Hong Kong saw its first electric taxis hit the streets on Saturday in a step towards reducing the city's high levels of roadside pollution.

Technology - Energy & Green Tech

10 hours ago 5 / 5 (3) 4

The massive ball of iron sitting at the center of Earth is not quite as "rock-solid" as has been thought, say two Stanford mineral physicists. By conducting experiments that simulate the immense pressures deep in the planet's ...

Space & Earth - Earth Sciences

May 17, 2013 4.4 / 5 (10) 2 |

Nanotechnology draws on the fabrication of nanostructures. Scientists have now succeeded in growing a unique carbon structure at the nanoscale that resembles a tiny twirled mustache. Their method might lead ...

Nanotechnology - Nanophysics

May 16, 2013 5 / 5 (1) 0

(Phys.org) —Among its many talents, silver is an antibiotic. Titanium dioxide is known to glom on to certain heavy metals and pollutants. Yet other materials do the same for salt. In recent years, environmental ...

Nanotechnology - Nanomaterials

May 15, 2013 4.8 / 5 (5) 0 |

Anyone who has seen pictures of the giant, red-hot cauldrons in which steel is made—fed by vast amounts of carbon, and belching flame and smoke—would not be surprised to learn that steelmaking is one of the world's leading ...

Chemistry - Materials Science

May 08, 2013 4 / 5 (16) 1 |

(Phys.org) —North Carolina State University researchers have identified a new mechanism to convert natural gas into energy up to 70 times faster, while effectively capturing the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide ...

Chemistry - Materials Science

May 07, 2013 4.5 / 5 (25) 10 |

Scientists from the Smithsonian and the University of Rhode Island have found unsuspected linkages between the oxidation state of iron in volcanic rocks and variations in the chemistry of the deep Earth. ...

Space & Earth - Earth Sciences

May 02, 2013 4.6 / 5 (7) 0 |

(Phys.org) —Every year millions of birds make heroic migratory journeys across oceans and continents guided by the Earth's magnetic field. How they detect those magnetic fields has puzzled scientists for ...

Biology - Plants & Animals

Apr 26, 2013 4.7 / 5 (6) 0 |

Scientists have determined the temperature near the Earth's centre to be 6000 degrees Celsius, 1000 degrees hotter than in a previous experiment run 20 years ago. These measurements confirm geophysical models ...

Space & Earth - Earth Sciences

Apr 25, 2013 4.6 / 5 (69) 41 |

(Phys.org) —Nano-sized crystals of magnetic material can be found in a wide variety of organisms. Among the most studied are magnetotactic bacteria, which can orient and navigate using biosynthesized magnetosomes. ...

Physics - General Physics

Apr 25, 2013 5 / 5 (3) 0 |

(Phys.org) —Researchers from the University of Tübingen have been able to show for the first time how microorganisms contributed to the formation of the world's biggest iron ore deposits. The biggest known ...

Space & Earth - Earth Sciences

Apr 25, 2013 4.1 / 5 (7) 2 |

(Phys.org) —The overuse of nitrogen fertilizers in agriculture can wreak havoc on waterways, health and the environment. An international team of scientists aims to lessen the reliance on these fertilizers ...

Chemistry - Analytical Chemistry

Apr 22, 2013 2 / 5 (1) 0 |

Inspired by plant components that respond to external stimuli, material scientists from ETH Zurich have devised a new method for producing composite materials from a variety of materials that adopt a pre-programmed shape ...

Chemistry - Materials Science

Apr 16, 2013 5 / 5 (2) 1 |

(Phys.org) —Back in 2004, German scientists discovered traces of supernova ejecta that had been deposited in the deep-sea ferromanganese crust of the pacific ocean. They dated the supernova event to 2.8 ...

Space & Earth - Astronomy

Apr 16, 2013 4.6 / 5 (15) 3 |

It was a typically cold winter day when Greg Turner, a wildlife biologist with the Pennsylvania Game Commission, unlocked the gate at the historic Durham Mine in upper Bucks County, Pa., and stepped into the darkness.

Biology - Ecology

Apr 15, 2013 4 / 5 (1) 0