Surface bacteria maintain skin's healthy balance
On the skin's surface, bacteria are abundant, diverse and constant, but inflammation is undesirable. Research at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine now shows that the normal bacteria living on the skin surface trigger a pathway that prevents excessive inflammation after injury. view more (2009-11-23)
NASA's QuikScat and Aqua providing important data on Tropical Storm Anja
Anja has continued to weaken over the last 24 hours, and NASA's QuikScat satellite has confirmed that the once mighty Category 4 Cyclone is now a tropical storm in the southern Indian Ocean. view more (2009-11-19)
Research challenges for understanding landscape changes identified
Nine research challenges and four research initiatives that are poised to advance the study of how Earth's landscapes change were unveiled today in a new report by the National Research Council. view more (2009-11-19)
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)
Alberta's hidden valleys offer both resources and danger
Alberta is crisscrossed with hidden glacial valleys that hold both resource treasures and potential danger. University of Alberta researcher Doug Schmitt discovered a 300 metre deep, valley hidden beneath the surface of the ground near the community of Rainbow Lake in northwestern Alberta. view more (2009-11-13)
Sculptured materials allow multiple channel plasmonic sensors
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 use sculptured thin films. view more (2009-11-11)
Lasers put a shine on metals
Jobs are in short supply, and yet some sectors have difficulty in finding suitable trainees for specialist tasks, such as polishing injection molds. view more (2009-11-09)
Computer predicts reactions between molecules and surfaces, with 'chemical precision'
Good news for heterogeneous catalysis and the hydrogen economy: computers can now be used to make accurate predictions of the reactions of (hydrogen) molecules with surfaces. An international team of researchers, headed by Leiden theoretical chemist Geert-Jan Kroes, published on this subject this week in the journal Science. view more (2009-11-09)
Mushrooms, water-repellants more similar than you might think
What do spore-launching mushrooms have in common with highly water-repellant surfaces? view more (2009-10-27)
Caltech scientists solve decade-long mystery of nanopillar formations
Scientists at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) have uncovered the physical mechanism by which arrays of nanoscale (billionths-of-a-meter) pillars can be grown on polymer films with very high precision, in potentially limitless patterns. view more (2009-10-23)
Getting on 'the GABA receptor shuttle' to treat anxiety disorders
There are increasingly precise molecular insights into ways that stress exposure leads to fear and through which fear extinction resolves these fear states. view more (2009-10-22)
How the Moon produces its own water
The Moon is a big sponge that absorbs electrically charged particles given out by the Sun. These particles interact with the oxygen present in some dust grains on the lunar surface, producing water. view more (2009-10-15)
Electrostatic surface cleaning
It's often the little things that count in industrial manufacturing processes. Particles less than half the diameter of a hair in size can significantly impair quality in production. view more (2009-10-08)
Step forward for nanotechnology: Controlled movement of molecules
Scientists in the United Kingdom are reporting an advance toward overcoming one of the key challenges in nanotechnology: Getting molecules to move quickly in a desired direction without help from outside forces. view more (2009-10-01)
Paper battery may power electronics in clothing and packaging material
Imagine a gift wrapped in paper you really do treasure and want to carefully fold and save. That's because the wrapping paper lights up with words like "Happy Birthday" or "Happy Holidays," thanks to a built in battery - an amazing battery made out of paper. view more (2009-09-24)
Brown Scientists Announce Finding of Water on the Moon
Brown University scientists have made a major discovery: The moon has distinct signatures of water. The discovery came from a paper published in Science detailing findings from the Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3), a NASA instrument aboard the Indian spacecraft Chandrayaan-1. Carle Pieters, professor of geological sciences at Brown, is the principal... view more... (2009-09-24)
New nanochemistry technique encases single molecules in microdroplets
Inventing a useful new tool for creating chemical reactions between single molecules, scientists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have employed microfluidics-the manipulation of fluids at the microscopic scale-to make microdroplets that contain single molecules of interest. view more (2009-09-23)
UCF professor finds new way deadly food-borne bacteria spread
University of Central Florida Microbiology Professor Keith Ireton has uncovered a previously unknown mechanism that plays an important role in the spread of a deadly food-borne bacterium. view more (2009-09-21)
Machine vision for hot surface automatic inspection
TECNALIA Technological Corporation is developing an innovative application for the automatic inspection of hot steel surfaces, based on Machine Vision technologies that enhance quality control in hot rolling mill processes. view more (2009-09-16)
Building better bone replacements with bacteria
Bacteria that manufacture hydroxyapatite (HA) could be used to make stronger, more durable bone implants. Professor Lynne Macaskie from the University of Birmingham this week (7-10 September) presented work to the Society for General Microbiology's meeting at Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh. view more (2009-09-08)
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