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. The fifth dwarf planet of the Solar System, Haumea, and at least one of its two satellites, are covered in crystalline water-ice due to the tidal forces between them and the heat of radiogenic elements. This is the finding of an international research study using observations from the VLT telescope at the European Southern Observatory in Chile. http://phys.org/news224416380.html Space & Earth Thu, 12 May 2011 10:53:16 EST news224416380 (PhysOrg.com) -- Earth’s climate continues to change at a rapid pace. Last week, NASA announced that 2010 was tied as the warmest year on record. Likewise, the last decade was the warmest in the 130-year global temperature record maintained by scientists at NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) in New York City. http://phys.org/news214767153.html Space & Earth Thu, 20 Jan 2011 17:32:46 EST news214767153 (PhysOrg.com) -- The eyes of moths, which allow them to see well at night, are also covered with a water-repellent, antireflective coating that makes their eyes among the least reflective surfaces in nature and helps them hide from predators in the dark. Mimicking the moth eye's microstructure, a team of researchers in Japan has created a new film, suitable for mass-production, for covering solar cells that can cut down on the amount of reflected light and help capture more power from the sun. http://phys.org/news214750607.html Physics Thu, 20 Jan 2011 12:57:09 EST news214750607 An International research team has discovered that seasonal temperatures in Europe, above all in winter, have been affected over the past 500 years by natural factors such as volcanic eruptions and solar activity, and by human activities such as the emission of greenhouse gases. The study, with Spanish involvement, could help us to better understand the dynamics of climate change. http://phys.org/news214655401.html Space & Earth Wed, 19 Jan 2011 11:00:07 EST news214655401 The growing popularity of solar photovoltaic (PV) systems across the United States has made it more important to maximize their power input. That's why UC San Diego environmental engineering professor Jan Kleissl is working on technologies and methods that will better predict how much power we can actually harness from the sun. http://phys.org/news213979325.html Technology Tue, 11 Jan 2011 14:42:32 EST news213979325 A straightforward new way to calculate, compile, and graphically present solar radiation measurements in a format that is accessible to decision makers and the general public has been developed by researchers at the University of Texas at Austin. http://phys.org/news213965821.html Technology Tue, 11 Jan 2011 10:57:19 EST news213965821 (PhysOrg.com) -- If the house seems dustier than it used to be, it may not be a reflection on your housekeeping skills. The amount of dust in the Earth's atmosphere has doubled over the last century, according to a new study; and the dramatic increase is influencing climate and ecology around the world. http://phys.org/news213468297.html Space & Earth Wed, 05 Jan 2011 16:49:11 EST news213468297 As every middle-school child knows, in the process of photosynthesis, plants take the sun's energy and convert it to electrical energy. Now a Tel Aviv University team has demonstrated how a member of the animal kingdom, the Oriental hornet, takes the sun's energy and converts it into electric power -- in the brown and yellow parts of its body -- as well. http://phys.org/news213449447.html Physics Wed, 05 Jan 2011 11:31:02 EST news213449447 A research team from ETH Zurich, PSI, and Caltech demonstrates the stable, efficient and rapid generation of solar fuels. They apply a thermochemical cycle based on ceria redox reactions to thermochemically split water and CO2 using a novel solar cavity-receiver reactor under concentrated solar radiation. Their remarkable findings are reported in the latest issue of Science. http://phys.org/news213361624.html Technology Tue, 04 Jan 2011 11:07:30 EST news213361624 AFOSR-supported research at the University of Arizona is investigating high temperature resistant ceramic coatings that will provide thermal protection for Air Force hypersonic flight vehicles. http://phys.org/news212232752.html Technology Wed, 22 Dec 2010 09:50:01 EST news212232752 Two satellite instruments aboard NASA's Solar Radiation & Climate Experiment (SORCE) mission -- the Total Solar Irradiance Monitor (TIM) and the Solar Irradiance Monitor (SIM) -- have made daily measurements of the sun's brightness since 2003. http://phys.org/news211742444.html Space & Earth Thu, 16 Dec 2010 17:40:21 EST news211742444 (AP) -- Like the warming atmosphere above, a once-taboo idea hangs over the slow, frustrating U.N. talks to curb climate change: the idea to tinker with the atmosphere or the planet itself, pollute the skies to ward off the sun, fill the oceans with gas-eating plankton, do whatever it takes. http://phys.org/news210762601.html Space & Earth Sun, 05 Dec 2010 09:10:15 EST news210762601 Global climate models disagree widely in the magnitude of the warming we can expect with increasing carbon dioxide. This is mainly because the models represent clouds differently. A new modeling approach successfully simulates the observed cloud fields in a key region for climate. The study finds a greater tendency for clouds to thin with global warming than in any of the current climate models. This means the expected warming may be greater than currently anticipated. http://phys.org/news209668141.html Space & Earth Mon, 22 Nov 2010 17:09:39 EST news209668141 How are circadian clocks able to synchronize themselves accurately to the day/night cycle without taking account of extreme light intensity fluctuations over the course of a single day or from one day to the next? The mathematical analysis of the activity profiles of two central genes of the circadian clock of a microscopic green alga has recently been carried out by French researchers from the Observatoire Oceanologique de Banyuls at CNRS. This study reveals that the circadian clock is only sensitive to light if it is out of sync and needs to be reset. This work has recently been published in the journal PloS Computational Biology. http://phys.org/news209643342.html Biology Mon, 22 Nov 2010 10:16:02 EST news209643342 An international team, including Jean-Loup Bertaux, CNRS senior researcher, has discovered a layer of sulfur dioxide (SO2) in the upper atmosphere of Venus. The researchers obtained this result using measurements performed by ESA's Venus Express spacecraft. They propose a new mechanism to explain this unexpected result. SO2 is of particular interest to them since this gas could be used to cool down the Earth via a geo-engineering process put forward by Chemistry Nobel Laureate Paul Crutzen. http://phys.org/news209139215.html Space & Earth Tue, 16 Nov 2010 14:14:06 EST news209139215 Nine years after beginning its unprecedented look at the gateway between Earth's environment and space, not to mention collecting more data on the upper atmosphere than any other satellite, NASA's Thermosphere Ionosphere Mesosphere Energetics and Dynamics (TIMED) mission has been extended again. http://phys.org/news208183335.html Space & Earth Fri, 05 Nov 2010 13:43:03 EST news208183335 GE is introducing a super-eco refrigerator, and I predict some versions will be a hard sell. Not because the fridge isn't an ecological breakthrough. It is. http://phys.org/news207833656.html Technology Mon, 01 Nov 2010 13:20:01 EST news207833656 (PhysOrg.com) -- The sun isn't kind to objects without atmospheres. Bombarded by solar radiation, the surfaces of some comets, for example, tend to be a charred carbon-black. But the 1,000 objects so far directly imaged in the Kuiper Belt – that swath of icy bodies circling around the sun with Pluto – appear to be a wide range of colors: red, blue, and white. http://phys.org/news207563337.html Space & Earth Fri, 29 Oct 2010 09:29:48 EST news207563337 In solar cells, solar radiation boosts electrons to higher energy states, thereby releasing them from their atomic bonds as electricity begins to flow. Scientists led by Professor Alexander Holleitner, physicist at the Technische Universitaet Muenchen (TUM, Germany), have developed a novel method to analyze the way photogenerated electrons move in the smallest photodetectors. They present the fruits of their research in the current issue of the magazine Nano Letters. http://phys.org/news206898758.html Nanotechnology Thu, 21 Oct 2010 16:52:49 EST news206898758 Terrestrial vegetation and atmospheric photochemistry produce large amounts of fine particles in the atmosphere, thereby cooling Earth's climate. According to new research published in the Oct. 14 issue of Nature, the physical state of the fine particles produced by coniferous forests is solid, whereas previously scientists have assumed that these particles were liquid. The new findings have major implications for our understanding of particle formation processes, for the transformation of particles in the atmosphere and for their effects on climate. http://phys.org/news206268320.html Space & Earth Thu, 14 Oct 2010 09:45:38 EST news206268320 There may be better ways to engineer the planet's climate to prevent dangerous global warming than mimicking volcanoes, a University of Calgary climate scientist says in two new studies. http://phys.org/news203078685.html Space & Earth Tue, 07 Sep 2010 11:45:08 EST news203078685 New research shows that multiple sclerosis (MS) activity can increase during spring and summer months. The research is published in the August 31, 2010, issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. http://phys.org/news202394114.html Medicine & Health Mon, 30 Aug 2010 16:00:01 EST news202394114 Increasing the ratio of black carbon to sulfate in the atmosphere increases climate warming, suggests a study conducted by a University of Iowa professor and his colleagues and published in the July 25 issue of the journal Nature Geoscience. http://phys.org/news199632687.html Space & Earth Thu, 29 Jul 2010 14:31:47 EST news199632687 NASA-funded researchers are monitoring a big event in our planet's atmosphere. High above Earth's surface where the atmosphere meets space, a rarefied layer of gas called "the thermosphere" recently collapsed and now is rebounding again. http://phys.org/news198429352.html Space & Earth Thu, 15 Jul 2010 17:40:03 EST news198429352 (PhysOrg.com) -- The first ever hybrid solar-coal power plant is now operating at Unit 2 of the Cameo Generating Station near Palisade in Colorado. The demonstration project was built by Xcel Energy as part of its new Innovative Clean Technology (ICT) Program, and is designed to decrease the use of coal, increase the plant’s efficiency, lower carbon dioxide emissions, and test the commercial viability of combining the two technologies. http://phys.org/news198135102.html Technology Mon, 12 Jul 2010 09:10:01 EST news198135102 The first experimental evidence showing how atmospheric nitrogen can be incorporated into organic macromolecules is being reported by a University of Arizona team. http://phys.org/news197052398.html Chemistry Tue, 29 Jun 2010 17:46:56 EST news197052398 One proposed emergency fix to halt global warming is to seed clouds over the ocean to make them more reflective, reducing the solar radiation absorbed by the Earth. But the scheme could also change global rainfall patterns, raising concerns of water shortages on land. A new study by the Carnegie Institution, in collaboration with the Indian Institute of Science, suggests that altered atmospheric circulation under the scheme in fact could increase monsoonal rains and cause the continents to become wetter, not drier, on average. http://phys.org/news196945435.html Space & Earth Mon, 28 Jun 2010 12:04:22 EST news196945435 (PhysOrg.com) -- A new "transfer-printing" method of making light-sensitive semiconductors could make solar cells, night-vision cameras, and a range of other devices much more efficient, and could transform the solar industry. http://phys.org/news193557233.html Physics Thu, 20 May 2010 08:00:02 EST news193557233 (PhysOrg.com) -- Native Americans used smoke signals to indicate danger, and a white plume is sent up by the Vatican when a new Pope is chosen. Now, a new research project by Tel Aviv University researchers and their colleagues shows that where there's "smoke" there may be significant consequences for local weather patterns, rainfall and thunderstorms. http://phys.org/news191166996.html Space & Earth Thu, 22 Apr 2010 14:57:47 EST news191166996 Shade trees are the superstars of urban landscapes. In addition to their intrinsic aesthetic qualities, these low-tech workhorses reduce air and noise pollution, provide habitat for wildlife, increase property values, and offer cool respite for harried urbanites. Strategically planted shade trees decrease energy usage in urban buildings, absorb carbon dioxide, and supply fresh oxygen. It's no coincidence that researchers around the world are working to find the best shade trees for all types of urban environments. http://phys.org/news191060987.html Biology Wed, 21 Apr 2010 09:29:55 EST news191060987