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279,032 articles from PhysOrg

Team creates bioplastic made from shrimp shells

(Phys.org) —For many people, "plastic" is a one-word analog for environmental disaster. It is made from precious petroleum, after all, and once discarded in landfills and oceans, it takes centuries to degrade.

Test plant for automated battery production

Siemens is using automation technology to support the development of efficient production processes for large-scale batteries. A research production plant is currently being built at the Center for Solar Energy and Hydrogen Research Baden-Württemberg (ZSW), Germany. As of 2015, industrial companies working at the center will begin developing close-to-production processes and new materials for...

The effects of climate change on the ecological role of bees

The timing has been beautifully choreographed by nature. Rising spring temperatures prompt many bee species to begin their search for the flowering plants they depend on for food—and which they propagate through pollination. But what would happen if this vital, mutually beneficial relationship goes out of synch due to climate change? That's what Assistant Professor of Biology Daniel Bunker and...

The phone of the future may be powered by alcohol

A small, light and effective micro fuel cell generates electrical energy from hydrogen, ethanol and methanol. Gianmario Scotti has developed economical and rapid methods for the purpose of fabricating micro fuel cells in his doctoral research.

US report: Warming disrupting Americans' lives

Global warming is rapidly turning America into a stormy and dangerous place, with rising seas and disasters costing citizens from flood-stricken Florida to the wildfire-ravaged West, according to a new U.S. federal scientific report.

Where economy meets ecology

Think of a city as a complex organism powered by human activities and consumption. John E. Fernández, an associate professor in the Department of Architecture, wants to understand how the urban metabolism works—what it needs in terms of energy, materials, and water to sustain the work and lives of its residents, and what gets discarded as waste. "When we speak of a healthy city," Fernández...

Distinct avian influenza viruses found in Antarctic penguins

An international team of researchers has, for the first time, identified an avian influenza virus in a group of Adélie penguins from Antarctica. The virus, found to be unlike any other circulating avian flu, is described in a study published this week in mBio, the online open-access journal of the American Society for Microbiology.


MONDAY 5. MAY 2014


Basketball study says cooperative play lessens during playoffs

(Phys.org) —Kids basketball is an inspiring sight, watching young players lock foreheads, touch hands, pledge teamwork, and constantly pass the ball for others to shoot and score. Now for grown-up talk. Two assistant professors have written a paper in PLOS One, titled "Selfish play increases during high-stakes NBA games and is rewarded with more lucrative contracts". The authors, Eric Uhlmann of...

Miami looks beyond beaches, bikinis to tech

Famed for its beaches, cruises and cafecitos, South Florida is now angling to become one of the next U.S. tech hot spots by leveraging its role as the gateway to Latin America and luring northern entrepreneurs with cheap living costs and lots of sun.

Tufts University licenses silk biomaterials technology to Akeso Biomedical

Tufts University today announced that it has licensed a novel silk technology for the treatment of chronic skin wounds to Akeso Biomedical, Inc., an early stage medical device company. The technology was invented by David L. Kaplan, Ph.D., Stern Family Professor of Engineering at Tufts University, and his team of researchers at Tufts' School of Engineering.

What fuels Salmonella's invasion strategy?

Certain strains of Salmonella bacteria such as Salmonella Typhimurium (S. Typhimurium) are among of the most common causes of food-borne gastroenteritis. Other strains of Salmonella such as S. Typhi are responsible for typhoid fever, which causes 200,000 deaths around the world each year. Ensuring food is clear of contamination, and water is clean are key to reducing the effects Salmonella can...

Where DNA's copy machine pauses, cancer could be next

Each time a human cell divides, it must first make a copy of its 46 chromosomes to serve as an instruction manual for the new cell. Normally, this process goes off without a hitch. But from time to time, the information isn't copied and collated properly, leaving gaps or breaks that the cell has to carefully combine back together.

Getting to the root of enamel evolution

Along with our big brains and upright posture, thick tooth enamel is one of the features that distinguishes our genus, Homo, from our primate relatives and forebears. A new study, published May 5 in the Journal of Human Evolution, offers insight into how evolution shaped our teeth, one gene at a time.

Groovy turtles' genes to aid in their rescue

The diverse patterns on the diamondback terrapins' intricately grooved shell may be their claim to fame, but a newly published U.S. Geological Survey study of the genetic variation underneath their shell holds one key to rescuing these coastal turtles.

Paleontologists unveil online showcase of 3-D fossil remains

More than two decades ago, University of Michigan paleontologist Daniel Fisher and some of his students began the laborious task of digitally scanning the bones of mastodons, mammoths and other prehistoric creatures so the images could be displayed on computers.