http://news.softpedia.com Softpedia News - Physics / Chemistry Softpedia News en-us 2001 - 2012 Softpedia. All rights reserved. Tue, 29 May 2012 01:07:25 GMT Tue, 29 May 2012 01:07:25 GMT News http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss 10 http://news.softpedia.com/base_img/softpedia_logo.gif http://news.softpedia.com http://news.softpedia.com/news/Kaon-Decay-Process-Detailed-More-Precisely-Than-Ever-Before-272202.shtml The decay process of a subatomic particle called a kaon was the focus of a new research effort, conducted by an international team of physicists. Their work revealed in exquisite detail how the particle decays, a finding that may help us explain how matter appeared in the Universe.

At this point, though the Big Bang model... (read more)]]> Mon, 28 May 2012 15:09:00 GMT Softpedia News - Physics / Chemistry http://news.softpedia.com/news/Kaon-Decay-Process-Detailed-More-Precisely-Than-Ever-Before-272202.shtml Physics / Chemistry http://news.softpedia.com/news/Kaon-Decay-Process-Detailed-More-Precisely-Than-Ever-Before-272202.shtml#review_zone Softpedia News (Tudor Vieru) http://news.softpedia.com/news/Europeans-Set-New-Teleportation-Record-270828.shtml Chinese experts were able a few weeks back to set a new world record for the distance over which teleportation is possible. The Asian group announced that it managed to teleport data over a little less than 100 kilometers (60 miles), but now European researchers set a new record.

A group of physicists was able to transfer the information stor... (read more)]]> Mon, 21 May 2012 13:43:00 GMT Softpedia News - Physics / Chemistry http://news.softpedia.com/news/Europeans-Set-New-Teleportation-Record-270828.shtml Physics / Chemistry http://news.softpedia.com/news/Europeans-Set-New-Teleportation-Record-270828.shtml#review_zone Softpedia News (Tudor Vieru) http://news.softpedia.com/news/New-Type-of-Resistive-RAM-Developed-in-the-UK-270810.shtml Researchers at the University College London (UCL), in the United Kingdom, announce the development of a Resistive RAM memory (ReRAM) chip made up entirely of pure silicon oxide.

This achievement opens up a new avenue of research for creating super-fast computer memory chips, which would operate considerably faster than anything on the... (read more)]]> Mon, 21 May 2012 13:11:00 GMT Softpedia News - Physics / Chemistry http://news.softpedia.com/news/New-Type-of-Resistive-RAM-Developed-in-the-UK-270810.shtml Physics / Chemistry http://news.softpedia.com/news/New-Type-of-Resistive-RAM-Developed-in-the-UK-270810.shtml#review_zone Softpedia News (Tudor Vieru) http://news.softpedia.com/news/Graphene-to-Replace-Hexavalent-Chromium-as-Steel-Coating-270796.shtml Rust is the worst enemy of many iron- and steel-based products, so coatings need to be used in order to protect them from corrosion. This is usually done with compounds containing a carcinogenic element called hexavalent chromium, but graphene may provide a safer, more efficient solution.

Hexavalent chromium is a known carcin... (read more)]]> Mon, 21 May 2012 12:41:00 GMT Softpedia News - Physics / Chemistry http://news.softpedia.com/news/Graphene-to-Replace-Hexavalent-Chromium-as-Steel-Coating-270796.shtml Physics / Chemistry http://news.softpedia.com/news/Graphene-to-Replace-Hexavalent-Chromium-as-Steel-Coating-270796.shtml#review_zone Softpedia News (Tudor Vieru) http://news.softpedia.com/news/Innovation-Brings-Quantum-Computers-Closer-to-Reality-269562.shtml A group of investigators in the United States announced the development of an advanced material, whose electrons do not couple with, or get scattered by, the quantized vibrational energy of crystalline materials, called phonons.

Though they are energy, phonons are treated in mathematics as particles. This makes it easier for sci... (read more)]]> Tue, 15 May 2012 09:06:00 GMT Softpedia News - Physics / Chemistry http://news.softpedia.com/news/Innovation-Brings-Quantum-Computers-Closer-to-Reality-269562.shtml Physics / Chemistry http://news.softpedia.com/news/Innovation-Brings-Quantum-Computers-Closer-to-Reality-269562.shtml#review_zone Softpedia News (Tudor Vieru) http://news.softpedia.com/news/Maximum-Teleportation-Distance-Nears-100-Kilometer-Milestone-269332.shtml Experts from the University of Science and Technology of China in Shanghai, led by scientist Juan Yin, have recently been able to teleport photons through free space, over a distance of 97 kilometers (58 miles).

With this achievement, they demonstrated that it might soon become possible to establish quantum communications... (read more)]]> Mon, 14 May 2012 10:04:00 GMT Softpedia News - Physics / Chemistry http://news.softpedia.com/news/Maximum-Teleportation-Distance-Nears-100-Kilometer-Milestone-269332.shtml Physics / Chemistry http://news.softpedia.com/news/Maximum-Teleportation-Distance-Nears-100-Kilometer-Milestone-269332.shtml#review_zone Softpedia News (Tudor Vieru) http://news.softpedia.com/news/Thermal-Computers-Will-Run-on-Heat-269313.shtml A team of experts believes that thermal computers would be a lot more energy-efficient than current devices in this class. They say that the new electronics would run on heat, rather than the flow of electrons through a circuit.

In modern computers, heat is the main problems. As processors and other components are becoming smaller and more capabl... (read more)]]> Mon, 14 May 2012 09:31:00 GMT Softpedia News - Physics / Chemistry http://news.softpedia.com/news/Thermal-Computers-Will-Run-on-Heat-269313.shtml Physics / Chemistry http://news.softpedia.com/news/Thermal-Computers-Will-Run-on-Heat-269313.shtml#review_zone Softpedia News (Tudor Vieru) http://news.softpedia.com/news/New-Sensitive-Gas-Sensors-for-Explosive-Detection-Created-268731.shtml University of Michigan (U-M) investigators say that they are currently developing improved, portable gas sensors. The devices will be used to sniff out markers indicating the presence of explosives, diagnose diseases by analyzing breath, and detect accumulations of dangerous chemicals.

Such sensors have been around for quite... (read more)]]> Thu, 10 May 2012 09:46:00 GMT Softpedia News - Physics / Chemistry http://news.softpedia.com/news/New-Sensitive-Gas-Sensors-for-Explosive-Detection-Created-268731.shtml Physics / Chemistry http://news.softpedia.com/news/New-Sensitive-Gas-Sensors-for-Explosive-Detection-Created-268731.shtml#review_zone Softpedia News (Tudor Vieru) http://news.softpedia.com/news/Heavy-Ion-Nuclear-Fusion-Brought-One-Step-Closer-to-Reality-268477.shtml Producing electricity from heavy-ion fusion has been a goal in the international physics community for years. A new facility built in the United States could finally help investigators achieve this goal, by providing more data on how to accelerate, compress and focus intense ion beams.

The installation is called the secon... (read more)]]> Wed, 9 May 2012 09:40:00 GMT Softpedia News - Physics / Chemistry http://news.softpedia.com/news/Heavy-Ion-Nuclear-Fusion-Brought-One-Step-Closer-to-Reality-268477.shtml Physics / Chemistry http://news.softpedia.com/news/Heavy-Ion-Nuclear-Fusion-Brought-One-Step-Closer-to-Reality-268477.shtml#review_zone Softpedia News (Tudor Vieru) http://news.softpedia.com/news/Spin-Orbital-Liquid-Created-for-the-First-Time-268452.shtml In a paper presented in the May 4 issue of the top journal Science, an international collaboration of researchers presents a substance that exists in a quantum mechanical state never achieved before. The stuff is known as a spin-orbital liquid.

The research team, which also includes experts from the US National Institute of Standards ... (read more)]]> Wed, 9 May 2012 08:42:00 GMT Softpedia News - Physics / Chemistry http://news.softpedia.com/news/Spin-Orbital-Liquid-Created-for-the-First-Time-268452.shtml Physics / Chemistry http://news.softpedia.com/news/Spin-Orbital-Liquid-Created-for-the-First-Time-268452.shtml#review_zone Softpedia News (Tudor Vieru) http://news.softpedia.com/news/Bacteria-Can-Create-Electricity-from-Light-268278.shtml Scientists from the University of Leeds say that electrodes coated in bacteria can be used to make electricity. The microorganisms can use either light or hydrogen as fuel, and produce electrical current as a result. This power can then be harnessed for practical applications.

What experts want to do is be able to create efficient biofuel ... (read more)]]> Tue, 8 May 2012 11:55:00 GMT Softpedia News - Physics / Chemistry http://news.softpedia.com/news/Bacteria-Can-Create-Electricity-from-Light-268278.shtml Physics / Chemistry http://news.softpedia.com/news/Bacteria-Can-Create-Electricity-from-Light-268278.shtml#review_zone Softpedia News (Tudor Vieru) http://news.softpedia.com/news/Manipulating-Liquid-Crystals-Lead-to-New-Materials-267525.shtml University of Wisconsin-Madison (UWM) experts, led by professor of chemical and biological engineering Juan J. de Pablo, say that manipulating liquid crystals at the small scale can lead to the creation of new materials with unsuspected properties.

Liquid crystals are commonly known today as the materials in LCD flat screens, whic... (read more)]]> Thu, 3 May 2012 09:01:00 GMT Softpedia News - Physics / Chemistry http://news.softpedia.com/news/Manipulating-Liquid-Crystals-Lead-to-New-Materials-267525.shtml Physics / Chemistry http://news.softpedia.com/news/Manipulating-Liquid-Crystals-Lead-to-New-Materials-267525.shtml#review_zone Softpedia News (Tudor Vieru) http://news.softpedia.com/news/Light-Pulses-That-Travel-Faster-than-Light-Created-267499.shtml Light pulses that in some ways travel faster than the speed of light can be produced artificially. Recently, scientists at the US National Institutes of Standards and Technology (NIST) have developed a new way of creating such superluminal pulses.

Details of their research appears in a paper entitled “Stimulated generation of... (read more)]]> Thu, 3 May 2012 07:46:00 GMT Softpedia News - Physics / Chemistry http://news.softpedia.com/news/Light-Pulses-That-Travel-Faster-than-Light-Created-267499.shtml Physics / Chemistry http://news.softpedia.com/news/Light-Pulses-That-Travel-Faster-than-Light-Created-267499.shtml#review_zone Softpedia News (Tudor Vieru) http://news.softpedia.com/news/Advanced-Light-Source-Nears-Completion-in-the-US-266792.shtml One of the world's most advanced light sources is nearing completion in the United States. Housed at the US Department of Energy's (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), the facility is currently scheduled to begin science operations no later than 2015.

Billed at $912 million, the National Synchrotron Light Source II (NSLS-II) i... (read more)]]> Fri, 27 Apr 2012 12:42:00 GMT Softpedia News - Physics / Chemistry http://news.softpedia.com/news/Advanced-Light-Source-Nears-Completion-in-the-US-266792.shtml Physics / Chemistry http://news.softpedia.com/news/Advanced-Light-Source-Nears-Completion-in-the-US-266792.shtml#review_zone Softpedia News (Tudor Vieru) http://news.softpedia.com/news/New-Quantum-Simulator-Developed-at-NIST-266486.shtml A scientific instrument that can handle materials science-related problems like no conventional computer can has just been developed by National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) physicists, in the United States.

According to the research team, the new quantum simulator is capable of modeling up to 10 times the number of quantum b... (read more)]]> Thu, 26 Apr 2012 07:37:00 GMT Softpedia News - Physics / Chemistry http://news.softpedia.com/news/New-Quantum-Simulator-Developed-at-NIST-266486.shtml Physics / Chemistry http://news.softpedia.com/news/New-Quantum-Simulator-Developed-at-NIST-266486.shtml#review_zone Softpedia News (Tudor Vieru) http://news.softpedia.com/news/Obstacle-to-Developing-Nuclear-Fusion-Possibly-Eliminated-266070.shtml A group of investigators in the Unites States may have found a way to address one of the obstacles that has been preventing the development in the field of nuclear fusion research for a long time. Their approach may finally allow some progress to be made towards gaining access to clean energy.

The work was carried out by ph... (read more)]]> Tue, 24 Apr 2012 08:28:00 GMT Softpedia News - Physics / Chemistry http://news.softpedia.com/news/Obstacle-to-Developing-Nuclear-Fusion-Possibly-Eliminated-266070.shtml Physics / Chemistry http://news.softpedia.com/news/Obstacle-to-Developing-Nuclear-Fusion-Possibly-Eliminated-266070.shtml#review_zone Softpedia News (Tudor Vieru) http://news.softpedia.com/news/Light-Can-Bend-While-Moving-265679.shtml In a finding that could eventually enable scientists to develop a means of moving objects from a distance by using light, a team of experts was recently able to demonstrate that light can bend while traveling, without external influences.

Physics students learn that light always travels in a straight line, but there are exceptions to this rule. In deep ... (read more)]]> Fri, 20 Apr 2012 14:40:00 GMT Softpedia News - Physics / Chemistry http://news.softpedia.com/news/Light-Can-Bend-While-Moving-265679.shtml Physics / Chemistry http://news.softpedia.com/news/Light-Can-Bend-While-Moving-265679.shtml#review_zone Softpedia News (Tudor Vieru) http://news.softpedia.com/news/Atom-Based-Magnetic-Sensor-Studies-Mental-Processes-265472.shtml A group of experts in the United States announces the development of a new, miniaturized, atom-based magnetic sensor. The device has already proven capable of measuring magnetic waves in the human brain, which means that it may soon be used for a variety of biomedical applications.

Investigators are especially interested in using ... (read more)]]> Fri, 20 Apr 2012 07:10:00 GMT Softpedia News - Physics / Chemistry http://news.softpedia.com/news/Atom-Based-Magnetic-Sensor-Studies-Mental-Processes-265472.shtml Physics / Chemistry http://news.softpedia.com/news/Atom-Based-Magnetic-Sensor-Studies-Mental-Processes-265472.shtml#review_zone Softpedia News (Tudor Vieru) http://news.softpedia.com/news/Theories-on-the-Origin-of-Cosmic-Rays-Called-into-Question-265258.shtml An in-depth survey of the sky, conducted using a massive, underground particle detector at the South Pole, has revealed that the production of cosmic rays is a more mysterious phenomenon than experts had first predicted. The theories currently trying to explain where these rays originate may all be wrong.

The new study was ... (read more)]]> Thu, 19 Apr 2012 08:30:00 GMT Softpedia News - Physics / Chemistry http://news.softpedia.com/news/Theories-on-the-Origin-of-Cosmic-Rays-Called-into-Question-265258.shtml Physics / Chemistry http://news.softpedia.com/news/Theories-on-the-Origin-of-Cosmic-Rays-Called-into-Question-265258.shtml#review_zone Softpedia News (Tudor Vieru) http://news.softpedia.com/news/Electrons-Are-Not-Indivisible-Particles-265240.shtml Electrons, for a long time thought to be elementary particles, can be split into two separate parts, an international team of experts demonstrated in a new study. Each of the two resulting particles carries one of the two most important properties of electrons.

When broken apart, an electron produces a spinon – a particle that goes on ... (read more)]]> Thu, 19 Apr 2012 07:44:00 GMT Softpedia News - Physics / Chemistry http://news.softpedia.com/news/Electrons-Are-Not-Indivisible-Particles-265240.shtml Physics / Chemistry http://news.softpedia.com/news/Electrons-Are-Not-Indivisible-Particles-265240.shtml#review_zone Softpedia News (Tudor Vieru) http://news.softpedia.com/news/Violin-Strings-Made-Out-of-Spider-Silk-265157.shtml In a paper published in the April 13 issue of the esteemed journal Physical Review Letters, scientists at the Nara Medical University, in Japan, led by expert Shigeyoshi Osaki, explain how they created a series of violin strings out of silk harvested from captive spiders.

Their efforts were focused on a material called dragline silk, which is... (read more)]]> Wed, 18 Apr 2012 14:21:00 GMT Softpedia News - Physics / Chemistry http://news.softpedia.com/news/Violin-Strings-Made-Out-of-Spider-Silk-265157.shtml Physics / Chemistry http://news.softpedia.com/news/Violin-Strings-Made-Out-of-Spider-Silk-265157.shtml#review_zone Softpedia News (Tudor Vieru) http://news.softpedia.com/news/Solar-Grade-Silicon-Can-Now-Be-Produced-Cheaply-265088.shtml University of Cambridge investigators announce the development of a new method for obtaining solar-grade silicon at low cost. This improvement could finally see efficient solar cells making their way into mainstream use for electricity generation.

Producing energy from renewable sources is an important drive for science today, and the... (read more)]]> Wed, 18 Apr 2012 12:14:00 GMT Softpedia News - Physics / Chemistry http://news.softpedia.com/news/Solar-Grade-Silicon-Can-Now-Be-Produced-Cheaply-265088.shtml Physics / Chemistry http://news.softpedia.com/news/Solar-Grade-Silicon-Can-Now-Be-Produced-Cheaply-265088.shtml#review_zone Softpedia News (Tudor Vieru) http://news.softpedia.com/news/Water-Not-Necessary-for-Protein-Survival-264971.shtml University of Bristol investigators say – in a paper published in the March 20 online issue of the journal Chemical Science – that the presence of water is not necessarily required for the survival of proteins.

For the longest time, it was believed that this class of molecules could not exist without water, since the chemical wa... (read more)]]> Wed, 18 Apr 2012 07:45:00 GMT Softpedia News - Physics / Chemistry http://news.softpedia.com/news/Water-Not-Necessary-for-Protein-Survival-264971.shtml Physics / Chemistry http://news.softpedia.com/news/Water-Not-Necessary-for-Protein-Survival-264971.shtml#review_zone Softpedia News (Tudor Vieru) http://news.softpedia.com/news/Self-Assembling-Thin-Film-Membrane-for-Transistors-Created-264961.shtml An international collaboration of scientists, coordinated by investigators at the US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), announces the development of a new type of rugged thin-film membrane. The material could have significant applications in the field of medicine.

According to the research team, the memb... (read more)]]> Wed, 18 Apr 2012 07:22:00 GMT Softpedia News - Physics / Chemistry http://news.softpedia.com/news/Self-Assembling-Thin-Film-Membrane-for-Transistors-Created-264961.shtml Physics / Chemistry http://news.softpedia.com/news/Self-Assembling-Thin-Film-Membrane-for-Transistors-Created-264961.shtml#review_zone Softpedia News (Tudor Vieru) http://news.softpedia.com/news/Novel-Cancer-Detection-Method-Uses-Photoacoustics-263570.shtml Imaging cancer tumors buried deep within the body may have just gotten a lot easier. Experts announce the development of a medical investigations method that relies on both light and sound to capture images of these structures, with great precision.

The novel technology, called photoacoustic tomography, could soon be used to detect... (read more)]]> Mon, 9 Apr 2012 22:01:01 GMT Softpedia News - Physics / Chemistry http://news.softpedia.com/news/Novel-Cancer-Detection-Method-Uses-Photoacoustics-263570.shtml Physics / Chemistry http://news.softpedia.com/news/Novel-Cancer-Detection-Method-Uses-Photoacoustics-263570.shtml#review_zone Softpedia News (Tudor Vieru) http://news.softpedia.com/news/Superradiant-Laser-Created-from-1-Million-Rubidium-Atoms-262936.shtml Experts at the Joint Institute for Laboratory Astrophysics, now known simply as JILA, and the US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), announce the creation of a new type of superradiant laser, which is many times more stable than similar devices.

According to the joint physics team, the novel design promises... (read more)]]> Thu, 5 Apr 2012 08:20:00 GMT Softpedia News - Physics / Chemistry http://news.softpedia.com/news/Superradiant-Laser-Created-from-1-Million-Rubidium-Atoms-262936.shtml Physics / Chemistry http://news.softpedia.com/news/Superradiant-Laser-Created-from-1-Million-Rubidium-Atoms-262936.shtml#review_zone Softpedia News (Tudor Vieru) http://news.softpedia.com/news/Half-Life-of-Samarium-146-Refined-262741.shtml An international group of investigators recently announced that the value for the half-life of samarium-146, previously thought to be 103 million years, is in fact 68 million years. The new number is very important, since 146Sm is heavily used in a number of dating methods.

The actual value for the element's half-life is around 34 percent smaller ... (read more)]]> Wed, 4 Apr 2012 09:41:00 GMT Softpedia News - Physics / Chemistry http://news.softpedia.com/news/Half-Life-of-Samarium-146-Refined-262741.shtml Physics / Chemistry http://news.softpedia.com/news/Half-Life-of-Samarium-146-Refined-262741.shtml#review_zone Softpedia News (Tudor Vieru) http://news.softpedia.com/news/Piezoelectric-Graphene-Developed-at-Stanford-University-262731.shtml In a first-of-its-kind achievement, investigators at the Stanford University were recently able to introduce a property called piezoelectricity into a nanoscale material. The substrate they selected was graphene, one of the most remarkable compounds in the world.

Graphene is a 2D carbon compound that boasts a hexagonal lattice... (read more)]]> Wed, 4 Apr 2012 09:16:00 GMT Softpedia News - Physics / Chemistry http://news.softpedia.com/news/Piezoelectric-Graphene-Developed-at-Stanford-University-262731.shtml Physics / Chemistry http://news.softpedia.com/news/Piezoelectric-Graphene-Developed-at-Stanford-University-262731.shtml#review_zone Softpedia News (Tudor Vieru) http://news.softpedia.com/news/Superconductivity-Understood-at-a-Microscopic-Level-262433.shtml Physicists at the University of British Columbia (UBC) were part of an international collaboration that was recently able to observe the microscopic interactions which enable a fundamental physical phenomenon, known as high-temperature superconductivity.

This is the first time such a complex endeavor is completed successfully, sci... (read more)]]> Tue, 3 Apr 2012 07:28:00 GMT Softpedia News - Physics / Chemistry http://news.softpedia.com/news/Superconductivity-Understood-at-a-Microscopic-Level-262433.shtml Physics / Chemistry http://news.softpedia.com/news/Superconductivity-Understood-at-a-Microscopic-Level-262433.shtml#review_zone Softpedia News (Tudor Vieru) http://news.softpedia.com/news/Robotic-Skin-Under-Development-in-the-US-261953.shtml With funds from the National Science Foundation and the US Army, researchers at the University of Pittsburgh and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have recently tested a new type of gel. The material holds great promise for numerous applications, including robotic skins.

Coating future machines with this gel would literally enable t... (read more)]]> Fri, 30 Mar 2012 13:30:00 GMT Softpedia News - Physics / Chemistry http://news.softpedia.com/news/Robotic-Skin-Under-Development-in-the-US-261953.shtml Physics / Chemistry http://news.softpedia.com/news/Robotic-Skin-Under-Development-in-the-US-261953.shtml#review_zone Softpedia News (Tudor Vieru)