Researcher slashes optics laboratory costs using customizable 3-D printable...
(Phys.org) —Just as the power of the open-source design has driven down the cost of software to the point that it is accessible to most people, open-source hardware makes it possible to drive down the...
View ArticleMultilayer Laue lenses enable studies of nanostructures with ultra-high...
(Phys.org) —Microscopes have been a centerpiece of experimental science since at least the 16th century, providing a window into the material world at extraordinarily small scales. As the structures...
View ArticleNew insights into placebo effect
(Phys.org)—Mathematical models developed by scientists at the University of Bristol are providing new insights into why the placebo effect exists and when it should occur. Their research is published...
View ArticleProbing the mysteries of cracks and stresses
Diving into a pool from a few feet up allows you to enter the water smoothly and painlessly, but jumping from a bridge can lead to a fatal impact. The water is the same in each case, so why is the...
View ArticleStudy: Climate negotiations relying on 'dangerous' thresholds to avoid...
The identified critical threshold for dangerous climate change saying that the increase in global temperature should be below 2 degrees Celsius seems not to have helped the climate negotiations so far....
View ArticleQuantifying corn rootworm damage
Every year farmers spend a lot of money trying to control corn rootworm larvae, which are a significant threat to maize production in the United States and, more recently, in Europe. University of...
View ArticleAverage voter is unable to accurately assess politicians, new research shows
(Phys.org)—A new study has thrown doubt on the ability of the average voter to make an accurate judgement of the performance of their politicians, showing that voter biases appear to be deep-seated and...
View ArticleMicroswimmers hit the wall (w/ video)
(Phys.org)—New research reveals what happens when swimming cells such as spermatozoa and algae hit a solid wall, and has implications for applications in diagnostics and biofuel production.
View ArticleVirus caught in the act of infecting a cell (w/ video)
The detailed changes in the structure of a virus as it infects an E. coli bacterium have been observed for the first time, report researchers from The University of Texas at Austin and The University...
View Article'Shell-shocked' crabs can feel pain
The latest study by Professor Bob Elwood and Barry Magee from Queen's School of Biological Sciences looked at the reactions of common shore crabs to small electrical shocks, and their behaviour after...
View ArticleCells 'flock' to heal wounds: Research team analyzes physics of epithelial...
(Phys.org)—Like flocks of birds, cells coordinate their motions as they race to cover and ultimately heal wounds to the skin. How that happens is a little less of a mystery today.
View ArticleCornell physicist and Nobel winner Richardson dies
Robert C. Richardson, a Cornell University professor who shared a Nobel Prize for a key discovery in experimental physics, has died. He was 75.
View ArticleDecreased water flow may be trade-off for more productive forest
Bubbling brooks and streams are a scenic and much loved feature of forest ecosystems, but long-term data at the U.S. Forest Service's Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest suggests that more productive...
View ArticleEarth's center is out of sync
(Phys.org) —We all know that the Earth rotates beneath our feet, but new research from ANU has revealed that the center of the Earth is out of sync with the rest of the planet, frequently speeding up...
View Article'Belief in science' increases in stressful situations
A faith in the explanatory and revealing power of science increases in the face of stress or anxiety, a study by Oxford University psychologists suggests.
View ArticleResearchers show reputation concerns can encourage people to take part in...
Whether it's an effort to increase recycling rates, reduce energy usage or cut carbon emissions, the conventional wisdom says that the best way to get people to do the right thing is to make it worth...
View ArticleUncovering quantum secret in photosynthesis
The efficient conversion of sunlight into useful energy is one of the challenges which stand in the way of meeting the world's increasing energy demand in a clean, sustainable way without relying on...
View ArticleClarification of dynamical process of aluminum surface oxidation
Researchers from the National Institute for Materials Science have presented decisive evidence clarifying the dynamical process of aluminum surface oxidation by using an aligned O2 beam, which was...
View ArticleStudy estimates extent to which air pollution in China shortens human lives
A high level of air pollution, in the form of particulates produced by burning coal, significantly shortens the lives of people exposed to it, according to a unique new study of China co-authored by an...
View ArticleHow does hydrogen metallize?
Hydrogen is deceptively simple. It has only a single electron per atom, but it powers the sun and forms the majority of the observed universe. As such, it is naturally exposed to the entire range of...
View ArticleScientists uncover secrets of starfish's bizarre feeding mechanism
Scientists have identified a molecule that enables starfish to carry out one of the most remarkable forms of feeding in the natural world.
View ArticleResearchers achieve record pressure for solid iron
(Phys.org) —Iron is the most abundant element in Earth's core and the sixth most abundant element in the universe. As a key component of terrestrial planets and exoplanets, iron has been one of the...
View ArticleGot calcium? Mineral is key to restoring acid rain-damaged forests
Calcium can do much more than strengthen bones. The mineral is a critical nutrient for healthy tree growth, and new research shows that adding it to the soil helps reverse the decades-long decline of...
View ArticleFundamental physicists discover surprise new use for super-chilled neutrons...
Physicists working on a 60-year-old experiment to understand the origin of matter in the universe have uncovered a new tool for studying the movement of tiny particles along a surface, such as a virus...
View ArticleEngineers envision an electronic switch just three atoms thick
Do not fold, spindle or mutilate. Those instructions were once printed on punch cards that fed data to mainframe computers. Today's smart phones process more data, but they still weren't built for...
View ArticleWork on pioneering pan-European neutron facility underway
A state-of-the-art facility capable of generating neutron beams 30 times brighter than current facilities is about to be constructed in the Swedish town of Lund. The EUR 1.8 billion will help...
View ArticleYou need this hole in the head—to be smart
University of Adelaide researchers have shown that intelligence in animal species can be estimated by the size of the holes in the skull through which the arteries pass.
View ArticleOcean acidification may cause dramatic changes to phytoplankton
Oceans have absorbed up to 30 percent of human-made carbon dioxide around the world, storing dissolved carbon for hundreds of years. As the uptake of carbon dioxide has increased in the last century,...
View ArticleFASEB issues recommendations on reproducibility
On January 14, the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB) issued Enhancing Research Reproducibility, a set of recommendations aimed to promote the reproducibility and...
View ArticleWhat exactly is the scientific method and why do so many people get it wrong?
Claims that the "the science isn't settled" with regard to climate change are symptomatic of a large body of ignorance about how science works.
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