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. Natural disasters and a record number of tornadoes in the southeastern United States should not have any bearing on the severity of the upcoming hurricane season, the director of the National Hurricane Center said Friday. http://phys.org/news224574182.html Space & Earth Sat, 14 May 2011 06:43:19 EST news224574182 A team from the Virginia Tech Information Technology Security Laboratory and Bradley Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering won third place in the 2011 National Security Innovation Competition sponsored by the National Homeland Defense Foundation, a nonprofit forum for responding to terrorism tactics and natural disasters. http://phys.org/news224325252.html Technology Wed, 11 May 2011 09:34:52 EST news224325252 Search and rescue missions have followed each of the devastating earthquakes that hit Haiti, New Zealand and Japan during the past 18 months. Machines able to navigate through complex dirt and rubble environments could have helped rescuers after these natural disasters, but building such machines is challenging. http://phys.org/news224174997.html Electronics Mon, 09 May 2011 15:50:50 EST news224174997 Perhaps lost in the recent debates related to the earthquake and tsunami in Japan is that natural disasters and not nuclear energy should be the focus, says Oak Ridge National Laboratory's John Sorensen, an emergency preparedness expert. http://phys.org/news220623531.html Other Sciences Tue, 29 Mar 2011 13:19:16 EST news220623531 (PhysOrg.com) -- One of the most difficult tasks for those trying to address the aftermath of a natural disaster, such as the recent Japanese tsunami and earthquake, is how to target their attempts to help the most distressed and needy; both in the short and in the longer term. A study published by Trinity College researchers in this month’s issue of the flagship journal Health Psychology sheds some light on how this could be done and thus what the future may hold for the health of those affected by recent events in Japan. The study examined the health of Taiwanese people one year after the ‘Chi-Chi’ earthquake that struck the island of Taiwan on September 21st, 1999. Registering 7.3 on the Richter scale, the quake caused the deaths of over 2,400 people and collapsed over 100,000 homes. http://phys.org/news220606741.html Medicine & Health Tue, 29 Mar 2011 09:00:05 EST news220606741 (PhysOrg.com) -- The Japanese have impressed the world with the relative calm and order they have maintained in the aftermath of one of the world’s worst natural disasters. http://phys.org/news220524339.html Medicine & Health Mon, 28 Mar 2011 09:46:41 EST news220524339 Mark your calendar. On March 19th, a full Moon of rare size and beauty will rise in the east at sunset. It's a super "perigee moon"--the biggest in almost 20 years. http://phys.org/news219579061.html Space & Earth Thu, 17 Mar 2011 11:11:15 EST news219579061 The psychological impact of natural disasters such as the Japan earthquake can be revealed in the way people inherently respond to unpredictable situations, according to a psychology expert at Queen Mary, University of London. http://phys.org/news219576129.html Medicine & Health Thu, 17 Mar 2011 10:40:01 EST news219576129 The earthquake off the coast of Japan and the resulting tsunami has proven, yet again, how the Internet offers an information lifeline to the world in a time of crisis. http://phys.org/news219238415.html Technology Sun, 13 Mar 2011 12:33:54 EST news219238415 Google put a tsunami alert on its famously spartan home page on Friday following the massive earthquake in Japan. http://phys.org/news219070143.html Technology Fri, 11 Mar 2011 12:49:21 EST news219070143 On an isolated segment of islands in the Pacific Ring of Fire, residents endure volcanoes, tsunamis, dense fog, steep cliffs and long and chilly winters. Sounds homey, huh? http://phys.org/news217441092.html Space & Earth Sun, 20 Feb 2011 16:19:57 EST news217441092 Asia must prepare for millions of people to flee their homes to safer havens within countries and across borders as weather patterns become more extreme, the Asian Development Bank warns. http://phys.org/news216198360.html Space & Earth Sun, 06 Feb 2011 10:10:01 EST news216198360 This week's flooding in Queensland is yet another reminder of the destructive power of nature. Globally the costs of natural disasters are increasing rapidly, fuelled by societal changes such as increases in population, wealth and inflation, not climate change. Across different natural hazards and jurisdictions, some 22 separate peer-reviewed studies of weather-related natural disaster events now attest to this fact say Macquarie University's John McAneney and Kevin Roche. http://phys.org/news214664785.html Space & Earth Wed, 19 Jan 2011 13:07:20 EST news214664785 Living through a natural disaster is a traumatic experience for everyone, but especially for children. A new study by University of Miami Psychologist Annette La Greca and her collaborators, indicate that some children who directly experience a devastating hurricane still show signs of posttraumatic stress (PTS) almmost two years after the event. The findings suggest that new models for intervention to help children after a natural disaster are needed. http://phys.org/news214061745.html Medicine & Health Wed, 12 Jan 2011 14:00:03 EST news214061745 Living a traumatic experience favours the persistence of fear associated with an aversive stimulus, known as fear conditioning and such effect, in mice, can be suppressed with a single dosis of 7,8-Dihydroxyflavone, a type of flavonoid which boosts the ability to acquire new emotional learnings. The researchers consider that the drug could be used in the effective treatment of post-traumatic stress, panic and phobia disorders in persons. http://phys.org/news214054647.html Medicine & Health Wed, 12 Jan 2011 11:50:06 EST news214054647 Imagine having to evacuate your home quickly as 60 mph winds shatter your windows, water crawls under your front door and the electricity cuts leaving your house as dark as the inside of a coffee can. Would you be prepared? Now visualize being one of the 56 million Americans with a disability, such as wheelchair dependence, or one of the 133 million with a chronic disease, such as asthma. http://phys.org/news213967765.html Medicine & Health Tue, 11 Jan 2011 11:31:10 EST news213967765 The notion of being angry with God goes back to ancient days. Such personal struggles are not new, but Case Western Reserve University psychologist Julie Exline began looking at "anger at God" in a new way. http://phys.org/news213073272.html Medicine & Health Sat, 01 Jan 2011 03:01:55 EST news213073272 (AP) -- This was the year the Earth struck back. Earthquakes, heat waves, floods, volcanoes, super typhoons, blizzards, landslides and droughts killed at least a quarter million people in 2010 - the deadliest year in more than a generation. More people were killed worldwide by natural disasters this year than have been killed in terrorism attacks in the past 40 years combined. http://phys.org/news211984937.html Space & Earth Sun, 19 Dec 2010 12:42:59 EST news211984937 When natural disasters claim human lives, it's important to determine whether the problem is geophysical or cultural. A new study shows that the large upswing in flood deaths in Africa over past decades is chiefly the result of population settlement patterns, and is not a consequence of changing climate. http://phys.org/news211706113.html Space & Earth Thu, 16 Dec 2010 07:15:27 EST news211706113 IBM inventors have developed a patented natural disaster warning system, which uses analytics to improve the effectiveness and timeliness of post-event rescue efforts in cities and other locations where efficient emergency response is essential following a natural disaster. It also offers a means to accurately predict the location and timing of subsequent catastrophic events, which will further aid evacuation efforts. http://phys.org/news206973401.html Technology Fri, 22 Oct 2010 13:36:54 EST news206973401 (PhysOrg.com) -- One of the challenges faced by millions of people around the world is access to clean drinking water. Additionally, during natural disasters, it can be difficult for stricken areas to have access to the power they need. One company, The Essential Element, hopes to provide what is needed with the help of Hydra, a portable device that is designed to purify water while powering a fuel cell that can be used to power communications devices and even offer fuel for a camp stove. http://phys.org/news206886505.html Technology Thu, 21 Oct 2010 13:28:37 EST news206886505 (PhysOrg.com) -- Anxiety, or the reaction to a perceived danger, is a response that differs from one animal or human to another -- or so scientists thought. Now researchers at Tel Aviv University are challenging what we know about stress, and their study has implications for helping clinicians better treat victims of terrorism or natural disasters. http://phys.org/news206274687.html Biology Thu, 14 Oct 2010 11:31:56 EST news206274687 (AP) -- U.N. food agencies said Wednesday that 166 million people in 22 countries suffer chronic hunger or difficulty finding enough to eat as a result of what they called protracted food crises. http://phys.org/news205578056.html Medicine & Health Wed, 06 Oct 2010 10:20:03 EST news205578056 (PhysOrg.com) -- Uncle Sam, Carnegie Mellon's latest robotic snake, has been taught to climb trees. The snake is the newest version of "modsnake" created by the Biorobotics Laboratory at the Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. http://phys.org/news203055570.html Electronics Tue, 07 Sep 2010 07:20:01 EST news203055570 China will spend billions of dollars treating sewage and planting forests to arrest massive environmental degradation along the Yangtze river and its Three Gorges reservoir, officials said Tuesday. http://phys.org/news202476529.html Space & Earth Tue, 31 Aug 2010 12:40:01 EST news202476529 (AP) -- Top Mongolian officials donned dark green baseball caps reading "Save our planet" and set up chairs and tables in the sands of the Gobi desert for a Cabinet meeting aimed at drawing attention to climate change. http://phys.org/news202358814.html Space & Earth Mon, 30 Aug 2010 03:47:48 EST news202358814 Thousands of people around the world have died in train wrecks caused by natural disasters. In 2004, the tsunami in Southeast Asia derailed a Sri Lankan train, killing 1,700 people. But with modern advances, these tragedies can be avoided ― and a Tel Aviv University researcher, working in collaboration with teams from seven countries, is leading the way. http://phys.org/news199372708.html Technology Mon, 26 Jul 2010 14:18:42 EST news199372708 Many Florida tourists come for the perfect weather but do not know what to do in the perfect storm, finds a new University of Florida study of visiting vacationers and their preparedness for a hurricane strike. http://phys.org/news198943729.html Other Sciences Wed, 21 Jul 2010 15:20:01 EST news198943729 (PhysOrg.com) -- A team of students from MIT has devised a new low-cost ventilator to keep patients breathing in places that lack standard mechanical ventilators, or during times of emergency such as pandemics or natural disasters, when normal hospital resources may be overextended. They have designed a system that uses the same widely available manual pump — the same type used for the farmer in India. The new system encases the pump in a plastic box with a battery, motor and controls to take the place of the manual compression process. http://phys.org/news198430896.html Technology Thu, 15 Jul 2010 17:40:02 EST news198430896 (PhysOrg.com) -- Australian scientists have invented software that enables mobile (cell) phones to work in remote areas where there is no conventional coverage and in locations where the infrastructure has been destroyed through disaster, or is not economically viable. The technology enables ordinary mobile phones to make and receive calls without the need for phone towers or satellites. http://phys.org/news198298057.html Technology Wed, 14 Jul 2010 06:50:01 EST news198298057