Small optical force can budge nanoscale objects
With a bit of leverage, Cornell researchers have used a very tiny beam of light with as little as 1 milliwatt of power to move a silicon structure up to 12 nanometers. That's enough to completely switch the optical properties of the structure from opaque to transparent, they reported. view more (2009-11-18)
A Long Night Falls Over Saturn's Rings
As Saturn's rings orbit the planet, a section is typically in the planet's shadow, experiencing a brief night lasting from 6 to 14 hours. However, once approximately every 15 years, night falls over the entire visible ring system for about four days. view more (2009-10-26)
Potential leap forward in electron microscopy
MIT electrical engineers have proposed a new scheme that can overcome a critical limitation of high-resolution electron microscopes: they cannot be used to image living cells because the electrons destroy the samples. view more (2009-10-07)
Novel Chemistry for Ethylene and Tin
New work by chemists at UC Davis shows that ethylene, a gas that is important both as a hormone that controls fruit ripening and as a raw material in industrial chemistry, can bind reversibly to tin atoms. view more (2009-09-30)
'Invisibility cloak' could protect against earthquakes
Research at the University of Liverpool has shown it is possible to develop an 'invisibility cloak' to protect buildings from earthquakes. view more (2009-07-21)
Alzheimer's research yields potential drug target
Scientists at UC Santa Barbara and several other institutions have found laboratory evidence that a cluster of peptides may be the toxic agent in Alzheimer's disease. Scientists say the discovery may lead to new drugs for the disease. view more (2009-07-02)
The least sea ice in 800 years
New research, which reconstructs the extent of ice in the sea between Greenland and Svalbard from the 13th century to the present indicates that there has never been so little sea ice as there is now. The research results from the Niels Bohr Institute, among others, are published in the scientific journal, Climate Dynamics. view more (2009-07-01)
Australia's climate: Drought and flooding in annual rings of tropical trees
Annual rings are acclaimed in representing natural climate archives. For the temperate latitudes it is known that the growth of these annual rings depend mainly on temperature and precipitation. view more (2009-06-12)
Penn materials scientist finds plumber's wonderland on graphene
Engineers from the University of Pennsylvania, Sandia National Laboratories and Rice University have demonstrated the formation of interconnected carbon nanostructures on graphene substrate in a simple assembly process that involves heating few-layer graphene sheets to sublimation using electric current that may eventually lead to a new paradigm... view more... (2009-06-11)
Study may aid efforts to prevent uncontrolled cell division in cancer
Researchers from the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have uncovered a remarkable property of the contractile ring, a structure required for cell division. view more (2009-05-29)
Scientists discover pentagonal ice
Scientists at the University of Liverpool have discovered a five-sided ice chain structure that could be used to modify future weather patterns. view more (2009-04-07)
Four of Saturn's moons parade by their parent
On 24 February 2009, the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope captured a photo sequence of four moons of Saturn passing in front of their parent planet. view more (2009-03-18)
Mount Sinai first in US to implant FDA-cleared ring for mitral valve repair
David H. Adams, MD, Marie-Josée and Henry R. Kravis Professor and Chairman of the Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery at The Mount Sinai Medical Center, performed the first two implantations of the Carpentier-Edwards Physio II ring in the United States yesterday. view more (2009-02-25)
Into the Eye of the Helix
The Helix Nebula, NGC 7293, lies about 700 light-years away in the constellation of Aquarius (the Water Bearer). view more (2009-02-25)
NASA's Swift, Fermi Probe Fireworks From a Flaring Gamma-Ray Star
Astronomers using NASA's Swift satellite and Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope are seeing frequent blasts from a stellar remnant 30,000 light-years away. view more (2009-02-11)
Volcanoes cool the tropics, say researchers
Climate researchers have shown that big volcanic eruptions over the past 450 years have temporarily cooled weather in the tropics-but suggest that such effects may have been masked in the 20th century by rising global temperatures. view more (2009-01-06)
The gold standard: Biodesign Institute researchers use nanoparticles to make 3-D DNA nanotubes
Arizona State University researchers Hao Yan and Yan Liu imagine and assemble intricate structures on a scale almost unfathomably small. Their medium is the double-helical DNA molecule, a versatile building material offering near limitless construction potential. view more (2009-01-05)
Viruses, start your engines!
Peering at structures only atoms across, researchers have identified the clockwork that drives a powerful virus nanomotor. Because of the motor's strength--to scale, twice that of an automobile--the new findings could inspire engineers designing sophisticated nanomachines. view more (2008-12-30)
Cave's climate clues show ancient empires declined during dry spell
The decline of the Roman and Byzantine Empires in the Eastern Mediterranean more than 1,400 years ago may have been driven by unfavorable climate changes. view more (2008-12-08)
Crash Test-Iconic Rings and Flares of Galaxies Created by Violent, Intergalactic Collisions, Research by Pitt and Partners Finds
The bright pinwheels and broad star sweeps iconic of disk galaxies such as the Milky Way might all be the shrapnel from massive, violent collisions with other galaxies and galaxy-size chunks of dark matter, according to a multi-institutional project involving the University of Pittsburgh. view more (2008-11-24)
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