For decades, carefully logging data about how mice go through the motions of their daily routines has been a tedious staple of behavioral and neuroscience research: Hour 2, minute 27: mouse 4 is sleeping; Hour 3, minute 12: mouse 7 is eating; .......

When you tear open a bag of potato chips or pop in a DVD, you're probably putting your hand on sputter deposition. No, don't run for the soap. Sputter deposition is an industrial process used since the 1970s to spray -- sputter, that is -- thin films onto various backings, like the metallic coating on potato chip bags, the reflective surface on DVDs, or the electronics on computer chips........

Solid-state lighting pioneers long have held that replacing the inefficient Edison light bulb with more efficient solid-state light-emitting devices (LEDs) would lower electrical usage worldwide, not only "greenly" decreasing the need for new power plants but even permitting some to be decommissioned........

Because they are portable and easy to operate at ambient temperatures, cold atmospheric pressure plasma jets (APPJs) should find innovative applications in biomedicine, materials science and fabrication industries. Research published in the Journal of Applied Physics investigates an APPJ that extends from the ground electrode of a circuit........

Bioengineering research produces design for new device to help detect diseases quickly and at lower costs . Arizona State University scientists have demonstrated a way to dramatically simplify testing patients for infectious diseases and unhealthy protein levels. New testing instrumentation developed by Antonia Garcia and John Schneider promises to make the procedure less costly and produce results in less time........

Find dusting those tables and dressers a chore or a bore? Dread washing the windows? Imagine keeping dust and grime off objects spread out over an area of 25 to 50 football fields. That's the problem facing companies that deploy large-scale solar power installations, and researchers today presented the development of one solution self-dusting solar panels and#8213; based on technology developed for space missions to Mars........

It turns out that watching paint dry might not be as boring as the old adage claims. A team led by Yale University scientists has come up with a new technique to study the mechanics of coatings as they dry and peel, and has discovered that the process is far from mundane. In the August 9-13 edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the team presents a new way to image and analyze the mechanical stress that causes colloidal coatings-those in which microscopic particles of one substance are dispersed throughout another-to peel off of surfaces........

What if trains, planes and automobiles all were powered simply by the air through which they move? What if their exhaust and by-products helped the environment? Such an energy-efficient, self-propelling mechanism already exists in nature. The salp, a small, barrel-shaped organism that resembles a streamlined jellyfish, gets everything it needs from ocean waters to feed and propel itself........

The metal tin lacks the value and prestige of gold, silver, and platinum - but to nuclear physicists, tin is magic. In the journal Nature, Rutgers physicists recently reported studies on tin that add knowledge to a concept known as magic numbers while perhaps helping researchers to explain how heavy elements are made in exploding stars........

A collaborative team of applied researchers from Harvard University and the University of Leeds have demonstrated a new terahertz (THz) semiconductor laser that emits beams with a much smaller divergence than conventional THz laser sources. The advance, reported in the August 8th issue of Nature Materials, opens the door to a wide range of applications in terahertz science and technology. Harvard has filed a broad patent on the invention........

Wielding two claws, a motor and a tail that swings like a grandfather clock's pendulum, a small robot named ROCR ("rocker") scrambles up a carpeted, 8-foot wall in just over 15 seconds the first such robot designed to climb efficiently and move like human rock climbers or apes swinging through trees........

Over the past couple of decades, atomic force microscopy (AFM) has emerged as a powerful tool for imaging surfaces at astonishing resolutions-fractions of a nanometer in some cases. But suppose you're more concerned with what lies below the surface? Scientists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have shown that under the right circumstances, surface science instruments such as the AFM can deliver valuable data about sub-surface conditions........

A sharp view of the starry sky is difficult, because the atmosphere constantly distorts the image. TU/e researcher Roger Hamelinck developed a new type of telescope mirror, which quickly corrects the image. His prototypes are mandatory for future large telescopes, but also gives old telescopes a sharper view........

When light is absorbed by atoms, the electrons become excited. If the light particles, so-called photons, carry sufficient energy, the electrons can be ejected from the atom. This effect is known as photoemission and was explained by Einstein more than hundred years ago. Until now, it has been assumed that the electron start moving out of the atom immediately after the impact of the photon. This point in time can be detected and has so far been considered as coincident with the arrival time of the light pulse, i.e. with "time zero" in the interaction of light with matter........

If concerns for global climate change and ever-increasing costs weren't enough, the disastrous Gulf oil spill makes an even more compelling case for the development of transportation fuels that are renewable, can be produced in a sustainable fashion, and do not put the environment at risk. Liquid fuels derived from plant biomass have the potential to be used as direct replacements for gasoline, diesel and jet fuels if cost-effective means of commercial production can be found........

First there was HTC Evo 4G, then came the iPhone 4 and now Samsung has launched its new Android smartphone known as the Samsung Galaxy S. Equipped with some high-end features, it is all set to compete directly with the HTC Evo 4G and iPhone4. .........

Graphene, a carbon sheet that is one-atom thick, appears to be at the center of the next revolution in material science. These ultrathin sheets hold great potential for a variety of applications from replacing silicon in solar cells to cooling computer chips. Despite its vast promise, graphene and its derivatives "are materials people understand little about," said Vivek Shenoy, professor of engineering at Brown University. "The more we can understand their properties, the more (technological) possibilities that will be opened to us"........

Genetic discoveries from a shrub called the burning bush, known for its brilliant red fall foliage, could fire new advances in biofuels and low-calorie food oils, as per Michigan State University scientists. New low-cost DNA sequencing technology applied to seeds of the species Euonymus alatus - a common ornamental planting - was crucial to identifying the gene responsible for its manufacture of a novel, high-quality oil. But despite its name, the burning bush is not a suitable oil crop........

Dhiren Barot was an al Qaeda operative involved in plots to blow up the London subway, among other targets. To maximize the damage and the terror, he planned to pack some of his bombs with toxic gas. Fortunately, in August 2004, British authorities nabbed Barot and his accomplices before they could carry out their attacks........

Composites are combinations of materials that produce properties inaccessible in any one material. A classic example of a composite is fiberglass - plastic fibers woven with glass to add strength to hockey sticks or the hull of a boat. Unlike the well-established techniques for producing fiberglass and other macroscale composites, however, there aren't general schemes available for making nanoscale composites........