Oct

29

Bad News for Biofuels: Five-Year Moratorium Proposed

October 29, 2007 | 2 Comments

BBC News: Biofuels ‘crime against humanity’. ‘A United Nations expert has condemned the growing use of crops to produce biofuels as a replacement for petrol as a crime against humanity. The UN special rapporteur on the right to food, Jean Ziegler, said he feared biofuels would bring more hunger. The growth in the production of [...]

Oct

28

Supersolidity

October 28, 2007 | Leave a Comment

Evidence for “Supersolidity” Becomes More Solid. ‘In recent years, no topic in condensed matter physics has been hotter than the study of ultracold solid helium. Subtle experiments suggest that as temperatures dip toward absolute zero, crystalline helium can bizarrely flow like a liquid with no viscosity, a phenomenon known as supersolidity. Now, a new experiment [...]

Oct

17

2007 Physics Nobel Prize Laureates Articles Freely Available

October 17, 2007 | Leave a Comment

The American Physical Society has announced that both of the original articles describing the work that led to this year’s physics Nobel Prize have been made free-to-read. While the Nobel Laureates made their discoveries independently, both published their fundamental work in papers submitted to the Physical Review journals in 1988:
Enhanced magnetoresistance in layered magnetic structures [...]

Oct

14

Plastic Steel: Light and Transparent but Strong as Steel

October 14, 2007 | 1 Comment

U-M research: New plastic is strong as steel, transparent. ‘By mimicking a brick-and-mortar molecular structure found in seashells, University of Michigan researchers created a composite plastic that’s as strong as steel but lighter and transparent. It’s made of layers of clay nanosheets and a water-soluble polymer that shares chemistry with white glue.
Engineering professor Nicholas Kotov [...]

Oct

10

Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2007: Studies of Chemical Processes on Solid Surfaces

October 10, 2007 | Leave a Comment

Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2007 – “for his studies of chemical processes on solid surfaces”: Gerhard Ertl. ‘The Nobel Prize in Chemistry for 2007 is awarded for groundbreaking studies in surface chemistry. This science is important for the chemical industry and can help us to understand such varied processes as why iron rusts, how fuel [...]

Oct

9

Nobel Prize in Physics 2007: Discovery of Giant Magnetoresistance (GMR)

October 9, 2007 | 1 Comment

Nobel Prize in Physics 2007 – “for the discovery of Giant Magnetoresistance“: Albert Fert and Peter Grünberg. ‘This year’s physics prize is awarded for the technology that is used to read data on hard disks. It is thanks to this technology that it has been possible to miniaturize hard disks so radically in recent years. [...]

Oct

9

h-Index for Non-Prominent Scientists: A Case Study by Michael Schreiber

October 9, 2007 | Leave a Comment

A case study of the Hirsch index for 26 non-prominent physicists, Michael Schreiber, 10.1002/andp.200710252. Abstract: ‘The h index was introduced by Hirsch to quantify an individual’s scientific research output. It has been widely used in different fields to show the relevance of the research work of prominent scientists. I have worked out 26 practical cases [...]

Oct

7

The 2007 Ig Nobel Prizes: Sword Swallowing, Wrinkling Sheets, Autotrophic Organisms, Vanilla Fragrance and Much More

October 7, 2007 | Leave a Comment

The 2007 Ig Nobel Prize winners. ‘The 2007 Ig Nobel Prize winners were announced, and their prizes awarded to them, last night (October 4)at a gala ceremony at Harvard’s Sanders Theatre.’
Visit the 2007 Ig Nobel Prize Winners list

Oct

1

Exploratorium’s Accidental Scientist: Science of Music

October 1, 2007 | Leave a Comment

On the occasion of the International Music Day,
Exploratorium’s Accidental Scientist: Science of Music. ‘What is music? Is birdsong music? How about the tap-tap-tap of a hammer, or the wail of a creaking door? Is playing a garbage can different than playing a drum?
Explore the science of music through online exhibits, movies, and questions. Along the [...]

Oct

1

Cellulosic Ethanol on Wired Magazine

October 1, 2007 | Leave a Comment

Cellulosic Ethanol: One Molecule Could Cure Our Addiction to Oil. ‘On a blackboard, it looks so simple: Take a plant and extract the cellulose. Add some enzymes and convert the cellulose molecules into sugars. Ferment the sugar into alcohol. Then distill the alcohol into fuel. One, two, three, four — and we’re powering our cars [...]