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. (PhysOrg.com) -- A little luck and the wisdom to recognize what they were seeing helped Rice University researchers solve a molecular conundrum in a way that could be a boon to chemists. http://phys.org/news219311385.html Chemistry Mon, 14 Mar 2011 08:50:16 EST news219311385 A pair of costly satellite crashes have dealt a major blow to NASA's earth science efforts just as the US space agency faces scrutiny from Congress over whether climate science should be part of its focus at all. http://phys.org/news218611239.html Space & Earth Sun, 06 Mar 2011 05:30:01 EST news218611239 A NASA satellite that aimed to study the impact of aerosols on climate plunged into the Pacific Ocean on Friday, delivering a $424-million blow to the US space agency. http://phys.org/news218440263.html Space & Earth Fri, 04 Mar 2011 05:51:13 EST news218440263 NASA on Tuesday set March 4 as the launch date for its Earth observation satellite, named Glory, after it was twice postponed last month due to technical glitches. http://phys.org/news218204315.html Space & Earth Tue, 01 Mar 2011 12:18:49 EST news218204315 Preparations for the launch of NASA's Glory mission from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California have been suspended temporarily. Engineers continue to troubleshoot a malfunction in ground support equipment associated with the Taurus XL rocket. http://phys.org/news217854395.html Space & Earth Fri, 25 Feb 2011 11:06:51 EST news217854395 NASA says the launch of an Earth-observing satellite from California has been postponed because of a problem with ground equipment. http://phys.org/news217789514.html Space & Earth Thu, 24 Feb 2011 17:05:40 EST news217789514 (PhysOrg.com) -- NASA's Cassini spacecraft is set to skim close to Saturn's moon Titan on Friday, Feb. 18, to learn about the interaction between Titan and Saturn's magnetosphere, the magnetic bubble around the planet. http://phys.org/news217256012.html Space & Earth Fri, 18 Feb 2011 12:53:42 EST news217256012 While governments debate about potential policies that might curb the emission of greenhouse gases, new University of Washington research shows that the world is already committed to a warmer climate because of emissions that have occurred up to now. http://phys.org/news217005941.html Space & Earth Tue, 15 Feb 2011 15:25:55 EST news217005941 (PhysOrg.com) -- A long, frustrating search for the source of "extra" aerosols seen in field experiments but not in models might have come to an end when scientists at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and Imre Consulting discovered the particles aren't what people thought. The particles are not liquids. Instead, the aerosols, known as secondary organic aerosols (SOA), are solid and evaporate more than 100 times slower than expected. What researchers previously thought takes seconds actually takes days. http://phys.org/news215775054.html Space & Earth Tue, 01 Feb 2011 10:00:01 EST news215775054 (PhysOrg.com) -- The fresh scent of pine has helped atmospheric scientists find missing sources of organic molecules in the air -- which, it could well turn out, aren't missing after all. In work appearing in this week's Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Early Edition Online, researchers examined what particles containing compounds such as those given off by pine trees look like and how quickly they evaporate. They found the particles evaporate more than 100 times slower than expected by current air-quality models. http://phys.org/news215105657.html Space & Earth Mon, 24 Jan 2011 15:34:34 EST news215105657 (PhysOrg.com) -- Earth’s climate continues to change at a rapid pace. Last week, NASA announced that 2010 was tied as the warmest year on record. Likewise, the last decade was the warmest in the 130-year global temperature record maintained by scientists at NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) in New York City. http://phys.org/news214767153.html Space & Earth Thu, 20 Jan 2011 17:32:46 EST news214767153 An International research team has discovered that seasonal temperatures in Europe, above all in winter, have been affected over the past 500 years by natural factors such as volcanic eruptions and solar activity, and by human activities such as the emission of greenhouse gases. The study, with Spanish involvement, could help us to better understand the dynamics of climate change. http://phys.org/news214655401.html Space & Earth Wed, 19 Jan 2011 11:00:07 EST news214655401 (PhysOrg.com) -- There's a lot more to the atmosphere than air. With every breath, we inhale a nearly invisible mish mash of tiny particles known as aerosols. From droplets of water and trace gases like sulfuric acid to specks of volcanic ash and industrial soot, aerosols usually go unnoticed. But they can be powerful, capable of destroying the ozone layer, shutting down air traffic, and morphing global climate. http://phys.org/news214594022.html Chemistry Tue, 18 Jan 2011 17:27:20 EST news214594022 A new robotic probe is headed to the launch pad, aiming for a spot aboard what is called the A-train -- a fleet of Earth-orbiting spacecraft keeping tabs on the planet's changing climate. http://phys.org/news213966371.html Space & Earth Tue, 11 Jan 2011 11:06:46 EST news213966371 Makers of electronic cigarettes are reporting strong growth in sales as anti-tobacco laws force European smokers into the cold streets, but campaigners say the device is undercutting health efforts. http://phys.org/news213160626.html Medicine & Health Sun, 02 Jan 2011 03:17:23 EST news213160626 Tiny particles of pollutants in the lower atmosphere have a striking effect on cloud anvils, which are created by thunderstorms. That's the conclusion of a team of atmospheric scientists at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. They conducted simulations of these storm clouds under two contrasting atmospheric conditions: humid and clean, and dry and polluted. They found that increasing the concentrations of those tiny particles increases anvil cloud size and lifetime in both cases. http://phys.org/news211627253.html Space & Earth Wed, 15 Dec 2010 09:21:26 EST news211627253 Spanish and American researchers have conducted a mineralogical and chemical analysis to ascertain the origin of "terra rossa" soil in the Mediterranean. The results of the study reveal that mineral dust from the African regions of the Sahara and Sahel, which emit between 600 and 700 tonnes of dust a year, brought about the reddish soil in Mediterranean regions such as Mallorca and Sardinia between 12,000 and 25,000 years ago. http://phys.org/news208694815.html Space & Earth Thu, 11 Nov 2010 11:00:04 EST news208694815 Of all the pollution that fills our lungs on any given day, the most dangerous is the small stuff. Aerosol particle pollution—airborne solid particles and liquid droplets--comes in a range of sizes. Particles smaller than 2.5 micrometers pose the greatest risk to human health because they are small enough to be breathed deep into the lungs and, in some cases, enter the blood stream. These fine particles, about 30 times smaller than the width of a human hair, are also a major cause of poor visibility. http://phys.org/news208608944.html Space & Earth Wed, 10 Nov 2010 10:55:53 EST news208608944 The devil is in the details, the very small details, when it comes to global climate models, and those details are now easier to see, thanks to climate change researchers from Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. The team is estimating the impact of small-scale features within a large-scale system for aerosols to bring insights to climate change modeling. Like a wide-angle camera lens, current large-scale climate models miss the fine details in any particular climate picture. Using the macro lens of the modeling toolkit, these scientists were able to show the details, better representing aerosol data for climate modeling. http://phys.org/news207822696.html Space & Earth Mon, 01 Nov 2010 09:31:56 EST news207822696 (PhysOrg.com) -- Vegetation plays an unexpectedly large role in cleansing the atmosphere, a new study finds. The research, led by scientists at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Boulder, Colo., uses observations, gene expression studies, and computer modeling to show that deciduous plants absorb about a third more of a common class of air-polluting chemicals than previously thought. http://phys.org/news206893768.html Space & Earth Thu, 21 Oct 2010 15:29:43 EST news206893768 (PhysOrg.com) -- Water vapor and clouds are the major contributors to Earth's greenhouse effect, but a new atmosphere-ocean climate modeling study shows that the planet's temperature ultimately depends on the atmospheric level of carbon dioxide. http://phys.org/news206296820.html Space & Earth Thu, 14 Oct 2010 17:40:54 EST news206296820 NASA’s known best for sending humans to the Moon and rovers to Mars, but one of the agency’s most widely used sensor networks resides right here on terra firma. Called the Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET), it’s one of the first places that scientists turn when volcanoes, wildfires, pollution plumes, dust storms and many other phenomena—both natural and manmade—make an appearance. http://phys.org/news204295211.html Space & Earth Tue, 21 Sep 2010 13:41:06 EST news204295211 Armed with a decade's worth of satellite data, University of Illinois atmospheric scientists have documented some surprising trends in aerosol pollution concentration, distribution and composition over the Indian subcontinent. http://phys.org/news203171107.html Space & Earth Wed, 08 Sep 2010 13:40:01 EST news203171107 Sensitive, yet tough. That's nanoDESI. The nanospray Desorption ElectroSpray Ionization technique, a novel method created at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory to analyze tiny samples of atmospheric aerosols. This new technique requires no sample preparation and provides a reliable, simple way to introduce these samples into a mass spectrometer for detailed analysis of their molecular content. With nanoDESI, scientists are breaking the sensitivity limits of conventional approaches. http://phys.org/news202398540.html Chemistry Mon, 30 Aug 2010 14:49:15 EST news202398540 (PhysOrg.com) -- One of the instruments on a 2016 mission to orbit Mars will provide daily profiles of the changing structure of the planet's atmosphere. http://phys.org/news202116074.html Space & Earth Fri, 27 Aug 2010 08:50:01 EST news202116074 A team of Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) scientists led an intensive month-long field study to research the effects of carbonaceous aerosols, often seen as haze, on climate. The Carbonaceous Aerosols and Radiative Effects Study-or CARES-field campaign examined the evolution and radiative effects of aerosol particles emitted from various sources such as exhaust fumes, wildfires and agricultural burning sources. http://phys.org/news201446090.html Space & Earth Thu, 19 Aug 2010 14:30:01 EST news201446090 Scientists can now study climate change in far more detail with powerful new computer software released by the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR). http://phys.org/news201367219.html Space & Earth Wed, 18 Aug 2010 16:20:35 EST news201367219 Another reason for including asthma on the list of potential health risks posed by secondhand tobacco smoke, especially for non-smokers, has been uncovered. Furthermore, the practice of using ozone to remove the smell of tobacco smoke from indoor environments, including hotel rooms and the interiors of vehicles, is probably a bad idea. http://phys.org/news201185407.html Medicine & Health Mon, 16 Aug 2010 14:10:01 EST news201185407 Just how much warmer Earth will become as a result of greenhouse-gas emissions — and how much it has warmed since preindustrial times — is much debated. In a 2007 report, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, an agency formed by the world’s largest governments to assess climate change, said that the planet’s average surface temperature will rise by between 2 and 11.5 degrees Fahrenheit by 2100, with a best estimate at between 3.2 to 7.2 degrees F. However, the IPCC’s computer models have a record of overestimating warming: If the IPCC models were right, the planet should now be hotter than it is. http://phys.org/news197897898.html Space & Earth Fri, 09 Jul 2010 12:38:33 EST news197897898 Haze, scientifically known as atmospheric aerosols - microscopic particles suspended in the Earth's atmosphere - represents a major environmental problem because it degrades visibility, affects human health and influences the climate. Despite its profound impacts, how the haze is formed is not fully understood, says a Texas A&M University professor of atmospheric sciences and chemistry who has studied air chemistry for more than 20 years. http://phys.org/news195923640.html Space & Earth Wed, 16 Jun 2010 16:30:18 EST news195923640