Nearly everyone uses piezoelectrics: Be nice to know how they work
(Phys.org) —Piezoelectrics—materials that can change mechanical stress to electricity and back again—are everywhere in modern life. Computer hard drives. Loud speakers. Medical ultrasound. Sonar....
View ArticleEngineer brings new twist to sodium-ion battery technology with discovery of...
(Phys.org) —A Kansas State University engineer has made a breakthrough in rechargeable battery applications.
View ArticleResearchers show how building design impacts indoor bacteria
The Lillis Business Complex set the bar for sustainable buildings 10 years ago when it opened at the University of Oregon. Now microbes drawn from the dust in 155 of its rooms have provided clues that...
View ArticlePhysicists create synthetic magnetic monopole predicted more than 80 years ago
(Phys.org) —Nearly 85 years after pioneering theoretical physicist Paul Dirac predicted the possibility of their existence, an international collaboration led by Amherst College Physics Professor David...
View ArticleDinosaur fossils from China help researchers describe new 'Titan'
A team led by University of Pennsylvania paleontologists has characterized a new dinosaur based on fossil remains found in northwestern China. The species, a plant-eating sauropod named Yongjinglong...
View ArticleGoogle selling Motorola phone business to Lenovo for $2.9 billion (Update 2)
Google is selling Motorola's smartphone business to Lenovo for $2.9 billion, a price that makes Google's biggest acquisition look like its most expensive mistake.
View ArticleRecord lows for Australian tropical cyclone activity
The number of tropical cyclones hitting Queensland and Western Australia has fallen to low levels not seen for more than 500 years, new research published in Nature shows.
View ArticleDisappearing snow increases risk of collapsing ice shelves in Antarctica
A number of floating ice shelves in Antarctica are at risk of disappearing entirely in the next 200 years, as global warming reduces their snow cover. Their collapse would enhance the discharge of ice...
View ArticleA protein-production tale of the tape: Separating poly(A)-tail length from...
(Phys.org) —In higher animals, an embryo's protein production immediately after fertilization relies on messenger RNAs (mRNAs) inherited from the mother. But shortly thereafter, the tiny organism...
View ArticleComet 2013 A1 Siding Spring to buzz Mars
(Phys.org) —This spring, NASA will be paying cautious attention to a comet that could put on a barnstorming show at Mars on Oct. 19, 2014.
View ArticleHow to get ants to solve a chess problem
Take a set of chess pieces and throw them all away except for one knight. Place the knight on any one of the 64 squares of a chess board.
View ArticleResearch trio suggest intergenerational fertility correlations could reverse...
(Phys.org) —A trio of researchers at Stockholm University is suggesting that the current worldwide trend of low birth rates could reverse itself due to intergenerational fertility correlations. In...
View ArticlePesticides impair bees' ability to gather food, researchers find
(Phys.org) —Controversial pesticides ingested by bumble bees can seriously impact the insects' ability to collect food, even at very low levels of contamination, says new research from the University...
View ArticleNovel genes determine division of labor in insect societies
Novel or highly modified genes play a major role in the development of the different castes within ant colonies. Evolutionary biologists at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) came to this...
View ArticleSelf-cleaning solar panel coating optimizes energy collection, reduces costs
Soiling—the accumulation of dust and sand—on solar power reflectors and photovoltaic cells is one of the main efficiency drags for solar power plants, capable of reducing reflectivity up to 50 percent...
View ArticleExtinct Elephant Seal population reveals an evolutionary 'time-machine'
(Phys.org) —Genetic diversity within isolated populations can occur quite rapidly in evolutionary terms, according to findings of a paper published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B.
View ArticleResearch shows wallabies lose on the pokies
(Phys.org) —Biologists have discovered that a wallaby's perception of colour is more similar to a dog than a quokka, sparking questions as to why marsupial colour vision has evolved so selectively.
View ArticleHubble images spawn theory of how spiral galaxies turn into jellyfish before...
(Phys.org) —A trio of researchers, two from the University of Hawaii, and one from the University of Dunham in the U.K. has found evidence from the Hubble Space Telescope that suggests jellyfish...
View ArticleImproved low-temperature performance of catalytic converters
(Phys.org) —Toxic vehicle emissions, such as carbon monoxide and unburned hydrocarbons, are chemically converted to benign compounds, like carbon dioxide (CO2) and water, by catalytic converters....
View ArticleImage: A storm of stars in the Trifid nebula
(Phys.org) —A storm of stars is brewing in the Trifid nebula, as seen in this view from NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE. The stellar nursery, where baby stars are bursting into...
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