Stanford University
New form of superhard carbon observed
October 11, 2011 8:04 am | News | CommentsCarbon is the fourth-most-abundant element in the universe and takes on a wide variety of forms, called allotropes, including diamond and graphite. Scientists at Carnegie's Geophysical Laboratory are part of a team that has discovered a new form of carbon, which is capable of withstanding extreme pressure stresses that were previously observed only in diamond.
Sulfur in hollow nanofibers overcomes challenges of lithium-ion battery design
October 5, 2011 5:38 am | News | CommentsStanford researchers have used nanotechnology to invent a better lithium ion battery cathode. The researchers have used sulfur-coated hollow carbon nanofibers and an electrolyte additive to fabricate a superior rechargeable lithium battery cathode. Putting silicon nanowire anodes and sulfur-coated carbon cathodes into one battery could be the next generation in battery design.
Plasmonics shrinks high-energy light source
September 23, 2011 12:13 pm | by Andrew Myers | News | CommentsBy harnessing plasmonics to intensify light, engineers at Stanford University have created an ultra-compact nonlinear light source that shrinks a large-scale, high-energy device to the nanoscale.
First life may have arisen above serpentine rock
September 23, 2011 4:50 am | by Max McClure | News | CommentsStanford University Earth scientists lend geophysical support to a theory of life's origins—but show that, if it's accurate, the first organisms could only have arisen during one brief stretch of geological time, long ago.
Fingertip-size microscope has potential for studying the brain
September 16, 2011 10:13 am | News | CommentsA readily portable miniature microscope weighing less than 2 g and tiny enough to balance on your fingertip has been developed by Stanford University researchers. The scope is designed to see fluorescent markers, such as dyes, commonly used by medical and biological researchers studying the brains of mice.
Forces within molecules can strengthen extra-long carbon-carbon bonds
September 16, 2011 5:07 am | by Mike Ross | News | CommentsThe strength of a chemical bond between atoms is the fundamental basis for a molecule's stability and reactivity. Tuning the strength and accessibility of the bond can dramatically change a molecule's properties. New research by a team from two European universities and SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory shows that attractive forces between other parts of a molecule can make a stretched bond joining two carbon atoms much more stable than expected.
Research with fruit flies helps explain how we view moving objects
September 13, 2011 11:31 am | by Max McClure | News | CommentsFlies like watching computer screens as much as the next animal. Set them on a trackball in front of a monitor, and they'll follow the action—if the images in front of them move in one direction, the flies will try to move the same way. That's because flies—like humans—can perceive what researchers call "phi motion."
Telescope confirms puzzling preponderance of positrons
September 13, 2011 4:39 am | by Lori Ann White | News | CommentsBy finding a clever way to use the Earth itself as a scientific instrument, members of a SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory-led research team turned the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope into a positron detector and confirmed a startling discovery from 2009 that found an excess of these antimatter particles in cosmic rays, a possible sign of dark matter.
Oceans' increasing acidity likely to hurt biodiversity
September 13, 2011 4:17 am | by Louis Bergeron | News | CommentsStanford University researchers have gotten a glimpse into an uncertain future where increasing levels of carbon dioxide in the Earth's atmosphere will lead to higher levels in the ocean as well, leaving the water more acidic and altering underwater ecosystems.
Natural gas extracted from shale, the green way
September 1, 2011 6:15 am | by Louis Bergeron | News | CommentsMore and more natural gas is being extracted from underground shale deposits, but environmental concerns have been raised. Stanford geophysicist Mark Zoback, who recently served on a Department of Energy panel of experts, says it can be done safely.
Method reveals parts of bacterium genome essential to life
August 30, 2011 7:36 am | News | CommentsA team at the Stanford University School of Medicine has cataloged, down to the letter, exactly what parts of the genetic code are essential for survival in one bacterial species, Caulobacter crescentus .
Method detects emerging sunspots deep inside the sun
August 22, 2011 4:11 am | News | CommentsSunspots spawn solar flares that can cause billions of dollars in damage to satellites, communications networks, and power grids. But Stanford University researchers have developed a way to detect incipient sunspots as deep as 65,000 km inside the sun, providing up to two days' advance warning of a damaging solar flare.
Parasite tricks rats into becoming cat food
August 19, 2011 9:43 am | News | CommentsCould it be love? Rats infected with the parasite Toxoplasma seem to lose their fear of cats—or at least cat urine. Now Stanford researchers have discovered that the brains of those infected, fearless male rats show activity in the region that normally triggers a mating response when they meet a female rat.
Transparent batteries closer to reality
July 26, 2011 5:55 am | News | CommentsStanford University researchers have invented a transparent lithium-ion battery that is also highly flexible. It is comparable in cost to regular batteries on the market today, with great potential for applications in consumer electronics.
Berkeley Lab database deciphers secrets of microscopic life
July 21, 2011 10:05 am | News | CommentsA handful of muck or a bucket of water can teem with millions of microorganisms—a few of which could be the next big thing when it comes to learning how to create biofuels or understanding the planet's carbon cycle. Exploring the microbial world is getting easier thanks to one of the world's largest databases of genetic "fingerprints" maintained by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory scientists.
California groundwater management trickles up from local sources
July 8, 2011 7:02 am | News | CommentsIn a typical year, California gets about 30% of its water from groundwater wells. Yet when it comes to managing this precious resource, the state relies on a mixed bag of more than 2,000 local water agencies with varying degrees of authority. Critics say that this decentralized system leaves the state vulnerable to overdraft. But according to a new report published by Stanford University's Program on Water in the West, a surprising number of local water districts are taking on the challenge of groundwater protection.
Orca ears inspire ultrasensitive undersea microphone
June 23, 2011 1:01 pm | by Louis Bergeron | News | CommentsExisting underwater microphones, called hydrophones, have a limited range of sensitivity and does not perform well at depth. Taking a cue from champion ocean listeners like the orca, Stanford researchers invented a new microphone that is at home in any depth, and can detect anything from a whisper to an explosion of TNT.
Devising a better solar-powered water splitter
June 21, 2011 4:41 am | by Andrew Myers | News | CommentsThe process of splitting water into pure oxygen and clean-burning hydrogen fuel has long been the Holy Grail for clean-energy advocates as a method of large-scale energy storage, but the idea faces technical challenges. Stanford researchers may have solved one of the most important ones.
Metallic glass: A crystal at heart
June 17, 2011 6:59 am | News | CommentsGlass, by definition, is amorphous; its atoms lack order and are arranged every which way. But when scientists squeezed tiny samples of a metallic glass under high pressure, they got a surprise: The atoms lined up in a regular pattern to form a single crystal.
New neurons help us to remember fear
June 15, 2011 5:10 am | News | CommentsFear burns memories into our brain, and new research by Univ. of California, Berkeley, neuroscientists explains how. Scientists have long known that fear and other highly emotional experiences lead to incredibly strong memories. In a study, UC Berkeley's Daniela Kaufer and colleagues report a new way for emotions to affect memory: The brain’s emotional center, the amygdala, induces the hippocampus, a relay hub for memory, to generate new neurons.
Social scientists gauge comparative impact of stem cell research
June 10, 2011 6:25 am | News | CommentsNew research by sociologists from two universities and a medical center reports that studies in adult and embryonic stem cells are complementary. According to the researchers, incentives to use both types of cell in comparative studies are high, and banning either type of stems cells and the research involving them could have negative impacts on the other.
Climate scientists forecast permanently hotter summers
June 6, 2011 10:15 am | by Donna Hesterman | News | CommentsThe tropics and much of the Northern Hemisphere are likely to experience an irreversible rise in summer temperatures within the next 20 to 60 years if atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations continue to increase, according to a new climate study by Stanford Univ. scientists.
Bosch grants $10 million for energy research
June 3, 2011 9:24 am | News | CommentsUC Berkeley will be one of five leading universities to launch Bosch Group’s new $10 million energy initiative, designed to promote research and education in the United States. The Bosch Energy Research Network project will provide two-year grant opportunities—at $150,000 per year—to develop transformative energy technologies for production.
Unusual earthquake gave Japan tsunami extra punch
May 24, 2011 11:54 am | by Louis Bergeron | News | CommentsThe earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan on March 11 were generated on a fault that didn't rupture in the usual fashion, according to a study by researchers at Stanford Univ. and the Univ. of Tokyo. The quake’s motion amplified fault slip near the surface, causing violent seafloor sediment deformations previously seen only in computer simulations.
“Mind reading” brain scans reveal secrets of human vision
May 19, 2011 12:52 pm | by Dan Stober | News | CommentsScientists have already discovered that they can “read” minds by watching brain activity with a magnetic resonance imaging. They can tell, for example, when a person is looking at a particular photo. A Stanford computer scientist has taken the experiment further, however, showing that minds are “readable” even after drastic changes are made to the photos.
