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. Details are emerging from a recent research expedition to the Sub-Tropical North Atlantic. The objective of the expedition was to study the salt concentration (salinity) of the upper ocean. Scientists aboard the Spanish research vessel Sarmiento de Gamboa, including National University of Ireland Galway's Dr Brian Ward with two of his PhD students, Graig Sutherland and Anneke ten Doeschate, explored the essential role of the ocean in the global water cycle. http://phys.org/news286616549.html Space & Earth Wed, 01 May 2013 09:00:01 EST news286616549 A team of researchers led by Associate Professor Yan Jie from the Department of Physics at the National University of Singapore (NUS) Faculty of Science has identified three new distinct overstretched deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) structures caused by mechanical stretching. This discovery provides a clear answer to a long-running debate among scientists over the nature of DNA overstretching. http://phys.org/news281271117.html Biology Thu, 28 Feb 2013 10:52:14 EST news281271117 Intelligence is not only a matter of humans and animals. Scientists speak also of intelligent molecules. The latter directly react to external stimuli and change reversibly their shape. NIM physicists demonstrate the process for the first time with a single molecule. http://phys.org/news277634262.html Nanotechnology Thu, 17 Jan 2013 08:37:50 EST news277634262 The 'Silt Farming Project' was started on Texel, one of the Dutch Wadden islands, in 2010. A project for investigating the chances of cropping on silt soils. Objective of this project is to find salt-resistant crops and to investigate the degree of salt-tolerance of such crops. In this project Wageningen UR Plant Research International (PRI) is studying the effects of silt cropping on the metabolites of crops. http://phys.org/news266831581.html Biology Fri, 14 Sep 2012 08:53:07 EST news266831581 (Phys.org) -- As the world population increases and fresh water sources become scarcer, many people will likely rely on technologies that convert salt water to fresh water to meet their most basic needs. Currently, the most common method of water desalination is reverse osmosis, a process that removes water molecules from salt water, leaving salt ions (sodium and chlorine) in the leftover brine. But an alternative method called capacitive desalination (CD), also known as capacitive deionization (CDI), has the potential to operate with greater energy efficiency, lower pressures, and no membrane components compared to reverse osmosis. http://phys.org/news263208089.html Technology Fri, 03 Aug 2012 10:24:43 EST news263208089 (Phys.org) -- As a rising global population and increasing standard of living drive demand for freshwater, many researchers are developing new techniques to desalinate salt water. Among them is a team of scientists from The Netherlands, who have shown how to transform brackish (moderately salty) water into potable freshwater using just a pair of wires and a small voltage that can be generated by a small solar cell. The simple technique has the potential to be more energy-efficient than other techniques because of the minimal amount of mixing between the treated and untreated water. http://phys.org/news258365388.html Chemistry Fri, 08 Jun 2012 09:30:01 EST news258365388 Due to the presence of salts, the freezing point of sea water is below zero. During freezing, channels in which the salt accumulates, so-called "brine channels," are formed in the ice. They serve as a habitat for microorganisms. Together with collegues, a scientist from the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf is currently analyzing the characteristics and distribution of these channels in which CO2 is bound by the organisms which, in turn, diminishes the greenhouse effect. http://phys.org/news240235829.html Space & Earth Fri, 11 Nov 2011 12:10:36 EST news240235829 (PhysOrg.com) -- In a bit of coincidental news, no sooner had earthquake scientists posted warnings about the instability of the southern part of the San Andreas Fault hidden beneath the Salton Sea, than an earthquake struck; albeit it, a rather small one, in just that part of southern California. The study, by the Scripps Institute for Oceanography, just published in Nature Geoscience, points out the alarming fact that the fault beneath the Salton Sea has a track record of producing serious earthquakes with regularity every 180 years or so, but has now gone without producing one for 325. http://phys.org/news228388215.html Space & Earth Mon, 27 Jun 2011 10:10:43 EST news228388215 Organisms found in the Antarctic region are not quick to adapt to changes in the environment, new international research shows. The study, carried out by 200 scientists from 15 countries, is the culmination of a 7-month expedition on board the Polarstern vessel of the Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI) for Polar and Marine Research in the German-based Helmholtz Association. http://phys.org/news227443327.html Space & Earth Thu, 16 Jun 2011 12:00:01 EST news227443327 On coming Wednesday, 15 June, the research vessel Polarstern of the German Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research in the Helmholtz Association will set off on its 26th arctic expedition. Over 130 scientists from research institutions in six countries will take part in three legs of the voyage. First of all, at long-term stations oceanographers and biologists will investigate how oceanic currents as well as the animal and plant world are changing between Spitsbergen and Greenland. Beginning in August, physical, biological and chemical changes in the central Arctic will be recorded. RV Polarstern is expected back in Bremerhaven on 7 October. http://phys.org/news227264711.html Space & Earth Tue, 14 Jun 2011 10:05:33 EST news227264711 Bremerhaven, 19 May 2011. The research vessel Polarstern of the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research in the Helmholtz Association will arrive back at its homeport of Bremerhaven after a seven-month expedition on Friday, 20 May. Nearly 200 researchers from institutes in 15 countries took part in the expedition. The oceanographers on board conducted measurements showing that warming of the water in the deep Weddell Sea continues further. The observations of biologists indicated that organisms in the Antarctic adapt very slowly to changes in the environment. http://phys.org/news225045126.html Space & Earth Thu, 19 May 2011 17:32:20 EST news225045126 The freshwater content of the upper Arctic Ocean has increased by about 20 percent since the 1990s. This corresponds to a rise of approx. 8,400 cubic kilometres and has the same magnitude as the volume of freshwater annually exported on average from this marine region in liquid or frozen form. This result is published by researchers of the Alfred Wegener Institute in the journal Deep-Sea Research. The freshwater content in the layer of the Arctic Ocean near the surface controls whether heat from the ocean is emitted into the atmosphere or to ice. In addition, it has an impact on global ocean circulation. http://phys.org/news220269884.html Space & Earth Fri, 25 Mar 2011 11:12:51 EST news220269884 (PhysOrg.com) -- The deadly bacterium behind cholera epidemics spends only a fraction of its life infecting humans. Most of the time, Vibrio cholerae lurks in estuaries and other semisalty aquatic habitats. http://phys.org/news179483903.html Biology Tue, 08 Dec 2009 09:10:03 EST news179483903 Generating energy on a large scale by mixing salt and fresh water is both technically possible and practical. The worldwide potential for this clean form of energy - 'blue energy' or 'blue electricity' - is enormous. However, it will be necessary to work actively on several essential technological developments and to invest heavily in large-scale trials. On 3 November, Jan Post hopes to obtain his doctorate on this subject from Wageningen University, The Netherlands. http://phys.org/news176125611.html Technology Fri, 30 Oct 2009 13:00:02 EST news176125611 (PhysOrg.com) -- Trying to understand the complex workings of a biological cell by teasing out the function of every molecule within it is a daunting task. But by making synthetic cells that include just a few chemical processes, researchers can study cellular machinery one manageable piece at a time. http://phys.org/news175281566.html Chemistry Tue, 20 Oct 2009 18:22:07 EST news175281566