Tue, 27 May 2008 Electron Traps That Compute. Physicists have used a semiconductor material to create superimposed quantum dots that "trap" single electrons. Not only can these dots be studied with lasers, their energy can be influenced as well. Another point: the state of one of the dots governs that of the other above it. This has taken the researchers another step closer to quantum computers.more

Thu, 22 May 2008 Scientists Develop Way To Predict Properties Of Light Nuclei. Scientists have spent 70 years trying to predict the properties of nuclei, but have had to settle for approximate models because computational techniques were not equal to the task. Scientists at U.S. Department of Energy"s Argonne National Laboratory have learned to compute what happens when nuclei collide.more

Mon, 12 May 2008 Engineering Students Explore New Type Of Solar Collectors. A team of students led by a chemical engineering professor are working to advance a new solar thermal collector. The engineering students pointed out that this is the first truly new solar thermal system in more than three decades, and the company stated that it is unique among renewable energy technologies as it is cost effective without any government subsidies.more

Wed, 07 May 2008 Researchers Find Way To Make Tumor Cells Easier To Destroy. Radiation oncology researchers found that tumors have a built-in mechanism that protects them from heat damage and most likely decreases the benefit of hyperthermia and radiation as a combined therapy. By interfering with that protection, the researchers have shown that tumor cells grown in culture can be made more sensitive to hyperthermia-enhanced radiation therapy.more

Sat, 03 May 2008 New Technique Accelerates Biological Image Analysis. Computational Biologist have discovered how to significantly speed up critical steps in an automated method for analyzing cell cultures and other biological specimens. The new technique promises to enable higher accuracy analysis of the microscopic images produced by today"s high-throughput biological screening methods, such as the ones used in drug discovery, and to help decipher the complex structure of human tissues.more

Wed, 30 Apr 2008 Better Understanding Of Optics At The Atomic Scale. An advance by physicists improves our understanding of how light interacts with matter, and could make possible the development of new integrated-circuit technologies that result in faster computers that use less energy.more

Tue, 22 Apr 2008 Water Needed To Produce Various Types Of Energy. It is easy to overlook that most of the energy we consume daily, such as electricity or natural gas, is produced with the help of a dwindling resource -- fresh water. Scientists are researching the water-efficiency of some of the most common energy sources and power generating methods.more

Tue, 15 Apr 2008 Scientists Find A Surprise When They Look For What Binds In Superconductivity. For more than 20 years since the discovery of high-temperature superconductivity, scientists have been debating the underlying physical mechanism for this exotic phenomenon. Now, provocative results yielded by two years of experiments carried out at Princeton University have a group of scientists saying that high-temperature superconductivity does not hinge on a magical glue binding electrons together. The secret to superconductivity, they say, may rest instead on the ability of electrons to take advantage of their natural repulsion in a complex situation.more

Sun, 13 Apr 2008 Researchers Classify Web Searches. Although millions of people use Web search engines, researchers completed by show that -- by using relatively simple methods -- most queries submitted can be classified into one of three categories.more

Sat, 05 Apr 2008 Multi-century High-resolution Climate Simulations Created Using Supercomputers. Using state-of-the-art supercomputers climate scientists have performed a 400-year high-resolution global ocean-atmosphere simulation with results that are more similar to actual observations of surface winds and sea surface temperatures. more