Science Letter articles from July 2003

Science Letter archives from July 2003

Hydrogen economy might impact Earth's stratosphere, study shows.
July 7, 2003... 2003 JUL 7 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- According to conventional wisdom, hydrogen-fueled cars are environmentally friendly because they emit only water vapor, a naturally abundant atmospheric gas. But leakage of the hydrogen gas that can...

Breakthrough "interface tuning" is macro step for microelectronics.
July 7, 2003... 2003 JUL 7 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The ability to make atomic-level changes in the functional components of semiconductor switches, demonstrated by a team of Oak Ridge National Laboratory, North Carolina State University, and University...

Scientists may have replicated matter as it first appeared in universe.
July 7, 2003... 2003 JUL 7 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Recent results of a joint experiment conducted by 460 physicists from 57 research institutions in 12 countries strongly indicate that the scientists have succeeded in reproducing matter as it first...

Tranmission electron microscopy used to image lithium atoms.
July 7, 2003... 2003 JUL 7 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- For the first time researchers have used a transmission electron microscope - the One Angstrom Microscope (OAM) at the Department of Energy's National Center for Electron Microscopy (NCEM) at Lawrence...

Mechanical structures made of tiny beads spontaneously heal after breaking.
July 7, 2003... 2003 JUL 7 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- One of the many advantages that living beings have over man-made structures is their amazing ability to heal themselves. How practical it would be if broken objects could also repair themselves. ...

Supernovae fuel gamma-ray bursts.
July 7, 2003... 2003 JUL 7 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The origin of the hugely energetic gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) has been the subject of dispute for some time. Now three papers in the June 19, 2003, Nature show that at least some GRBs are associated with...

Genetic engineering accelerates impact of biotechnology on chemical production.
July 7, 2003... 2003 JUL 7 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Biotechnology advances are producing results in the production of commodity chemicals, such as ethanol, and specialty chemicals, such as pharmaceuticals and nutrients. Genetic manipulation, for...

Link found between variations in climate and wildfire severity in Western U.S.
July 7, 2003... 2003 JUL 7 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Scientists from the California Applications Program at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego, have found a link between variations in climate and the severity of...

New way to make realistic shadows for computer images, animation.
July 7, 2003... 2003 JUL 7 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Scientists and computer gamers alike could benefit from a new method for creating soft, realistic shadows in computer-generated images. Engineers at Ohio State University have created computer...

Portable CT scanner joins hunt for alternative energy sources.
July 7, 2003... 2003 JUL 7 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Scientists at the Berkeley Laboratory have developed the world's first X-ray computed tomography (CT) scanner capable of examining entire core samples at remote drilling sites. The portable device,...

Behavior of ultra-cold material explained.
July 7, 2003... 2003 JUL 7 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Physicists at Ohio State University may have explained some strange behavior of the ultra-cold material known as Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC). The new analysis shows that scientists are closer...

Strain creates duet of change in semiconductor material.
July 7, 2003... 2003 JUL 7 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- University of Arkansas and College of William and Mary, Virginia, researchers have found that strain can induce changes in the optical, electromechanical, and polar properties of a semiconductor...

Speed of gravity claim challenged.
July 14, 2003... 2003 JUL 14 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Albert Einstein may have been right that gravity travels at the same speed as light but, contrary to a claim made earlier in 2003, the theory has not yet been proven. A scientist at the Lawrence...

First direct evidence of fullerenes found in meteorite samples.
July 14, 2003... 2003 JUL 14 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The first direct evidence of fullerenes in material originating from outer space could reinforce the meteorite impact theory of mass extinction on Earth and the existence of fullerenes in interstellar...

Behavior of arctic ocean ridge may lead to new insights into crust formation.
July 14, 2003... 2003 JUL 14 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The discovery that an ocean ridge under the Arctic ice cap is unexpectedly volcanically active and contains multiple hydrothermal vents may cause scientists to modify a decades-long understanding of...

First 3-D assembly of magnetic and semiconducting nanoparticles announced.
July 14, 2003... 2003 JUL 14 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Scientists from Columbia University, IBM, and the University of New Orleans announced a new, three-dimensional designer material assembled from two different types of particles only billionths of a...

World's largest solar adaptive optics system developed in New Mexico.
July 14, 2003... 2003 JUL 14 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Impressive, sharp images of the Sun can be produced with an advanced adaptive optical (AO) system that will give new life to existing telescopes and opens the way for a generation of large-aperture...

Powerful 'conveyor belts' drive Sun's 11-year cycle, new evidence suggests.
July 14, 2003... 2003 JUL 14 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- NASA Marshall Center and collaborating university astronomers have found evidence the 11-year sunspot cycle is driven in part by a giant conveyor belt-like, circulating current within the Sun. ...

Researchers view protein's structural changes in real time.
July 14, 2003... 2003 JUL 14 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Dramatic structural changes that take place inside a protein in less than a billionth of a second have been filmed in high resolution with X-ray crystallography, enabling scientists to view them like a...

Movement brings images to life.
July 14, 2003... 2003 JUL 14 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A new computer graphics method that uses movement to show the shape and structure of static objects has been developed by researchers at the University of California, Davis, Center for Image Processing...

New finding has implications for designing new mobile audio interfaces.
July 14, 2003... 2003 JUL 14 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Oregon researchers have discovered that when people converse with text-to-speech (TTS) computer systems, they substantially change their speech to sound like the computer - what's known as speech...

Scientists observe unknown type of lightning.
July 14, 2003... 2003 JUL 14 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Scientists have discovered a startling secret in the sky: gigantic jets of lightning that shoot upward from cloud tops to nearly 60 miles into the upper atmosphere. Unlike the familiar lightning...

Crystal structures light the way to optical microchip.
July 14, 2003... 2003 JUL 14 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A new class of microscopic crystal structures developed at the University of Toronto is bringing high bandwidth optical microchips one step closer to efficient, large-scale fabrication. The...

First-of-its-kind nanoscale sensor has many medical, biotech applications.
July 14, 2003... 2003 JUL 14 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) physicists have created a first-of-its-kind nanoscale sensor using a single molecule less than 20 nanometers long - more than 1,000 times smaller than the...

Technique could open doors to faster nanotech commercialization.
July 14, 2003... 2003 JUL 14 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Engineers at the University of California, Berkeley, have found an innovative way to grow silicon nanowires and carbon nanotubes directly on microstructures in a room temperature chamber, opening the...

City-grown air pollution is tougher on down-wind country trees.
July 21, 2003... 2003 JUL 21 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A tree grows in Brooklyn - despite big-city air pollutants. Meanwhile, identical trees planted downwind of city pollution grow only half as well - a surprising finding that ecologists in a Cornell...

Abnormal plan shows path to plant, animal development.
July 21, 2003... 2003 JUL 21 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A pickle-shaped root is revealing how plants develop from embryos to adults and also may hold answers about cancer cell growth. Purdue University researchers have uncovered nine specific genes...

Researchers identify molecular signaling system crucial for plant fertility.
July 21, 2003... 2003 JUL 21 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- University of Chicago researchers have found that a substance that functions as a neurotransmitter in humans also plays a crucial role in plant reproduction, guiding growth of the tube that transports...

Universities to share technologies to fight hunger in developing countries.
July 21, 2003... 2003 JUL 21 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A group of leading U.S. public sector agricultural research institutions has agreed to allow access to each other's current and future patented agricultural technologies and is exploring ways to ensure...

Scientists discover planetary system similar to our own.
July 21, 2003... 2003 JUL 21 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- An international team of scientists has discovered a planet and star that may share the same relationship as Jupiter and our Sun, the closest comparison that researchers have found since they began...

Passive solar energy can work in midwest for heating, cooling.
July 21, 2003... 2003 JUL 21 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Passive solar energy could handle all of a Midwestern home's heating and cooling needs, says one Ball State University professor. "It's possible to have a comfortable building in Muncie, Indiana,...

Tungsten photonic crystal could provide power for electrical devices.
July 21, 2003... 2003 JUL 21 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Researchers at Sandia National Laboratories - exceeding the predictions of a 100-year-old law of physics - have shown that filaments fabricated of tungsten lattices emit remarkably more energy than...

Man-made wetlands remove toxins from water supply.
July 21, 2003... 2003 JUL 21 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Researchers at the University of Missouri-Rolla are involved in the construction of a wetland near a mine and smelter plant in southeastern Missouri to help remove lead and other toxins from the water...

Current models of how glaciers slide may be wrong.
July 21, 2003... 2003 JUL 21 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Neal Iverson, whose glacial research has required him to live and work beneath a 700-foot thick river of ice in Norway for weeks, has published a research paper about glacier flow in Science magazine....

Radar sensing satellites hunt for buried treasure.
July 21, 2003... 2003 JUL 21 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- In a first for radar sensing, researchers have proved the technology can locate and identify buried objects. Their technique could be used in the hunt for archaeological artifacts smothered by...

Nasa experiments validate 50-year-old hypothesis.
July 21, 2003... 2003 JUL 21 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- NASA-funded researchers recently obtained the first complete proof of a 50-year-old hypothesis explaining how liquid metals resist turning into solids. The research is featured on the cover of the...

Researchers describe how quantum dots line up.
July 21, 2003... 2003 JUL 21 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A method that can be used to predict the growth of earthquake faults also aids prediction of the tiniest of phenomena - how arrays of "artificial atoms," or quantum dots, assemble and stack themselves...

Scientists discover planetary system similar to our own.
July 28, 2003... 2003 JUL 28 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- An international team of scientists has discovered a planet and star that may share the same relationship as Jupiter and our Sun, the closest comparison that researchers have found since they began...

New cost-effective catalyst for hydrogen production for fuel cells discovered.
July 28, 2003... 2003 JUL 28 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Researchers at Tufts University have discovered that it's possible to make hydrogen from fossil fuels using far less platinum or gold than current fuel processing technology has required. Their...

Oldest planet in the universe identified.
July 28, 2003... 2003 JUL 28 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- An international research team announced on July 10, 2003, that it has confirmed the existence of the universe's oldest known and farthest planet. The findings end a decade of speculation and...

U.K. to make multi-million dollar investment in development.
July 28, 2003... 2003 JUL 28 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The U.K.'s Science and Innovation minister, Lord Sainsbury, announced the government will make a cash injection of $150 million (UKP90 million) over the next 6 years to help industry harness the...

New class of superweak particles may reveal secrets of hidden mass in universe.
July 28, 2003... 2003 JUL 28 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A University of California, Irvine, study has revealed a new class of cosmic particles that may shed light on the composition of dark matter in the universe. These particles, called superweakly...

Hot mist strips salt from seawater.
July 28, 2003... 2003 JUL 28 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A process that turns seawater into fresh water at around a third of the cost of conventional desalination is promising a new way of providing clean drinking water, claims a U.S. company. Called...

Tiny Bubbles: New tool in chemical sensing?
July 28, 2003... 2003 JUL 28 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) chemists reported recently in an online issue of the journal Langmuir that a process called microboiling shows promise for quick, simple, and...

Study clarifies key chemical reaction in atmosphere.
July 28, 2003... 2003 JUL 28 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A new study has revealed that tiny sea salt particles drifting into the atmosphere participate in a chemical reaction that may have impacts on climate and acid rain. The research, published in the...

Electric vehicles promise economic benefits in the billions.
July 28, 2003... 2003 JUL 28 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Move over gas-guzzlers. The year is 2025 and 50% of all vehicles are electrically powered. Hybrid electrics, pure electrics, and fuel cell vehicles share the road with the conventional gasoline-driven...

Latticed tungsten filaments could provide more power for electrical devices.
July 28, 2003... 2003 JUL 28 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Researchers at Sandia National Laboratories, New Mexico, have shown that filaments fabricated of tungsten lattices emit remarkably more energy than solid tungsten filaments in certain bands of...

Solar sailing concept meets criticism.
July 28, 2003... 2003 JUL 28 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The next generation of spacecraft propulsion systems could be dead in the water before they are even launched. A physicist is claiming that solar sailing, the idea of using sunlight to blow...

Study validates hypothesis of how liquid metal resists becoming solid.
July 28, 2003... 2003 JUL 28 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Researchers have validated a 50-year-old hypothesis explaining how liquid metals resist turning into solids. A paper on the findings was published in the July 2003 issue of Physics Today by...

Ultracold molecules pave way for quantum "super molecule".
July 28, 2003... 2003 JUL 28 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A team of researchers at JILA, a joint institute of the U.S. Commerce Department's National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the University of Colorado at Boulder, has done the physics...