Applied Physics

New Mini Rocket Propulsion Could Mean Unmanned Aircraft The Size Of A Cigarette

Oklahoma State researchers are developing a state-of-the-art propulsion system for the United States Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. If successful, the propulsion system will be featured in sophisticated unmanned aircraft small enough to fit int ...

Article - News Staff - Jan 21 2008 - 1:15pm

What Phytoplankton Can Teach Us About Computer Chips

Denizens of oceans, lakes and even wet soil, diatoms are unicellular algae that encase themselves in intricately patterned, glass-like shells. Curiously, these tiny phytoplankton could be harboring the next big breakthrough in computer chips. Diatoms build ...

Article - News Staff - Jan 21 2008 - 8:36pm

Solar Breakthrough- Carbon Nanotubes Create Material That Absorbs 99.8 Percent Of Light

All materials, from paper to water, reflect some amount of light. Scientists have long envisioned an ideal black material that absorbs all the colors of light while reflecting none. So far they have been unsuccessful in engineering a material with a total ...

Article - News Staff - Jan 22 2008 - 12:42pm

Electromyograms Help Explain The Neural Ciruitry Behind Finger Dexterity

Quick use of fingertips is common for anyone text messaging on their cell phone but researchers at the University of Southern California say that this seemingly trivial action is the result of a complex neuro-motor-mechanical process orchestrated with prec ...

Article - News Staff - Jan 23 2008 - 10:30am

Supersynchrony And The Evolution Of Mass Culture

In The Big Bang and the Birth of Culture, we talked about the beginning of culture long before what anthropologists had previously assumed and discussed why space travel is not only becoming important for ecological reasons, it's part of a universal m ...

Article - Howard Bloom - Jan 29 2008 - 2:06am

Nova: First Unified Model For RS Ophiuchi

First results from a new NASA-funded scientific instrument at the W. M. Keck Observatory in Hawaii are helping scientists overturn long-standing assumptions about powerful explosions called novae and have produced the first unified model for a nearby nova ...

Article - News Staff - Jan 28 2008 - 3:07pm

Quest For A Spider-Man Suit 2008: Improved Sticky Gecko Feet

Building upon several years of research into the gecko's uncanny ability to climb sheer walls, researchers at the University of California, Berkeley writing in the Journal of the Royal Society Interface have developed an adhesive that is the first to ...

Article - News Staff - Jan 29 2008 - 7:45pm

E.Coli: Our New Hydrogen-Producing Energy Friend

For most people, the name “E. coli” is synonymous with food poisoning and product recalls, but a professor in Texas A&M University’s chemical engineering department envisions the bacteria as a future source of energy, helping to power our cars, homes a ...

Article - News Staff - Jan 29 2008 - 11:41pm

Study Links North Atlantic Sea Surface Temperature And Hurricane Activity

Scientists at University College London say they have established a link between changes in the temperature of the sea’s surface and increases in North Atlantic hurricane activity. ...

Article - News Staff - Jan 30 2008 - 3:18pm

Fountain Pen-Like Process 'Draws' 3-D Nanofibers- And Sugar Is The Ink

Based on the rapid evaporation of solvent from simple “inks,” University of Illinois researchers have demonstrated a process for fabrication of complex, three-dimensional nanoscale structures and shown the ability to grow individual nanowires of unlimited ...

Article - News Staff - Jan 30 2008 - 12:10pm