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. Although the burning of natural gas emits far less carbon dioxide than coal, a new study concludes that a greater reliance on natural gas would fail to significantly slow down climate change. The study appears this week in the Springer journal Climatic Change Letters. http://phys.org/news234698965.html Space & Earth Thu, 08 Sep 2011 11:09:43 EST news234698965 (PhysOrg.com) -- Carbon capture has long been identified as a critical technology needed to prevent global warming, but efficient and economical ways to do it have been hard to find. http://phys.org/news232708909.html Chemistry Tue, 16 Aug 2011 10:22:08 EST news232708909 The existence of an intermediate-spin (IS) state in cobalt oxides has long been a subject of dispute. A recent resonant X-ray scattering experiment has clearly demonstrated Co3+ eg orbital ordering in Sr3YCo4O10.5, which has the highest ferromagnetic transition temperature among perovskite-type cobalt oxides. This result provides not only a clue to understanding the magnetism but also the first clear evidence of the existence of an IS state in Co3+. This discovery is expected to open a new field of materials physics, which will combine the IS state concept with many interesting magnetic and electric properties. http://phys.org/news231595285.html Physics Wed, 03 Aug 2011 13:02:27 EST news231595285 During the 1970s and 1980s, researchers and policymakers became increasingly worried about multiple consequences of acidic emissions of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides from the stacks of power stations, and eventually they were controlled. In Europe, there was much concern about the effects on Sweden's many lakes, which were found to be in some cases strikingly acidic. The Swedish government instituted a program of countering the acidification by adding thousands of tonnes of lime to the lakes. http://phys.org/news231391630.html Space & Earth Mon, 01 Aug 2011 04:27:51 EST news231391630 If there were a Hall of Fame for materials, manganites would be among its members. Some manganites, compounds of manganese oxides, are renowned for colossal magnetoresistance – the ability to suddenly boost resistance to electrical conductivity by orders of magnitude when a magnetic field is applied – and manganites are also promising candidates for spintronics applications – devices that can manipulate electrons according to their quantum spin as well their charge. http://phys.org/news229941611.html Physics Fri, 15 Jul 2011 09:41:46 EST news229941611 Fuel cells are used in the space shuttle as one component of the electrical power system, so perhaps it was appropriate that a hydrogen fuel cell-powered mobile lighting system could be seen on the grounds of the Kennedy Space Center as the Space Shuttle Atlantis launched into space last week, the 135th and final mission for the NASA Space Shuttle Program. http://phys.org/news229868257.html Technology Thu, 14 Jul 2011 13:18:03 EST news229868257 Photo-induced phase transition (PIPT) has caused great excitement in materials science because ultra-fast alteration of the magnetic, dielectric, structural and optical properties of materials can be brought about with very weak photonic excitation as a result of cooperative interactions. An essential question that arises is how we can identify a novel phase of solid that is uniquely generated under photo-excited conditions. Such a novel phase is often referred to as a 'hidden state'. Despite intensive efforts to identify the structures of hidden states in various systems, few cases have been explored so far because of the technical difficulty of studying the transient lattice structure of solids. http://phys.org/news229854260.html Physics Thu, 14 Jul 2011 09:30:18 EST news229854260 (PhysOrg.com) -- NASA scientists are seeing new evidence that suggests traces of water on Mars are under a thin varnish of iron oxide, or rust, similar to conditions found on desert rocks in California's Mojave Desert. http://phys.org/news228803475.html Space & Earth Sat, 02 Jul 2011 05:31:48 EST news228803475 (PhysOrg.com) -- A team of researchers from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), George Mason University and the University of Maryland has made nano-sized sensors that detect volatile organic compounds -- harmful pollutants released from paints, cleaners, pesticides and other products -- that offer several advantages over today's commercial gas sensors, including low-power room-temperature operation and the ability to detect one or several compounds over a wide range of concentrations. http://phys.org/news227935695.html Nanotechnology Wed, 22 Jun 2011 04:28:45 EST news227935695 Magnetic storage media such as hard drives have revolutionized the handling of information: We are used to dealing with huge quantities of magnetically stored data while relying on highly sensitive electronic components. And hope to further increase data capacities through ever smaller components. Together with experts from Grenoble and Strasbourg, researchers of KIT's Institute of Nanotechnology (INT) have developed a nano-component based on a mechanism observed in nature. http://phys.org/news227782317.html Nanotechnology Mon, 20 Jun 2011 09:52:21 EST news227782317 (PhysOrg.com) -- In the future, physicists will be able to follow a new lead in their search for new materials for electronic components, for example. An international team of researchers headed by scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research in Stuttgart is the first to accurately observe how the physical properties of a substance – or to be more precise of the metal oxide lanthanum nickel oxide – change when it is used in two-dimensional, instead of three-dimensional form. In fact, a film consisting of two layers of material exhibits completely different electronic and magnetic effects when cooled to very low temperatures than does a film comprising four layers. The ability to control the physical characteristics via the dimension as well opens up new possibilities to identify materials from which the chips of the future could be made. http://phys.org/news225610030.html Physics Thu, 26 May 2011 06:27:38 EST news225610030 (PhysOrg.com) -- Titanium oxide doped with cobalt produces magnetic properties at room temperature via a newly discovered mechanism. http://phys.org/news223709101.html Physics Wed, 04 May 2011 06:25:37 EST news223709101 NASA recently performed emissions testing on alternative, renewable fuels for a greener and less petroleum-dependent future. The search for alternative fuels is driven by environmental concerns as well as a desire for reduced reliance on foreign sources. http://phys.org/news223118694.html Technology Wed, 27 Apr 2011 10:25:18 EST news223118694 For more than 150 years, spark plugs have powered internal combustion engines. Automakers are now one step closer to being able to replace this long-standing technology with laser igniters, which will enable cleaner, more efficient, and more economical vehicles. http://phys.org/news222519040.html Physics Wed, 20 Apr 2011 11:51:02 EST news222519040 Conventional silicon-based rigid solar cells generally found on the market are not suitable for manufacturing moldable thin-film solar cells, in which a transparent, flexible and electrically conductive electrode collects the light and carries away the current. A woven polymer electrode developed by Empa has now produced first results which are very promising, indicating that the new material may be a substitute for indium tin oxide coatings. http://phys.org/news222430889.html Nanotechnology Tue, 19 Apr 2011 11:21:42 EST news222430889 (PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers in America have shown that ozone -- a known pollutant at low levels in the earth's atmosphere, causing harmful effects on the respiratory system and sensitive plants -- can be reduced, on average, when electric vehicle charging is done at night time. http://phys.org/news222405310.html Technology Tue, 19 Apr 2011 04:15:40 EST news222405310 A new analysis, published this week and conducted by a team of scientists led by Drew Shindell of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) in New York City, shows stricter vehicle emission standards would yield major health, agricultural, and climate benefits. http://phys.org/news221140274.html Space & Earth Mon, 04 Apr 2011 12:51:37 EST news221140274 Programs that allow facilities to buy and sell emission allowances have been popular and effective since they were introduced in the U.S. two decades ago. But critics worry the approach can create heavily polluted "hot spots" in low-income and minority communities. http://phys.org/news220675474.html Space & Earth Wed, 30 Mar 2011 03:45:14 EST news220675474 (AP) -- Pollution in China remains very serious as the country's rapid economic growth brings on new environmental problems, with nearly 1,000 contamination incidents in the last five years, a minister said Saturday. http://phys.org/news219123025.html Space & Earth Sat, 12 Mar 2011 03:30:41 EST news219123025 Differences in air pressure over the North Atlantic have meant that the last two winters in Gothenburg, Sweden, have been extremely cold. This has led to the air in Gothenburg being more polluted with nitrogen oxides than ever before. A new study from the University of Gothenburg shows that there is a strong link between climate and air pollution. http://phys.org/news217604869.html Space & Earth Tue, 22 Feb 2011 13:48:14 EST news217604869 (PhysOrg.com) -- New findings from German researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry and the Paul Scherrer Institute in Switzerland help to explain how toxic and allergy-causing substances in our air are formed. The scientists have for the first time detected long lived reactive oxygen intermediates on the surface of aerosol particles. These forms of oxygen survive here for more than 100 seconds and in that time react with other air pollutants such as nitrogen oxides. Chemically speaking, the dust particles are oxidized and nitrated. This is what makes soot particles more toxic and increases the potential of pollen to cause allergies. http://phys.org/news217516375.html Chemistry Mon, 21 Feb 2011 13:13:18 EST news217516375 Up to seven per cent biodiesel blended in regular diesel will presumably not cause greater health risks for the population than the use of pure fossil diesel. This is the main conclusion in a memorandum from the Norwegian Institute of Public Health and the Climate and Pollution Control Agency (formerly SFT) to the Ministry of Health and Care Services and the Ministry of the Environment in Norway. http://phys.org/news215950160.html Space & Earth Thu, 03 Feb 2011 10:09:42 EST news215950160 French researchers have succeeded in creating a conductive layer on the surface of strontium titanate (SrTiO3), a transparent insulating material considered to be very promising for the development of future microelectronics applications. Two nanometers thick, this conductive layer is a two-dimensional metallic electron gas (2DEG) that is part of the insulating material. Easy to produce, it opens new possibilities for electronics based on transition metal oxides (the SrTiO3 family), taking advantage of these materials' vast range of physical properties (superconductivity, magnetism, thermoelectricity, etc.) to integrate a number of different functions in a single microelectronic device. A paper explaining this unexpected discovery, arising from research at the SOLEIL synchrotron, was published in the January 13, 2011 issue of Nature magazine. http://phys.org/news214565988.html Nanotechnology Tue, 18 Jan 2011 09:40:15 EST news214565988 (AP) -- China said Friday it would cut emissions this year by rejecting construction projects that pollute too much and developing new technologies that curb greenhouse gases. http://phys.org/news214203370.html Space & Earth Fri, 14 Jan 2011 05:20:02 EST news214203370 In the spirit of the physicist's pursuit of a 'theory of everything,' Israel E. Wachs, the G. Whitney Snyder Professor of Chemical Engineering at Lehigh University, has published a paper entitled "The generality of surface vanadium oxide phases in mixed oxide catalysts." http://phys.org/news213472576.html Chemistry Wed, 05 Jan 2011 17:56:42 EST news213472576 (PhysOrg.com) -- A new study by scientists in Los Angeles, California has found that bright city lights makes air pollution worse because the glare of the lights interferes with chemical reactions that clean the air of pollution during the night. http://phys.org/news211697343.html Space & Earth Thu, 16 Dec 2010 06:50:03 EST news211697343 (PhysOrg.com) -- While the reactions that eliminate smog-causing nitrogen oxides from automotive tail pipes appear straightforward, there is far more happening than the standard freshmen textbook shows. Professor Raul Lobo of the University of Delaware recently shared his progress in understanding a new generation of catalysts to eliminate nitrogen oxides. His talk was part of the Frontiers in Catalysis Science and Engineering Seminar Series. The seminars, held at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, allow experts to share novel ideas and studies. http://phys.org/news211478367.html Chemistry Mon, 13 Dec 2010 16:30:01 EST news211478367 Researchers at Ruhr-Universitat Bochum, Christian-Albrechts-Universitat zu Kiel and Santa Barbara have made the first experimental breakthrough in quantum physics: Their studies on the "pairing behavior" of electrons have proven for the first time the existence of electron pairs, so-called Cooper pairs, with parallel spin direction. Cooper pairs cause superconductivity -- this is a particular state of material, in which the electrical resistance disappears. Until now the existence of triplet Cooper pairs has only been predicted theoretically. http://phys.org/news210427325.html Physics Wed, 01 Dec 2010 12:20:01 EST news210427325 China has said it aims to cut the intensity of dioxin emissions in key industries by 10 percent by 2015, as part of efforts by the world's top polluter to tackle ever-worsening air quality. http://phys.org/news208497716.html Space & Earth Tue, 09 Nov 2010 04:20:01 EST news208497716 (PhysOrg.com) -- Materials scientists develop clean nanoparticle-based catalysts that convert nitrogen oxides to nitrogen and water vapor. http://phys.org/news205406043.html Chemistry Mon, 04 Oct 2010 10:14:21 EST news205406043