Monday, 20 February 2012

ScienceDaily: Latest Science News

ScienceDaily: Latest Science News


Single-atom transistor is end of Moore's Law; may be beginning of quantum computing

Posted: 19 Feb 2012 04:12 PM PST

The smallest transistor ever built -- in fact, the smallest transistor that can be built -- has been created using a single phosphorus atom by an international team of researchers.

NuSTAR Mated to its Rocket

Posted: 19 Feb 2012 03:58 PM PST

NASA's Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR) was mated, or attached, to its Pegasus XL rocket Feb. 17, 2012 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in central California. The mission's launch is now scheduled for no earlier than March 21 to allow the launch vehicle team an additional week to complete necessary engineering reviews. NuSTAR will probe the hottest, densest and most energetic objects in space, including black holes and the remnants of exploded stars. It will be the first space telescope to capture sharp images in high-energy X-rays, giving astronomers a new tool for understanding the extreme side of our universe.

X-rays illuminate the interior of the Moon

Posted: 19 Feb 2012 11:33 AM PST

Unlike Earth, the moon has no active volcanoes. This is surprising as liquid magma is believed to exist deep inside the Moon. Scientists have now found that this hot, molten rock could actually be so dense that it is too heavy to rise to the surface. For this experiment, microscopic reproductions of moon rock were put at the extremely high pressures and temperatures found inside the moon and their densities measured with powerful X-rays.

Yosemite's alpine chipmunks take genetic hit from climate change

Posted: 19 Feb 2012 11:33 AM PST

Global warming has driven Yosemite's alpine chipmunks to higher ground, prompting a startling decline in the species' genetic diversity, according to a new study. The genetic erosion occurred in the relatively short span of 90 years, highlighting the rapid threat changing climate can pose to a species.

Faulty fat sensor implicated in obesity and liver disease

Posted: 19 Feb 2012 11:32 AM PST

Defects in a protein that functions as a dietary fat sensor may be a cause of obesity and liver disease, according to a new study. The findings highlight a promising target for new drugs to treat obesity and metabolic disorders.

Physicists create working transistor consisting of a single atom

Posted: 19 Feb 2012 11:32 AM PST

In a remarkable feat of micro-engineering, physicists have created a working transistor consisting of a single atom placed precisely in a silicon crystal. The tiny electronic device uses as its active component an individual phosphorus atom.

Surprising molecular switch: Lipids help control the development of cell polarity

Posted: 19 Feb 2012 11:32 AM PST

In a standard biology textbook, cells tend to look more or less the same from all sides. But in real life cells have fronts and backs, tops and bottoms, and they orient many of their structures according to this polarity explaining, for example, why yeast cells bud at one end and not the other.

New brain connections form in clusters during learning

Posted: 19 Feb 2012 11:32 AM PST

New connections between brain cells emerge in clusters in the brain as animals learn to perform a new task, according to a new study. The findings reveal details of how brain circuits are rewired during the formation of new motor memories.

Protein that sends 'painful touch' signals identified

Posted: 19 Feb 2012 11:30 AM PST

Researchers report that they have identified a class of proteins that detect "painful touch." Scientists have known that sensory nerves in our skin detect pressure, pain, heat, cold, and other stimuli using specialized "ion channel" proteins in their outer membranes. They have only just begun, however, to identify and characterize the specific proteins involved in each of these sensory pathways. The new work provides evidence that a family of sensory nerve proteins known as piezo proteins are ion channel proteins essential to the sensation of painful touch.

Substituting with smokeless tobacco saves lives, research suggests

Posted: 19 Feb 2012 10:55 AM PST

Substituting smokeless tobacco products can save smokers' lives, and there is a scientific foundation that proves it, according to one researcher whose work shows that smokers can greatly reduce their risk of disease and death by replacing smoking products with e-cigarettes or modern, spit-free smokeless tobacco.

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