How Plasma Cutters Work
	Metals are basically used today in practically any application, due to their strength and durability. However, these two properties can quickly turn against the manufacturer, especially while shaping and cutting large pieces of metal, such as the 'I beams' used in skyscraper construction or other large support structures used in crane building or suspension bridges. The plasma cutter, a marvelous device invented som ... [read more >>]
	24 April 2008, 08:45GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

A Metal Alloy for Repelling Sharks
	Sharks are extremely sensitive to electric fields, and this enables them to detect their preys, as all living creatures emit weak electric fields. But this ability of the sharks comes with pros and cons: in captivity, sharks avoid metals reacting with seawater and producing an electric field. In fact, this may be their salvation, as metal longline gears could decrease the number of bycatch of sharks. A new research made at NOAA and presen ... [read more >>]
	23 April 2008, 03:59GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

How Blowtorches Work
	Blowtorches have been invented in the late 19th century and have since become both cool and useful to use in different applications ranging all the way from welding and cutting metal, lighting up cigars, melting jewelry and even cooking! They work on the basis of an oxygen and fuel gas mix, fed into a torch head from cylinders through two flexible hoses. Components First of all, in order to make a blow torch work ... [read more >>]
	03 April 2008, 09:08GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Researchers Turn Aluminum Gold!
	Researchers from University of Rochester have turned aluminum gold just with the help of a laser, meaning they changed its color into gold. Not only that, but they have been able to recreate a series of other colors in several other metals such as platinum, tungsten and gold. Almost one year before, Chunlei Guo had demonstrated that he could turn just about any metal by shinning it with intense laser beams. Since then, he has been tryi ... [read more >>]
	01 February 2008, 10:36GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

9 Things You Did Not Know About Mining and Mines
	1.Mining started in the Neolithic (New Stone Age), 12,000 years ago, when people gathered grit from the surface of the ground, and later from subterranean deposits. At first, grit mines were made of vertical wells, up to 2 m (6.6 ft) wide and 10 m (33 ft) deep. Tunnels were excavated at the bottom of the well, until grit deposits were found. The tools used for digging were deer antlers and shovels made of the shoulder blade of large animal ... [read more >>]
	28 January 2008, 06:56GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Metal Drummers Rejoice: New Sabian APX Cymbals Are Coming
	Well, it looks like 2008 has one hell (sorry) of a start, at least as far as rock and metal musicians and players are concerned. Sabian is a name that needs little introduction: one of the leading, legendary names in the music industry and one of the best and biggest cymbals manufacturer; from blues to death metal, the most renowned drummers in the world have put their complete trust in these Canadian guys and the results of their stride ... [read more >>]
	04 January 2008, 03:05GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Top 10 Alloys
	Most of the metals we use are alloys, combinations in which one chemical is a metal. That's because pure metals rarely have the ideal properties for a certain task, but they can be improved by adding other metals. Resistance, hardness, melting point and electric conductivity are properties linked to the crystalline structure of the metal. All these modify when mixed with another chemical. Alloys can contain non-metal elements, lik ... [read more >>]
	03 January 2008, 06:12GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Geologist Indicator Plants
	There are over 200 species of plants linked to the existence of underground ore deposits. Plants usually need in low amounts metals for their metabolism. If there is too high the amount encountered in the soil, the plants depose the absorbed excess in their tissues. Sometimes, the deposits can be so big, that when the concentration bypasses 150:1,000,000, the plants can be exploited like ore deposits. The metal is extracted from their ... [read more >>]
	21 November 2007, 10:06GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Plasma Antennas
	This device is a prototype of an antenna, which uses ionized gas instead of metal to transmit and receive signals, decreasing interference and boosting the functionality. Some of its key features include the ability to focus a signal beam easily and to communicate signals in very short pulses, which could prove extremely useful in the areas of digital communications and radar. These kinds of antennas could prove themselves a v ... [read more >>]
	13 November 2007, 11:00GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

7,000 Years Ago European Women Dressed Sexy
	They may have lived during the "New Stone Age" (Neolithic), but according to European figurines which are 7,500 years old, women liked to look sexy even back then. Recent digging at the site of a settlement of Vinca culture, Europe's biggest known Neolithic civilization, on Plocnik (southern Serbia), uncovered a sophisticated prehistoric metropolis, with a developed taste for art and fashion and it appears now to be Euro ... [read more >>]
	13 November 2007, 06:12GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Stars with High Metalicity Have Less Companions
	New studies in astrophysics bring an unexpected result. Stars with high metalicity have fewer stellar companions. The research was conducted at the Australian National University and the University of New South Wales and could help in the search for stars that have Earth-like planets. The metalicity is a scientific term that describes the proportion of chemical elements of which a cosmic body is made of, other than hydrogen an ... [read more >>]
	09 November 2007, 08:55GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Still Not Heavy Enough
	Not only the observable universe is not heavy enough to explain its current configuration, but calculations show that the previously thought mass is actually smaller by 10 to 20 percent, which brings even more questions into discussion. The subject involving the mass of the observable universe is one of the hottest topics among the astronomers for years, and still eludes current physics, in our understanding of the origin, th ... [read more >>]
	05 November 2007, 03:50GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Is Lithium the Secret of Longevity?
	Humans have been searching since ever for the secret of the deathless life and ageless youth. They linked longevity to pha-4 encountered in nematode worms, looked at the hormones of the queen bee or that of the naked mole-rat to see why she lives so much longer than the workers, but by now, no drug boosting longer-life has been found. Still, a Buck Institute research led by Dr. Gordon J. Lithgow, currently published online ... [read more >>]
	01 November 2007, 07:46GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Our Life, in Greater Danger without Lead
	Lead is quite a dangerous material, but it’s worse without it. Its absence in electronic devices has ruined missiles and stopped from gadgets to communications satellites and forced nuclear power plants. The cause is to be found in the tiny splinters, called whiskers, that develop by themselves from tin solder penetrating deep inside electronics. The subsequent short-circuits have induced damages of over $10 billion since they were fir ... [read more >>]
	08 October 2007, 07:05GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

New Rapid Method for Finding Platinum
	Gold comes at a small price compared to platinum and palladium. And the main target of the palladium and platinum quest is not their use in jewelry. These precious and extremely rare metals are crucial in the automobile, chemical and pharmaceutical industries, being unmatched as catalysts in various chemical reactions. Palladium is employed for car catalytic converters that make eliminated gases less toxic. But finding and ex ... [read more >>]
	26 September 2007, 05:32GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

The Newest Invention: Rubbery Metal
	At a first glance, the association of the words "metal" and "rubber" seems to be at least illogical, if not absurd. The material properties of natural rubber that make it an elastomer and a thermoplastic are exactly the ones engineers try to avoid by using metal. But metal has one problem, that makes scientists turn to plastic, in an effort to make the most of each material, by combining its elasticity wi ... [read more >>]
	23 July 2007, 09:04GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Mushrooms Gene Decoding Will Lead to Better and Cheaper Biofuels
	Mushrooms are yummy but sometimes they can be more than that. That's why a team at the University of Warwick is co-ordinating a global effort to achieve the genome sequencing of the most important mushrooms for the westerners: button or common mushroom (Agaricus bisporus). Decoding the genetic make up of the mushrooms could lead to the processing of biofuels, support the effort to manage global carbon and help cleanse he ... [read more >>]
	18 July 2007, 04:14GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Existence of New Type of Electron Wave Finally Proved
	A new research has just proven the existence of a completely new type of electron wave on metal surfaces. Called the "acoustic surface plasmon," it will have profound implications in the fundamental understanding of chemical reactions on various surfaces. Bogdan Diaconescu and Karsten Pohl of the University of New Hampshire, US, led the research that finally proved the existence of this new plasmon, which could fin ... [read more >>]
	05 July 2007, 06:37GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Breakthrough Polymer Revolutionizes Engineering
	Carbon nanotubes, though a relatively recent find, have fueled the imagination of many scientists, who strongly believe that they are the future of electronic circuitry. Polymers are repeating structural units, or monomers, connected by covalent chemical bonds, present in many natural and artificial materials, from plastics to DNA. What happens when you combine the two materials? A revolutionary chemical compound, ultra-ligh ... [read more >>]
	04 July 2007, 09:01GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Future Metallic Superalloys Made from Nanoparticles
	The alchemists were some of the first scientists of the world, and even if they used to investigate nature, chemistry, metallurgy, physics, medicine, astrology, semiotics, mysticism, spiritualism and art, all as parts of one greater force, they are mostly remembered for trying to transform ordinary metals, like lead, into gold. A group of scientists at Sandia National Laboratories, led by Tina Nenoff, can be considered the al ... [read more >>]
	14 June 2007, 10:32GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

A 20-year-old Superconductor Mystery Solved
	Superconductors are a class of materials that display exactly zero electrical resistance and the exclusion of the interior magnetic field (the Meissner effect) at extremely low temperatures, usually below -140 degrees Celsius. They are used in many applications, like MRI medical imaging scanners, levitating trains and power lines. A team of researchers at the University of British Columbia achieved a breakthrough in the field. The most ... [read more >>]
	01 June 2007, 05:45GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Olive Stones Remove Metals from Contaminated Waters
	Olive oil consumption keeps rising as it is considered much healthier than other food oils. But the olive oil extraction leaves large amounts of agricultural residues, like olive vegetable water, browse leaves and solid waste. A new research made by Dr. Germán Tenorio Rivas, a member of the research group "Solids concentration and bioremediation" from the Department of Chemical Engineering of the University of Granada (Unive ... [read more >>]
	29 May 2007, 05:44GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

New FBI Analysis of Kennedy Bullet Points to a Second Shooter
	It may be the dream come true for conspiracy theory adepts in the JFK assassination. Using 21st century science, the FBI has performed a new analysis of the remains of the bullet that was used by the US government to conclude that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone in assassinating President John F. Kennedy in 1963. A research team led by a former FBI top scientist has concluded, after intensive metallurgic and forensic studies on the bulle ... [read more >>]
	18 May 2007, 08:06GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Glyph Review
	There are a lot of puzzle games that go around in the wide virtual world. The reason for which there are so many is pretty simple: all of them are addictive and have something that keeps the person playing no matter what. For some it's the funny story. Or maybe the story behind the game is pretty interesting and that can count too. Or maybe it's just a story that has a mystic air, full of mystery and we all know how humans rea ... [read more >>]
	11 May 2007, 17:32GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Latest Use of Gold - 24 Karat Gold Facial Mask
	Gold (Au) is probably the most famous chemical element around the world. If you ask around, not many people will tell you they never heard of it. For many centuries, it's been used as currency, before the invention of paper money (which was made because of the lack of gold), in jewelry, and in many industry areas. It's still considered the basis for the monetary standard and it's universally traded around the world. ... [read more >>]
	11 May 2007, 10:43GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Mathematics and the Best Beer
	Besides a big belly, beer can mean pure science. And to get the best beer head, you must use mathematics. New found formulas could explain why the foam of lager disappears in a moment, while a Guinness's sticks around. This mathematics applies not only for beer brewing, but in metallurgy, too. The foam of a beer is made of a network of gas-filled bubbles with liquid walls, resulted from surface tension. The walls m ... [read more >>]
	26 April 2007, 04:09GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Freezing Nanoscale Metal Drops
	Two researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory have elaborated a new theory about the mechanisms of crystallization (freezing) of metals. They used the world's smallest pipette (laboratory instrument used to transport a measured volume of liquid) made from germanium nanowires with a reservoir of gold-germanium alloy at the tip, to demonstrate that tiny droplets of liquid metal (just a billionth o ... [read more >>]
	16 April 2007, 03:12GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Go Buy A F***ing Harp! 8 Strings from Ibanez: The RG2228
	There are guitar players who simply seem not getting along too cozy with their ordinary, 6 strings guitars. Also there are bands that are seeking for such a heavy bottom end that the heaviest-gauge (same 6) strings and the octaver FX are simply overwhelmed. Thus, the 7-stringed guitar came into being and the players in need have hastily embraced it. Now, there is another type of players (like math-progressive-rocko-sympho-whatever-metal ... [read more >>]
	13 April 2007, 11:53GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

The Lost Tracks of Danzig
	This one is for the metalheads: you know or at least have heard about the rock legends called Danzig. At least your girlfriends should know their frontman, Glen Danzig (I just know they've dreamt many times about an evening in his company...) Well, for the fans out there, a piece of nice music news: old and unreleased tracks are coming alive on a 2 CD-set entitled The Lost Tracks Of Danzig. Due to hit the stores on May 29th, the ne ... [read more >>]
	04 April 2007, 11:43GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Light That Penetrates Solid Metal
	Terahertz frequencies consist of electromagnetic waves (T-rays or T-light) in the region of the electromagnetic spectrum between 300 gigahertz and 3 terahertz, at the ending edge of far-infrared light. These waves usually travel in the line of sight, are non-ionizing and have the capability to penetrate a wide variety of non-conducting materials, like clothing, paper, cardboard, wood, masonry, plastic and ceramics, even cloud ... [read more >>]
	29 March 2007, 02:51GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

How Do the Organisms Cope with the Toxic Heavy Metals?
	Today, the problem of bioacumulation of heavy metals in the organisms is severe. Copper, cadmium, zinc, tin, mercury are found in the anthropic or human affected ecosystems in levels that are 10 times higher than in nature. Heavy metals abound around us in tiles (rich in cadmium and zinc), fertilizers (copper), pesticides (mercury), gas (lead) and so on. Even stable systems, like high power lines, contaminate the surrounding terrains w ... [read more >>]
	23 March 2007, 11:50GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance Cheats (Xbox)
	Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance is a multi-platform updated version of the original MGS2 released for the PlayStation 2, as well as the Xbox and PC. The game contains the main Sons of Liberty game with some subtle alterations (including new infrared effects for the ... [read more >>]
	09 March 2007, 02:53GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia