https://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. (Phys.org) —Synthetic biology is a science that aims to harness natural biological processes for other uses, such as in the manufacture of fuels and drugs. Now, synthetic biology researchers in the U.S. have developed a new method of incorporating the highly reactive fluoride into a wider range of molecules than was previously possible. https://phys.org/news/2013-09-method-incorporating-fluoride-drugs.html Biochemistry Fri, 06 Sep 2013 06:00:01 EDT news297662291 A group of robotics scientists in Japan have demonstrated their pneumatic robot, IBIS, which is designed for performing keyhole surgery. They say it may cost as little as one tenth the price of its main rival, Intuitive Surgical's da Vinci robot. https://phys.org/news/2013-07-japan-ibis-keyhole-surgery-robot.html Robotics Fri, 26 Jul 2013 06:00:01 EDT news294023640 Mathematicians in Scotland calculate that "self-replicating" alien probes could already have explored our solar system and may still be here but undetectable to our current technologies. https://phys.org/news/2013-07-self-replicating-alien-probes.html Space Exploration Fri, 19 Jul 2013 06:00:01 EDT news293421265 (Phys.org) —A company founded in New York in 2010 is aiming to lift the online video experience to a new level. Erick Schonfeld, a co-founder of the startup company TouchCast, said that the problems with video today are that it doesn't interface well with the Internet and that it hasn't yet achieved its full capabilities of interacting with other web content. https://phys.org/news/2013-06-touchcast-interactive-video-ipad-app.html Software Fri, 28 Jun 2013 04:30:01 EDT news291608188 (Phys.org) —Scientists in Japan have genetically engineered silkworms to create red, green or orange silks that glow under fluorescent lights. https://phys.org/news/2013-06-gm-silkworms-bred-fluorescent.html Materials Science Fri, 21 Jun 2013 06:00:01 EDT news291009171 (Phys.org) —In a Perspective in Science magazine this week, a Stanford Professor of Statistics re-examines Bayes' Theorem, its varying fortunes over the two-and-a-half centuries since it was proposed, and its current boom in popularity and likely future. https://phys.org/news/2013-06-bayesian-statistics-theorem-caution.html Mathematics Fri, 07 Jun 2013 09:15:47 EDT news289815312 (Phys.org) —A new study by chemists in Switzerland is likely to change the way many stereoisomer molecules are synthesized for industrial, agricultural, or medical uses. https://phys.org/news/2013-05-method-stereoisomers.html Materials Science Fri, 31 May 2013 06:00:01 EDT news289196938 (Phys.org) —Extraction of "unconventional" gas from sedimentary rocks such as shale could provide a clean energy source and help some regions to become energy independent, but concerns have been raised about risks such as the contamination of ground water. The current knowledge of these risks has now been assessed in a review published in Science this week. https://phys.org/news/2013-05-fracking-ground.html Environment Fri, 17 May 2013 04:50:05 EDT news287982631 (Phys.org) —A new study from Germany has studied the tiny dust particles within clouds and their influence on the climate. The influence of dust particles on cloud formation and on the chemical reactions within clouds has been poorly understood until now. https://phys.org/news/2013-05-involved-sulfate-production-clouds.html Earth Sciences Fri, 10 May 2013 07:20:05 EDT news287389194 (Phys.org) —A new study by scientists in the U.S. and Taiwan has shown that birds have colorful and patterned feathers because of specific cellular interactions involving stem cells rather than through the direct involvement of encoding in DNA. https://phys.org/news/2013-04-patterns-bird-feathers.html Plants & Animals Fri, 26 Apr 2013 05:55:35 EDT news286174523 (Phys.org) —A new mathematical analysis of Twitter messages has shown that happiness indicators increase logarithmically with distance from home, and that people who move around more are likely to be happier than those who stay close to home. https://phys.org/news/2013-04-math-pattern-analysis-twitter-users.html Mathematics Fri, 12 Apr 2013 05:08:38 EDT news284962091 (Phys.org) —A new study in the Netherlands has found a deep-sea microbe living in high-temperature hydro-thermal vents can thrive on chlorate and perchlorate anions. Perchlorate, an ingredient in rocket fuel and fireworks, is toxic to most organisms. https://phys.org/news/2013-04-archaeons-shown-fireworks-ingredient.html Cell & Microbiology Fri, 05 Apr 2013 06:01:21 EDT news284360468 (Phys.org) —A study on human mitochondrial DNA has led to a new estimate of the time at which humans first began to migrate out of Africa, which was much later than previously thought. https://phys.org/news/2013-03-africa-date-brought.html Archaeology Fri, 22 Mar 2013 05:30:01 EDT news283141316 (Phys.org) —A new study shows for the first time that microorganisms are thriving deep within the oceanic crust under the sea floor, and hence far from light or oxygen. https://phys.org/news/2013-03-microbes-surviving-deep-oceanic-crust.html Earth Sciences Fri, 15 Mar 2013 05:55:40 EDT news282545718 (Phys.org) —A new study of retirement plans in the US has demonstrated how adopting behavioral economics is encouraging people to increase their savings for retirement. https://phys.org/news/2013-03-behavioral-economics.html Economics & Business Fri, 08 Mar 2013 06:57:29 EST news281948241 (Phys.org)—A new study in the U.S. shows that fruit flies lay their eggs on a food source with a high alcohol content if they see parasitic wasps in the area, instead of a non-alcohol food. https://phys.org/news/2013-02-fruit-flies-medicate-larvae-alcohol.html Plants & Animals Fri, 22 Feb 2013 05:10:01 EST news280730795 (Phys.org)—A group of scientists at Oxford University in the UK have demonstrated their version of the self-driving car, which promises to be much cheaper than similar cars being developed elsewhere. https://phys.org/news/2013-02-uk-robotcar-video.html Engineering Fri, 15 Feb 2013 05:20:01 EST news280121226 (Phys.org)—A new study has found that in Australia electricity from new wind farms will be cheaper than that from new coal or gas power plants, which overturns the common presumption that renewables are more expensive than coal or gas. https://phys.org/news/2013-02-energy-australian-farms-cheaper-coal.html Energy & Green Tech Fri, 08 Feb 2013 05:10:03 EST news279521347 (Phys.org)—Two independent groups of scientists in the U.S. and Germany have reduced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) down to the nanoscale, which may enable them in the future to non-destructively detect and image small molecules such as proteins at room temperature and pressure. Previously, nanoscale imaging was only possible at extremely low temperatures and pressures. https://phys.org/news/2013-02-nanoscale-mri.html Nanophysics Fri, 01 Feb 2013 06:00:01 EST news278919577 (Phys.org)—A group of US researchers studying some of the oldest rocks in the world in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, say they have found the oldest traces of life on Earth, dated at 3.49 billion years old. https://phys.org/news/2013-01-earliest-evidence-life-billion-years.html Earth Sciences Fri, 04 Jan 2013 05:53:02 EST news276501174 (Phys.org)—The traditional genome sequencing process requires thousands of cells (or more) to provide sufficient DNA, and this means that variations that are only present in a small number of cells―such as early cancer cells―are missed. Now a new technique has been developed for effectively sequencing the DNA in an individual cell. https://phys.org/news/2012-12-method-sequencing-genome-cell.html Biotechnology Fri, 21 Dec 2012 05:20:01 EST news275285921 (Phys.org)—A research team in the southern Indian state of Kerala has discovered a new species of blind catfish living in a deep well. The newly discovered fish was named Horaglanis abdulkalami in honor of a former president of India, Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, whose contributions to science had inspired the scientists. https://phys.org/news/2012-12-catfish-eel-india.html Plants & Animals Fri, 14 Dec 2012 05:20:02 EST news274679610 (Phys.org)—One of the challenges of understanding the complex behavior of animals is to relate the behavior to the complex processes occurring within the brain. So far, neural models have not been able to bridge this gap, but a new software model, Spaun, goes some way to addressing this problem. https://phys.org/news/2012-11-spaun-human-brain-simulator-tasks.html Computer Sciences Fri, 30 Nov 2012 05:31:11 EST news273475850 (Phys.org)—Researchers in Germany and the US have used scaffolded DNA origami techniques to create ion channels or pores that span and penetrate lipid membranes and mimic natural ion channels. https://phys.org/news/2012-11-artificial-ion-channels-dna-origami.html Biochemistry Fri, 16 Nov 2012 05:30:01 EST news272262028 (Phys.org)—Boarding passes for travel on airlines in the US (and many other countries) now include barcodes, but an aviation security researcher has now learned that these barcodes can be read by readily available tools and are unencrypted. The barcodes include information on the level of security check the passenger will be required to satisfy when they pass through pre-boarding checks. https://phys.org/news/2012-10-airline-boarding-barcodes.html Software Fri, 26 Oct 2012 05:00:01 EDT news270440765 (Phys.org)—Silent Spring, by marine biologist Rachel Carson, was first published 50 years ago this month, and two Perspective articles in the Ecology section of the journal Science examine the legacy of this book, which inspired the environmental movement we have today. https://phys.org/news/2012-09-carson-silent.html Ecology Fri, 28 Sep 2012 05:21:33 EDT news268028482 (Phys.org)—A US scientist has proposed that a new planetary boundary be used to analyze the effects of human activities on the planet. He warns that there are definite biophysical limits to growth in human population, economies and consumption, and that limits in some variables might already have been reached. https://phys.org/news/2012-09-planetary-boundary-effects-human.html Environment Fri, 21 Sep 2012 05:29:42 EDT news267424171 (Phys.org)—Hybrids of many plant and animal species and subspecies are sterile, and a group of researchers in China have now identified the genes that operate to make crossbred rice sterile. https://phys.org/news/2012-09-sterility-genes-hybrid-rice.html Biotechnology Fri, 14 Sep 2012 06:20:01 EDT news266822187 (Phys.org)—Researchers from Scotland suggest that stereotypes form and evolve over time through social transmission of information, similar to the way in which languages evolve. https://phys.org/news/2012-09-evolution-stereotypes.html Social Sciences Fri, 07 Sep 2012 05:20:01 EDT news266210376 (Phys.org)—A new US study has found a way of enabling larger nanoparticles than previously to penetrate brain tissues, which may provide a new means of delivering therapeutic drugs to brain tissues for targeted treatment of conditions such as brain tumors and strokes. https://phys.org/news/2012-08-polymer-coating-nanoparticles-diffuse-brain.html Bio & Medicine Fri, 31 Aug 2012 05:40:01 EDT news265603000