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278,997 articles from PhysOrg

Sniff, sniff. What did you say?

When animals like dogs or rats sniff one another, there might be more going on than you'd think. Research reported in Current Biology, a Cell Press publication, on March 7th finds in rats that those sniffing behaviors communicate information about an individual's social status. In those encounters, more dominant rats act as primary sniffers, while subordinate sniffees actually slow their breath.

Startup using U of M tech to manufacture key industrial chemicals from renewable sources

Startup Ascenix BioTechnologies will perfect and commercialize production methods to synthesize chemicals from renewable feedstocks. These chemicals, which are used to manufacture everyday items, are typically made from petroleum and often use harmful add-ins like hydrogen cyanide. The startup predicts this new bio-based process, developed by University of Minnesota researchers, will be more...

Biobatteries catch breath

An air-breathing bio-battery has been constructed by researchers from the Institute of Physical Chemistry of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw. The core element providing the new power source with relatively high voltage and long lifetime is a carefully designed cathode taking up oxygen from air and composed of an enzyme, carbon nanotubes and silicate.

Icahn proposes alternative to Dell buyout

Billionaire investor Carl Icahn wants Dell Inc. to remain a public company and proposed rewarding shareholders with a large dividend payment instead of becoming private in a $24.4 billion buyout.

Local dig uncovers new species of ancient fish

(Phys.org) —Researchers from The Australian National University (ANU) working on the New South Wales south coast have discovered a new species of ancient fish, after unearthing the largest fossilised lobe-finned fish skull ever found in rocks of Devonian age. The descendants of these ancient fish evolved into the first land animals.

Low-power microcontroller family with up to 1MB of on-chip flash unveiled

Renesas Electronics today announced the availability of a large number of new low-power, low voltage microcontrollers (MCUs). By expanding the low-power, low-voltage RX200 Series to include versions offering from 64 KB to 1 MB of on-chip flash memory, and package sizes from 48-pin LQFP to 145-pin LGA, Renesas now offers the broadest range of low-power 32-bit solutions in the industry. Combined...

New flex-grid system prevents optical network 'traffic jams'

Services like Google Maps use algorithms to determine the fastest route from point A to point B—even factoring in real-time traffic information as you travel to redirect you if, for example, a parade is blocking part of your route. Now, a team of researchers from Spain and Japan have achieved this kind of traffic control for the connections in optical networks by using a new dynamic network...

New gender benchmarking study finds women greatly under-represented in South Korean science and technology

In the first gender benchmarking study of its kind, researchers have found that numbers of women in the science, technology and innovation fields are alarmingly low in the world's leading economies, and are actually on the decline in others, including the United States. South Korea's low ranking in the study results reflects a substantial underrepresentation of females in public and economic life.

Oranges and lemons: Spot the difference

A computer recognition system that is 99% accurate can identify different fruits and vegetables, even the particular strain of apples or plums, for instance. Research to be published in the International Journal of Applied Pattern Recognition in March explains how challenging this issue has been until now and shows how it could be used in agricultural science and perhaps to improve efficiency in...

Pancakes with a side of math: A physiological model for sap exudation in maple trees

For many of us, maple syrup is an essential part of breakfast—a staple accompaniment to pancakes and waffles—but rarely do we think about the complicated and little-understood physiological aspects of syrup production. Each spring, maple growers in temperate regions around the world collect sap from sugar maple trees, which is one of the first steps in producing this delicious condiment.

Porpoises have to be careful in the Eastern Scheldt

The surprising conclusion of the doctoral research project on the feeding ecology of porpoises by Okka Jansen at Wageningen University is that the Eastern Scheldt may be an ecological trap. She also discovered that more than just examinations of stomach contents are required to find out what porpoises eat. The analyses of stable isotopes and fatty acids have produced astonishing new data as well...

Agreement will lead to grid-friendly electric vehicle charging

A technology that will allow widespread adoption of plug-in electric vehicles without negatively impacting the electrical grid is the subject of a commercial license agreement between Battelle and AeroVironment, Inc., of Monrovia, Calif. The technology may also ultimately result in lower costs for plug-in electric vehicle owners.

All-in-one PC with detachable tablet: ASUS Transformer AiO

ASUS today announced ASUS Transformer AiO, the world's first All-in-One PC with a detachable display that can also be used as a standalone tablet around the home. ASUS Transformer AiO consists of a desktop PC Station with a 3rd generation Intel Core desktop processor for outstanding Windows 8 performance, and a detachable 18.4-inch display with its own NVIDIA Tegra 3 quad-core processor for use as...

Astrophysicists suggest behavior of Fermi bubbles may be explained by dark matter

(Phys.org) —Astrophysicists Dan Hooper and Tracy Slatyer of Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, and Princeton University respectively, have written a paper—and uploaded it to the preprint server arXiv—in which they suggest that a massive outflow of charged particles from the center of the Milky Way galaxy, may be partly due to collisions between dark matter particles that result in their...

Australian R&D doesn't punch above its weight

Australia punches above its weight in terms of global research, producing more than we might expect given our small population. At least … that's the line we've been fed for years – but is it true?

Devoted birders in Avifauna Project spotted 135 bird species in 2012

(Phys.org) —If you spot a lanky bearded man with binoculars in one hand and a book tucked in his belt, be reassured—this is no ordinary creeper. Philosophy graduate student Kevin Gin is a birder on a mission, peeping not in windows but in branches and bushes to find as many bird species as possible on UC Riverside's campus.