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News tagged with assumption

Calling familiar assumptions into question results in better materials design

(Phys.org) -- Carbon and fluorine are at the heart of a family of chemical compounds that can be used for nonstick coatings, blood substitutes, and seemingly everything in between.

Chemistry / Materials Science

created May 23, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Study finds low agreeableness linked to a preference for aggressive dogs

A study carried out at the University of Leicester's School of Psychology has found that younger people who are disagreeable are more likely to prefer aggressive dogs, confirming the conventional wisdom that dogs match the ...

Biology / Plants & Animals

created May 22, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Climate scientists discover new weak point of the Antarctic ice sheet

The Filchner-Ronne Ice Shelf fringing the Weddell Sea, Antarctica, may start to melt rapidly in this century and no longer act as a barrier for ice streams draining the Antarctic Ice Sheet. These predictions ...

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

created May 09, 2012 | popularity 4.1 / 5 (20) | comments 43 | with audio podcast

Quantum physicist explains $100K offer for proof scaled-up quantum computing is impossible

(PhysOrg.com) -- MIT researcher Scott Aaronson has certainly riled the physics community with his offer this past Friday, of $100,000 to anyone who can prove that scaled-up quantum computing is impossible. ...

Physics / Quantum Physics

created Feb 08, 2012 | popularity 4.1 / 5 (16) | comments 39 | with audio podcast weblog

New evidence for a preferred direction in spacetime challenges the cosmological principle

(PhysOrg.com) -- According to the cosmological principle, there is no special place or direction in the universe when viewed on the cosmic scale. The assumption enabled Copernicus to propose that Earth was ...

Physics / General Physics

created Sep 07, 2011 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (27) | comments 77 | with audio podcast weblog

Soft spheres settle in somewhat surprising structure

Latex paints and drug suspensions such as insulin or amoxicillin that do not need to be shaken or stirred may be possible thanks to a new understanding of how particles separate in liquids, according to Penn ...

Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials

created Jul 24, 2011 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (8) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

Google Dart debut sparks chatter of JavaScript coup

(PhysOrg.com) -- When the news appeared earlier this week that Google was unveiling a new programming language, Dart, for developers. tech blogs ignited with talk of how Google is staging a JavaScript coup. ...

Technology / Software

created Oct 12, 2011 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (3) | comments 0 | with audio podcast report

Study debunks myths about gender and math performance

A major study of recent international data on school mathematics performance casts doubt on some common assumptions about gender and math achievement — in particular, the idea that girls and women have less ability due ...

Other Sciences / Mathematics

created Dec 12, 2011 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (5) | comments 10 | with audio podcast

Ecology biased against non-native species?

The recent field of invasion biology faces a new challenge as 19 eminent ecologists issue a call to "end the bias against non-native species" in the journal Nature.

Biology / Ecology

created Jun 08, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (5) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

Setting the stage for life: Scientists make key discovery about the atmosphere of early Earth

Scientists in the New York Center for Astrobiology at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have used the oldest minerals on Earth to reconstruct the atmospheric conditions present on Earth very soon after its birth. The findings, ...

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

created Nov 30, 2011 | popularity 4.4 / 5 (7) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

An abundance of small stars

(PhysOrg.com) -- Stars form from giant clouds of gas and dust in space, as the matter in these clouds comes together under the influence of gravity.

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Dec 10, 2010 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (8) | comments 10 | with audio podcast

The general link between worker happiness and productivity challenged

Managers encouraging employees to be more proactive and flexible do make gains in performance and productivity. But this is at the expense of employee job satisfaction, according to the latest research in the journal Human Re ...

Other Sciences / Social Sciences

created Jan 23, 2012 | popularity 3.5 / 5 (2) | comments 0

Older people are happier in Brazil and South Africa

Contrary to belief, older people in South Africa and Brazil become happier as they age. New research suggests that, with the right policies in place, a developing country can significantly improve the wellbeing of its older ...

Other Sciences / Social Sciences

created Oct 03, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Parents prefer media content ratings system to age-based ratings in new national study

Although parents appreciate having media ratings systems to help protect their kids from questionable content in movies, video games and television, the current age-based system doesn't meet their needs, according to a new ...

Other Sciences / Social Sciences

created Jun 20, 2011 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

The benefits of biotech: How GM crops benefit farmers and the developing world

The biotech industry boosted farming across the globe to the tune of almost $65 billion during the period 1996 to 2009, according to the latest analysis published in the International Journal of Biotechnology. $65 billio ...

Biology / Biotechnology

created Sep 19, 2011 | popularity 1 / 5 (2) | comments 3