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. Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) is a powerful tool for chemical analysis and, in the form of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), an indispensable technique for medical diagnosis. But its uses have been limited by the need for strong magnetic fields and big, expensive, superconducting magnets. Now Berkeley Lab scientists and their colleagues have demonstrated that they can do NMR in a zero magnetic field without using any magnets at all. http://phys.org/news224916059.html Physics Wed, 18 May 2011 05:42:31 EST news224916059 Some planets that roam the galaxy without a star to call home still may be able to host life. Finding such rogue planets is difficult, but new research suggests these wandering worlds could be detected by their atmospheric auroras. http://phys.org/news224431856.html Space & Earth Thu, 12 May 2011 16:40:01 EST news224431856 A new analysis of data from NASA's Galileo spacecraft has revealed that beneath the surface of Jupiter's volcanic moon Io is an "ocean" of molten or partially molten magma. http://phys.org/news224426940.html Space & Earth Thu, 12 May 2011 14:00:12 EST news224426940 Using a "neurologger" specially designed to record the brain activity of pigeons in flight, researchers reporting online on June 25th in Current Biology, a Cell Press publication, have gained new insight into what goes through the birds' minds as they fly over familiar terrain. The study is the first to simultaneously record electrical brain activity integrated with large-scale navigational movements of free-flying birds, according to the researchers. http://phys.org/news165152728.html Biology Thu, 25 Jun 2009 12:46:07 EST news165152728 Physicists have found a way to drastically prolong the shelf life of quantum bits, the 0s and 1s of quantum computers. http://phys.org/news165068877.html Physics Wed, 24 Jun 2009 15:00:01 EST news165068877 Astronomy & Astrophysics journal publishes the first detection of a magnetic field on the bright star Vega. Using the NARVAL spectropolarimeter of the Bernard-Lyot telescope on top of the Pic du Midi (France), astronomers clearly observe the magnetically-induced effect in the spectrum of Vega, thereby showing that the star possesses a magnetic field, something unknown so far. http://phys.org/news164973086.html Space & Earth Tue, 23 Jun 2009 10:51:38 EST news164973086 Researchers at the University of Illinois report that a toxic molecule known to damage cells and cause disease may also play a pivotal role in bird migration. The molecule, superoxide, is proposed as a key player in the mysterious process that allows birds to "see" Earth's magnetic field. http://phys.org/news164892904.html Biology Mon, 22 Jun 2009 12:35:51 EST news164892904 An enormous eruption has found its way to Earth after travelling for many thousands of years across space. Studying this blast with ESA's XMM-Newton and Integral space observatories, astronomers have discovered a dead star belonging to a rare group: the magnetars. http://phys.org/news164376716.html Space & Earth Tue, 16 Jun 2009 13:12:19 EST news164376716 A research team led by a chemist at the University of California, Riverside has fabricated microscopic polymer beads that change color instantly and reversibly when external magnetic fields acting upon the microspheres change orientation. http://phys.org/news164375513.html Chemistry Tue, 16 Jun 2009 12:52:32 EST news164375513 400 years of discussion and we’re still not sure what creates the Earth’s magnetic field, and thus the magnetosphere, despite the importance of the latter as the only buffer between us and deadly solar wind of charged particles (made up of electrons and protons). New research raises question marks about the forces behind the magnetic field and the structure of Earth itself. http://phys.org/news164253692.html Space & Earth Mon, 15 Jun 2009 03:01:55 EST news164253692 Physicists at the California Institute of Technology have developed a nanoscale device that can be used for force detection, optical communication, and more. The device exploits the mechanical properties of light to create an optomechanical cavity in which interactions between light and motion are greatly strengthened and enhanced. These interactions, notes Oskar Painter, associate professor of applied physics at Caltech, and the principal investigator on the research, are the largest demonstrated to date. http://phys.org/news163343394.html Nanotechnology Thu, 04 Jun 2009 14:10:28 EST news163343394 (PhysOrg.com) -- As the closest planet to the sun, Mercury is scorching hot, with daytime temperatures of more than 800 degrees Fahrenheit (approximately 450 degrees Celsius). It is also the smallest rocky planet, so its gravity is weak, only about 38 percent of Earth's. These conditions make it hard for the planet to hold on to its atmosphere, which is extremely thin, and invisible to the human eye. However, it can be seen by special instruments attached to telescopes and spacecraft like MESSENGER (MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging). http://phys.org/news163160543.html Space & Earth Tue, 02 Jun 2009 11:23:05 EST news163160543 (PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists at the University of Liverpool have developed a molecular structure that could help create current-generating machines at the nanoscale. http://phys.org/news162640123.html Nanotechnology Wed, 27 May 2009 10:49:13 EST news162640123 (PhysOrg.com) -- Neutron stars have the potential to play an important role in understanding some of the mysteries of the universe. One of factors that could help lead to an understanding of gravitational waves and the mechanisms involved in giant flares in magnetars is the strength of the crust that forms on the outside of a neutron star. In an effort to better understand the neutron star crusts, Charles Horowitz, at Indiana University in Bloomington, and his colleague Kai Kadau, at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, have used molecular dynamics to model neutron stars and come up with improved estimates of the breaking strain. http://phys.org/news162561360.html Physics Tue, 26 May 2009 12:56:45 EST news162561360 (PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists are a step closer to making environmentally-friendly 'magnetic' refrigerators and air conditioning systems a reality, thanks to new research published today in Advanced Materials. http://phys.org/news161606698.html Physics Fri, 15 May 2009 11:45:32 EST news161606698 (PhysOrg.com) -- Applying innovative measurement techniques, researchers from the Georgia Institute of Technology and the National Institute of Standards and Technology have directly measured the unusual energy spectrum of graphene, a technologically promising, two-dimensional form of carbon that has tantalized and puzzled scientists since its discovery in 2004. http://phys.org/news161529738.html Nanotechnology Thu, 14 May 2009 14:23:08 EST news161529738 Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have built a test facility to evaluate and enhance sensors designed to detect buried land mines. The unique automated system measures the response of individual electromagnetic induction sensors or arrays of sensors against land mines buried at many possible angles. http://phys.org/news161440527.html Technology Wed, 13 May 2009 13:36:03 EST news161440527 Physicists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Ames Laboratory have experimentally demonstrated that the superconductivity mechanism in the recently-discovered iron-arsenide superconductors is unique compared to all other known classes of superconductors. These findings - combined with iron-arsenide's potential good ability to carry current due to their low anisotropy - may open a door to exciting possible applications in zero-resistance power transmission. http://phys.org/news160238619.html Physics Wed, 29 Apr 2009 15:44:26 EST news160238619 (PhysOrg.com) -- A team led by Oxford University scientists has turned one of the key problems with quantum entangled systems - that they are easily ‘disturbed’ by their environment - into an advantage which promises quantum sensors that are fundamentally more sensitive than their conventional counterparts. http://phys.org/news159794100.html Physics Fri, 24 Apr 2009 12:15:34 EST news159794100 (PhysOrg.com) -- Earth-bound tornadoes are puny compared to "space tornadoes," which span a volume as large as Earth and produce electrical currents exceeding 100,000 amperes, according to new observations by a suite of five NASA space probes. http://phys.org/news159720322.html Space & Earth Thu, 23 Apr 2009 15:46:51 EST news159720322 (PhysOrg.com) -- Based on studies of old volcanic basalt, scientists know that the Earth’s magnetic field reverses at irregular intervals, ranging from tens of thousands to millions of years. Volcanic basalt rock contains magnetite, and when the rock cools, its magnetic properties are frozen, recording the Earth's magnetic field of the time. With this data, scientists estimate that the last magnetic field reversal occurred about 780,000 years ago. http://phys.org/news159704651.html Physics Thu, 23 Apr 2009 11:24:39 EST news159704651 (PhsyOrg.com) -- Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology have demonstrated a technique for efficiently suppressing errors in quantum computers. The advance could eventually make it much easier to build useful versions of these potentially powerful but highly fragile machines, which theoretically could solve important problems that are intractable using today's computers. http://phys.org/news159625313.html Physics Wed, 22 Apr 2009 13:24:43 EST news159625313 (PhysOrg.com) -- Space seems exotic, forbidding, and remote, but imagine trying to survive winter without a heated shelter or warm clothing. Our ancestors developed these technologies because they needed room to grow; without them, we would still be confined to narrow areas along the equator, but with them, we could live anywhere in the world. With the right technology, space is just another place for people to live. http://phys.org/news159195930.html Space & Earth Fri, 17 Apr 2009 14:06:14 EST news159195930 New Rochelle, April 16, 2009-Solar energy and winds, collisions with asteroids and comets, and changing magnetic fields have all altered the environment of Mars, a planet that may have been able to support life during its history, as documented in a special collection of papers published in the current issue of Astrobiology, a peer-reviewed journal published by Mary Ann Liebert. http://phys.org/news159106484.html Space & Earth Thu, 16 Apr 2009 13:15:08 EST news159106484 (PhysOrg.com) -- A flare-up in a jet of matter blasting from a monster black hole is giving astronomers an incredible light show. http://phys.org/news158939828.html Space & Earth Tue, 14 Apr 2009 14:57:53 EST news158939828 (PhysOrg.com) -- An international scientific consortium has developed a series of autonomous observatories in Antarctica that for the first time provide critical year-round "space weather" data from the Earth's harshest environment. http://phys.org/news158513978.html Space & Earth Thu, 09 Apr 2009 16:41:01 EST news158513978 (PhysOrg.com) -- Mathematicians at the University of St Andrews have made a discovery which could lead to a better understanding of why huge eruptions occur in space. http://phys.org/news158340027.html Other Sciences Tue, 07 Apr 2009 16:21:02 EST news158340027 (PhysOrg.com) -- Magnetic technology could help address a major problem that bioengineers face as they try to create new tissue: getting human cells to not only form structures, but to stimulate the growth of blood vessels to nourish their growth. http://phys.org/news158252321.html Nanotechnology Mon, 06 Apr 2009 15:59:39 EST news158252321 A small, dense object only twelve miles in diameter is responsible for this beautiful X-ray nebula that spans 150 light years. At the center of this image made by NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory is a very young and powerful pulsar, known as PSR B1509-58, or B1509 for short. The pulsar is a rapidly spinning neutron star which is spewing energy out into the space around it to create complex and intriguing structures, including one that resembles a large cosmic hand. http://phys.org/news157996137.html Space & Earth Fri, 03 Apr 2009 16:49:37 EST news157996137 (PhysOrg.com) -- Integral has captured one of the brightest gamma-ray bursts ever seen. A meticulous analysis of the data has allowed astronomers to investigate the initial phases of this giant stellar explosion, which led to the ejection of matter at velocities close to the speed of light. In particular, the astronomers believe that the explosion lifted a piece of the central engine's magnetic field into space. http://phys.org/news157976603.html Space & Earth Fri, 03 Apr 2009 11:24:02 EST news157976603