'Hyperloop' travel idea gains fans, if not backers (Update)
Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk released rough plans last week for a "Hyperloop" that would shoot capsules full of people at the speed of sound through elevated tubes connecting Los Angeles and San...
View ArticleCan you talk? Apple patent calls on iPhone status check system
(Phys.org) —An Apple iPhone invention would allow you to check the availability status of another iPhone user before you make the phone call. The advantage for the caller would be avoiding being dumped...
View ArticleScientists discover that chromosomal rearrangements can be advantageous
In a pioneer study published in the latest issue of the scientific journal Nature Communications, a research team at the Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência (IGC; Portugal), led by Miguel Godinho Ferreira...
View ArticleStates' methods for rating preschool quality fail to predict children's...
(Phys.org) —According to findings published today in the journal Science, publicly funded pre-kindergarten classrooms that received the highest marks in quality rating systems used by the majority of...
View ArticleHow the tiny fruit fly could help science get to the heart of human genetics
(Phys.org) —A new study by scientists at the University of Sussex shows how the tiny fruit fly could be used to better understand the genetic processes at work in humans, such as those governing heart...
View ArticleNASA releases new imagery of asteroid mission
(Phys.org) —NASA released Thursday new photos and video animations depicting the agency's planned mission to find, capture, redirect, and study a near-Earth asteroid. The images depict crew operations...
View ArticleA fluffy disk around a baby star
An international team of astronomers that are members of the Strategic Exploration of Exoplanets and Disks with Subaru Telescope (SEEDS) Project has used Subaru Telescope's High Contrast Instrument for...
View ArticleAlaskan wood frogs stock up on solutes to survive
Outwardly, the tiny wood frog, Rana sylvatica, does not look like your regular arctic inhabitant. Yet despite their tiny stature, these little frogs are actually quite hardy and can tolerate freezing...
View ArticleResearch duo use X-rays and high speed camera to learn secrets of rapid wing...
(Phys.org) —Two researchers from Japan's Synchrotron Radiation Research Institute have found evidence that bees share a wing muscle contraction mechanism with vertebrates by using X-rays and high speed...
View Article'Fountain of youth' for leaves discovered
What plant scientists call senescence, consumers experience as wilted produce and overripe fruit. A team led by Cornell horticulture professor Su-Sheng Gan has identified an enzymatic fountain of youth...
View ArticleBreakthrough advances nanomaterials for printable solar cells
An RMIT University research collaboration with top scientists in Australia and Japan is advancing next generation solar cells.
View ArticleGeoscientists discover hillslopes can reveal geographic activity below
(Phys.org) —A team of geoscientists from the U.K. and the U.S. has found that measuring the contour of hilly regions using a laser scanner can reveal aspects of the geographical history that led to its...
View ArticleStudy group claims free access to research papers has reached a 'tipping point'
(Phys.org) —Éric Archambault, president of Science-Metrix, is claiming in a paper produced by his company that free access (open-access) to research papers has now reached a "tipping point." The...
View ArticlePlastic products could easily become electronic with first moldable...
(Phys.org) —There has been a great deal of research lately on flexible electronics, but so far these devices (which are mostly made of carbon) still use metal electrodes and oxide insulators, and these...
View ArticleYour emails are all scanned—and that's what you agreed to
According to Nobel Laureate Gabriel García Márquez, "all human beings have three lives: public, private, and secret". It is in our nature to want privacy, yet in the internet age, it has never been...
View ArticleMicrosoft says CEO Ballmer to retire in 12 months (Update)
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, who helped Bill Gates transform the company from a tiny startup into the world's most valuable business, announced plans Friday to retire sometime in the next year—a move...
View ArticleUnprecedented control of genome editing in flies promises insight into human...
In an era of widespread genetic sequencing, the ability to edit and alter an organism's DNA is a powerful way to explore the information within and how it guides biological function.
View ArticleRefrigerated trucks to keep their cool thanks to fuel cell technology
Grocery merchants in Texas, California and New York will soon have ice cream, frozen foods and fresh produce delivered by tractor trailers whose refrigeration units are powered by fuel cells, a clean...
View ArticleReview: Leap Motion Controller not ready for prime time
When Tom Cruise's character in the movie "Minority Report" controls a computer only by waving his hands, it looks really cool.
View ArticleArctic sea ice update: Unlikely to break records, but continuing downward...
The melting of sea ice in the Arctic is well on its way toward its annual "minimum," that time when the floating ice cap covers less of the Arctic Ocean than at any other period during the year. While...
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