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. In the past decade, research has revealed a wide range of organism responses to ocean acidification – the decline of seawater pH due to an uptake of man-made carbon dioxide (CO2) by the ocean. Laboratory and field experiments have focused primarily on individual species. Their responses to ocean acidification have mostly been studied in short-term experiments. But how do complex biological communities react to ocean acidification? Are they able to adapt to new conditions when exposed over long periods? To address these questions, long-lasting experiments on natural communities are urgently needed. "With the modified seagoing experimental platform, KOSMOS, we are now able to conduct the first long-term mesocosm experiment in the natural environment", Ulf Riebesell points out. Riebesell is professor for biological oceanography at GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel. He coordinates the BIOACID project and the upcoming mesocosm experiments. http://phys.org/news277726934.html Space & Earth Fri, 18 Jan 2013 10:24:58 EST news277726934 (Phys.org)—GPS reduces battery life in a smartphone or tablet, a problem that has challenged a team led by principal researcher Jie Liu at Microsoft Research. Liu has said in the past that sensing and energy are emerging cross-cutting concerns in computer systems. "The proliferation of embedded and personal devices such as networked sensors and mobile phones gives computer systems increasing capability of gathering data from and adapting to the physical world and personal activities." http://phys.org/news275638185.html Technology Tue, 25 Dec 2012 08:10:01 EST news275638185 (Phys.org)—Take a commercially available panoramic video camera used for recording, add a computer for storing recorded footage, and a head-mounted visual display that can switch seamlessly between the footage and a live feed captured by a camera and attached microphone. The result of all this is what Japanese researchers are using in their explorations of "substitutional reality," or SR. This is a purposeful new direction from virtual reality. The SR system delivers a "conviction" of being in the real world, which is absent in VR technologies. http://phys.org/news265348186.html Technology Tue, 28 Aug 2012 05:10:01 EST news265348186 The School of Engineers in Eibar (UPV/EHU-University of the Basque Country) was where Patxi Alkorta, a local professor, defended his thesis, following his research into advanced motor control devices. These control devices are units designed to correct errors and improve the performance of the motors. This researcher has opted for cutting-edge models and has developed them so that they can be applied to an induction motor, and in this way he has transferred them from theory to practice. To do this, he made use of an experimental platform located at the school in Eibar. "These control devices have been used before, but I have adapted them for use in an induction motor, and I have shown that they are in fact applicable and suitable," says Alkorta. His thesis is entitled Desarrollo e implementación de controladores avanzados para motores eléctricos (Development and implementation of advanced control devices for electric motors). http://phys.org/news245586576.html Technology Thu, 12 Jan 2012 11:00:01 EST news245586576 For the casual observer it is fascinating to watch the orderly and seemingly choreographed motion of hundreds or even thousands of fish, birds or insects. However, the formation and the manifold motion patterns of such flocks raise numerous questions fundamental to the understanding of complex systems. http://phys.org/news202567291.html Physics Wed, 01 Sep 2010 13:42:59 EST news202567291