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 Twitter feed of satirical US news website The Onion was hacked Monday by a Syrian group aiming to inject its own sardonic spin on the deadly conflict. http://phys.org/news287077938.html Technology Mon, 06 May 2013 16:52:29 EST news287077938 In the wake of the recent announcement that laser weapons will be put on U.S. Navy ships, the need for reliable, high-voltage shipboard power has become a matter of national security, officials said at this week's Electric Ship Technologies Symposium outside Washington, D.C. The Office of Naval Research (ONR)-sponsored event featured some of the world's top scientists and engineers in power systems, who agree that a new era in electric power is within sight. http://phys.org/news286126613.html Technology Thu, 25 Apr 2013 16:37:15 EST news286126613 The US Navy said it is preparing to roll out a sea-based laser weapon capable of disabling small enemy vessels and shooting down surveillance drones. http://phys.org/news284709652.html Technology Tue, 09 Apr 2013 07:00:59 EST news284709652 Lockheed Martin today announced that it has successfully demonstrated a portable, ground-based military laser system in a series of tests against representative airborne targets. Lockheed Martin developed the Area Defense Anti-Munitions (ADAM) system to provide a defense against short-range threats, such as rockets and unmanned aerial systems. http://phys.org/news273318633.html Technology Wed, 28 Nov 2012 09:51:32 EST news273318633 Hollywood-style robots able to shoot people without permission from their human handlers are a real possibility and must be banned before governments start deploying them, campaigners warned Monday. http://phys.org/news272554217.html Electronics Mon, 19 Nov 2012 13:30:25 EST news272554217 On the south coast of South Africa, scientists have found evidence for an advanced stone age technology dated to 71,000 years ago at Pinnacle Point near Mossel Bay. This technology, allowing projectiles to be thrown at greater distance and killing power, takes hold in other regions of Africa and Eurasia about 20,000 years ago. When combined with other findings of advanced technologies and evidence for early symbolic behavior from this region, the research documents a persistent pattern of behavioral complexity that might signal modern humans evolved in this coastal location. http://phys.org/news271507874.html Other Sciences Wed, 07 Nov 2012 13:00:19 EST news271507874 The Cuban Missile Crisis took place 50 years ago this October, when US and Soviet leaders pulled back from the very brink of nuclear war. This was the closest the world has come to nuclear war, but exactly how close has been a matter of some speculation. The conflict, itself, has been analyzed and interpreted, but the number and types of nuclear weapons that were operational have not. According to fresh analysis available today in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, published by SAGE, senior experts calculate the nature of weapons capabilities on both sides, and write that the situation was even more perilous than history has previously acknowledged. http://phys.org/news269255482.html Other Sciences Fri, 12 Oct 2012 10:11:42 EST news269255482 A US cyber war against Iran's nuclear program may have only just begun and could escalate with explosions triggered by digital sabotage, experts say. http://phys.org/news261371839.html Technology Fri, 13 Jul 2012 04:17:34 EST news261371839 Nitric oxide (NO) is a versatile free radical that plays central roles in the environment as well as living organisms. At low concentration in the human body, for example, NO protects organs against pathogens by acting as a chemical weapon. Bacteria counter this response with respiratory enzymes called nitric oxide reductases (NORs) that effectively neutralize NO. By solving the crystal structure of the quinol-dependent reductase (qNOR) from the bacterium Geobacillus stearothermophilus (Fig. 1), a research team in Japan led by Yoshitsugu Shiro from the RIKEN SPring-8 Center, Harima, has provided insight into this microbial denitrification process. http://phys.org/news258358420.html Chemistry Fri, 08 Jun 2012 08:10:01 EST news258358420 (Phys.org) -- Forensic researchers at Florida International University have developed a groundbreaking method that can tie a shooter to the ammunition used to commit a crime, giving law enforcement agencies a new tool to solve cases. http://phys.org/news258191753.html Chemistry Wed, 06 Jun 2012 08:56:14 EST news258191753 Britain's Defense Ministry says an acoustic device that can be used as a "sonic weapon" will be deployed during the London Olympics. http://phys.org/news256318974.html Technology Tue, 15 May 2012 16:43:08 EST news256318974 To help Sailors defeat small boat threats and aerial targets without using bullets, the Office of Naval Research (ONR) wants to develop a solid-state laser weapon prototype that will demonstrate multi-mission capabilities aboard a Navy ship, officials announced May 8. http://phys.org/news255707820.html Technology Tue, 08 May 2012 14:58:14 EST news255707820 Northrop Grumman Corporation has test fired the first product in its next-generation FIRESTRIKE family of high-energy, solid-state lasers that meet goals for size and weight reduction and ruggedization for operational applications. http://phys.org/news255262507.html Technology Thu, 03 May 2012 11:16:29 EST news255262507 Advanced, flyable electronics and scene simulation technology sought for video synthetic aperture radar http://phys.org/news255165752.html Space & Earth Wed, 02 May 2012 09:20:01 EST news255165752 Portable gas sensors can allow you to search for explosives, diagnose medical conditions through a patient's breath, and decide whether it's safe to stay in a mine. http://phys.org/news255100757.html Chemistry Tue, 01 May 2012 14:19:35 EST news255100757 Scientists have discovered multiple gene switches in Salmonella that offer new ways to curb human infection. The discovery of the mechanisms of gene regulation could lead to the development of antibiotics to reduce the levels of disease caused by Salmonella. The breakthrough was made by Professor Jay Hinton, Stokes Professor of Microbial Pathogenesis, Trinity College Dublin and his research team* and has just been published in the leading journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). Science Foundation Ireland funded the research. http://phys.org/news254395231.html Biology Mon, 23 Apr 2012 15:00:01 EST news254395231 A sensation of unbearable, sudden heat seems to come out of nowhere -- this wave, a strong electromagnetic beam, is the latest non-lethal weapon unveiled by the US military this week. http://phys.org/news250654743.html Technology Sun, 11 Mar 2012 03:19:12 EST news250654743 The Stuxnet computer virus sabotage of Iran's nuclear program was a "good idea" but it lent legitimacy to the use of malicious software as a weapon, according to a former CIA director. http://phys.org/news249932240.html Technology Fri, 02 Mar 2012 17:37:26 EST news249932240 Japan has been developing a virus that could track down the source of a cyber attack and neutralise its programme, the daily Yomiuri Shimbun reported Sunday. http://phys.org/news244622558.html Technology Sun, 01 Jan 2012 06:42:53 EST news244622558 (PhysOrg.com) -- The Stuxnet cyber weapon that was designed to cripple control systems in Iran’s nuclear plant was just one of five weapons engineered in the same lab, and three have not been released yet. That is the word from Moscow based Kaspersky Lab. What’s more, according to Kaspersky’s director of global research, Costin Raiu, these Lego-like weapons work as modules, in that they are designed to fit together with each having different functions. They were developed on a single platform whose roots trace back at least to 2007; the creators have used the same software development environment ever since. http://phys.org/news244397958.html Technology Thu, 29 Dec 2011 16:19:36 EST news244397958 A US adversary would currently be unable to bring down the entire US electrical grid using cyber weapons but such a scenario is conceivable within two to five years, the former vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said Tuesday. http://phys.org/news242456703.html Technology Wed, 07 Dec 2011 05:20:01 EST news242456703 (AP) -- America's critical computer networks are so vulnerable to attack that it should deter U.S. leaders from going to war with other nations, a former top U.S. cybersecurity official said Monday. http://phys.org/news239945869.html Technology Tue, 08 Nov 2011 03:37:56 EST news239945869 In battle they take out Taliban fighters with joystick-controlled weapons, while back at base American soldiers hook up their Xboxes and kill their way through video games. http://phys.org/news237359756.html Technology Sun, 09 Oct 2011 06:16:19 EST news237359756 A major cyber attack in Europe that apparently was launched from Iran has revealed significant vulnerabilities in the Internet security systems used to authenticate websites for banking, email and e-commerce around the world. http://phys.org/news235051264.html Technology Mon, 12 Sep 2011 15:20:01 EST news235051264 Three hundred global cyber experts gathered in Tallinn Tuesday for a NATO Cyber Conflict conference focused on the legal and political aspects of national and global Internet security amid a rise in attacks. http://phys.org/news226667539.html Technology Tue, 07 Jun 2011 12:50:01 EST news226667539 Gang members are twice as likely to be crime victims than non-gang members and are more frequently subject to simple assault, aggravated assault and drive by shootings, according to a recently study by the Crime Victims' Institute at Sam Houston State University. http://phys.org/news221903275.html Other Sciences Wed, 13 Apr 2011 09:00:01 EST news221903275 Marking a milestone for the Navy, the Office of Naval Research and its industry partner on April 6 successfully tested a solid-state, high-energy laser (HEL) from a surface ship, which disabled a small target vessel. http://phys.org/news221478319.html Technology Fri, 08 Apr 2011 10:45:57 EST news221478319 (AP) -- Neutron bomb inventor Samuel T. Cohen, who designed the tactical nuclear weapon intended to kill people but do minimal damage to structures, has died, his son said Wednesday. http://phys.org/news210486375.html Other Sciences Thu, 02 Dec 2010 04:26:25 EST news210486375 (AP) -- Russia will load fuel into Iran's first nuclear power plant next week despite U.S. demands to prevent Iran obtaining nuclear energy until the country proves that it's not pursuing a weapons capacity, officials said Friday. http://phys.org/news200915130.html Other Sciences Fri, 13 Aug 2010 10:45:40 EST news200915130 (PhysOrg.com) -- An infrared laser developed by Arizona company Raytheon Missile Systems has been demonstrated shooting down incoming drones over the ocean off the coast of California. http://phys.org/news198904016.html Technology Wed, 21 Jul 2010 08:00:01 EST news198904016