by UC Davis doctoral student Jessica Oster and geology professor ...


Ionic Liquid's Makeup Measurably Non-Uniform at the Nanoscale

Physics / Condensed Matter

created Nov 10, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 1

(PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers at Texas Tech University, Queen's University in Belfast, Ireland, the University of Rome and the National Research Council in Italy recently made a discovery about the non-uniform chemical compositions ...


Sculptured materials allow multiple channel plasmonic sensors

Physics / Optics & Photonics

created Nov 10, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (3) | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- Sensors, communications devices and imaging equipment that use a prism and a special form of light -- a surface plasmon-polariton -- may incorporate multiple channels or redundant applications if manufacturers ...


Google says its news approach is "fully consistent with copyright law"

Google says Murdoch stories can be taken off

Technology / Internet

created Nov 10, 2009 | popularity 3 / 5 (6) | comments 3

Google said on Tuesday, in response to threats by Rupert Murdoch to ban the search engine from listing content from his news empire, that any company could ask to have stories taken off. ...


Drug shrinks lung cancer tumors in mice

Drug shrinks lung cancer tumors in mice

Medicine & Health / Cancer

created Nov 10, 2009 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (6) | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- A potential new drug for lung cancer has eliminated tumours in 50% of mice in a new study published today in the journal Cancer Research. In the animals, the drug also stopped lung cancer ...


Scientists prepare the Mini-Research Module 2 (MRM 2) "Poisk"

Rocket with new module for space station blasts off

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Nov 10, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

A Soyuz rocket carrying a new Russian-made module for the International Space Station blasted off on Tuesday from the Baikonur space base in Kazakhstan, television pictures showed.


Improving security with face recognition technology

Improving security with face recognition technology

Technology / Computer Sciences

created Nov 10, 2009 | popularity 3.5 / 5 (4) | comments 1

A number of U.S. states now use facial recognition technology when issuing drivers licenses. Similar methods are also used to grant access to buildings and to verify the identities of international travelers. ...