http://phys.org/ en-us Phys.org internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. When you've got to go, but you're out there in space, zipped up in a spacesuit, with no toilet in sight and a crew of other astronauts around, what do you do? http://phys.org/news/2016-11-nasa-space-poop-geniuses.html Space Exploration Wed, 23 Nov 2016 17:10:52 EST news399143447 We all know that when it rains, plants grow. When it doesn't, they don't. http://phys.org/news/2016-11-discovery-plant-disease-mechanism.html Biotechnology Wed, 23 Nov 2016 15:45:50 EST news399138341 In science, sometimes the best discoveries come when you're exploring something else entirely. That's the case with recent findings from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), where a research team has come up with a way to build safe, nontoxic gold wires onto flexible, thin plastic film. Their demonstration potentially clears the path for a host of wearable electronic devices that monitor our health. http://phys.org/news/2016-11-wearable-electronic-devices-nist-plastic.html Materials Science Wed, 23 Nov 2016 15:41:44 EST news399138040 Every year, trade winds over the Sahara Desert sweep up huge plumes of mineral dust, transporting hundreds of teragrams—enough to fill 10 million dump trucks—across North Africa and over the Atlantic Ocean. This dust can be blown for thousands of kilometers and settle in places as far away as Florida and the Bahamas. http://phys.org/news/2016-11-scientists-huge-reduction-african-plume.html Earth Sciences Wed, 23 Nov 2016 14:00:06 EST news399127751 The claws of coconut crabs have the strongest pinching force of any crustacean, according to a study published November 23, 2016 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Shin-ichiro Oka from Okinawa Churashima Foundation, Japan, and colleagues. http://phys.org/news/2016-11-coconut-crab-claws-strongest-crustacean.html Plants & Animals Wed, 23 Nov 2016 14:00:03 EST news399128401 "Mood ring materials" could play an important role in minimizing and mitigating damage to the nation's failing infrastructure. http://phys.org/news/2016-11-mood-materialsa-infrastructure.html Nanomaterials Wed, 23 Nov 2016 13:20:06 EST news399129594 A groundbreaking study of the virosphere of the most populous animals - those without backbones such as insects, spiders and worms and that live around our houses - has uncovered 1445 viruses, revealing people have only scratched the surface of the world of viruses - but it is likely that only a few cause disease. http://phys.org/news/2016-11-invertebrates-viruses-families.html Cell & Microbiology Wed, 23 Nov 2016 13:00:04 EST news399127484 Graphene, a two-dimensional form of carbon in sheets just one atom in thick, has been the subject of widespread research, in large part because of its unique combination of strength, electrical conductivity, and chemical stability. But despite many years of study, some of graphene's fundamental properties are still not well-understood, including the way it behaves when something slides along its surface. http://phys.org/news/2016-11-flexible-graphene-surfaces-uncharted-territory.html Nanomaterials Wed, 23 Nov 2016 13:00:03 EST news399127436 Reporting this week (Wednesday Nov. 23) in the journal Nature an international team led by British Antarctic Survey (BAS) explains that present-day thinning and retreat of Pine Island Glacier, one of the largest and fastest shrinking glaciers of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, is part of a climate trend that was already underway as early as the 1940s. http://phys.org/news/2016-11-reveals-west-antarctica-largest-glacier.html Earth Sciences Wed, 23 Nov 2016 13:00:01 EST news399127648 A naturally occurring predatory bacterium is able to work with the immune system to clear multi-drug resistant Shigella infections in zebrafish, according to a study published today in Current Biology. http://phys.org/news/2016-11-harnessing-power-predatory-bacteria-antibiotic.html Cell & Microbiology Wed, 23 Nov 2016 12:36:31 EST news399126984 People have a remarkable ability to remember and recall events from the past, even when those events didn't hold any particular importance at the time they occurred. Now, researchers reporting in the journal Current Biology on November 23 have evidence that dogs have that kind of "episodic memory" too. http://phys.org/news/2016-11-dog.html Plants & Animals Wed, 23 Nov 2016 12:30:19 EST news399126605 Piezoelectric sensors measure changes in pressure, acceleration, temperature, strain or force and are used in a vast array of devices important to everyday life. However, these sensors often can be limited by the "white noise" they detect that can give engineers and health care workers false readings. Now, a University of Missouri College of Engineering research team has developed methods to enhance piezoelectric sensing capabilities. Enhanced sensors could be used to improve aviation, detect structural damage in buildings and bridges, and boost the capabilities of health monitors. http://phys.org/news/2016-11-aviation-biosensors-result-sensor-technology.html Engineering Wed, 23 Nov 2016 12:24:13 EST news399126245 In the age of WikiLeaks, Russian hacks and increased government surveillance, many computer users are feeling increasingly worried about how best to protect their personal information—even if they aren't guarding state secrets. http://phys.org/news/2016-11-laptopeven-asleep.html Security Wed, 23 Nov 2016 11:11:35 EST news399121881 The government wants smartphone makers to lock out most apps when the phone is being used by someone driving a car. http://phys.org/news/2016-11-govt-makers-apps-drivers.html Software Wed, 23 Nov 2016 11:01:11 EST news399121267 Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Ames Laboratory are being credited with creating the first intermetallic double salt with platinum. http://phys.org/news/2016-11-scientists-intermetallic-salt-platinum.html Materials Science Wed, 23 Nov 2016 10:58:18 EST news399121084 A study co-led by the University of East Anglia (UEA) has found that people with genes for high educational achievement tend to marry, and have children with, people with similar DNA. http://phys.org/news/2016-11-dna-partners.html Social Sciences Wed, 23 Nov 2016 10:54:07 EST news399120840 The study, published as the cover article in BioMed Central's Avian Research, led by the Earlham Institute and the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology at the University of California, explores the phylogenetic relationship between two forms of Harriers (Circus cyaneus); the Eurasian Hen Harrier (C. c. cyaneus) and the American Northern Harrier (C. c. hudsonius) to distinguish their ancestry and evolution. http://phys.org/news/2016-11-genomics-reveals-hen-harrier-distinct.html Plants & Animals Wed, 23 Nov 2016 10:45:27 EST news399120312 Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have developed a vaccine that blocks the pain-numbing effects of the opioid drugs oxycodone (oxy) and hydrocodone (hydro) in animal models. The vaccine also appears to decrease the risk of fatal opioid overdose, a growing cause of death in the United States. http://phys.org/news/2016-11-scientists-vaccine-fatal-prescription-opioid.html Biochemistry Wed, 23 Nov 2016 10:43:42 EST news399120214 A new analysis of subsistence data collected in three Arctic communities underscores the importance of social ties and sharing among households. http://phys.org/news/2016-11-cooperation-key-arctic-villages.html Social Sciences Wed, 23 Nov 2016 09:02:38 EST news399114151 (Phys.org)—A team of researchers with the Universities of Roehampton and Birmingham in the U.K. has found a unique way to measure the energy spent by tree-dwelling apes when faced with gaps in a jungle canopy. In their paper published in the journal Biology Letters, the team describes how they created an artificial canopy and enlisted the assistance of parkour athletes to find out how the different approaches to dealing with canopy gaps compared. http://phys.org/news/2016-11-parkour-athletes-energy-demands-tree.html Plants & Animals Wed, 23 Nov 2016 09:00:01 EST news399111784 (Phys.org)—A team of researchers from France, the U.S. and Italy has found evidence from the Tohoku-Oki earthquake that sensors that measure changes in gravity might offer a way to warn people of impending disaster faster than traditional methods. In their paper published in the journal Nature Communications, the group describes how they analyzed data from gravity sensors near the epicenter of the Tohoku-Oki quake back in 2011 and found that it was possible to isolate gravitational changes due to the earthquake from the noise of other events. http://phys.org/news/2016-11-gravity-sensors-earlier-earthquakes.html Earth Sciences Wed, 23 Nov 2016 08:40:02 EST news399111690 How can quantum information be stored as long as possible? An important step forward in the development of quantum memories has been achieved by a research team of TU Wien. http://phys.org/news/2016-11-quantum-states-memories.html Quantum Physics Wed, 23 Nov 2016 07:58:48 EST news399110320 Despite what you might think, evolution rarely happens because something is good for a species. Instead, natural selection favours genetic variants that are good for the individuals that possess them. This leads to a much more complicated and messy world, with different selective forces pushing in many directions, even within a single species. http://phys.org/news/2016-11-female-fish-evolve-bigger-brains.html Evolution Wed, 23 Nov 2016 07:54:24 EST news399110053 Scientists at Washington University in St. Louis isolated an enzyme that controls the levels of two plant hormones simultaneously, linking the molecular pathways for growth and defense. http://phys.org/news/2016-11-enzyme-hormones.html Biotechnology Wed, 23 Nov 2016 07:46:25 EST news399109578 Men and women don't communicate much differently from each other, at least when they get the same training and are working on the same type of written assignment. The findings come amid frequent studies that have discovered gender differences in communication. http://phys.org/news/2016-11-men-women-dont-differently.html Social Sciences Wed, 23 Nov 2016 07:30:02 EST news399107795 Black light does more than make posters glow. Cornell researchers have developed a chemical tool to control inflammation that is activated by ultraviolet (UV) light. http://phys.org/news/2016-11-tool-uv-inflammation.html Biochemistry Wed, 23 Nov 2016 07:12:34 EST news399107549 Although recent election coverage may suggest otherwise, research shows that people are more likely to use positive words than negative words on the whole in their communications. Behavioral scientists have extensively documented this phenomenon, known as language positivity bias (LPB), in a number of different languages. However, a new study conducted by researchers at USC Dornsife and the University of Michigan, suggests that our tendency to use positive language has been on the decline in the United States over the past 200 years. http://phys.org/news/2016-11-positive-language-decline-states.html Social Sciences Wed, 23 Nov 2016 07:06:47 EST news399107199 An enterprising researcher from The University of Manchester has developed a prototype tool that could help transform the lives of the blind and visually impaired. http://phys.org/news/2016-11-prototype-smart-cane-visually-impaired.html Engineering Wed, 23 Nov 2016 06:03:39 EST news399103407 Education scholars say youth are duped by sponsored content and don't always recognize political bias of social messages. http://phys.org/news/2016-11-students-credibility-online.html Social Sciences Wed, 23 Nov 2016 06:00:02 EST news399102610 Artificial muscles—materials that contract and expand somewhat like muscle fibers do—can have many applications, from robotics to components in the automobile and aviation industries. Now, MIT researchers have come up with one of the simplest and lowest-cost systems yet for developing such "muscles," in which a material reproduces some of the bending motions that natural muscle tissues perform. http://phys.org/news/2016-11-nylon-fibers-flex-muscles.html Materials Science Wed, 23 Nov 2016 06:00:01 EST news399097559