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. Large-scale distributions of two important nutrient pools - dissolved organic nitrogen and dissolved organic phosphorus (DON and DOP) have been systematically mapped for the first time over the Atlantic Ocean in a study led by Dr Sinhue Torres-Valdes of the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton. The findings have important implications for understanding nitrogen and phosphorus biogeochemical cycles and the biological carbon pump in the Atlantic Ocean. http://phys.org/news176466994.html Space & Earth Tue, 03 Nov 2009 10:50:02 EST news176466994 Most schoolchildren learn that everything in the universe is a solid, a liquid or a gas. But those lessons miss the fourth and by far most common state of matter: plasma. http://phys.org/news175855071.html Physics Tue, 27 Oct 2009 09:39:39 EST news175855071 (PhysOrg.com) -- Every year, scientists learn something new about the inner workings of lightning. With satellites, they have discovered that more than 1.2 billion lightning flashes occur around the world every year. (Rwanda has the most flashes per square kilometer, while flashes are rare in polar regions.) Laboratory and field experiments have revealed that the core of some lightning bolts reaches 30,000 Kelvin (53,540 ºF), a temperature hot enough to instantly melt sand and break oxygen and nitrogen molecules into individual atoms. http://phys.org/news175527058.html Space & Earth Fri, 23 Oct 2009 14:32:40 EST news175527058 Most of the technology needed to shift the world from fossil fuel to clean, renewable energy already exists. Implementing that technology requires overcoming obstacles in planning and politics, but doing so could result in a 30 percent decrease in global power demand, say Stanford civil and environmental engineering Professor Mark Z. Jacobson and University of California-Davis researcher Mark Delucchi. http://phys.org/news175173974.html Technology Mon, 19 Oct 2009 12:27:37 EST news175173974 (PhysOrg.com) -- Consumers can have a major impact on the world’s efforts to reduce global warming, a major report has concluded. http://phys.org/news174907366.html Space & Earth Fri, 16 Oct 2009 10:50:02 EST news174907366 (PhysOrg.com) -- Defense company Qinetiq has been awarded a contract to supply the US army with a system that generates electricity from garbage. http://phys.org/news174547043.html Technology Mon, 12 Oct 2009 06:18:15 EST news174547043 (PhysOrg.com) -- A knowledge gap exists in the area of climate research: for decades, scientists have been asking themselves whether, and to what extent man-made aerosols, that is, dust particles suspended in the atmosphere, enlarge the cloud cover and thus curb climate warming. http://phys.org/news174049928.html Space & Earth Tue, 06 Oct 2009 12:30:06 EST news174049928 (PhysOrg.com) -- As human activity pumps more and more carbon into the atmosphere, a new threat has emerged to the world's coral reefs - starvation. http://phys.org/news173959038.html Biology Mon, 05 Oct 2009 11:10:02 EST news173959038 (PhysOrg.com) -- While long-term projections call for higher temperatures and heat waves even more intense than previously thought, considerable geographic variability is also in the forecast, according to a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. http://phys.org/news173546838.html Space & Earth Wed, 30 Sep 2009 16:29:51 EST news173546838 Two top Senate Democrats are set to introduce a climate-change bill this week that would put new limits on carbon emissions, as world leaders prepare for a climate summit in Denmark after agreement last week by the G20 nations on phasing out subsidies for fossil fuels. http://phys.org/news173379384.html Space & Earth Tue, 29 Sep 2009 02:00:03 EST news173379384 (PhysOrg.com) -- Aircraft emissions can affect the properties of cirrus clouds, contributing to climate change. This was a key finding from PNNL scientist Dr. Xiaohong Liu and his colleagues from a recent study. The team concluded that black carbon and/or metallic material from airplane exhaust could affect radiant heat and climate by acting as efficient sources for making ice crystals, thus affecting the creation of cirrus clouds. http://phys.org/news173364041.html Space & Earth Mon, 28 Sep 2009 13:41:09 EST news173364041 Greenhouse gas emissions have fallen thanks to the global downturn, handing the world a chance to move away from high-carbon growth, a report said Monday, citing an International Energy Agency study. http://phys.org/news172744208.html Space & Earth Mon, 21 Sep 2009 09:40:05 EST news172744208 While our standard of life increases, so does the worldwide energy demand. In this vein, the application of technologies based on fuel cells is put forward as an alternative to the massive consumption of fossil fuels. One of the fuel cells of greatest current interest is the solid oxide one. http://phys.org/news172402780.html Technology Thu, 17 Sep 2009 10:40:23 EST news172402780 (PhysOrg.com) -- The Japanese are preparing to develop a two trillion yen (approximately $21 billion USD) space solar project that will beam electricity from space in the form of microwaves or lasers to around 300,000 homes in Japan within three decades. http://phys.org/news172224356.html Technology Tue, 15 Sep 2009 11:10:02 EST news172224356 (PhysOrg.com) -- One of the biggest complaints that some have about solar power (and other forms of alternative energy) is that it is so much more expensive than the fossil fuels that are more commonly used today. However, this might change with China's ambitious plans to build a 2-gigawatt solar field in Inner Mogolia. http://phys.org/news172165180.html Technology Mon, 14 Sep 2009 16:40:30 EST news172165180 (AP) -- Caught between rising seas and land melting beneath their mukluk-shod feet, the villagers of Tuktoyaktuk are doing what anyone would do on this windy Arctic coastline. They're building windmills. http://phys.org/news171564944.html Space & Earth Mon, 07 Sep 2009 18:10:01 EST news171564944 (PhysOrg.com) -- In a first step toward turning highways into energy-generating solar panels, the Sagle, Idaho-based startup Solar Roadways has recently received a $100,000 grant from the US Department of Transportation (DOT). The company will use the money to build a prototype of its Solar Road Panel, made from solar cells and glass, that is meant to replace petroleum-based asphalt on roads and in parking lots. http://phys.org/news171545860.html Technology Mon, 07 Sep 2009 12:38:32 EST news171545860 Sci-fi proposals to cool the planet are laden with risk but may be Earth's only hope if politicians fail to tackle global warming, scientists said on Tuesday in their biggest evaluation to date of "geo-engineering" concepts. http://phys.org/news171034934.html Space & Earth Tue, 01 Sep 2009 15:10:04 EST news171034934 A team of South Korean scientists have succeeded in engineering the bacterium E. coli to produce the industrial chemical putrescine. The research, published in the journal Biotechnology and Bioengineering, provides a renewable alternative to the production of this important chemical which is traditionally created using fossil fuels. http://phys.org/news170536415.html Biology Wed, 26 Aug 2009 21:50:01 EST news170536415 (PhysOrg.com) -- As the world's oil supply continues to dry out every day, the question of what will replace oil and other fossil fuels is becoming more and more urgent. According to the World Coal Institute, at the present rate of consumption, coal will run out in 130 years, natural gas in 60 years, and oil in 42 years. Around the world, researchers are investigating alternative energy technologies with encouraging progress - but the question still remains: which source(s) will prove to be most efficient and sustainable in 30, 50, or 100 years from now? http://phys.org/news170326193.html Technology Mon, 24 Aug 2009 09:50:47 EST news170326193 The German government unveiled plans Wednesday to get one million electric cars zipping around the country by 2020, offering sweeteners to jump-start national giants like BMW and Volkswagen into action. http://phys.org/news169904819.html Technology Wed, 19 Aug 2009 12:47:28 EST news169904819 Expansion of renewable energies should appreciably improve the health status of the 700,000 US workers employed in the energy sector, according to a commentary by Medical College of Wisconsin researchers, in Milwaukee. Their review is published in the August 19, 2009, issue of JAMA, the Journal of the American Medical Association. http://phys.org/news169831712.html Medicine & Health Tue, 18 Aug 2009 16:29:04 EST news169831712 (PhysOrg.com) -- While it may be inherently wasteful to enjoy luxury cars, it can still be fun to look at -- and even drive -- them. And, if you are concerned about the environmental impact of such cars, you can breath a little easier. At least if your idea of luxury includes the Mercedes-Benz Gullwing. Mercedes-Benz recently confirmed that it will be producing an all-electric version of the SLS AMG Supercar. http://phys.org/news168859204.html Technology Fri, 07 Aug 2009 10:20:43 EST news168859204 The burning of fossil fuels has released tremendous amounts of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere, significantly impacting global climate. Were it not for the absorption of CO2 by the oceans, the alarming growth of atmospheric CO2 concentration would be substantially greater than it is. http://phys.org/news168770767.html Space & Earth Thu, 06 Aug 2009 09:46:42 EST news168770767 After 12 years, an experiment focused on forest growth and climate change comes to an end, and researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory are eager to collect and analyze data to see if their predictions match results. http://phys.org/news168016657.html Space & Earth Tue, 28 Jul 2009 16:18:36 EST news168016657 Concerns about dwindling fossil fuel resources, current levels of petroleum consumption, and growing pressure to shift to more sustainable energy sources are among the many factors prompting the transition from our current energy infrastructure to one that uses less carbon and requires the efficient conversion of energy. This necessitates collecting energy from ambient sources including wind, solar, and geothermal power, and converting it into appropriate forms for distributing electricity. While it is possible for this electric power to be distributed efficiently, conversion is necessary for use in automobiles and large-scale storage is problematic. http://phys.org/news167659860.html Other Sciences Fri, 24 Jul 2009 13:30:01 EST news167659860 (AP) -- Wade McGillis peered up at the structure propped like a high-tech stick figure - minus the head - on an elementary school roof. Then he examined the electronics attached to its spindly metal frame, looking out over the Harlem brownstones nearby and the skyscrapers farther away. http://phys.org/news167236812.html Space & Earth Sun, 19 Jul 2009 15:40:53 EST news167236812 (PhysOrg.com) -- Biofuels derived from renewable sources can be produced in large quantities and address many problems related to fossil fuels, including greenhouse gas emissions, but only if they are made from certain sources, according to a new article by a team of scientists and policy experts that included several Princeton researchers. http://phys.org/news166980610.html Space & Earth Thu, 16 Jul 2009 16:40:01 EST news166980610 I love my Prius, it's true. But sometimes, I look at the Dodge Charger (I'm watching Burn Notice this summer) and think, "What a cool car." And when we think of cool cars, it's hard to keep the image of a muscle car or a sports car from popping up. But when you think of environmentally friendly, those types of cars don't even come to mind. Perhaps the latest creation from a software engineer will changes the stereotypes. http://phys.org/news166369668.html Technology Thu, 09 Jul 2009 15:40:06 EST news166369668 (PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists have traced a sudden collapse in plant biodiversity in ancient Greenland, some 200 million years ago, to a relatively small rise in atmospheric carbon dioxide which caused a rise in the Earth’s temperature. http://phys.org/news165508154.html Space & Earth Mon, 29 Jun 2009 16:00:01 EST news165508154