Mark Hoffman : Science World Report

May 28, 2013 01:53 PM EDT

Can Plastic Be Made From Algae?

Scientists now need to demonstrate that a new type of bioplastic —namely used to produce polyesters and polyolefins— can be of the same quality as traditional plastic. And they need to show whether it can be produced in an economically viable way.

May 26, 2013 11:57 PM EDT

Solar-Electric Propulsion Thruster Test Firing (Image)

The very efficient solar-electric propulsion thruster for spaceships shown in this image is currently under development at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. It uses xenon ions for propulsion, just like an earlier version of this solar-electric propulsion engine that has already been...

May 25, 2013 11:26 PM EDT

Commercial Space Projects Might Be More Ambitious And Faster Than National Ones

Corporate researchers may be living on the moon by the time NASA astronauts head off to visit an asteroid in the 2020s, a study of future human missions unveiled on Thursday shows.

May 24, 2013 11:55 PM EDT

Crucial Step of Evolution Enabling Animal Life on Earth Proven

A team of researchers has captured images of green alga consuming bacteria, offering a glimpse at how early organisms dating back more than 1 billion years may have acquired free-living photosynthetic cells. This acquisition is thought to have been a critical first step in the evolution of photosynt...

May 24, 2013 11:24 PM EDT

Biological Computer Developed That Uses Genetic Codes For Computation

Using only biomolecules (such as DNA and enzymes), scientists at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology have developed and constructed an advanced biological transducer, a computing machine capable of manipulating genetic codes, and using the output as new input for subsequent computations. The...

May 24, 2013 04:20 PM EDT

Let's Accelerate Scientific Progress by Bringing Supercomputing to Every Lab

Earlier this month, Ian Foster, widely recognized as one of the founders of grid computing, spoke at TedxCERN about science being a voyage of discovery. However, he is frustrated by what he perceives to be an unnecessarily slow pace of discovery.

May 24, 2013 03:42 PM EDT

3D Printed Medical Device Saved Baby's Life

A 3D printed bioresorbable splint, needed to stabilize part of the lung and used for the first time, successfully stopped a life-threatening condition in a baby, a case now featured in the New England Journal of Medicine.

May 24, 2013 12:57 AM EDT

Why Did The Washington I-5 Bridge Collapse And How Did Everyone Survive?

A bridge over the Skagit River along an interstate highway partially collapsed in the US state of Washington, leaving cars with people in the water, according to several media reports.

May 23, 2013 11:57 PM EDT

ISS Astronauts Share Great View of Pavlof Volcano Eruption From Space

Astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) photographed this striking view of Pavlof Volcano on May 18, 2013. The oblique perspective from the ISS reveals the three dimensional structure of the ash plume, which is often obscured by the top-down view of most remote sensing satellites.

May 23, 2013 07:42 PM EDT

Experiment to Examine the Beginnings of the Universe to Launch on June 4

When did the first stars and galaxies form in the universe? How brightly did they burn their nuclear fuel?

May 23, 2013 07:26 PM EDT

Scientists Use Radioactive Nanoparticles to Selectively Kill Cancer Cells

Radioactive nanoparticles that target lymphoma tumor cells wherever they may be in the body have been created by researchers at the University of Missouri in a development that could enable much more effective therapies against lymphoma and other advanced-stage cancers.

May 23, 2013 06:07 PM EDT

Complex Magnetic Field Dynamics of Sun Uncovered

Researchers at the Universities of Leeds and Chicago have uncovered an important mechanism behind the generation of astrophysical magnetic fields such as that of the Sun.