science wire

Research that offers 10 ways to improve society, the economy and the environment
University of Toronto research with a direct impact on improving life on Earth – and the planet itself - got a huge boost Feb.

Flumes and lasers test elite sportswear
Fabric used to make what is believed to be the fastest swimsuit to ever go on the market was tested Leeds researchers who simulated conditions close to those experienced by elite swimmers. A team led by Sedimentologist Jeff Peakall developed a methodology using lasers and flume tanks contained in a giant black box to accurately measure the speed of fabric through water.

UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering Faculty Elected to National Academy of Engineering
Three faculty members in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at the University of California, San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering have been elected to the National Academy of Engineering.

Inspiration for New Materials in Piranha-proof Armor
It's a matchup worthy of a late-night cable movie: put a school of starving piranha and a 300-pound fish together, and who comes out the winner? The surprising answer - given the notorious guillotine-like bite of the piranha - is Brazil's massive Arapaima fish.

Want to understand the fluid dynamics of the oceans and atmosphere? UCLA’s got the video
Oceans and clouds, even the atmosphere itself, are in constant motion and can undergo dramatic fluctuations, like hurricanes, that lead to severe consequences.

How Do You Fight Fire in Space? Experiments Provide Some Answers
Improving fire-fighting techniques in space and getting a better understanding of fuel combustion here on Earth are the focus of a series of experiments on the International Space Station, led by a professor at the Jacobs School of Engineering at the University of California, San Diego. A first round of experiments ran from March 2009 to December 2011.

How wings really work
A 1-minute video released by the University of Cambridge sets the record straight on a much misunderstood concept - how wings lift.

Seeing Quantum Mechanics with the naked eye
New research lays groundwork for new generation of ultrasensitive gyroscopes to measure gravity, magnetic field, and create quantum circuits Just to see and prod quantum mechanics working in front of your eyes is amazing." —Dr Gab Christmann A Cambridge team have built a semiconductor chip that converts electrons into a quantum state that emits light but is large enough to see by eye.

Less knowledge, more power: Uninformed can be vital to democracy, study finds
by Morgan Kelly Contrary to the ideal of a completely engaged electorate, individuals who have the least interest in a specific outcome can actually be vital to achieving a democratic consensus. These individuals dilute the influence of powerful minority factions who would otherwise dominate everyone else, according to new research published .

30% more efficient solar thermal power plants
The efficiency of solar thermal power plants is improved by more than 30% thanks to the combination of two technologies.

In vivo cyclic loading decrease bone resorption rate.
In vivo loading increases mechanical properties of scaffold by affecting bone formation and bone resorption rates.

J K Rowling marks start for clinic
The author J K Rowling will bury a time capsule to mark the start of building work on a new research clinic.

Royal visit for new chair in motor neurone research
Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal attended a lecture today to mark the appointment of Professor Kevin Talbot to the new Chair of Motor Neuron Biology at the University of Oxford. The position will support research into motor neurone disease with the aim of increasing understanding of this complex disease.

Imperial gets revved up over sustainable car challenge
Monday 31 October 2011 by Colin Smith From competing in an all-electric supercar to helping to calculate who has won the race, Imperial College London is involved in many facets of one of the UK's premiere “green” motoring events.

Study evaluates bat deaths near wind turbines
It's something of an ecological murder mystery — countless numbers of bats are turning up dead near wind farms. But what is killing them? A new study from the University of Wisconsin-Madison links on-the-ground sleuthing and clinical diagnostic techniques to sketch a better picture of how the bats are dying.

Washington Poll: Liquor initiative leads, road tolls measure too close to call
A state ballot initiative that would privatize liquor sales leads by a significant margin in the new statewide Washington Poll, but an initiative on project-specific road tolls is too close to call.

Boeing funds strategic collaboration for carbon fibre recycling
In desert ‘aircraft graveyards', where retired planes often go when flight service ends, good parts are removed and sold and many materials are recycled.

One Soyuz launcher, two Galileo satellites, three successes for Europe
One Soyuz launcher, two Galileo satellites, three successes for Europe PR 29 2011 - The first pair of satellites for Europe's Galileo global navigation satellite system has been lofted into orbit

The Spark of a New Era
› Browse version of image __JPL_CAPTION_2 › Browse version of image __JPL_CAPTION_3 › Browse version of image - Seventy-five years ago this Halloween, at 9 a.m., a t

Sugar high for bees
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - A field of flowers may seem innocuous - but for the birds and bees that depend on it for sustenance, that floral landscape can be a battlefield mined with predators and competitors. The more efficient a pollinator is in feeding, the less chance it has of becoming food itself. Now mathematicians at MIT have found that efficient feeding depends on how sugary a flower's nectar is, and whether an animal dips or sucks the nectar out.

Team Uses Laser Light to Cool Object to Quantum Ground State
For the first time, researchers at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), in collaboration with a team from the University of Vienna, have managed to cool a miniature mechanical object to its lowest possible energy state using laser light. The achievement paves the way for the development of exquisitely sensitive detectors as well as for quantum experiments that scientists have long dreamed of conducting.

First Vega starts journey to Europe’s Spaceport
First Vega starts journey to Europe's Spaceport The first elements of Europe's new Vega small launcher left Italy last Thursday to begin their long journey to Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana, marking the final step towards its inaugural flight in January.

Blimp to fly at proposed wind turbines site
A blimp is to be flown at the site of a proposed wind turbine development in Nottingham to help interested parties gauge the scale of the project.

Printing off the paper
MIT research continues to push the boundaries of the burgeoning technology of 3-D printing. Steven Keating and Neri Oxman demonstrate how 3-D printing works Video: Melanie Gonick CAMBRIDGE, Mass.

In plane view
New tool analyzes black-box data for flight anomalies. CAMBRIDGE, Mass.

New project drives towards cleaner, greener cars
by Colin Smith Creating the tools to help the UK automotive industry to develop the next generation of low emission vehicles will be the focus of a new £3.5 million academic consortium, which starts work this month.

Chatty robots go viral on YouTube
An online chat between two robots set up by Cornell students is entertaining the nation. "It was just an afternoon hack," said Hod Lipson, associate professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering.

The Brittleness of Aging Bones - More than a Loss of Bone Mass
It is a well-established fact that as we grow older our bones become more brittle and prone to fracturing. It is also well established that loss of mass is a major reason for older bones fracturing more readily than younger bones, hence medical treatments have focused on slowing down this loss.