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 world of physics, where everything tends toward disorder, researchers working on the Linac Coherent Light Source are seeking perfect order. Many experiments at the pioneering machine will require each molecule in a puff of gas to align with all of the others, creating a uniform field of molecules on which tests can be conducted. http://phys.org/news205749402.html Physics Fri, 08 Oct 2010 09:50:01 EST news205749402 In two landmark studies published today in the journal Drug Testing and Analysis (DTA), UK and Swiss research teams reveal two techniques proven to identify dissolved cocaine in bottles of wine or rum. These tools will allow customs officials to quickly identify bottles being used to smuggle cocaine, without the need to open or disturb the container. http://phys.org/news205042700.html Chemistry Thu, 30 Sep 2010 06:00:03 EST news205042700 (PhysOrg.com) -- Rohit Bhargava of the University of Illinois has come up with an intriguing new class of molecular probes for biomedical research called nanoLAMPs. Unlike most probes used in biomedicine or other types of research they don't require dyes or fluorescence but, like an ordinary house lamp, they do need a light switch in order to illuminate the molecular world. http://phys.org/news204868168.html Nanotechnology Tue, 28 Sep 2010 05:20:01 EST news204868168 Scientists have known for decades that time passes faster at higher elevations—a curious aspect of Einstein's theories of relativity that previously has been measured by comparing clocks on the earth's surface and a high-flying rocket. http://phys.org/news204470740.html Physics Thu, 23 Sep 2010 14:26:34 EST news204470740 (PhysOrg.com) -- Everybody who's ever used a TV, radio or cell phone knows what an antenna does: It captures the aerial signals that make those devices practical. A lab at Rice University has built an antenna that captures light in the same way, at a small scale that has big potential. http://phys.org/news204202457.html Nanotechnology Mon, 20 Sep 2010 11:54:38 EST news204202457 The recently opened Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS) at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (SNAL) provides scientists around the world with a brilliant new tool to understand fundamental properties of atoms and materials at previously unreachable dimensions. http://phys.org/news203000838.html Physics Mon, 06 Sep 2010 14:07:45 EST news203000838 (PhysOrg.com) -- Physicists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology have used a small crystal of ions (electrically charged atoms) to detect forces at the scale of yoctonewtons. Measurements of slight forces—one yoctonewton is equivalent to the weight of a single copper atom on Earth -- can be useful in force microscopy, nanoscale science, and tests of fundamental physics theories. http://phys.org/news202563647.html Nanotechnology Wed, 01 Sep 2010 18:10:06 EST news202563647 Harnessing darkness for practical use, researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology have developed a laser power detector coated with the world's darkest material -- a forest of carbon nanotubes that reflects almost no light across the visible and part of the infrared spectrum. http://phys.org/news201358489.html Nanotechnology Wed, 18 Aug 2010 13:55:47 EST news201358489 Scientists and Engineers at The University of Nottingham have built the world's smallest ultrasonic transducers capable of generating and detecting ultrasound. These revolutionary transducers which are orders of magnitude smaller than current systems — are so tiny that up to 500 of the smallest ones could be placed across the width of one human hair. http://phys.org/news201172939.html Nanotechnology Mon, 16 Aug 2010 11:10:07 EST news201172939 Using chemical "nanoblasts" that punch tiny holes in the protective membranes of cells, researchers have demonstrated a new technique for getting therapeutic small molecules, proteins and DNA directly into living cells. http://phys.org/news199469656.html Nanotechnology Tue, 27 Jul 2010 17:50:01 EST news199469656 To trap and hold tiny microparticles, engineers at Harvard have "put a ring on it," using a silicon-based circular resonator to confine particles stably for up to several minutes. http://phys.org/news198859772.html Nanotechnology Tue, 20 Jul 2010 16:40:08 EST news198859772 A technique that combines nanotechnology with adult stem cells appears to destroy atherosclerotic plaque and rejuvenate the arteries, according to a study reported at the American Heart Association's Basic Cardiovascular Sciences 2010 Scientific Sessions - Technological and Conceptual Advances in Cardiovascular Disease. http://phys.org/news198775684.html Medicine & Health Mon, 19 Jul 2010 21:20:01 EST news198775684 (PhysOrg.com) -- A new way to make topographic maps with radar can help farmers divert more of their resources to the highest-yielding parts of their fields, according to an Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientist. http://phys.org/news195394210.html Biology Thu, 10 Jun 2010 13:10:54 EST news195394210 In an advance that sounds almost Zen, researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology and JILA, a joint institute of NIST and the University of Colorado at Boulder, have demonstrated a new type of pulsed laser that excels at not producing light. The new device generates sustained streams of "dark pulses" -- repeated dips in light intensity -- which is the opposite of the bright bursts in a typical pulsed laser. http://phys.org/news195320545.html Physics Wed, 09 Jun 2010 16:42:43 EST news195320545 (PhysOrg.com) -- Detecting hidden explosives is a difficult task but now researchers in the UK have developed a completely new way of detecting them, with a laser sensor capable of detecting molecules of explosives at concentrations of 10 parts per billion (ppb) or less. http://phys.org/news195192462.html Physics Tue, 08 Jun 2010 09:10:02 EST news195192462 This weekend marked the 50th anniversary of the invention of the first working laser. Today, lasers can be found almost everywhere, from telephone lines to cutting edge scientific research, supermarket scanners, and even cat toys. http://phys.org/news193296849.html Physics Mon, 17 May 2010 06:34:38 EST news193296849 (PhysOrg.com) -- A team from NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, VA, made research flights over the Gulf of Mexico this week to help investigate potential uses of satellites for monitoring the thickness and dispersal of oil spills and the oil¹s impact on marine life. http://phys.org/news193059492.html Space & Earth Fri, 14 May 2010 13:10:01 EST news193059492 Dr. Yves Bellouard of the Department of Mechanical Engineering is coordinator of a new European project, Femtoprint, to be started this month. The goal is to design a convenient 3D laser printer that will print microstructures in glass. With this ‘femtoprinter’ the manufacture of microstructures would no longer be the exclusive realm of big enterprises. http://phys.org/news192964971.html Technology Thu, 13 May 2010 10:50:01 EST news192964971 Physicists have pinpointed the location of a long lost light reflector left on the Moon by the Soviet Union nearly 40 years ago. The reflector could actually help today's scientists measure physical properties of the Moon and phenomena such as tidal distortion. http://phys.org/news191604289.html Space & Earth Tue, 27 Apr 2010 16:27:37 EST news191604289 Dutch nanotechnologists from the MESA+ research institute of the University of Twente have discovered that the photosynthesis system of bacteria can be used to transport light over relatively long distances. They have developed a type of 'molecular glass fibre', a thousand times thinner than a human hair. The results of their research are published in the April edition of the leading journal Nano Letters. http://phys.org/news191519555.html Nanotechnology Mon, 26 Apr 2010 17:10:01 EST news191519555 (PhysOrg.com) -- Using easily prepared gold nanocages that are able to escape from the blood stream and accumulate in tumors, a team of investigators from the Washington University in St. Louis has shown that they can use laser light to kill human tumors in mice. The results of this study, which was led by Younan Xia and Michael Welch, have been published in the journal Small. http://phys.org/news191231269.html Nanotechnology Fri, 23 Apr 2010 08:48:38 EST news191231269 Light bounced off reflectors on the moon is fainter than expected and mysteriously dims even more whenever the moon is full. Astronomers think dust is a likely culprit, they report in a forthcoming issue of the journal Icarus. http://phys.org/news190474518.html Space & Earth Wed, 14 Apr 2010 14:35:44 EST news190474518 Tiny chemical sensors implanted into patients could help diagnose disease and track its progress, following a development by scientists. http://phys.org/news188996228.html Nanotechnology Sun, 28 Mar 2010 19:00:07 EST news188996228 In a lecture he delivered in 1906, the German physician Paul Ehrlich coined the term Zuberkugel, or "magic bullet," as shorthand for a highly targeted medical treatment. http://phys.org/news187634265.html Nanotechnology Fri, 12 Mar 2010 16:38:24 EST news187634265 (PhysOrg.com) -- A UT Dallas team's study published in the Journal of Applied Physics expands the extraordinary capabilities of nanotechnology to include laser-powered acoustic speakers made from assemblies of carbon nanotubes. http://phys.org/news187524998.html Nanotechnology Thu, 11 Mar 2010 10:17:10 EST news187524998 (PhysOrg.com) -- Acting as a microscope for sound, a new device called a micro-ear could make objects on the micro-scale audible. The device could enable scientists to listen to the sounds that cells and bacteria make as they move about, as well as listen to micro-scale events such as how drugs interact with microorganisms. http://phys.org/news186426510.html Technology Fri, 26 Feb 2010 17:08:54 EST news186426510 (PhysOrg.com) -- Taking gold nanoparticles to the cancer cell and hitting them with a laser has been shown to be a promising tool in fighting cancer, but what about cancers that occur in places where a laser light can’t reach? Scientists at the Georgia Institute of Technology have shown that by directing gold nanoparticles into the nuclei of cancer cells, they can not only prevent them from multiplying, but can kill them where they lurk. The research appeared as a communication in the February 10 edition of the Journal of the American Chemical Society. http://phys.org/news185473430.html Nanotechnology Mon, 15 Feb 2010 16:24:05 EST news185473430 Researchers at Ohio State University have found a new way to study how enzymes move as they repair DNA sun damage -- and that discovery could one day lead to new therapies for healing sunburned skin. http://phys.org/news183913344.html Medicine & Health Thu, 28 Jan 2010 15:02:47 EST news183913344 When University of Utah scientists discovered a new kind of laser that was generated by an electrically conducting plastic or polymer, no one could explain how it worked and some doubted it was real. Now, a decade later, the Utah researchers have found these "random lasers" occur because of natural, mirror-like cavities in the polymers, and they say such lasers may prove useful for diagnosing cancer. http://phys.org/news183546072.html Physics Sun, 24 Jan 2010 13:00:04 EST news183546072 (PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers at the University of New Mexico have established a new low in temperature cooling through laser cooling of solids to cryogenic temperatures. Under an AFOSR, MURI grant, a team led by UNM Professor, Mansoor Sheik-Bahae, created the first-ever all-solid-state cryocooler (temperatures that can only be obtained by liquefying gases and mechanical refrigerators) that can be used for a variety of applications ranging from cooling infrared sensors to superconducting electronics. http://phys.org/news183149527.html Physics Tue, 19 Jan 2010 19:30:03 EST news183149527