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. The origins of a young animal might have a significant impact on its behavior later on in life. Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology in Radolfzell, Germany, have been able to demonstrate in hand-reared blackbirds that urban-born individuals are less curious and more cautious about new objects than their country counterparts. This study sheds light on an interesting debate on whether personality differences between rural and urban birds are behavioral adjustments to urban environments, or if there is an underlying evolutionary basis to the existence of different personalities in urban habitats. http://phys.org/news290793526.html Biology Tue, 18 Jun 2013 19:10:01 EST news290793526 Controversial deals that delay generic versions of drugs coming onto the market can lead to consumers paying significantly more for some treatments, according to new research by an academic from the University of East Anglia (UEA). http://phys.org/news290793383.html Other Sciences Tue, 18 Jun 2013 19:00:03 EST news290793383 The history of a new type of crab, nicknamed 'The Hoff' because of its hairy chest, which lives around hydrothermal vents deep beneath the Southern Ocean and Indian Ocean, has been revealed for the first time. http://phys.org/news290793315.html Biology Tue, 18 Jun 2013 19:00:03 EST news290793315 Researchers at the University of Exeter found that older male burying beetles make better fathers than their younger counterparts. The study found that mature males, who had little chance of reproducing again, invested more effort in both mating and in parental care than younger males. http://phys.org/news290760963.html Biology Tue, 18 Jun 2013 19:00:01 EST news290760963 (Phys.org) —How are engineers doing in solving the problem of large-sized all electric transport vehicles traveling long distances without the burden of large batteries? One workaround that has been the topic of much discussion is the use of power lines that are built into the surface of the road. The Volvo Group has issued its state of progress and says it has come a long way in its research but that there's still work and planning decisions ahead. The goal is to find a cost-efficient way to supply electricity to vehicles in long-distance traffic. Work continues on technical development of the collector, electric motor and control systems, not to mention issues of road construction, road maintenance, electricity supply along the roads and payment models. Translation: You won't see long-distance buses using this method any time soon. http://phys.org/news290798046.html Technology Tue, 18 Jun 2013 18:50:01 EST news290798046 The world's largest fully solar-powered boat, "Turanor PlanetSolar," docked in New York on Tuesday during a mission to study the effects of climate change on the Gulf Stream current. http://phys.org/news290797901.html Technology Tue, 18 Jun 2013 18:11:51 EST news290797901 DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc. says its new deal to provide original TV shows to Netflix will help it double the revenue it gets from TV shows to $200 million by 2015. http://phys.org/news290797139.html Technology Tue, 18 Jun 2013 17:59:04 EST news290797139 The U.S. foiled a plot to bomb the New York Stock Exchange because of the sweeping surveillance programs at the heart of a debate over national security and personal privacy, officials said Tuesday at a rare open hearing on intelligence—a set-piece for supporters of the snooping. http://phys.org/news290791790.html Technology Tue, 18 Jun 2013 16:50:01 EST news290791790 Poland could delay building its first nuclear power plants as natural gas, including shale gas, becomes less costly, the prime minister of the central European heavyweight said Tuesday. http://phys.org/news290791380.html Technology Tue, 18 Jun 2013 16:40:01 EST news290791380 (Phys.org) —On July 19, 2013, NASA's Cassini spacecraft will be turned to image Saturn and its entire ring system during a total eclipse of the sun, as it has done twice before during its previous 9 years in orbit. But this time, the images that will be collected have been specifically designed for something very special. They will capture, in natural color, a glimpse of our own planet next to Saturn and its rings, during an event that will be the first time Earthlings know in advance their picture will be taken from a billion miles away. http://phys.org/news290791668.html Space & Earth Tue, 18 Jun 2013 16:28:00 EST news290791668 Corporate raider Carl Icahn revamped his proposal Tuesday for embattled computer company Dell, calling for a big share buyback in a plan which would keep the company public. http://phys.org/news290791349.html Technology Tue, 18 Jun 2013 16:22:36 EST news290791349 Google is asking the secretive Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to lift its long-standing gag order on how often the company is asked to turn over data about its customers to the U.S. government. http://phys.org/news290791326.html Technology Tue, 18 Jun 2013 16:22:14 EST news290791326 Is the US Tea Party movement a racial backlash against President Obama? A new study by Angie Maxwell from the University of Arkansas, and Wayne Parent from Louisiana State University, assesses whether racial attitudes are contributing to Tea Party membership, and if so, the exact nature of this racial prejudice. Their work is published online in Springer's journal, Race and Social Problems. http://phys.org/news290789394.html Other Sciences Tue, 18 Jun 2013 15:50:02 EST news290789394 Scientists are expecting a very large "dead zone" in the Gulf of Mexico and a smaller than average hypoxic level in the Chesapeake Bay this year, based on several NOAA-supported forecast models. http://phys.org/news290789359.html Space & Earth Tue, 18 Jun 2013 15:49:26 EST news290789359 It's not a hacker lab. At Brandeis University, sophisticated computational models and advances in graphical processing units are helping scientists understand the complex interplay between genomic data, virus structure and the formation of the virus' outer "shell"—critical for replication. http://phys.org/news290789299.html Biology Tue, 18 Jun 2013 15:48:38 EST news290789299 Swainson' s Thrushes, from a local population near Bolinas, CA spend their winters together in Mexico, according to a new tracking study released by Point Blue Conservation Science, (Point Blue, formerly PRBO). This result is important because it shows that the conservation of habitat for these local populations in California is tightly linked with climate and habitat changes in Mexico, where these birds spend their winters, 1,600 miles away. http://phys.org/news290789247.html Biology Tue, 18 Jun 2013 15:47:34 EST news290789247 Tesla Motors said Thursday it would demonstrate a way to quickly recharge electric cars by swapping drained batteries for fresh power cells. http://phys.org/news290788812.html Technology Tue, 18 Jun 2013 15:40:22 EST news290788812 All our cells wear a coat of sugar molecules, so-called glycans. ETH Zurich and Empa researchers have now discovered that glycans rearrange water molecules over long distances. This may have an effect on how cells sense each other. http://phys.org/news290785232.html Chemistry Tue, 18 Jun 2013 15:00:02 EST news290785232 NASA announced Tuesday a Grand Challenge focused on finding all asteroid threats to human populations and knowing what to do about them. http://phys.org/news290784921.html Space & Earth Tue, 18 Jun 2013 14:35:40 EST news290784921 A physics professor who earned a Nobel prize for pioneering work that changed the way physicists think about phase transitions has died in Maine at age 77. http://phys.org/news290784766.html Physics Tue, 18 Jun 2013 14:32:54 EST news290784766 (Phys.org) —TED Talks, the most popular conference and events website in the world with over 1 billion informational videos viewed, provides academics with increased popular exposure but does nothing to boost citations of their work by peers, new research led by Indiana University has found. http://phys.org/news290782811.html Other Sciences Tue, 18 Jun 2013 14:00:18 EST news290782811 (Phys.org) —3D printing can now be used to print lithium-ion microbatteries the size of a grain of sand. The printed microbatteries could supply electricity to tiny devices in fields from medicine to communications, including many that have lingered on lab benches for lack of a battery small enough to fit the device, yet provide enough stored energy to power them. http://phys.org/news290782742.html Nanotechnology Tue, 18 Jun 2013 13:59:12 EST news290782742 Anyone who has ever owned a pet will tell you that it has a unique personality. Yet only in the last 10 years has the study of animal personality started to gain ground with behavioral ecologists, said Jennifer Verdolin of the National Evolutionary Synthesis Center, in Durham, NC. http://phys.org/news290782563.html Biology Tue, 18 Jun 2013 13:56:10 EST news290782563 (Phys.org) —Artifacts from the Middle Stone Age, which lasted from about 200,000 to 50,000 years ago, provide us with the earliest glimpses of modern human art and culture. Previously, scientists thought an increase in population drove the behavioral innovations that led to the creation of these artifacts and eventually, the expansion out of Africa. However, by examining mollusk shells from Stone Age sites, Richard Klein of Stanford University and Teresa Steele of University of California, Davis, have determined that a significant population increase did not occur until the Late Stone Age, after the migration out of Africa had already begun. Their research appears in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. http://phys.org/news290782135.html Other Sciences Tue, 18 Jun 2013 13:49:36 EST news290782135 A wooden beam embedded at the bottom of northern Lake Michigan appears to have been there for centuries, underwater archaeologists announced Tuesday, a crucial finding as crews dig toward what they hope is the carcass of a French ship that disappeared in the 17th Century. http://phys.org/news290781536.html Other Sciences Tue, 18 Jun 2013 13:39:15 EST news290781536 The best advice for visitors to Britain—pack an umbrella—is more vital than ever. http://phys.org/news290781293.html Space & Earth Tue, 18 Jun 2013 13:35:13 EST news290781293 (Phys.org) —A new study confirms directly what scientists previously knew only indirectly: The poisonous "rotten egg" gas hydrogen sulfide is generated by our body's growing cells. Hydrogen sulfide, or H2S, is normally toxic, but in small amounts it plays a role in cardiovascular health. http://phys.org/news290780881.html Chemistry Tue, 18 Jun 2013 13:28:08 EST news290780881 (Phys.org) —A new study confirms directly what scientists previously knew only indirectly: The poisonous "rotten egg" gas hydrogen sulfide is generated by our body's growing cells. Hydrogen sulfide, or H2S, is normally toxic, but in small amounts it plays a role in cardiovascular health. http://phys.org/news290780881.html Chemistry Tue, 18 Jun 2013 13:28:08 EST news290780881 Conservationists Tuesday warned that the number of rare Chinese white dolphins in Hong Kong waters has fallen to its lowest level in a decade of monitoring, and urged the government to immediately create more protected areas. http://phys.org/news290776591.html Biology Tue, 18 Jun 2013 12:40:01 EST news290776591 Todd Bradley, the head of Hewlett-Packard Co.'s printing and personal computer business, has been appointed to a new position in charge of the company's strategy with a focus on China, the company said Tuesday. http://phys.org/news290776656.html Technology Tue, 18 Jun 2013 12:30:02 EST news290776656