| Bacterial spare parts filter antibiotic residue from groundwater Posted: 21 May 2013 04:40 PM PDT Researchers have developed and tested a solar-powered nano filter that is able to remove harmful carcinogens and antibiotics from water sources -- lakes and rivers -- at a significantly higher rate than the currently used filtering technology made of activated carbon.  |
| Engineers devise new way to produce clean hydrogen Posted: 21 May 2013 12:39 PM PDT Engineers have developed a novel method for producing clean hydrogen, which could prove essential to weaning society off of fossil fuels and their environmental implications.  |
| Better understanding of water's freezing behavior at nanoscale Posted: 21 May 2013 12:24 PM PDT The results of a new study provide direct computational evidence that nucleation of ice in small droplets is strongly size-dependent, an important conclusion in understanding water's behavior at the nanoscale.  |
| Going green: U.S. equipped to grow serious amounts of pond scum for fuel Posted: 21 May 2013 11:09 AM PDT A new analysis shows that the nation's land and water resources could likely support the growth of enough algae to produce up to 25 billion gallons of algae-based fuel a year in the United States, one-twelfth of the country's yearly needs. For the best places to produce algae for fuel, think hot, humid and wet. Especially promising are the Gulf Coast and the Southeastern seaboard.  |
| NASA launching experiment to examine the beginnings of the universe Posted: 21 May 2013 10:40 AM PDT When did the first stars and galaxies form in the universe? How brightly did they burn their nuclear fuel? Scientists will seek to gain answers to these questions with the launch of the Cosmic Infrared Background ExpeRIment (CIBER) on a Black Brant XII suborbital sounding rocket between 11 and 11:59 p.m. EDT, June 4 from the Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.  |
| Single-cell transfection tool enables added control for biological studies Posted: 21 May 2013 10:22 AM PDT Researchers have developed a novel tool for single-cell transfection, in which they deliver molecules into targeted cells through temporary nanopores in the cell membrane created by a localized electric field.  |
| New method for tailoring optical processors Posted: 21 May 2013 09:16 AM PDT Physicists and engineers have unveiled a robust new method for arranging metal nanoparticles in geometric patterns that can act as optical processors that transform incoming light signals into output of a different color.  |
| Observations of stellar visibility by citizen scientists accurately measure the brightness of the night sky Posted: 21 May 2013 07:54 AM PDT Observations of stellar visibility by citizen scientists accurately measure the brightness of the night sky. The researchers hope that such data can eventually be used to track changes in artificial night sky brightness, also known as skyglow, worldwide.  |
| A tiny programmable fly's eye Posted: 21 May 2013 07:54 AM PDT A novel curved artificial compound eye (CurvACE) has been created. Compared to single-lens eyes, compound eyes offer lower resolution, but significantly larger fields of view, thin package, and with negligible distortion.  |
| Magnetic fingerprints of superfluid helium-3 Posted: 21 May 2013 07:54 AM PDT Superconducting sensors have allowed for highly sensitive measurements of the nuclear magnetic resonance of thin helium-3 layers.  |
| Soft matter offers new ways to study how materials arrange Posted: 21 May 2013 07:52 AM PDT A fried breakfast food popular in Spain provided the inspiration for the development of doughnut-shaped droplets that may provide scientists with a new approach for studying fundamental issues in physics, mathematics and materials.  |
| NASA builds unusual testbed for analyzing X-ray navigation technologies Posted: 20 May 2013 03:55 PM PDT Pulsars have a number of unusual qualities. Like zombies, they shine even though they're technically dead, and they rotate rapidly, emitting powerful and regular beams of radiation that are seen as flashes of light, blinking on and off at intervals from seconds to milliseconds. A NASA team has built a first-of-a-kind testbed that simulates these distinctive pulsations.  |
