Oil

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An oil is a substance that is in a viscous liquid state ("oily") at ambient temperatures or slightly warmer, and is both hydrophobic (immiscible with water) and lipophilic (miscible with other oils, literally). This general definition includes compound classes with otherwise unrelated chemical structures, properties, and uses, including vegetable oils, petrochemical oils, and volatile essential oils. Oil is a nonpolar substance.

The term oil is often used colloquially to refer to petroleum.

For more information about Oil, read the full article at Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.


News tagged with oil

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Researchers hail innovative plan to save rainforest, reduce greenhouse gas emissions

Space & Earth / Environment

created Nov 05, 2009 | popularity 2.3 / 5 (3) | comments 1

An innovative proposal by the Ecuadorian government to protect an untouched, oil rich region of Amazon rainforest is a precedent-setting and potentially economically viable approach, says a team of environmental researchers ...


New evidence supports 19th century idea on formation of oil and gas

New evidence supports 19th century idea on formation of oil and gas

Chemistry / Analytical Chemistry

created Nov 04, 2009 | popularity 4 / 5 (2) | comments 1

Scientists in Washington, D.C. are reporting laboratory evidence supporting the possibility that some of Earth's oil and natural gas may have formed in a way much different than the traditional process described ...


Clean algae biofuel project leads world in productivity

Clean algae biofuel project leads world in productivity

Chemistry / Other

created Nov 04, 2009 | popularity 4 / 5 (4) | comments 0

Australian scientists are achieving the world's best production rates of oil from algae grown in open saline ponds, taking them a step closer to creating commercial quantities of clean biofuel for the future.


Tanker spills oil in San Francisco Bay

Space & Earth / Environment

created Oct 30, 2009 | popularity 3 / 5 (1) | comments 1

A ruptured fuel line on a Panamanian-registered tanker released oil into San Francisco Bay before dawn on Friday, authorities said.


Lessons from oil industry may help address groundwater crisis

Lessons from oil industry may help address groundwater crisis

Space & Earth / Environment

created Oct 30, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (3) | comments 0

Although declining streamflows and half-full reservoirs have gotten most of the attention in water conflicts around the United States, some of the worst battles of the next century may be over groundwater, ...


Improved adhesive for products like transparent tape could benefit biofuels economy

Chemistry / Materials Science

created Oct 29, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

An adhesive used in products like laminate countertops may also help cement a place for economically viable biofuels, according to a Kansas State University researcher.


Why fish oils help and how they could help even more

Medicine & Health / Research

created Oct 28, 2009 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (26) | comments 9

New research from Queen Mary, University of London and Harvard Medical School has revealed precisely why taking fish oils can help with conditions like rheumatoid arthritis.


Expedition observes hundreds of marine creatures in oil slick

Expedition observes hundreds of marine creatures in oil slick

Biology / Ecology

created Oct 23, 2009 | popularity 4 / 5 (2) | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- The area affected by the Montara oil spill off the Kimberley coast contains a huge amount of marine life, including some of the most iconic and threatened species in the ocean, according to ...


There are about 50,000 to 60,000 orangutans left in the wild

Orangutans struggle to survive as palm oil booms

Biology / Ecology

created Oct 22, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Cinta, a baby orangutan found lost and alone in a vast Borneo palm oil plantation, now clings to a tree at a sanctuary for the great apes, staring intently at dozens of tourists.


Algae is gaining ground as a potential renewable energy source

Algae may be secret weapon in climate change war

Biology / Biotechnology

created Oct 22, 2009 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (8) | comments 4

Driven by fluctuations in oil prices, and seduced by the prospect of easing climate change, experts are ramping up efforts to squeeze fuel out of a promising new organism: pond scum.


Carbon-offsetting and conservation can both be winners in rainforest

Space & Earth / Environment

created Oct 20, 2009 | popularity 2 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Logged rainforests can support as much plant, animal and insect life as virgin forest within 15 years if properly managed, research at the University of Leeds has found.


Making monster waves

Making monster waves

Physics / General Physics

created Oct 19, 2009 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (6) | comments 0

Rogue waves -- giant waves that spring up suddenly and tower over the seas around them—have inspired physicists to look for an analogue in light. These high-intensity pulses can cross large distances without ...


New science approach to revolutionize welding

New science approach to revolutionize welding

Technology / Engineering

created Oct 16, 2009 | popularity 2.3 / 5 (4) | comments 1

A multi-million pound engineering research project is using advanced thinking to revolutionise the welding industry - and offering the prospect of saving lives.


Grains and lamb offer new sources of omega-3

Grains and lamb offer new sources of omega-3

Medicine & Health / Health

created Sep 28, 2009 | popularity 3.3 / 5 (4) | comments 1

(PhysOrg.com) -- CSIRO research on grains and lamb aimed at developing new dietary sources of long-chain omega-3 oils will be presented at the World Congress on Oils and Fats in Sydney this week.


Used frying oil to power MIT shuttles

Used frying oil to power MIT shuttles

Technology / Energy

created Sep 23, 2009 | popularity 3 / 5 (2) | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- If you catch a whiff of french fries this fall when an MIT shuttle rolls past, it won't be a coincidence. Part of the fuel in its tank may have come out of a kitchen deep fryer just a few ...