news 2010

Chemistry - Physics/Astronomy - 17.05
In chemical reactions, water adds speed without heat
An international team of researchers has discovered how adding trace amounts of water can tremendously speed up chemical reactions-such as hydrogenation and hydrogenolysis-in which hydrogen is one of the reactants, or starting materials.

Physics/Astronomy - Mechanical Engineering/Mechanics - 11.05
Few new atomic structures
Drawing on powerful computational tools and a state-of-the-art scanning transmission electron microscope, a team of University of Wisconsin-Madison and Iowa State University materials science and engineering researchers has discovered a new nanometer-scale atomic structure in solid metallic materials known as metallic glasses.

Earth Sciences - Physics/Astronomy - 10.05
Researchers Gain Greater Insight into Earthquake Cycles
For those who study earthquakes, one major challenge has been trying to understand all the physics of a fault—both during an earthquake and at times of "rest"—in order to know more about how a particular region may behave in the future.

Physics/Astronomy - Chemistry - 9.05
Infrared LEDs can be made cheaper, compatible with silicon
Light-emitting diodes at infrared wavelengths are the magic behind such things as night vision and optical , including the streaming data that comes through Netflix. Cornell researchers have advanced the process of making such LEDs cheaper and easier to fabricate, which could lead to ultra-thin LEDs painted onto silicon to replace computer wiring with light waves.

Physics/Astronomy - Chemistry - 8.05
UCLA life scientists unlock mystery of how ’handedness’ arises
The overwhelming majority of proteins and other functional molecules in our bodies display a striking molecular characteristic: They can exist in two distinct forms that are mirror images of each other, like your right hand and left hand.

Physics/Astronomy - 4.05
New way to control nonvolatile magnetic memory devices
Cornell researchers have demonstrated a new strategy for making energy- efficient, reliable nonvolatile magnetic memory devices - which retain information without electric power. Reported online May 3, the researchers use a physical phenomenon called the spin Hall effect, that turns out to be useful for memory applications because it can switch magnetic poles back and forth - the basic mechanism needed to make magnet-based computer memory.

Physics/Astronomy - 3.05
Increasing speed of Greenland glaciers gives new insight for rising sea level
Changes in the speed that ice travels in more than 200 outlet glaciers indicates that Greenland's contribution to rising sea level in the 21 st century might be significantly less than the upper limits some scientists thought possible, a new study shows.

Physics/Astronomy - Chemistry - 1.05
New UCLA method quickly IDs nanomaterials that can cause oxidative damage to cells
Engineered nanomaterials, prized for their unique semiconducting properties, are already prevalent in everyday consumer products — from sunscreens, cosmetics and paints to textiles and solar batteries — and economic forecasters are predicting the industry will grow into $1 trillion business in the next few years.

Medicine/Pharmacology - Physics/Astronomy - 29.04
With random lasers, Yale researchers fight random noise, improve imaging
Using "random lasers" as a source of illumination in medical imaging equipment could improve both processing time and the clarity of the final images, according to new research by Yale University scientists.

Physics/Astronomy - Mechanical Engineering/Mechanics - 25.04
Three Earthlike planets identified
It's not little green men, but it could be a step in that direction: astronomers, using data from the NASA Kepler Mission, have identified three Earthlike planets orbiting their own suns, all of which could be hospitable to life.

Physics/Astronomy - 23.04
PPPL scientists propose a solution to a critical barrier to producing fusion
Physicists from the U.S. Department of Energy's Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) have discovered a possible solution to a mystery that has long baffled researchers working to harness fusion.

Physics/Astronomy - 17.04
Some Stars Capture Rogue Planets
Cambridge, MA - New research suggests that billions of stars in our galaxy have captured rogue planets that once roamed interstellar space. The nomad worlds, which were kicked out of the star systems in which they formed, occasionally find a new home with a different sun.

Physics/Astronomy - Chemistry - 11.04
Ferroelectric oxides do the twist
Some materials, by their nature, do what we want them to do - notably, the ubiquitous, semiconducting silicon found in almost every electronic device. But sometimes, naturally occurring materials need a little nudge - or in the case of recent Cornell research, a twist - to make them useful.

Physics/Astronomy - Chemistry - 2.04
’Tunable’ metal nanostructures for fuel cells, batteries and solar energy
For catalysts in fuel cells and electrodes in batteries, engineers would like to manufacture metal films that are porous, to make more surface area available for chemical reactions, and highly conductive, to carry off the electricity.

Physics/Astronomy - Chemistry - 28.03
UC San Diego Physicists Find Patterns in New State of Matter
Physicists at the University of California, San Diego have discovered patterns which underlie the properties of a new state of matter. the scientists describe the emergence of "spontaneous coherence," "spin textures" and "phase singularities" when excitons - the bound pairs of electrons and holes that determine the optical properties of semiconductors and enable them to function as novel optoelectronic devices - are cooled to near absolute zero.