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From lemons to lemonade: Reaction uses carbon dioxide to make carbon-based semiconductor

(Phys.org) -- A materials scientist at Michigan Technological University has discovered a chemical reaction that not only eats up the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide, it also creates something useful. And, by ...

Chemistry / Materials Science

created May 21, 2012 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (89) | comments 33 | with audio podcast

Every black hole contains a new universe: A physicist presents a solution to present-day cosmic mysteries

Our universe may exist inside a black hole. This may sound strange, but it could actually be the best explanation of how the universe began, and what we observe today. It's a theory that has been explored ...

Physics / General Physics

created May 18, 2012 | popularity 4.2 / 5 (86) | comments 234 | with audio podcast

New nanostructure for batteries keeps going and going

(Phys.org) -- For more than a decade, scientists have tried to improve lithium-based batteries by replacing the graphite in one terminal with silicon, which can store 10 times more charge. But after just a ...

Nanotechnology / Nanophysics

created May 11, 2012 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (67) | comments 28 | with audio podcast

Engineer thinks we could build a real starship enterprise in 20 years

In Star Trek lore, the first Starship Enterprise will be built by the year 2245. But today, an engineer has proposed — and outlined in meticulous detail – building a full-sized, ion-powered version ...

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created May 14, 2012 | popularity 4.1 / 5 (49) | comments 69

Penn astrophysicists zero in on gravity theory

(Phys.org) -- Most people take gravity for granted. But for University of Pennsylvania astrophysicist Bhuvnesh Jain, the nature of gravity is the question of a lifetime. As scientists have been able to see ...

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created May 11, 2012 | popularity 4.4 / 5 (39) | comments 255 | with audio podcast

New silicon memory chip developed

(Phys.org) -- The first purely silicon oxide-based 'Resistive RAM' memory chip that can operate in ambient conditions – opening up the possibility of new super-fast memory - has been developed by researchers ...

Technology / Semiconductors

created May 18, 2012 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (32) | comments 16 | with audio podcast

Earth has less water than you think

If you were to take all of the water on Earth — all of the fresh water, sea water, ground water, water vapor and water inside our bodies — take all of it and somehow collect it into a single, giant ...

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

created May 08, 2012 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (33) | comments 123

Landmark calculation clears the way to answering how matter is formed

(Phys.org) -- An international collaboration of scientists, including Thomas Blum, associate professor of physics, is reporting in landmark detail the decay process of a subatomic particle called a kaon – ...

Physics / General Physics

created May 25, 2012 | popularity 4.2 / 5 (30) | comments 57 | with audio podcast

Al Qaeda suspect's porn film found to contain treasure trove of secret documents

A suspected member of the Al Qaeda terrorist group, arrested in May last year in Germany, was found with a memory stick hidden in his underwear. Police discovered the stick contained a password-protected folder ...

Technology / Other

created May 04, 2012 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (29) | comments 44 | with audio podcast report

Computing experts unveil superefficient 'inexact' chip

Researchers have unveiled an "inexact" computer chip that challenges the industry's dogmatic 50-year pursuit of accuracy. The design improves power and resource efficiency by allowing for occasional errors. ...

Technology / Computer Sciences

created May 17, 2012 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (25) | comments 44 | with audio podcast

SpaceX private rocket blasts off for space station (Update)

A first-of-its-kind commercial supply ship rocketed toward the International Space Station following a successful liftoff early Tuesday, opening a new era of dollar-driven spaceflight.

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created May 22, 2012 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (24) | comments 42

Research team claims to have found evidence Lake Cheko is impact crater for Tunguska Event

(Phys.org) -- Early on the morning of June 30th, 1908, a huge explosion occurred in a remote part of Siberia near the Podkamennaya Tunguska River. So great was the blast that trees were knocked down in neat ...

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

created May 21, 2012 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (24) | comments 20 | with audio podcast report

Social welfare cuts ultimately come with heavy price, researchers say

(Phys.org) -- Slashing government funding for Medicaid, food stamps and other programs that serve the poor – while politically popular with some lawmakers and many conservatives – may do more harm ...

Other Sciences / Social Sciences

created May 24, 2012 | popularity 4.2 / 5 (25) | comments 174

Climate scientists say they have solved riddle of rising sea

Massive extraction of groundwater can resolve a puzzle over a rise in sea levels in past decades, scientists in Japan said on Sunday.

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

created May 20, 2012 | popularity 4.2 / 5 (25) | comments 32

New finding may hold key to Gaia hypothesis of Earth as living organism

(Phys.org) -- Is Earth really a sort of giant living organism as the Gaia hypothesis predicts? A new discovery made at the University of Maryland may provide a key to answering this question. This key of sulfur ...

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

created May 15, 2012 | popularity 3.3 / 5 (31) | comments 164 | with audio podcast