How Turbochargers Work
	A turbocharger is a force-induced system used to enhance the mass of air entering the combustion chamber of a typical internal combustion engine. Basically, a turbocharger is a compressor that, by forcing more air into the cylinder, enables an increase in the amount of used fuel, so that more explosion power is generated in order to improve the engine's power to weight ratio at high speeds. Typical turbochargers consist of a small ... [read more >>]
	12 July 2008, 06:22GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

How Tire Pressure Gauges Work
	We might not feel it, but Earth's atmosphere is putting a tremendous amount of pressure on our bodies every day. A column of gas some 100 kilometers tall exerts a staggering 101,353 Newtons per square meter on any surface at sea level. Our body cannot generally notice it because this pressure is exerted evenly from all sides, giving us the impression that everything is completely normal. However, when pressure is increased inside a fl ... [read more >>]
	10 July 2008, 09:13GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

How Gun Suppressors Work
	Gun suppressors, most commonly known as silencers, are generally used to 'quiet' down the loud bang created by the sudden expansion of the explosive discharge that is propelling the bullet out of the gun barrel and through the air. The vast majority of guns are not built to accept suppressors, although some are specially designed so that silencers can be screwed at the gun barrel aperture from where the bullet emerges as the gun ... [read more >>]
	14 May 2008, 08:57GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Tuning Nanomaterials with Pressure
	Nanomaterials play a high role in today's electronic devices ranging from transistors all the way to lasers and solar-energy conversion devices. A new technique developed at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory could allow researchers to manipulate nanomaterials and their fundamental properties only by applying pressure. The experimental rig used by the LLNL researchers uses a cadmium selenide quantum dot solid plac ... [read more >>]
	12 May 2008, 06:04GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

What Dry Ice Is
	Dry ice is basically frozen carbon dioxide. It might not sound like much but dry ice bears some unique properties that make it ideal for certain cooling applications. First of all, as its name says, it’s dry, meaning that unlike other ices, such as frozen water, it does not go through a liquid state when heated. More precisely, when frozen, carbon dioxide breaks down, the process being called sublimation, a transformation from the solid st ... [read more >>]
	09 May 2008, 08:33GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Experiment Recreates Conditions inside Gas Giants
	Very little is known about how high-temperature gas in a condensed state – such as the one inside giants like Jupiter, Saturn or other gas giant exoplanets in the galaxy – behaves. In order to get a better understanding of the evolution of gases in these exact thermodynamic conditions, a collaboration between the Laboratory of Laser Energetics, CEA France and University of California Berkeley generated an experiment that compressed helium ... [read more >>]
	29 April 2008, 05:59GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Sharks Can Predict Storms
	Sharks gained their dominance in the seas owing to their formidable teeth-jaws, speed and senses. For hunting, sharks are endowed with keen sight, olfaction and hearing (they pick up sounds from 2 km (1.2 mi) away). The lateral line helps them detect vibrations produced by a struggle in the water, like the convulsions of a ... [read more >>]
	28 March 2008, 07:46GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Hydrogen Compound Turns Superconductor under Pressure
	Most of the superconducting materials commercially available on the market require cooling to low or very low temperatures to become superconductors, meaning that a special super-cooling equipment is needed in order to operate them. Unfortunately for us, this is the greatest disadvantage of using superconductors. Most of the studies currently conducted in the field of superconductors revolve around high-temperature superconductors, but the ... [read more >>]
	17 March 2008, 10:28GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

How to Turn Crystals From Insulators to Conductors?
	A new study argues that by exerting extreme levels of pressure on insulating crystals, they could be turned into excellent electrical conductors. Manganese oxide, a mineral found in Earth's crust is not an electricity conductor under normal atmospheric pressure and temperature conditions, but, when subjected to pressures close to those experienced deep inside the Earth, it becomes one. The study has been conducted at UC ... [read more >>]
	06 February 2008, 04:11GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Magnetism Becomes Weaker Under Pressure
	Magnetic materials are rather abundant on Earth, especially under the form of magnetite mineral. Recently, researchers from the Advanced Photon Source of Argonne National Laboratory, in collaboration with colleagues from the Carnegie Institution's Geophysical Laboratory, have demonstrated that the magnetic properties of magnetite material are severely weakened while subjected to intense pressures. For example, magnetite under a pressu ... [read more >>]
	30 January 2008, 08:32GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Lithium and Beryllium Bind Well Under Pressure
	Although they are highly reactive with other chemical elements and substances, lithium and beryllium do not bind together under normal atmospheric conditions. A team of Cornell researchers predict however that, while subjected to high levels of pressure, two of universe's lightest elements could, in fact, create stable alloys that would be suitable for superconductivity applications. Very little is known about the proper ... [read more >>]
	28 January 2008, 05:53GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Earth's Mantle Soft in the Middle
	The Earth's mantle can stretch up to 2,900 kilometers below the surface, thus the only way to study it is to conduct measurements on the speed of seismic waves which travel through it, in order to determine the rough composition and density. However, a new research conducted relatively recently has shown that against general belief these seismic waves travel with slower speeds through the lower regions because the crust is softer than ... [read more >>]
	25 January 2008, 08:32GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Carbon Nanotubes Can be Used for Creating Extremely Sensitive Pressure Sensors
	A recent study reveals the nanotubes can be used to create powerful pressure sensors. Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have discovered unique electrical and mechanical properties, during an experiment, while trying to repeatedly squeeze a 3-millimeter nanotube block and found that it was highly suitable for a potential application as a pressure sensor. The nanotube block has a linear relationship between electrical resistanc ... [read more >>]
	26 October 2007, 08:35GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Nanoscale Air Bubbles in Water Defy Physics
	Physicists observed nanoscale bubbles of air forming in water for the first time in 2001. The only problem is these bubbles were not supposed to exist. Still, they continue to contradict the laws of physics and pop up unexpectedly. Air can form bubbles in water and these can last for a long time until breaking. The problem is that on the nanoscale, the overwhelming force of surface tension should prevent the bubbles from ever forming. ... [read more >>]
	24 May 2007, 04:23GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

NASA's "Smart" Weather Balloons Self-Destruct – To Stop Being Mistaken for UFOs?
	Weather balloons are usually helium- or hydrogen-filled balloons which carry instruments on board to send back information on atmospheric pressure, temperature, humidity and wind. They can reach altitudes of 40 km (25 miles) or more and on some occasions, have been sometimes cited as the cause for UFO sightings. Now, NASA is developing a new type of "smart" balloons that can do the same job of monitoring weather conditions, o ... [read more >>]
	23 May 2007, 08:44GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

How Do Extreme Temperatures and Pressures Inside a Planet Affect It and Its Life?
	Recently, a team of researchers have been able to recreate the extreme conditions of pressure and temperature found inside our planet to understand how it is forming and evolving. The exotic high pressure inner world may be a window to understand a variety of problems in planetary science. In a workshop entitled Synergy of 21st Century High-Pressure Science and Technology sponsored by the Carnegie/DOE Alliance Cente ... [read more >>]
	22 May 2007, 04:21GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

How Does the Hovercraft Work?
	The hovercraft (to hover - to remain floating, suspended, or fluttering in the air; craft - vessel or vehicle) is an amphibious military or civilian vehicle designed to travel over any kind of surface (as long as it's reasonably flat), being supported by a cushion of pressurized air. It may look weird and some of them may look like floating UFOs, but they rely on physics and control equipment, float on a volume air at a low pressu ... [read more >>]
	01 May 2007, 17:06GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

NASA Offers $250 000 for Space Gloves "Knitting" Contest
	On your marks! Get Set! Start knitting! NASA's Centennial Challenges will award the best spacesuit gloves project with $250,000. It's the first ever Astronaut Glove Challenge and its purpose is to find the most innovative design for more flexible spacesuit gloves, as they are probably the most important part of the spacesuit from an astronaut's perspective. Besides pushing and pulling levers and buttons and ha ... [read more >>]
	01 May 2007, 06:27GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

How to Sail in Space Using Solar Pressure
	In 1920 the Russian scientist Constantin Tiolkovski wrote "The pressure of solar light could be applied to spacecrafts which have already defeated Earth's gravitational pull". In a novel published in 1865, Jules Verne speculated that light might someday be used "as a mechanical agent" to propel a spacecraft between the planets. They were talking about using solar radiation pressure, the so-called "sol ... [read more >>]
	20 April 2007, 11:04GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia