Science Letter articles from May 2003

Science Letter archives from May 2003

Computer simulations provide insight on light degradation effect in solar cells.
May 5, 2003... 2003 MAY 5 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Ames Laboratory and Iowa State University's Microelectronics Research Center may have solved a mystery that has plagued the research community for more than...

Optically active nanotubes made from gallium nitride.
May 5, 2003... 2003 MAY 5 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Nanowires and carbon nanotubes, each with their pluses and minuses, are advertised as the next-generation building blocks for electronic circuits a thousand times smaller than today's semiconductor...

"Skinny" galaxy harbors massive black hole at core.
May 5, 2003... 2003 MAY 5 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Scientists have uncovered a supermassive black hole at the core of a svelte, spiral galaxy - a finding that questions a recently devised rule of thumb in which only galaxies with bulging cores have such...

High-temperature degradation of carbon-carbon composites characterized.
May 5, 2003... 2003 MAY 5 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Researchers in a University of Maine mechanical engineering laboratory have characterized the high temperature degradation of carbon-carbon composites, the same type of material that is a current focus...

Bacteria protect ancient stonework.
May 5, 2003... 2003 MAY 5 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Researchers from the University of Granada, Spain, have identified a strain of bacteria that may help protect stone monuments and statues from pollution-induced erosion. They reported their results...

Distant supernovaes' may reveal major changes in early evolution of universe.
May 5, 2003... 2003 MAY 5 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Astronomers' "yardstick" for measuring vast distances across the cosmos has now grown longer as scientists at The Johns Hopkins University announced they had identified and closely analyzed two distant...

One-fifth of all land area in U.S. is located within 417 feet of a road.
May 5, 2003... 2003 MAY 5 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Ecological impacts from roads may be the rule rather than the exception for most of the U.S., study findings suggest. For a study published in the April 2003 issue of Frontiers in Ecology and the...

The more the ground moves in an earthquake, the less shaking occurs.
May 5, 2003... 2003 MAY 5 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- While a quake's score on the Richter scale measures the overall movement of the ground, it is the jittery high-frequency shaking that is most likely to make buildings collapse. Data from the...

Eight-fold quantum states blossom in a high-temperature superconductor.
May 5, 2003... 2003 MAY 5 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Researchers based at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the University of California, Berkeley, have used a scanning tunneling microscope (STM) to reveal eight-fold patterns of quasiparticle...

Tiny bubbles are key to liquid-cooled system for future computers.
May 5, 2003... 2003 MAY 5 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Purdue University researchers have made a discovery that may lead to the development of an innovative liquid-cooling system for future computer chips, which are expected to generate four times more heat...

Superlubricant effect explained using new friction force sensor.
May 5, 2003... 2003 MAY 5 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Research conducted in the Netherlands has revealed a previously unknown effect in graphite. The discovery was made by physicist Martin Dienwiebel using the Tribolever, a highly-sensitive friction...

Yeast telomerase is specialized for C/A-rich RNA templates.
May 5, 2003... 2003 MAY 5 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The yeast telomerase is specialized for C/A-rich RNA templates. According to recent research from Switzerland, "Telomeres, the protective caps of eukaryotic chromosomes, are maintained by the enzyme...

Research builds foundation for more versatile catalysts that mimic enzymes.
May 12, 2003... 2003 MAY 12 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Chemical engineers are closer to the long-sought goal of mimicking the activity of natural enzymes with zeolites, porous structures used as catalysts to promote a wide range of chemical reactions. ...

Ventilation concept may help cure "sick" buildings.
May 12, 2003... 2003 MAY 12 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- An engineering professor at the University of Pennsylvania believes he has the remedy for sick buildings: a system allowing a constant flow of fresh outdoor air through a ventilation component that is...

Telescope will help determine abundance of planetary solar systems.
May 12, 2003... 2003 MAY 12 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Astronomers soon will look at dust disks evolving around Milky Way stars to learn if solar systems like ours are rare or commonplace. "We will look for signatures of planets that sculpt...

New plastic recycling process developed.
May 12, 2003... 2003 MAY 12 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Plastics are everywhere these days, but current recycling techniques allow only a very limited portion to be reclaimed after initial use. Researchers in the Department of Chemical Engineering at...

Ultrathin clay-based film may yield groundbreaking technology.
May 12, 2003... 2003 MAY 12 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- An ultrathin film containing 1-nanometer thick clay particles has been created for the first time, an accomplishment that may yield new materials and devices for medicine, electronics, and engineering,...

Membrane separation technology has applications in many industries.
May 12, 2003... 2003 MAY 12 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Moving beyond early applications such as the clarification of wine, membrane separation's strong presence and successful application in chemical and other industries seem to suggest that this...

Edges of magnetic tape key to boosting data density.
May 12, 2003... 2003 MAY 12 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Ohio State University engineers have examined in unprecedented detail a key manufacturing step that could improve one of the worlds most popular data storage materials: magnetic tape. How a tape...

Virtual shapes created on monitors by manipulating a flexible tape-like tool.
May 12, 2003... 2003 MAY 12 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- University of Toronto researchers have created software that will enable users to twist, bend, push, and pull shapes in two and three dimensions." "Our work represents a completely different way of...

Continental roots go deep, but not as deep as some thought.
May 12, 2003... 2003 MAY 12 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The roots of the continents go down between 200 and 250 kilometers (125-160 miles), forming a distinct boundary with the underlying mantle like that seen under the oceans, according to a team of...

Expedition will map Lost City hydrothermal vent field.
May 12, 2003... 2003 MAY 12 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A bizarre hydrothermal vent field discovered a little more than two years ago surprised scientists not only with vents that are the tallest ever seen - one that's 18 stories dwarfs most vents at other...

Machine harnesses sound science to probe causes of road noise.
May 12, 2003... 2003 MAY 12 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Innovative types of pavements will help to reduce traffic noise on future highways, suggests initial research using a new, one-of-a-kind machine made for Purdue University. "This work will...

Portable detection devices could have many applications.
May 12, 2003... 2003 MAY 12 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Scientists from the University of Delaware have made a major breakthrough in terahertz nanotechnology, one that could have practical applications in medical imaging, hazardous materials detection, and...

Z machine produces fusion neutrons, scientists confirm.
May 12, 2003... 2003 MAY 12 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Throwing its hat into the ring of machines that offer the possibility of achieving controlled nuclear fusion, Sandia National Laboratories' Z machine has created a hot dense plasma that produces...

System developed to map, monitor, forecast coastal conditions.
May 12, 2003... 2003 MAY 12 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The Coast Guard's ability to respond effectively to search and rescue calls, oil and chemical spills, and a wide variety of homeland security issues depends a great deal on local weather and marine...

Angular momentum carried by optical vortices has been measured.
May 12, 2003... 2003 MAY 12 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- University of Chicago physicists have successfully measured the angular momentum carried by tiny rings of light called optical vortices, an important step in harnessing their energy to power...

Research holds promise for optical chip.
May 19, 2003... 2003 MAY 19 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- University of Toronto researchers have developed a hybrid plastic that can produce light at wavelengths used for fiber-optic communication, paving the way for an optical computer chip. The...

Device's movements controlled by network of cultured neuron cells.
May 19, 2003... 2003 MAY 19 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The Hybrot, a small robot that moves about using the brain signals of a rat, is the first robotic device whose movements are controlled by a network of cultured neuron cells. Steve Potter and his...

Researchers try to mimic spider silk.
May 19, 2003... 2003 MAY 19 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- As a fiber, spider silk is so desirable that scientists have spent decades trying to find a way to mimic it. A team at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has been tackling the problem from...

Hurricane winds carried ocean salt, plankton far inland.
May 19, 2003... 2003 MAY 19 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Researchers have found surprising evidence of sea salt and frozen plankton in high, cold, cirrus clouds, the remnants of Hurricane Nora, over the U.S. plains states. Although the 1997 hurricane...

Professor says volcanic eruptions in Costa Rica 'inevitable'.
May 19, 2003... 2003 MAY 19 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- It might be 500,000 years or five years, but the Central Valley of Costa Rica will definitely experience major volcanic activity again, predicts Phillip B. Gans, professor of geology at the University...

Cosmic dust may have multilayered onionlike carbon structure.
May 19, 2003... 2003 MAY 19 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Scientists may have peeled away another layer of mystery about materials floating in deep space. Tiny multilayered balls called "carbon onions," produced in laboratory studies, appear to have the...

Minimal surfaces appeal to architects and sculptors.
May 19, 2003... 2003 MAY 19 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- It's happened enough times that it no longer surprises Matthias Weber, an assistant professor of mathematics at Indiana University Bloomington. A sculptor sends him a photograph of a recent...

Chemists grow unusually long and aligned "buckytubes".
May 19, 2003... 2003 MAY 19 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Duke University chemists have developed a method of growing one-atom-thick cylinders of carbon, called "nanotubes," 100 times longer than usual, while maintaining a soda-straw straightness with...

Los Alamos restores U.S. ability to make nuclear weapons.
May 19, 2003... 2003 MAY 19 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The Los Alamos National Laboratory has successfully made the first nuclear weapons pit in 14 years that meets specifications for use in the U.S. stockpile. The six-year effort at Los Alamos'...

Uncertainties in satellite data hamper detection of global warming.
May 26, 2003... 2003 MAY 26 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Using a new analysis of satellite temperature measurements, scientists from the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory at the University of California, Berkeley, have determined that uncertainties in...

Growing world urban populations threatened by massive earthquakes.
May 26, 2003... 2003 MAY 26 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A new study by a University of Colorado at Boulder geological sciences professor suggests one earthquake causing up to a million fatalities on Earth each century could occur unless more...

Oil production is fouled by the diet of marine worms.
May 26, 2003... 2003 MAY 26 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Oil geologists now have a new villain to worry about: the digestive processes of the marine worm. Clay minerals are the bane of an oil geologist's life. They sit in pore spaces and block the necks...

Scientists to probe giant storm clusters across midwestern U.S.
May 26, 2003... 2003 MAY 26 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- During the spring and summer of 2003, from the air and the ground, scientists will examine some of the world's largest thunderstorm complexes, behemoths that can spread hurricane-force wind and...

Titan's surface has large areas of exposed icy bedrock.
May 26, 2003... 2003 MAY 26 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Scientists who have peered through the smoggy orange haze of Saturn's largest moon, Titan, have discovered that the surface is not entirely covered by liquid and solid organic materials that rain out...

'Virtual reality room' potentially aid construction scheduling, reduce costs.
May 26, 2003... 2003 MAY 26 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Penn State engineers have developed software for use with an immersive projection display (IPD) that allows construction managers to enter and interact with the contents of a full-scale, nuclear power...

Diamonds have oceanic origin, scientist believes.
May 26, 2003... 2003 MAY 26 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- More than just symbols of wealth and beauty, diamonds are a testament to the history of the earth, says University of Toronto geology professor Daniel Schulze. Schulze believes that the materials...

Earthquake alarm system may ease risk for southern Californians.
May 26, 2003... 2003 MAY 26 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Capitalizing on the low-energy waves that invariably precede major earthquakes, scientists have designed and demonstrated the feasibility of an early-warning system that promises southern Californians...

Fossilized fish act as ancient thermometer.
May 26, 2003... 2003 MAY 26 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Fossilized fish bones may help scientists to reconstruct the temperatures of 65 million years ago, according to a paper in the May 1, 2003, issue of Nature, coauthored by colleagues representing three...

Web-based attacks could create chaos in the physical world.
May 26, 2003... 2003 MAY 26 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Most experts on computer crime focus on attacks against Web servers, bank account tampering, and other mischief confined to the digital world. But by using little more than a Web search engine and some...

Scientists discover a soggy secret of El Nino.
May 26, 2003... 2003 MAY 26 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- NASA-funded researchers have discovered El Nino's soggy secret. When scientists identified rain patterns in the Pacific Ocean, they discovered how El Nino moves rainfall around the globe during the...