Designer sugarcane, not switchgrass, being retooled to produce biofuels
Remember switchgrass? In his State of the Union address in 2006, President George W. Bush suggested scientists use switchgrass to produce an ecologically friendly fuel. Cellulosic ethanol, he called...
View ArticleRethinking surface tension
(Phys.org) —If you've ever watched a drop of water form into a bead or a water strider scoot across a pond, you are familiar with a property of liquids called surface tension.
View ArticleFlavonoids: Little changes—large effects
(Phys.org) —Scientists at the University of York have discovered that very small chemical changes to dietary flavonoids cause very large effects when the plant natural products are tested for their...
View ArticleFor better li-ion batteries, scientists watch one at work
(Phys.org) —Using x-rays at the National Synchrotron Light Source (NSLS), a group of researchers has studied, in great detail, the nanoscale workings of a lithium-ion battery, learning new information...
View ArticleCosmic ray finding: Researchers take a step closer to finding cosmic ray origins
(Phys.org) —The origin of cosmic rays in the universe has confounded scientists for decades. But a study by researchers using data from the IceCube Neutrino Observatory at the South Pole reveals new...
View ArticleSmart sock for baby monitoring in funding campaign
(Phys.org) —Owlet Baby Monitors, a Salt Lake City business, is self-raising funds for its product, Owlet Vitals Monitor, a "smart" sock on the baby that can monitor vital signs and can send the...
View ArticleNovel statistical approach for understanding microbial community ecology
To enhance the study of subsurface microbial communities underlying the U.S. Department of Energy's Hanford Site, scientists at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory developed a novel analytical...
View ArticleBetter oxygen extraction attracts commercial interest
Developing highly efficient ion transport membranes for the extraction of oxygen for industrial and medical use has earned a team of Curtin University scientists first prize in the university's...
View ArticleFifth endemic NZ songbird family identified
New Zealand's unique biodiversity has been strengthened with the identification of a new endemic songbird family—the family Mohouidae—which includes the endangered Yellowhead, the Whitehead and the...
View ArticlePhysics team suggests possible way to make quantum cryptography available in...
(Phys.org) —A team of physicists at Bristol University in the U.K. has proposed a possible way to allow for quantum cryptography between a large station and a small hand held device. They describe such...
View ArticleThe more the merrier: Promiscuity in mice is a matter of free choice
(Phys.org) —In many species, females frequently mate with more than one male. Researchers at the University of Veterinary Medicine in Vienna (Vetmeduni Vienna) aimed to find out why. In experiments on...
View ArticleSea-level rise drives shoreline retreat in Hawaii
Sea-level rise (SLR) has been isolated as a principal cause of coastal erosion in Hawaii. Differing rates of relative sea-level rise on the islands of Oahu and Maui, Hawaii remain as the best...
View ArticleChemistry team creates spontaneously forming supramolecular nanotube yarn
(Phys.org) —A team of chemists from the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing has created an alternative to carbon nanotubes. In their paper published in the journal Advanced Materials, the...
View ArticleAlaska tundra shows surprising resilience after unprecedented fire
Despite the size and severity of the massive 2007 Anaktuvuk River fire on Alaska's North Slope, much of the arctic vegetation has recovered and the tundra is likely to return to its pre-fire condition...
View ArticleMembranes contain beautiful patterns—but their function is a mystery
Biological cells are surrounded by a membrane, and here some of the most important processes for sustaining life take place. There can also be something very beautiful happening in membranes,...
View Article'Walking' shark discovered in Indonesia
A new species of shark that "walks" along the seabed using its fins as tiny legs has been discovered in eastern Indonesia, an environmental group said Friday.
View ArticleUsing math models to make predictions: How vegetation competes for rainfall...
The greater the plant density in a given area, the greater the amount of rainwater that seeps into the ground. This is due to a higher presence of dense roots and organic matter in the soil. Since...
View ArticleNew ocean forecast could help predict fish habitat six months in advance
People are now used to long-term weather forecasts that predict what the coming winter may bring. But University of Washington researchers and federal scientists have developed the first long-term...
View ArticleMosquitoes smell you better at night, study finds
In work published this week in Nature's Scientific Reports, a team of researchers from the University of Notre Dame's Eck Institute for Global Health, led by Associate Professor Giles Duffield and...
View ArticleApple launches iPhone trade-in program in US (Update)
Apple on Friday began letting US iPhone owners trade in their smartphones for credit toward buying new models.
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