Science News

Dirac's birthday medal for 2010 has been given to Nicola Cabibbo and Ennackal Chandy George Sudarshan, both have made fundamental advances in our understanding of the weak force. The medal is given out annually by the Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP). Nicola Cabibbo (left) and Ennackal Chandy George Sudarshan See the full Institute of Physics report here. The announcement by the ICTP can be found here.

During last 20-30 years the instruments that explore or probe the surface of ultra-small samples have steadily proliferated. Physicists, chemists, and molecular biologists working in nanoscience have had to familiarize themselves with microscopes that use thermal, magnetic, capacitive, and electrochemical properties. What is next for this amazing family of SPM? July 10th, 2010 Next step in nanotechnology instrumentation: Atomic Force Microscopy and X-Ray Fluorescence Analysis Integration Introduction Nanotechnology has received an enormous amount of attention in the past several years, but not much data exist to help make decisions about integration…

http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/P%3DNP_math_problem_reported_solved?dpl_id=200299 Apparently P≠NP. Thoughts?

Unbelievable, but it is still known to happen in time of satellites and advanced technology... On the territory of former Yugoslavia, across Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Vojvodina, Kosovo, Serbian Republic, and elsewhere, a new life form was discovered. Although this does not happen often, scientists have succeeded in holding this recent, sensational discovery in secret up until today, when the results of scientific research and analysis finally arrived and confirmed the expectations: various locations of the wider Balkans began to inhabit a new life form. In the professional scientific documentation, the new animal s…

Here is an interesting little piece of information, I'm not sure just how "independent" it is but it seems from the assertion in this article that Cannabis or at least the chemicals in Cannabis including THC suppress cancer... Who knew!? Our government knew and has known for 36 years! http://www.gsalternative.com/2010/05/cannabinoids-kill-cancer/

Mica, a layered mineral with unusual properties could have helped form the template for organic molecules to come together for the formation of life says Helen Hansma of the University of California, Santa Barbara. Mica could have sheltered molecules that were the begining of cells, allowing the non living organic chemcials to come together in ways that helped form life. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/08/100806093104.htm

A new combination of nano and solar technology has made it possible for solar electric generation to be cheaper than burning coal. Nanosolar, Inc. has developed a way to produce a type of ink that absorbs solar radiation and converts into electric current. Photovoltaic (PV) sheets are produced by a machine similar to a printing press, which rolls out the PV ink onto sheets approximately the width of aluminum foil. These PV sheets can be produced at a rate of hundreds of feet per minute. "It's 100 times thinner than existing solar panels, and we can deposit the semiconductors 100 times faster," said Nanosolar's cofounder and chief executive officer, R. Martin…

An interesting new study reported in NPR: http://www.npr.org/t...oryId=128490874 So perhaps Churchill's famous saying should be rewritten as "A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth gets its pants on, but the lie is wearing a rather nice minidress and showing lots of cleavage."

In the Science World recently, scientists have discovered microneedls. Needles that are so small when put up against the skin it feels like sandpaper. This revolutionalizes the medicine industry and could began to be mailed out to people as early as in 5 years.

Check out this video. Try listening to the narrator and not notice some obvious scientific flaws, especially the last fifteen seconds of the video. However, it would seem nice if you were able to fill up your car with compressed air at home from a generator, and in the end it would be cheaper than my Jeep Cherokee. It is unfortunate though, that the car design visually is not what some in the ritz would call, "sweet" or "stunning". Anyways lets break this down, I'm curious as to what you guys notice.

cooler, wetter place because of flowering plants, according to new climate simulation results published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B. The effect is especially pronounced in the Amazon basin, where replacing flowering plants with non-flowering varieties would result in an 80 percent decrease in the area covered by ever-wet rainforest. The simulations demonstrate the importance of flowering-plant physiology to climate regulation in ever-wet rainforest, regions where the dry season is short or non-existent, and where biodiversity is greatest. "The vein density of leaves within the flowering plants is much, much higher than all other plants," said …

Date: October 15 – 25, 2009 Location: Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics and various venues in Uptown Waterloo, Ontario, Canada Description: For 10 exciting days this October, Perimeter Institute’s Quantum to Cosmos: Ideas for the Future (Q2C) will take a global audience from the strange world of subatomic particles to the outer frontiers of the universe. All events will occur on-site in Waterloo, Ontario and online at q2cfestival.com. Q2C will transcend traditional festivals by streaming events live and on demand. All events will be recorded and will also be available online at a later date.

Surely, you've heard about the off-shore oil rig explosion that is now leaking hundreds of thousands of barrels crude into the gulf a day. At $75 a barrel, why isn't there a company out there outfitting a tanker right now to collect it? I'm envisioning a small skimmer, that then pumps the oil into the tanker...? I mean no one 'owns' this oil anymore right? Granted, it is spread out over an area as big as Delaware, in a layer only several millimeters thick, but it's free money just floating out there. --- While this has been a news story for days, there been no real sense of urgency attached to it. The Drill Baby Drill folks have ben awful quiet, bu…

I am looking for a good news source for science-related topics. Specfically related to natural science and biology. I have browsed a few of the 'well-know' magazine sites, however a subscription is required to view all of their content

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=113938329&ft=1&f=1001

Page last updated at 23:16 GMT, Thursday, 8 July 2010 00:16 UK http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/scotland/tayside_and_central/10559880.stm Journal: Cell

We invite you to our science group on facebook to get the latest science news and write your opinions about anything related to science , here is the link of the group (science ultras):- http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/group.php?gid=198599069258&ref=ts

http://swns.com/boffins-make-kevlar-body-armour-using-bullet-proof-custard-121349.html

Lots of controversy over at Scienceblogs.com. Apparently, someone thought it would be a good idea to start up a nutrition blog authored by... PepsiCo . This isn't a joke. The scienceblog authorship isn't taking this lightly and some have already quit. What do you think? A golden opportunity for SFN blogs?

Brian Cox has be awarded the Kelvin medal "For communicating the appeal and excitement of physics to the general public through the broadcast media." The medal and award is presented by the Institute of Physics. Cox, a professor at Manchester has also been awarded a OBE this year. Kelvin medallists include John D Barrow (2009) and Simon Singh (2008). The announcement can be found here. --------------------------------------- A personal note: I met Cox at a particle physics seminar in Manchester a few years ago and was quite friendly with one of his PhD students for a while. This was before I knew he was "famous"

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8767763.stm This is about Earth's gravity level newly released. Reading this article, I have a question: If a person who is living in a region of gravity level 100 (from the map at the article) moves to a region of gravity level -100, is it possible for the person to feel the subtle change in gravity level?

Brian Cox is will be made an Officer of the British Empire (OBE) by Queen Elizabeth II. It will be for his services to science. Brian Cox is a professor at the University of Manchester and is now well-known for his TV and radio programmes about science. Also, Athene Donald will become a Dame Commander of the British Empire (DBE) and Jerry Cowhig, will be made Member of the British Empire (MBE). The IOP new report can be found here.

http://www.cdrinfo.com/sections/news/Details.aspx?NewsId=26358 I just read about this today. I didn't know it existed. Sure, the news is from around November of last year. Regardless, I think a few of you might find it interesting. I'm not seeing anything on Wikipedia about it yet. I'm guessing there is a RAM type of technology for Blu-Ray. Maybe these should be called Blu-RAM discs?

n an article available online in the journal Cancer, Dr. Jeffrey Cadeddu, professor of urology and radiology at UT Southwestern Medical Center, reported the outcomes of more than 200 patients who were treated with radiofrequency ablation (RFA). Once the diagnosis of tumor is confirmed and the RFA technique is agreed upon, a needle-like probe is placed inside the tumor. The radiofrequency electricity waves passing through the probe heat up tumor tissue and destroy it. Surgeons view the RFA procedure with the aid of imaging devices such as computed tomography (CT scan). Of the 208 patients who underwent the RFA procedure, 160 were diagnosed with renal cell carcinoma…