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Under a microscope, a tiny droplet slides between two fine hairs like a roller coaster on a set of rails until — poof — it suddenly spreads along them, a droplet no more. That instant of change, like the popping of soap bubble, comes so suddenly that it seems almost magical. But describing it, and mapping out how droplets stretch into tiny columns, is a key to understanding how liquids affect fibrous materials from air filters to human hair.

Researchers have demonstrated a microscopic system in which light can be converted into a mechanical oscillation and back.

AUSTIN, TX — Researchers from The University of Texas at Austin's Department of Chemical Engineering are the first to show that mechanical property changes in cells may be responsible for cancer progression - a discovery that could pave the way for new approaches to predict, treat and prevent cancer.

Contrary to the ideal of a completely engaged electorate, individuals who have the least interest in a specific outcome can actually be vital to achieving a democratic consensus. These individuals dilute the influence of powerful minority factions who would otherwise dominate everyone else, according to new research published in Science.

ANN ARBOR, Mich.-They shook light from darkness. They coaxed something out of what we normally think of as nothing-the vacuum of space. And now their work has been named one of the top 10 breakthroughs of the year by Physics World, the international magazine announced today. University of Michigan physics researcher Franco Nori is involved in The physicists directly observed, for the first time, light particles that flicker in and out of existence in the vacuum.

Reduced to the max: the emission-free, noiseless 4-wheel drive ca represents lightweight construction at its most extreme. The nano car consists of just a single molecule and travels on four electrically-driven wheels in an almost straight line over a copper surface. A number of chemists aim to use similar principles and concepts to design molecular transport machines, which could then carry out specific tasks on the nano scale.

The structure and function of a 'molecular motor' critical to the functioning of human organs and, when malfunctioning, implicated in cancer, kidney failure, and osteoporosis, has been revealed in unprecedented detail. An international team, led by chemists from Oxford University, has used highly sensitive mass-spectrometry to piece together a picture of how the motor, the energy-converting protein adenosine triphosphate (ATP) synthase, interacts with the fatty acids that form the membranes around our cells.

Families suffering from a history of motor neuron disease have helped an international team locate a new gene linked to the incurable disease. The investigators studied a large group of Finnish patients and a family from Gwent who have lost many relatives to early onset motor neuron disease (MND) and the neurodegenerative disease fronto-temporal dementia, also known as Pick's disease.

Families suffering from a history of motor neuron disease have helped an international scientific team locate a new gene linked to the incurable disease. The investigators studied a large group of Finnish patients and a family from Gwent, South Wales who have lost many relatives to early onset motor neuron disease (MND) and the neurodegenerative disease frontotemporal dementia, also known as Pick's disease.

Families suffering from a history of motor neuron disease have helped an international scientific team locate a new gene linked to the incurable disease. The investigators studied a large group of Finnish patients and a family from Gwent, South Wales who have lost many relatives to early onset motor neuron disease (MND) and the neurodegenerative disease fronto-temporal dementia, also known as Pick's disease.

Could working with an openly gay individual undermine a co-worker's on-the-job performance? Not likely, according to a recent UCLA Anderson School of Management study. In fact, concealing one's sexual orientation may actually have an adverse effect on workplace function.

Growing embryos face a tight squeeze when it's time to pack internal organs. A new study published in Nature Aug. 4 shows how simple mechanical forces between neighboring types of tissue help organs take shape and grow. The work is among the first to uncover how an embryo develops from groups of cells into distinctly shaped organs.

An electromagnetic three-phase motor will enable the watchmaking industry to build watches that are three times more efficient and that can include more applications.

FINDINGS: The spreading of a liquid drop on a solid surface is a simple, everyday phenomenon. And while it is known that when a drop of oil is placed on a solid surface, its radius increases as its thickness decreases, the mechanisms underlying the process are still not well understood on a microscopic level, particularly at the moving edge between the liquid and solid, which is known as the "contact line" region.

FINDINGS: The spreading of a liquid drop on a solid surface is a simple, everyday phenomenon. And while it is known that when a drop of oil is placed on a solid surface, its radius increases as its thickness decreases, the mechanisms underlying the process are still not well understood on a microscopic level, particularly at the moving edge between the liquid and solid, which is known as the "contact line" region.

MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL (06/21/2011) —University of Minnesota engineering researchers in the College of Science and Engineering have recently discovered a new alloy material that converts heat directly into electricity. This revolutionary energy conversion method is in the early stages of development, but it could have wide-sweeping impact on creating environmentally friendly electricity from waste heat sources.

If we think of the atmosphere as a sponge, we can imagine that the sponge is very dry in the western US, and almost full over humid regions in the eastern US. The addition of moisture to the atmosphere from the land surface in these humid regions makes the sponge leak (makes rain fall). In the west, the dry sponge soaks up any moisture the land surface can contribute without initiating rainfall: rainfall in the west is only initiated by other mechanisms.

[ Florian Aigner At the Vienna University of Technology, sophisticated atomchips have been used to create pairs of quantum mechanically connected atom-twins. Until now, similar experiments were only possible using photons. Objects that are well separated in space but still cannot be understood separately belong to the profoundest mysteries of quantum physics.

University of Sydney researchers have discovered new patterns in the movement of granular mixtures with findings that could assist the study of oil and gas recovery and CO2 geo-sequestratrion. Results obtained by lead researcher Dr Bjornar Sandnes, published today, show the answer to the question 'What happens when you inject air into a mixture of sand and water' yields surprising and often beautiful imagery.

The 1949 movie "Jour de Fete" shows a postman frantically chasing his bicycle, which rides away on its own. It could happen. Many bicycles, even without a rider, naturally resist tipping over if they are going fast enough. Scientists and engineers have been trying to explain bicycle self-stability ever since the 19th century.