news 2008

Chemistry - Physics/Astronomy - 17.05
In chemical reactions, water adds speed without heat
An international team of researchers has discovered how adding trace amounts of water can tremendously speed up chemical reactions-such as hydrogenation and hydrogenolysis-in which hydrogen is one of the reactants, or starting materials.

Architecture - Physics/Astronomy - 14.05
Light is good for our brains
Scientists have proven that light intensity influences our cognitive performance and how alert we feel, and that these positive effects last until early evening. Tests conducted at EPFL have confirmed the hypothesis that light influences our subjective feeling of sleepiness.

Physics/Astronomy - Mechanical Engineering/Mechanics - 11.05
Few new atomic structures
Drawing on powerful computational tools and a state-of-the-art scanning transmission electron microscope, a team of University of Wisconsin-Madison and Iowa State University materials science and engineering researchers has discovered a new nanometer-scale atomic structure in solid metallic materials known as metallic glasses.

Earth Sciences - Physics/Astronomy - 10.05
Researchers Gain Greater Insight into Earthquake Cycles
For those who study earthquakes, one major challenge has been trying to understand all the physics of a fault—both during an earthquake and at times of "rest"—in order to know more about how a particular region may behave in the future.

Physics/Astronomy - Chemistry - 9.05
Infrared LEDs can be made cheaper, compatible with silicon
Light-emitting diodes at infrared wavelengths are the magic behind such things as night vision and optical , including the streaming data that comes through Netflix. Cornell researchers have advanced the process of making such LEDs cheaper and easier to fabricate, which could lead to ultra-thin LEDs painted onto silicon to replace computer wiring with light waves.

Physics/Astronomy - 8.05
Keeping immune cells alive and kicking
New results from research on the International Space Station are offering clues on why astronauts' immune systems don't work as well in space. The findings may benefit the elderly on Earth. Astronauts suffer many types of stress adapting to weightlessness.

Earth Sciences - Physics/Astronomy - 7.05
Geoscientists watch Sierra Nevada grow in real time
Scientists at the University of Glasgow have been collaborating with colleagues at the University of Nevada, Reno to watch the Sierra Nevada mountain range grow in real time. Using cutting-edge measurement technology, they have concluded that the range, which stretches for 400 miles between California and Nevada, is rising at a relatively fast rate of one to two millimetres each year.

Physics/Astronomy - 4.05
New way to control nonvolatile magnetic memory devices
Cornell researchers have demonstrated a new strategy for making energy- efficient, reliable nonvolatile magnetic memory devices - which retain information without electric power. Reported online May 3, the researchers use a physical phenomenon called the spin Hall effect, that turns out to be useful for memory applications because it can switch magnetic poles back and forth - the basic mechanism needed to make magnet-based computer memory.

Physics/Astronomy - 4.05
Wettest April since 1767 according to longest rainfall dataset
Last month was the wettest April on record according to data from the UK's longest running rainfall data collection station. Although April 2012 was widely reported to be the wettest drought this century, it is likely to be the wettest April in Oxford for almost 250 years.

Physics/Astronomy - Life Sciences - 3.05
Simplicity and (quantum) complexity
Simulations of reality would require less memory on a quantum computer than on a classical computer has shown.

Physics/Astronomy - Chemistry - 1.05
New UCLA method quickly IDs nanomaterials that can cause oxidative damage to cells
Engineered nanomaterials, prized for their unique semiconducting properties, are already prevalent in everyday consumer products — from sunscreens, cosmetics and paints to textiles and solar batteries — and economic forecasters are predicting the industry will grow into $1 trillion business in the next few years.

Medicine/Pharmacology - Physics/Astronomy - 29.04
With random lasers, Yale researchers fight random noise, improve imaging
Using "random lasers" as a source of illumination in medical imaging equipment could improve both processing time and the clarity of the final images, according to new research by Yale University scientists.

Physics/Astronomy - 26.04
Under 'dark halo' old galaxies have many more stars
Some of the oldest galaxies in the Universe have three times more stellar mass, and so many more stars, than all current models of galaxy evolution predict.

Physics/Astronomy - Mechanical Engineering/Mechanics - 25.04
Three Earthlike planets identified
It's not little green men, but it could be a step in that direction: astronomers, using data from the NASA Kepler Mission, have identified three Earthlike planets orbiting their own suns, all of which could be hospitable to life.

Physics/Astronomy - 24.04
Cassini movie shows blazing trails in Saturn’s F-ring
Cassini movie shows blazing trails in Saturn's F-ring New images from the Cassini spacecraft reveal rogue kilometre-sized objects punching through Saturn's F-ring as the source of 'mini-jets' seen emanating from the ring.