New NIST nanoscale indenter takes novel approach to measuring surface properties
Researchers from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the University of North Carolina have demonstrated a new design for an instrument, a "instrumented nanoscale indenter,"...
View ArticleUS advances plan to kill barred owls in Northwest
(AP)—Federal wildlife officials plan to dispatch armed bird specialists into forests of the Pacific Northwest starting this fall to shoot one species of owl to protect another that is threatened with...
View ArticleThe ferromagnetic Kondo effect
A group of physicists that includes scientists of the International School for Advanced Studies (SISSA) of Trieste have shown how to obtain a particular case of a physical effect – so far never...
View ArticleStiffening the backbone of DNA nanofibers
An international collaboration including researchers from the NIST Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology and the Universidad San Francisco de Quito, Ecuador have fabricated a self-assembled...
View ArticleMale guppies ensure successful mating with genital claws
Some males will go to great lengths to pursue a female and take extreme measures to hold on once they find one that interests them, even if that affection is unrequited. New research from evolutionary...
View ArticleWatching molecule movements in live cells
The newly developed STED-RICS microscopy method records rapid movements of molecules in live samples. By combining raster image correlation spectroscopy (RICS) with STED fluorescence microscopy,...
View ArticleScientists unable to find evidence of 'embryonic-like' cells in marrow of...
Research on human embryonic stem cells has been a political and religious lightning rod for more than a decade.
View ArticleAn environmentally friendly battery made from wood
Taking inspiration from trees, scientists have developed a battery made from a sliver of wood coated with tin that shows promise for becoming a tiny, long-lasting, efficient and environmentally...
View ArticleUS tech firms losing business over PRISM: poll
Revelations about the US government's vast data collection programs have already started hurting American technology firms, according to an industry survey released this week.
View ArticleArtificial muscle contracts and expands with changes in humidity
(Phys.org) —A small plastic strip can do "weight training" to effortlessly lifts many times its own weight, driven by cyclic changes in the humidity of the surrounding air. This strong "artificial arm"...
View ArticleRules of attraction: Catching a peahen's eye
Getting the undivided attention of a female is tough at the best of times but it's even harder when surrounded by other male suitors. It's no wonder males often resort to ostentatious displays to...
View ArticleAre smart watches the next big thing?
If you're like most Americans, you don't wear a wristwatch. But increasingly, electronics companies are betting you'll slap one on your wrist if it's more like a smartphone than a simple timepiece.
View ArticleSeeing photosynthesis from space: NASA scientists use satellites to measure...
NASA scientists have established a new way to use satellites to measure what's occurring inside plants at a cellular level.
View ArticlePocket-sized sensor gives instant fat burning updates
Fitness fanatics may soon be able to gauge if their hard work is paying off without the need for weighing scales thanks to a new device that can instantly tell if your body is burning fat.
View ArticlePlaying Lego on an atomic scale
In a perspective review written for Nature, Sir Andre and Dr Irina Grigorieva, from The University of Manchester, discuss how layered materials can be split into isolated atomic planes and then...
View ArticleTechnology could bring high-end solar to the masses
Engineers at the University of California, Berkeley, have developed an inexpensive new way to grow thin films of a material prized in the semiconductor and photovoltaic industries, an achievement that...
View ArticleWood-boring gribbles intrigue researchers
Tiny wood borers known colloquially as gribbles make their own enzymes and use them to eat through docks in harbor towns, earning enmity from fishermen all around the world.
View ArticleClean, green high performance biofuels from carbon dioxide
Could there come a time in which the carbon dioxide emitted from natural gas or coal-burning power plants that warms the atmosphere and exacerbates global climate change is harvested and used to...
View ArticleProject Neptune: Specialized gas detection for nonproliferation
Trying to sniff out traces of hard-to-detect gases can be like trying to hear a whisper at the other end of a very large, very crowded, very noisy room.
View ArticleCitizen scientist detects Britain's first 'lightning into space'
History was made last night when citizen scientists detected Britain's first example of a lightning strike into space.
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