Students capture the flight of birds on very high-speed video
Stanford mechanical engineering professor David Lentink and his students capture slow-motion video from the fastest wings in the bird world, with an eye toward building flying robots that take design...
View ArticleGraphene provides efficient electronics cooling
A layer of graphene can reduce the working temperature in hotspots inside a processor by up to 25 percent – which can significantly extend the working life of computers and other electronics. An...
View ArticleMars rover Opportunity passes half-way point to next destination
(Phys.org) —NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity has driven more than half of the distance needed to get from a site where it spent 22 months to its next destination.
View ArticleFermi team releases catalog of gamma-ray sources at energies above 10 GeV
(Phys.org) —The team of scientists associated with the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope mission has published a catalog of gamma-ray sources at energies above 10 GeV. In their paper uploaded to the...
View ArticleMicrosoft creates mood sensing software for smartphones
(Phys.org) —Microsoft Research Asia has been working on creating software called MoodScope that notes how a user uses his or her phone, and then uses that information to guess that user's mood. Initial...
View ArticleApplying diamond coatings at lower temperatures expands options for...
A new method for creating thin films of diamonds, which is described in the journal Applied Physics Letters, produced by AIP Publishing, may allow manufacturers to enhance future electronics.
View ArticleComputer programs improve fingerprint grading
Subjectivity is problematic when evaluating fingerprints, and quality is in the eye of the examiner. But three computer programs used together can give fingerprint grading unprecedented consistency and...
View ArticleIdentifying the meaning of words with multiple meanings, without using their...
Two Brazilian physicists have devised a method to automatically elucidate the meaning of words with several senses, based solely on their patterns of connectivity with nearby words in a given sentence...
View ArticleResearchers challenge long-held assumption of gene expression in embryonic...
Whitehead Institute researchers have determined that the transcription factor Nanog, which plays a critical role in the self-renewal of embryonic stem cells, is expressed in a manner similar to other...
View ArticleEvolution's toolkit seen in developing hands and arms
Thousands of sequences that control genes are active in the developing human limb and may have driven the evolution of the human hand and foot, a comparative genomics study led by Yale School of...
View ArticleFirst supper is a life changer for lizards
For young lizards born into this unpredictable world, their very first meal can be a major life changer. So say researchers who report evidence on July 3 in Current Biology, a Cell Press publication,...
View ArticleMilitary sonar can alter blue whale behavior
Some blue whales off the coast of California change their behavior when exposed to the sort of underwater sounds used during U.S. military exercises. The whales may alter diving behavior or temporarily...
View ArticleGreat ape genetic diversity catalog frames primate evolution, future...
A model of great ape history over the past 15 million years has been fashioned through the study of genetic variation in a large panel of humans, chimpanzees, gorillas and orangutans. The catalog of...
View ArticleFirst Firefox smartphone launches in Spain
The world's first consumer sales of a smartphone powered by the Firefox operating system have launched in Spain.
View ArticleA chimp-pig hybrid origin for humans?
(Phys.org) —These days, getting a Ph.D. is probably the last thing you want to do if you are out to revolutionize the world. If, however, what you propose is an idea, rather than a technology, it can...
View ArticleStudy shows hawkmoths use ultrasound to combat bats (w/ Video)
For years, pilots flying into combat have jammed enemy radar to get the drop on their opponents. It turns out that moths can do it, too.
View ArticleTweet timing tells bots, people and companies apart
Tweet timing can differentiate individual, corporate and bot-controlled Twitter accounts independent of the language or content of a tweet, according to research published July 3 in the open access...
View ArticleAnimal master-burglars: Cockatoos 'pick' puzzle box locks (w/ Video)
A species of Indonesian parrot can solve complex mechanical problems that involve undoing a series of locks one after another, revealing new depths to physical intelligence in birds.
View ArticleStudy of mitochondrial DNA ties ancient remains to living descendants
Researchers report that they have found a direct genetic link between the remains of Native Americans who lived thousands of years ago and their living descendants. The team used mitochondrial DNA,...
View ArticleAntifreeze, cheap materials may lead to low-cost solar energy
A process combining some comparatively cheap materials and the same antifreeze that keeps an automobile radiator from freezing in cold weather may be the key to making solar cells that cost less and...
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