clhs sciblog

Musings on current happenings in science from our little slice of the world.

clhs sciblog header image 4

Entries from June 1st, 2009

Solar Energy Improved

June 1st, 2009 · No Comments · Chemistry, Physics

Solar energy is one of the most known renewable energy sources, but the solar panels are expensive to make so what do we do? We figure out how to make them cheaper. How do we do this? With chemistry. Cadmium telluride converts solar energy into electricity more efficiently then crystalline silicon.Using Cadmium telluride needs 100 times [...]

[Read more →]

Tags:

Climate changes stress coral communication

June 1st, 2009 · No Comments · Biology

Right now, corals’ interesting systems of communications are being stressed by the global change. They are only able to survive because of their symbiotic relationships with algae that live within them. These disruptions are the cause of coral bleaching and collapse of coral reef ecosystems everywhere. Virginia Weis, a zoologist at Oregon State, says that [...]

[Read more →]

Tags:

Breastfeeding Affects Fat Mass Rate Later in Life

June 1st, 2009 · No Comments · Biology

A study was conducted in which a dual x-ray absorptiometry was used to make direct measures of body composition in children at four years of age whose diets had been assessed when they were babies. The data showed that infants who had been breastfed for a longer period of time had a lower fat mass [...]

[Read more →]

Tags:

A cure for what??

June 1st, 2009 · No Comments · Biology

A mineral found at health food stores could be the key to developing a new line of antibiotics for bacteria that commonly cause diarrhea, tooth decay and, in some severe cases, death!? Themineral selenium is found in a number of proteins in both bacteria  cells and human cells called selenoproteins. University of Central Florida Associate Professor [...]

[Read more →]

Tags:

Oxytocin: Love potion ?

June 1st, 2009 · No Comments · Biology

In Biological Psychiatry, there is a paper by Swiss researchers that have investigated the effects of oxytocin, the “love hormone,” on human couple interactions. They recruited adult couples who received oxytocin or placebo intranasally before engaging in a conflict discussion in the laboratory. Oxytocin increased positive communication behavior in relation to negative behavior and reduced salivary cortisol, [...]

[Read more →]

Tags:

Wiping out Migrations?

June 1st, 2009 · No Comments · Biology

Herds of   packed wildebeests roaming the Serengeti . these images extend from Hollywood show  that  animal specis are doing fine . But the fact is all of the world’s large scale migrations hav been   cut. A quarter of the migrating species are  no longer migrating  at all because of human changes to the [...]

[Read more →]

Tags:

Metal

June 1st, 2009 · No Comments · Chemistry

Metal is a positive ions and has metallic bonds. Sometimes metal are described as lattice of positive ions  encompass a cloud of delocalized electrons. In metal’s electronic structure. Metal have overlapping conduction bands and valence bands . Metal is distinguished by their ionization and bonding properties, along with the metalloids and nonmetals.

[Read more →]

Tags:

New Rotors Could Help Develop Nanoscale Generators

June 1st, 2009 · No Comments · Chemistry

The Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing and American Academy find a way to understand how they help in the development of future rotor-based machinery at a nanoscale level. Scientists believe that it could be the first step towards the tissue of  machines for the generation of currents at small scale.

[Read more →]

Tags:

Cling To Walls Like Spiderman!

June 1st, 2009 · 2 Comments · Chemistry, Physics

Physicists have found the formula for a human spider suit. Like spiders and geckos, these new suits will use adhesive forces to support human weight. Van der Waals forces are weak attractions between molecules that are very close together. These forces are what keep spiders clinging to walls. Both van der Waals and tiny hooks attached to [...]

[Read more →]

Tags:

Burnin’ up!

June 1st, 2009 · No Comments · Other Science, Physics

How can NASA be so sure how hot the sun really is? Apparently the sun’s average surface temperature is 5700 Celsius. Compare that to the Earth’s average temperature, which is 20 Celsius. So, the sun is pretty dang hot.

[Read more →]

Tags: