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. UK and Russian scientists say they are a step closer to predicting how dangerous a volcano is after developing a method that lets them figure out how individual volcanoes are 'plumbed'. http://phys.org/news224930654.html Space & Earth Wed, 18 May 2011 09:44:37 EST news224930654 The presence of crystalline cholesterol in the walls of our arteries is a major cause of life-threatening inflammation. This has been demonstrated in a study jointly run by the universities of Massachusetts, Bonn and Munich. The potential consequences include heart attack, stroke or sudden cardiac death. The researchers' results will be published in the next edition of the scientific journal Nature. http://phys.org/news191666265.html Medicine & Health Wed, 28 Apr 2010 13:00:27 EST news191666265 Scientists are reporting discovery of what may be the "ancestral Eve" crystal that billions of years ago gave life on Earth its curious and exclusive preference for so-called left-handed amino acids. Those building blocks of proteins come in two forms — left- and right-handed — that mirror each other like a pair of hands. Their study, which may help resolve one of the most perplexing mysteries about the origin of life, is in ACS' Crystal Growth & Design. http://phys.org/news191072608.html Chemistry Wed, 21 Apr 2010 13:00:02 EST news191072608 What has twisted the Earth’s core so asymmetrically out of shape? That question has been a long-standing mystery for scientists, but two new studies are shining some light on the geodynamic processes that have shaped the core of our planet over the millennia, researchers report in the April 16 issue of Science. http://phys.org/news191053615.html Space & Earth Wed, 21 Apr 2010 07:40:06 EST news191053615 Through the study of a popular Martian meteorite's age, a University of Houston professor and his team have made significant discoveries about the timeline of volcanic activity on Mars. http://phys.org/news190557660.html Space & Earth Thu, 15 Apr 2010 14:00:08 EST news190557660 (PhysOrg.com) -- Materials scientists have known that a metal's strength (or weakness) is governed by dislocation interactions, a messy exchange of intersecting fault lines that move or ripple within metallic crystals. But what happens when metals are engineered at the nanoscale? Is there a way to make metals stronger and more ductile by manipulating their nanostructures? http://phys.org/news189848698.html Nanotechnology Wed, 07 Apr 2010 13:00:28 EST news189848698 What do shells, solar panels and DVDs have in common? At the atomic scale they are 'amorphous', that is -- unlike crystals -- they are built from irregular arrangements of atoms. http://phys.org/news188666658.html Physics Wed, 24 Mar 2010 16:25:42 EST news188666658 (PhysOrg.com) -- A group of scientists from the University of Minnesota say that Fe16N2 crystals are more magnetic than the most magnetic material previously known, and its magnetism exceeds the predicted limit of magnetism for a material. http://phys.org/news188458077.html Physics Mon, 22 Mar 2010 08:30:02 EST news188458077 (PhysOrg.com) -- Ever since it's relatively recent discovery, graphene has generated a great deal of interest. Graphene is extracted from graphite in many cases, and consists of a sheet of carbon atoms bound together in a hexagonal lattice. Because graphene is only one atomic layer thick, it is of interest for nanostructures. Additionally, its electrical and optical properties make it a possible alternative to materials currently used in electronics and in sensors. There is even speculation about the usefulness of graphene for energy applications. Graphene sheets can be layered or patterned to get different properties and perform different functions. http://phys.org/news186755474.html Nanotechnology Tue, 02 Mar 2010 12:32:09 EST news186755474 The same antifreeze proteins that keep organisms from freezing in cold environments also can prevent ice from melting at warmer temperatures, according to a new Ohio University and Queen's University study published today in the Early Edition of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. http://phys.org/news186669694.html Physics Mon, 01 Mar 2010 15:00:13 EST news186669694 UCLA chemists report creating a synthetic "gene" that could capture heat-trapping carbon dioxide emissions, which contribute to global warming, rising sea levels and the increased acidity of oceans. http://phys.org/news185119044.html Chemistry Thu, 11 Feb 2010 14:00:08 EST news185119044 (PhysOrg.com) -- Just as water can be superheated and remain liquid above the boiling point if there is no nucleating surface (such as a surface defect or a speck of dust), it can also become supercooled and remain liquid well below its freezing point of 0°C. Now scientists have found that supercooled water freezes at different temperatures in the presence of a surface with a positive or negative charge. http://phys.org/news184834030.html Physics Mon, 08 Feb 2010 08:50:02 EST news184834030 (PhysOrg.com) -- Two new types of ultra-hard carbon crystals have been found by researchers investigating the ureilite class Haverö meteorite that crashed to Earth in Finland in 1971. Ureilite meteorites are carbon-rich and known to contain graphite and diamonds. http://phys.org/news184402061.html Chemistry Wed, 03 Feb 2010 09:50:01 EST news184402061 Researchers have made a breakthrough in HIV research that had eluded scientists for over 20 years, potentially leading to better treatments for HIV, in a study published today in the journal Nature. http://phys.org/news184141480.html Medicine & Health Sun, 31 Jan 2010 13:00:01 EST news184141480 detect broken bones, tumors and dental cavities, analyze atoms in diverse materials and screen luggage at airports -- but who knew they could cause crystals to form? http://phys.org/news183646660.html Physics Mon, 25 Jan 2010 13:04:36 EST news183646660 (PhysOrg.com) -- To make thin films for semiconductors in electronic devices, layers of atoms must be grown in neat, crystalline sheets. But while some materials grow smooth crystals, others tend to develop bumps and defects - a serious problem for thin-film manufacturing. http://phys.org/news183304231.html Physics Thu, 21 Jan 2010 14:00:09 EST news183304231 Nanoparticles have a strong tendency to form periodic structures. Mixing and matching of two different types of nanoparticles allows the formation of binary nanoparticle superlattices isostructural to ionic or intermetallic compounds. In addition to periodic superlattices, binary mixtures of nearly spherical nanoparticles could lead to the growth of quasi-crystals. http://phys.org/news182445428.html Nanotechnology Mon, 11 Jan 2010 15:18:15 EST news182445428 In ski sports, it's often only a second that separates the winners from the losers. Using equipment made of the right materials can therefore make all the difference. Researchers are simulating the gliding effects that occur when skis travel over snow -- and creating super fast skis. http://phys.org/news182177285.html Technology Fri, 08 Jan 2010 13:50:02 EST news182177285 (PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists at Berkeley Lab's Molecular Foundry imaged the growth of protein-studded mineral surfaces with unprecedented resolution and provided a glimpse into how living systems engineer key structural materials. http://phys.org/news180167089.html Nanotechnology Wed, 16 Dec 2009 06:25:41 EST news180167089 (PhysOrg.com) -- Beginning in mid-December, scientists will undertake a special mission to squeeze the secrets out of ice crystals in cirrus clouds. The SPARTICUS, or Small Particles in Cirrus, campaign will weave together data from an instrumented airplane and ground-based instruments to gather the most comprehensive set of ice crystal measurements yet. Scientists from Pacific Northwest National Laboratory are part of the team that will define the scientific mission and they are leading the project's daily operations. http://phys.org/news180032371.html Space & Earth Mon, 14 Dec 2009 17:20:05 EST news180032371 Scientists have identified a novel antifreeze molecule in a freeze-tolerant Alaska beetle able to survive temperatures below minus 100 degrees Fahrenheit. Unlike all previously described biological antifreezes that contain protein, this new molecule, called xylomannan, has little or no protein. It is composed of a sugar and a fatty acid and may exist in new places within the cells of organisms. http://phys.org/news180021715.html Chemistry Mon, 14 Dec 2009 14:02:30 EST news180021715 (PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists in Israel and the UK have uncovered the details of how certain fish and spiders create their iridescent scales and silvery skins. http://phys.org/news179569783.html Physics Wed, 09 Dec 2009 08:30:45 EST news179569783 There is more to the snowflake than its ability to delight schoolchildren and snarl traffic. http://phys.org/news179416713.html Chemistry Mon, 07 Dec 2009 14:26:57 EST news179416713 (PhysOrg.com) -- Lara Estroff and colleagues have taken a deep, detailed look at the way lab-created calcite crystals, similar to those found in nature, grow in tandem with proteins and other large molecules. http://phys.org/news178823885.html Chemistry Mon, 30 Nov 2009 17:19:17 EST news178823885 Bacteria are quite creative when infecting the human organism. They invade cells, migrate through the body, avoid an immune response and misuse processes of the host cell for their own purposes. To this end every bacterium employs its own strategy. In collaboration with a British research group, structural biologists from the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research in Braunschweig, Germany, and the University of Bielefeld, Germany, have now elucidated one mechanism of Listeria bacteria. http://phys.org/news178803891.html Biology Mon, 30 Nov 2009 12:20:01 EST news178803891 (PhysOrg.com) -- Is it possible to make even more compact digital memories for portable electronic devices and which consume even less energy? A team of French researchers has recently demonstrated that it is feasible, thanks to a new class of materials known as multiferroics, which combine unusual electric and magnetic properties. http://phys.org/news178546236.html Physics Fri, 27 Nov 2009 12:15:20 EST news178546236 (PhysOrg.com) -- The freezing of suspensions of particles is not always a uniform phenomenon; in certain conditions it leads to a modification of the redistribution of particles and the growth of crystals. http://phys.org/news177618314.html Nanotechnology Mon, 16 Nov 2009 18:26:05 EST news177618314 There is good news for the global effort to reduce the amount of lead in the environment and for the growing array of technologies that rely upon the piezoelectric effect. A lead-free alternative to the current crop of piezoelectric materials has been identified by researchers with the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the University of California, Berkeley. http://phys.org/news177340310.html Physics Fri, 13 Nov 2009 13:18:46 EST news177340310 Even as research on the ribosome, one of the cell's most basic machines, is recognized with a Nobel Prize, scientists continue to achieve new insights on the way ribosomes work. http://phys.org/news174834117.html Biology Thu, 15 Oct 2009 14:02:28 EST news174834117 A research project 10 years in the making is now orbiting the Earth, much to the delight of its creator Rohit Trivedi, a senior metallurgist at the U.S. Department of Energy's Ames Laboratory. Equipment recently delivered to the International Space Station by the Space Shuttle Discovery will allow the Earth-bound Trivedi to conduct crystal growth experiments he first conceived more than a decade ago. http://phys.org/news172756816.html Physics Mon, 21 Sep 2009 13:03:42 EST news172756816