Drought affects the carbon cycle in Georgia blackwater rivers
(Phys.org) —Droughts might be affecting how Georgia's blackwater rivers process carbon, according to a new study led by an ecologist while he was at the University of Georgia. The results, which were...
View ArticleSubstance in photosynthesis was at work in ancient, methane-producing...
A team of researchers led by Virginia Tech and University of California, Berkeley, scientists has discovered that a regulatory process that turns on photosynthesis in plants at daybreak likely...
View ArticleResearch team develops rapid smartphone-based mercury testing and mapping
(Phys.org) —A team of researchers from the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science has developed a smartphone attachment and application to test water for the presence of mercury,...
View ArticleScientists find 800,000-year-old footprints in UK (Update)
They were a British family on a day out—almost a million years ago.
View ArticleApple takes $14B bite of its stock via buyback (Update)
Apple has repurchased $14 billion of its stock in the two weeks after its first-quarter financial results and second-quarter revenue outlook disappointed investors.
View ArticleProteins snap those wrinkly fingers back into shape
You know how your fingers wrinkle up in the bath? The outer layer of your skin absorbs water and swells up, forming ridges – but quickly returns to its old state when dry. Two physicists, Professor...
View ArticleHow did early Earth protect itself against the cold?
Earth's Sun was a weakling when it was younger. Around three or four billion years ago, the star's energy was about 20 percent to 25 percent lower than what's experienced today. If that was still true...
View ArticleDigital music gets a cubist makeover
An 8-inch wooden cube may be an unlikely spark for a musical revolution – but that's the hope of a collaboration of electronic engineers and musicians working towards hackable electronic instruments...
View ArticleA custom-built rig can put rock samples under the levels of strain they...
(Phys.org) —"I have always been interested in the origins of plate tectonics," said Philip Skemer, PhD, assistant professor in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences in Arts & Sciences at...
View ArticleBottom-up insight into crowd dynamics
Stampedes unfortunately occur on too regular a basis. Previously, physicists developed numerous models of crowd evacuation dynamics. Their analyses focused on disasters such as the yearly Muslim Hajj...
View ArticleNew application of physics tools used in biology
A Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory physicist and his colleagues have found a new application for the tools and mathematics typically used in physics to help solve problems in biology.
View ArticleShape-sifting: NIST categorizes bio scaffolds by characteristic cell shapes
Getting in the right shape might be just as important in a biology lab as a gym. Shape is thought to play an important role in the effectiveness of cells grown to repair or replace damaged tissue in...
View ArticleRugged, rapid monitor safeguards space crews
There are few things as important on, and especially off, Earth as breathable, quality air. When air quality is compromised, we often don't have seconds to spare, which is why development of the...
View ArticleSocial or stinky? New study reveals how animal defenses evolve
When people see a skunk, the reaction usually is "Eww," but when they see a group of meerkats peering around, they often think "Aww."
View ArticleUS drops antitrust probe of Samsung over patents
US Department of Justice officials on Friday dropped an antitrust investigation into whether Samsung abused essential mobile gadget patents in its ongoing battle with Apple.
View ArticleCalifornia leaders push for smartphone kill switch (Update)
Legislation unveiled Friday in the state of California would require smartphones and other mobile devices to have a "kill switch" to render them inoperable if lost or stolen—a move that could be the...
View ArticleReports: NSA gets under 30 percent of phone data (Update)
The National Security Agency collects less than 30 percent of calling data from Americans despite the agency's massive daily efforts to sweep up the bulk of U.S. phone records, two U.S. newspapers...
View ArticleFear hackers? Sochi is little worse than elsewhere
How safe is Sochi for your electronics and personal data? The games, like nearly all international events, have sparked a series of online calls to arms, with various branches of the nebulous Anonymous...
View ArticleBottle released by US scientist in 1956 found
It was April 1956, and the No. 1 song was Elvis Presley's "Heartbreak Hotel." At the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution on Cape Cod, scientist Dean Bumpus was busy releasing glass bottles into the...
View ArticleWASP gives NASA's planetary scientists new observation platform
Scientists who study Earth, the sun and stars have long used high-altitude scientific balloons to carry their telescopes far into the stratosphere for a better view of their targets. Not so much for...
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