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 recipe and process for preparing Maya Blue, a highly-resistant pigment used for centuries in Mesoamerica, were lost. We know that the ingredients are a plant dye, indigo, and a type of clay known as palygorskite, but scientists do not know how they were 'cooked' and combined together. Now, a team of chemists from the University of Valencia and the Polythecnic University of Valencia (Spain) have come up with a new hypothesis about how it was prepared. http://phys.org/news284108565.html Chemistry Tue, 02 Apr 2013 08:07:47 EST news284108565 (Phys.org) —UT Dallas researchers are developing a new low-light imaging method that could improve a number of scientific applications, including the microscopic imaging of single molecules in cancer research. http://phys.org/news282937809.html Physics Tue, 19 Mar 2013 18:50:19 EST news282937809 In the effort to pile more power atop silicon chips, engineers have developed the equivalent of mini-skyscrapers in three-dimensional integrated circuits and encountered a new challenge: how to manage the heat created within the tiny devices. http://phys.org/news275145638.html Technology Wed, 19 Dec 2012 13:21:14 EST news275145638 Palaeontologists have warned that the Dakar Rally, which will thunder through Peru and Chile next month, poses a serious risk to whale and dolphin fossils dating back more than 20 million years. http://phys.org/news274806952.html Other Sciences Sat, 15 Dec 2012 15:16:15 EST news274806952 AIST researchers have developed a method that can selectively measure the behavior of specific molecules at the interfaces of organic layers in a multilayered organic light emitting diode (OLED) device during light emission. The researchers have succeeded, for the first time, in measuring the behavior of the electric charges in a device at the molecular level. http://phys.org/news268900690.html Physics Mon, 08 Oct 2012 07:39:07 EST news268900690 Whether you're old, have been ill, or suffered an injury, you've watched gloomily as your muscles have atrophied. The deterioration of muscle—even slight or gradual—is about as common to the human condition as breathing. http://phys.org/news264082017.html Chemistry Mon, 13 Aug 2012 13:07:31 EST news264082017 Over the past year, some news reports have questioned the long-term viability and popularity of daily deal companies, but the industry shows no evidence of slowing down, according to a new study from Rice University. http://phys.org/news260705628.html Other Sciences Thu, 05 Jul 2012 11:14:18 EST news260705628 New research by a University of Illinois expert who studies process management points to the potential role of regulatory oversight in preventing deterioration of operational routines that are used to complete day-to-day tasks in business organizations. http://phys.org/news257588811.html Other Sciences Wed, 30 May 2012 09:28:33 EST news257588811 (PhysOrg.com) -- Saving the environment requires more action in the form of a “social avalanche”, a group of world experts has demanded. http://phys.org/news249716198.html Space & Earth Wed, 29 Feb 2012 05:36:47 EST news249716198 Scientists at IBM and ABB, the world's largest builder of electricity grids, are using supercomputers to study and potentially develop a new type of high-voltage insulator that will improve the efficiency of transmitting electricity. An improved insulator has the potential to transform the power grid by reducing energy loss and outages caused by material deterioration when exposed to weather. http://phys.org/news239442003.html Technology Wed, 02 Nov 2011 08:40:28 EST news239442003 Expansion joints are a nightmare in the maintenance of highway bridges. After a few decades, the junction points between the structure and the road begin to show signs of deterioration. Scientists at EPFL are attempting to do away with this costly technique, and have set up a life-size experiment on the campus. http://phys.org/news239441649.html Technology Wed, 02 Nov 2011 08:34:23 EST news239441649 Microbes could be threatening our cultural heritage by degrading historic cinematographic film and even preventing some valuable footage to be archived at all. http://phys.org/news203138603.html Biology Wed, 08 Sep 2010 04:40:01 EST news203138603 New research finds that a protein that is often mutated in Huntington's disease (HD) plays an unexpected role in the process of neurogenesis. The research, published by Cell Press in the August 12 issue of the journal Neuron, provides new insight into HD pathology and has even broader implications for human health and disease. http://phys.org/news200736758.html Medicine & Health Wed, 11 Aug 2010 12:00:01 EST news200736758 Huntington's disease (HD) is a cruel, hereditary condition that leads to severe physical and mental deterioration, psychiatric problems and eventually, death. Currently, there are no treatments to slow down or stop it. HD sufferers are born with the disease although they do not show symptoms until late in life. In a new study published in The Journal of Neuroscience, Stephen Ferguson and Fabiola Ribeiro of Robarts Research Institute at The University of Western Ontario identified a protective pathway in the brain that may explain why HD symptoms take so long to appear. The findings could also lead to new treatments for HD. http://phys.org/news186142367.html Medicine & Health Tue, 23 Feb 2010 10:13:05 EST news186142367 After many years of study, a team of researchers is releasing data today that it hopes will lead to new drug therapies that will kill the family of parasites that causes a deadly trio of insect-borne diseases and has afflicted inhabitants of underdeveloped and developing nations for centuries. http://phys.org/news182778699.html Chemistry Fri, 15 Jan 2010 11:52:18 EST news182778699 New technologies used to repair spinal fractures could soon be helping patients suffering from the bone marrow cancer multiple myeloma. http://phys.org/news182515396.html Medicine & Health Tue, 12 Jan 2010 11:00:01 EST news182515396 (PhysOrg.com) -- For years, it has been widely assumed that older adults may experience memory loss and other cognitive problems following surgery. But a new study from researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis questions those assumptions. In fact, the researchers were not able to detect any long-term cognitive declines attributable to surgery in a group of 575 patients they studied. http://phys.org/news177846255.html Medicine & Health Thu, 19 Nov 2009 09:45:53 EST news177846255 (PhysOrg.com) -- The wolves on Isle Royale are suffering from genetically deformed bones. Scientists from Michigan Technological University blame the extreme inbreeding of the small, isolated wolf population at the island National Park in northern Lake Superior. http://phys.org/news157915441.html Biology Thu, 02 Apr 2009 18:24:18 EST news157915441 The scientists describe their work in this week's Early Edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. In the study, the team shows how the loss of the protein HMGB2, found in the surface layer of joint cartilage, leads to the progressive deterioration of the cartilage that is the hallmark of osteoarthritis. http://phys.org/news150991956.html Medicine & Health Mon, 12 Jan 2009 14:12:36 EST news150991956