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. Transforming solar energy into a usable form is a real challenge. One technique is to use semiconductors to store the energy as hydrogen. Unfortunately, the most efficient semiconductors are not the most stable. An Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (Switzerland) team has just discovered that it is possible to protect the semiconductor with a uniform layer just a few nanometers thick. http://phys.org/news224253567.html Nanotechnology Tue, 10 May 2011 13:39:50 EST news224253567 (PhysOrg.com) -- MIT researchers have created a new detector so sensitive it can pick up a single molecule of an explosive such as TNT. http://phys.org/news224176417.html Nanotechnology Mon, 09 May 2011 16:14:52 EST news224176417 (PhysOrg.com) -- A robot scientist that can make informed guesses about how effective different chemical compounds will be at fighting different diseases could revolutionise the pharmaceutical industry by developing more effective treatments more cheaply and quickly than current methods. The robot, known as Eve, uses advanced artificial intelligence combined with innovative data mining and knowledge discovery techniques to analyse the results of pharmacological experiments it conducts itself. http://phys.org/news152809419.html Technology Mon, 02 Feb 2009 15:03:59 EST news152809419 Whenever humans create a new antibiotic, deadly bacteria can counter it by turning into new, indestructible super-bugs. That's why bacterial infection is the number one killer in hospitals today. But new research from Tel Aviv University may give drug developers the upper hand in outsmarting bacteria once and for all. http://phys.org/news152803882.html Chemistry Mon, 02 Feb 2009 13:31:55 EST news152803882 (PhysOrg.com) -- “Ferroelectric materials are interesting scientifically, and, while they are used for some things now, they are potentially useful for even more applications in the future,” Brian Stephenson tells PhysOrg.com. Stephenson is a scientist at Argonne National Laboratory in Argonne, Illinois. He has been working on a project to study chemical switching in a ferroelectric film. http://phys.org/news152796442.html Physics Mon, 02 Feb 2009 11:28:09 EST news152796442 Rajesh Gokhale has created a compound in his lab in India that stops tuberculosis in its tracks. In a test tube, the molecule hits four of the bacterium's crucial metabolic pathways at the same time, weakening and ultimately destroying the pathogen. http://phys.org/news152722114.html Chemistry Sun, 01 Feb 2009 14:49:39 EST news152722114 Screening a chemical library of 200,000 compounds, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have identified two new classes that can be used to study and possibly manipulate a cellular pathway involved in many types of cancer and degenerative diseases. http://phys.org/news152540976.html Biology Fri, 30 Jan 2009 12:30:34 EST news152540976 Scientists have known for more than 200 years that vision begins with a series of chemical reactions when light strikes the retina, but the specific chemical processes have largely been a mystery. A team of researchers from the United States and Switzerland, have she new light on this process by "capturing" this chemical communication for future study. This research, published in the February 2009 issue of The FASEB Journal , may lead to the development of new treatments for some forms of blindness and vision disorders. http://phys.org/news152468327.html Medicine & Health Thu, 29 Jan 2009 16:19:22 EST news152468327 (PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists have uncovered the underlying biological reason why locusts form migrating swarms. Their findings, reported in today's edition of Science, could be used in the future to prevent the plagues which devastate crops (notably in developing countries), affecting the livelihood of one in ten people across the globe. http://phys.org/news152461358.html Biology Thu, 29 Jan 2009 14:23:00 EST news152461358 In the world of nanomaterials, scientists and engineers can create new structures with tiny building blocks as small as one billionth of a meter. http://phys.org/news152455521.html Chemistry Thu, 29 Jan 2009 12:45:51 EST news152455521 A study released Wednesday finds that bisphenol A, a chemical widely used to make plastic and suspected of causing cancer, stays in the body much longer than previously thought. http://phys.org/news152343537.html Medicine & Health Wed, 28 Jan 2009 05:39:33 EST news152343537 (PhysOrg.com) -- After announcing last April a method for growing exceptionally long, straight, numerous and well-aligned carbon cylinders only a few atoms thick, a Duke University-led team of chemists has now modified that process to create exclusively semiconducting versions of these single-walled carbon nanotubes. http://phys.org/news151762245.html Nanotechnology Wed, 21 Jan 2009 12:11:23 EST news151762245 Solarmer Energy Inc. is developing plastic solar cells for portable electronic devices that will incorporate technology invented at the University of Chicago. http://phys.org/news151761095.html Chemistry Wed, 21 Jan 2009 11:52:08 EST news151761095 (PhysOrg.com) -- In an invited, peer-reviewed journal article on how prenatal exposure to toxic substances are linked to a host of diseases in later life -- from atherosclerosis to cancer -- a Cornell toxicologist calls for changing how safety testing is done to better protect infants and children. http://phys.org/news151688225.html Medicine & Health Tue, 20 Jan 2009 15:37:32 EST news151688225 (PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers have achieved a feat drug developers had thought difficult, if not impossible, discovering a compound that blocks the functioning of a key developmental protein by binding to an “undruggable” target — an advance that may provide a new avenue to fight skin, pancreatic, prostate, and other cancers. http://phys.org/news151594160.html Biology Mon, 19 Jan 2009 13:29:57 EST news151594160 (PhysOrg.com) -- In work that could expand the frontiers of genetic engineering, MIT chemists have, for the first time, genetically altered a plant to produce entirely new compounds, some of which could be used as drugs against cancer and other diseases. http://phys.org/news151593785.html Chemistry Mon, 19 Jan 2009 13:23:49 EST news151593785 In a finding straight out of science fiction, chemical and biomolecular engineers in Maryland are describing development of microscopic, chemically triggered robotic "hands" that can pick up and move small objects. They could be used in laboratory-on-a-chip applications, reconfigurable microfluidic systems, and micromanufacturing, the researchers say. A report on their so-called "microgrippers" is in the December 3, 2008 issue of the Journal of the American Chemical Society. http://phys.org/news151582443.html Chemistry Mon, 19 Jan 2009 10:14:03 EST news151582443 Bacteria hunker down and survive antibiotic attack when a protein flips a chemical switch that throws them into a dormant state until treatment abates, researchers at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center report in the Jan.16 edition of Science. http://phys.org/news151252537.html Medicine & Health Thu, 15 Jan 2009 14:35:37 EST news151252537 (PhysOrg.com) -- A researcher from the University of Leicester has identified what looks to be the oldest archaeological evidence for chemical warfare--from Roman times. http://phys.org/news151145419.html Other Sciences Wed, 14 Jan 2009 08:50:19 EST news151145419 A genetic variation involving the brain chemical serotonin has been found to shape the social behavior of rhesus macaque monkeys, which could provide researchers with a new model for studying autism, social anxiety and schizophrenia. Humans and macaques are the only members of the primate family to have this particular genetic trait. http://phys.org/news151141265.html Medicine & Health Wed, 14 Jan 2009 07:41:05 EST news151141265 Canadian researchers have, for the first time, developed an organic substance that attracts and supports cells necessary for tissue repair and can be directly injected into problem areas. This development, published online in the FASEB Journal, is a major step toward treatments that allow people to more fully recover from injury and disease and may even help reduce the need for organ transplantation. http://phys.org/news150977056.html Medicine & Health Mon, 12 Jan 2009 10:04:16 EST news150977056 (PhysOrg.com) -- An ‘honest indicator’ has been discovered by a scientific team at Arizona State University that reveals reproductive cheating. But before you run out to buy an infidelity identification kit, know that it only works for ants. http://phys.org/news150731854.html Biology Fri, 09 Jan 2009 13:57:34 EST news150731854 Buttery Christmas cookies, eggnog, juicy beef roast, rich gravy and creamy New York-style cheesecake. Happy holiday food unfortunately can send blood cholesterol levels sky high. http://phys.org/news150730240.html Chemistry Fri, 09 Jan 2009 13:30:40 EST news150730240 (PhysOrg.com) -- Using a simple chemical process, scientists at Cornell and DuPont have invented a method of preparing carbon nanotubes for suspension in a semiconducting "ink," which can then be printed into such thin, flexible electronics as transistors and photovoltaic materials. http://phys.org/news150650570.html Nanotechnology Thu, 08 Jan 2009 15:22:50 EST news150650570 The enzyme machine that translates a cell's DNA code into the proteins of life is nothing if not an editorial perfectionist. http://phys.org/news150559493.html Biology Wed, 07 Jan 2009 14:04:53 EST news150559493 (PhysOrg.com) -- An international team of chemical engineers, chemists and pharmacists has made a major breakthrough that will significantly boost the accuracy and speed of drug testing. http://phys.org/news150386054.html Chemistry Mon, 05 Jan 2009 13:54:14 EST news150386054 Researchers in Germany are reporting an advance toward development of technology that could make life easier for millions of people allergic to plant pollen. It could underpin the first automated, real-time systems for identifying specific kinds of allergy-inducing plant pollen circulating in the air. Their study is in the current issue of ACS' Analytical Chemistry. http://phys.org/news149144475.html Chemistry Mon, 22 Dec 2008 05:01:15 EST news149144475 (PhysOrg.com) -- Today, scientists understand pretty well how life evolves, by mechanisms based on Darwin’s theory of natural selection for survival of the fittest. However, Darwin’s 1859 classic, On the Origin of Species, somewhat ironically doesn’t answer that very question – how species actually originated. And to this day, how that first tiny pool of chemicals twitched to life remains a puzzle. http://phys.org/news148050302.html Biology Tue, 09 Dec 2008 13:05:02 EST news148050302 (PhysOrg.com) -- A newly-developed decontamination wipe designed by researchers at The Institute of Environmental and Human Health (TIEHH) at Texas Tech University has proven itself the best for cleaning up chemical warfare agents and toxic chemicals. http://phys.org/news147957055.html Chemistry Mon, 08 Dec 2008 11:10:55 EST news147957055 Although Americans are becoming increasingly aware of toxic chemical exposure from everyday household products like bisphenol A in some baby bottles and lead in some toys, women do not readily connect typical household products with personal chemical exposure and related adverse health effects, according to research from the December issue of the Journal of Health and Social Behavior. http://phys.org/news146473095.html Medicine & Health Fri, 21 Nov 2008 06:58:15 EST news146473095