To
keep up with the latest science news and views from Sciencebase add the site
newsfeed to your Google Reader, Bloglines, My Yahoo! or click here to subscribe
to the RSS. Meanwhile, in my regularSpotlight column formerly on Intute on news in the physical sciences
I reported on all aspects of astronomy, chemistry, geology, materials,
nanotechnology, physics, and space.
2007
Fertile Global Warming Plan [Dec 2007 - earth]
Plans to fertilize the oceans with iron or other nutrients in order to absorb
atmospheric carbon dioxide and so ward off global warming ...
Buckyball Necklace [Dec 2007 - chemistry]
A new type of polymer material made by stringing together the tiny
football-shaped fullerene molecules has been synthesise ...
Volcanoes of the Moon [Dec 2007 - astronomy,earth]
Even though astronauts have set foot on the Moon, analysed its surface and
brought samples back to Earth, we do not yet fully understand the Moon's origins
nor how it has evolved during the last few billion years ...
Elemental Discoveries [Nov 2007 - chemistry,physics]
Things have got heavy for aluminium and magnesium with the synthesis of three
previously unseen isotopes of these elements by researchers in the US. ...
Exposed stumps and global warming [Nov 2007 - earth]
Tree stumps at the foot of glaciers in western Canada show that glaciation there
is at a 7000-year low. The revelations could provide new insights into the
accelerated rates ...
Nobel chemistry rises to the surface [Nov 2007 - chemistry,physics]
This year's Nobel Prize in Chemistry goes much deeper than any superficial
notion of surface chemistry might suggest. Surface chemistry helps explain many
of the processes of the chemical industry, such as catalysis in the production
of fine chemicals, ...
Could Bicarb Solve Greenhouse Gas Problem? [Oct 2007 - chemistry]
A nanostructured polymer membrane that can extract carbon dioxide from a gaseous
flow and convert it to bicarbonate ions could be the key to carbon sequestration
in the fight to control levels of the greenhouse gas. ...
Big Watts, Low Cost [Oct 2007 - physics]
A method developed by US researchers for making solar panels is closing in on
mass production and could bring us the 50 pence per Watt device ...
Rocky Neighbours [Oct 2007 - astronomy]
A meteorite smashed into Peru recently. Fortunately, no one was injured by the
immediate impact, but a lot of people who rushed to see the crater subsequently
became ill. Initially, reports blamed toxic gas from the meteorite itself, but
...
Explosive Crystal [Sep 2007 - chemistry,materials]
Three centuries after its discovery by alchemists, the crystal structure of
mercury fulminate - an explosive detonation ...
Hubble Beater [Sep 2007 - astronomy]
Cambridge and Caltech astronomers have devised a new digital sensor for their
telescopes that effectively cancels out the "twinkling" caused by the Earth's
atmosphere and allows them ...
Bottom up to nanotech [Sep 2007 - materials,physics]
Two back-to-back papers published by IBM scientists could herald the
long-awaited advent of molecular or nanotech computing devices. ...
Casting pearls [Aug 2007 - materials]
Despite its common use in jewellery and for decoration, mother-of-pearl, or
nacre, could more suited to engineering applications. This natural material
found lining the shells of sea creatures, such as oysters and abalones, ...
In a flap over giant bird [Aug 2007 - earth]
Andean condors are impressive in their soaring majesty with a 3 metre wing span,
but 6 million years ago, the world's largest bird took to the skies with a
wingspan the size of a Cessna 152 light aircraft. Now, ...
It's life Jim, but not as we know it [Aug 2007 - astronomy]
Would we recognize life if we found it on other planets? Are the weird
imaginings of decades of science ...
Telescopic lunar liquid [Jul 2007 - astronomy]
A liquid reflector for a vast Newtonian telescope to be based on the surface of
the Moon is being developed by scientists in Canada...
Arctic drought [Jul 2007 - earth]
Frozen Arctic ponds that have persisted for millennia are drying out during the
polar summer, according to evidence from Canadian scientists...
Plastic breakdown [Jul 2007 - chemistry]
As if to show just how diverse the properties and applications of ionic liquids
can be, a new era in recycling of plastics is fast approaching thanks to
scientists in Japan...
Nickel shots and stellar nurseries [Jun 2007 - astronomy]
A chemical analysis of meteorites almost as old as the Solar system itself
suggests that rather than forming from the remnants of a supernova explosion our
solar system was formed ...
To the tower! [Jun 2007 - chemistry]
Pollution regulations aimed at protecting human health are having an unexpected
effect on the London skyline. Buildings such as the Tower of London complex were
soot encrusted from as early as the thirteenth century because of fires and
industrial smoke. ...
Elemental magnetism [Jun 2007 - chemistry,physics]
Carbon is the element of life, without it we simply would not exist, despite the
sci-fi penchant for silicon-based life forms. It is indeed a unique element with
many apparently anomalous properties. However, one phenomenon that has not been
observed unambiguously in carbon, ...
Endless gas [May 2007 - earth]
Norwegian scientists have drawn up a league table of alternative fuels for cars
based on what they call a "well-to-wheel" analysis. Their approach takes into
account the energy costs in manufacturing, total energy use, and overall
pollution included greenhouse gas emissions. ...
Seconds out [May 2007 - physics]
In the 1950s, the atomic clock was the pinnacle of split-second time-keeping.
Today, physicists use its successors based on energy transitions in rubidium
atoms that gives them 100 times more accuracy. These clocks ...
The Matrix Recharged [May 2007 - chemistry,materials]
One of the big problems facing society in its search for sustainable alternative
energy sources is not how to harness wind, solar, or wave power, but how to
store the electricity produced using these elements at times of low demand.
Capacitors could be the answer. These devices ...
Fault finding [Apr 2007 - earth]
Almost half a million US dollars, about