Topics : Science World Report

Feb 22, 2012 02:29 PM EST

Cebit 2012: Interactive 3-D Graphical Objects As an Integral Part of Online Shops

When customers visit an online shop, they want to see all parts of a product; they want to enlarge it, or visualize adjusting single elements. Until now, web developers have been dealing with a multiplicity of different programs, in order to illustrate articles on the Internet in such a complex way....

Feb 22, 2012 02:23 PM EST

New Nanotechnology Converts Heat into Power When It's Needed Most

Never get stranded with a dead cell phone again. A promising new technology called Power Felt, a thermoelectric device that converts body heat into an electrical current, soon could create enough juice to make another call simply by touching it.

Feb 22, 2012 01:41 PM EST

'Miracle material' Graphene Is Thinnest Known Anti-corrosion Coating

New research has established the "miracle material" called graphene as the world's thinnest known coating for protecting metals against corrosion. Their study on this potential new use of graphene appears in ACS Nano.

Feb 22, 2012 12:42 PM EST

Saving Data in Vortex Structures

Three years ago Professor Christian Pfleiderer and his team from the physics department at the TUM discovered an entirely new magnetic structure in a silicon manganese crystal â€“ a grid of magnetic eddies. Together with the team of Professor Achim Rosch from the University of Cologne, he studi...

Feb 22, 2012 11:32 AM EST

Does Depression Contribute to the Aging Process?

tress has numerous detrimental effects on the human body. Many of these effects are acutely felt by the sufferer, but many more go 'unseen', one of which is shortening of telomere length. Telomeres are protective caps on the ends of chromosomes and are indicators of aging, as they naturally short...

Feb 22, 2012 11:24 AM EST

The Molecular Basis of Touch Sensation

A gene known to control lens development in mice and humans is also crucial for the development of neurons responsible for mechanosensory function, as neurobiologists of the Max DelbrÃ¼ck Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) Berlin-Buch have now discovered. They found that in mice in which they had...

Feb 22, 2012 11:14 AM EST

Hold the Salt: Coastal Drinking Water More Vulnerable to Water Use Than Climate Change

Human activity is likely a greater threat to coastal groundwater used for drinking water supplies than rising sea levels from climate change, according to a study conducted by geoscientists from the University of Saskatchewan and McGill University in Montreal.

Feb 22, 2012 11:07 AM EST

Superbugs from Space Offer New Source of Power

Bacteria normally found 30km above the earth have been identified as highly efficient generators of electricity. Bacillus stratosphericus â€“ a microbe commonly found in high concentrations in the stratosphere orbiting the earth with the satellites â€“ is a key component of a new 'super...

Feb 22, 2012 10:37 AM EST

From Bass Strait to the Indian Ocean -- Tracking a Current

Deep-diving ocean "gliders" have revealed the journey of Bass Strait water from the Tasman Sea to the Indian Ocean. Deployed in 2010 and 2011, the gliders have also profiled a 200-metre tall wall of water at the core of long-lived ocean eddies formed from the East Australian Current.The study, by Un...

Feb 22, 2012 09:32 AM EST

A mechanism to Improve Learning and Memory

There are a number of drugs and experimental conditions that can block cognitive function and impair learning and memory. However, scientists have recently shown that some drugs can actually improve cognitive function, which may have implications for our understanding of cognitive disorders such as ...

Feb 21, 2012 03:59 PM EST

The Origin of Photosynthesis Revealed

Atmospheric oxygen really took off on our planet about 2.4 billion years ago during the Great Oxygenation Event. At this key juncture of our planet's evolution, species had either to learn to cope with this poison that was produced by photosynthesizing cyanobacteria or they went extinct. It now seem...

Feb 21, 2012 03:51 PM EST

You Can't Do the Math Without the Words

Most people learn to count when they are children. Yet surprisingly, not all languages have words for numbers. A recent study published in the journal of Cognitive Science shows that a few tongues lack number words and as a result, people in these cultures have a difficult time performing common qua...