One planet, two stars: New research shows how circumbinary planets form Posted: 31 Jan 2014 10:07 AM PST Luke Skywalker's home planet Tatooine would have formed far from its current location in the Star Wars universe, a new study into its real world counterparts, observed by the Kepler space telescope, suggests. |
Making color: When two red photons make a blue photon Posted: 31 Jan 2014 10:05 AM PST Can scientists generate any color of light? The answer is not really, but the invention of the laser in 1960 opened new doors for this endeavor. Scientists have now demonstrated a new semiconductor microstructure that performs frequency conversion. This design is a factor of 1000 smaller than previous devices. |
Teaching young wolves new tricks: Wolves are considerably better imitators than dogs Posted: 31 Jan 2014 05:34 AM PST Although wolves and dogs are closely related, they show some striking differences. Scientists have undertaken experiments that suggest that wolves observe one another more closely than dogs and so are better at learning from one another. The scientists believe that cooperation among wolves is the basis of the understanding between dogs and humans. |
New catalyst to convert greenhouse gases into chemicals Posted: 31 Jan 2014 05:32 AM PST Researchers have developed a highly selective catalyst capable of electrochemically converting carbon dioxide -- a greenhouse gas -- to carbon monoxide with 92 percent efficiency. The carbon monoxide then can be used to develop useful chemicals. |
Detailed look at HIV in action: Researchers gain a better understanding of the virus through electron microscopy Posted: 30 Jan 2014 04:04 PM PST Researchers reporting today are the first to have utilized high-resolution electron microscopy to look at HIV infection within the actual tissue of an infected organism, providing perhaps the most detailed characterization yet of HIV infection in the gut. |
Revealing how the brain recognizes speech sounds Posted: 30 Jan 2014 11:13 AM PST Researchers are reporting a detailed account of how speech sounds are identified by the human brain. The finding, they said, may add to our understanding of language disorders, including dyslexia. |