As electrons move past atoms in a solid, their charge distorts the nearby lattice and can create a wave. Reciprocally, a wave in the lattice affects the electrons motion, in analogy to a wave in the sea that pushes a surfer riding it. This interaction results in a thermoelectric effect that was first observed during the 1950´s and has come to be known as phonon-drag, because it can be quantified from the flow of lattice-wave quanta (phonons) that occurs over the temperature gradient.
Earth
Tectonic subsidence of the Lomonosov Ridge
Alexander N. Minakov and Yury Yu. Podladchikov, Department of Earth Science, University of Bergen, Allegaten 41, NO-5007, Bergen, Norway (Minakov) and Faculty of Geosciences and Environment, University of Lausanne, CH-1015, Lausanne, Switzerland (Podladchikov). Posted online 8 Dec. 2011; doi: 10.1130/G32445.1.
Are there parallel universes? And how will we know? This is one of many fascinations people hold about quantum physics. Researchers from the universities of Calgary and Waterloo in Canada and the University of Geneva in Switzerland have published a paper this week in Physical Review Letters explaining why we don't usually see the physical effects of quantum mechanics.
MIAMI -- For anglers and boaters who regularly travel the coasts of Florida the great barracuda (Sphyraena barracuda) is a common sight. Surprisingly, however, very little is known about the early life stage of this ecologically and socio-economically important coastal fish.
The research is based on studies of sediment from 36 lakes in the USA, Canada, Greenland and Svalbard, Norway. The researchers have analysed how the chemical composition of the sediment has changed over the centuries. Twenty-five of the lakes all show the same sign – that biologically active nitrogen from human sources can be traced back to the end of the 19th century.
Opening up a new door in synthetic biology, a team of researchers has developed a microfluidic device that produces a continuous supply of tiny lipid spheres that are similar in many ways to a cell's outer membrane. "Cells are essentially small, complex bioreactors enclosed by phospholipid membranes," said Abraham Lee from the University of California, Irvine.
Chicago/Leipzig. Large forest regions in Canada are apparently about to experience rapid change. Based on models, scientists can now show that there are threshold values for wildfires just like there are for epidemics. Large areas of Canada are apparently approaching this threshold value and may in future exceed it due to climate change.
Nitrogen derived from human activities has polluted lakes throughout the Northern Hemisphere for more than a century and the fingerprint of these changes is evident even in remote lakes located thousands of miles from the nearest city, industrial area or farm.
Lead pipes once used routinely in municipal water distribution systems are a well-recognized source of dangerous lead contamination, but new research from Washington University in St. Louis suggests that the partial replacement of these pipes can make the problem worse.
The research shows that joining old lead pipes with new copper lines using brass fittings spurs galvanic corrosion that can dramatically increase the amount of lead released into drinking water supplies.
The combination of physics and music might usually prompt images of Brian Cox playing keyboards for D:Ream, but a new trio, consisting of a professor of physics, an internationally renowned composer and an award-winning violinist, are bringing particle physics to life through a series of classical compositions.
Queensland University of Technology (QUT) world-first research has found a link between increases in temperature and the incidence of stillbirth and shorter pregnancies.
Associate Professor Adrian Barnett of QUT's Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation (IHBI) led a study that looked at the incidence of still and premature births in Brisbane over a four-year period from 2005.
Professor Barnett said a total of 101,870 births were recorded throughout the period and of these 653 or 0.6% were stillbirths.
PASADENA, Calif.—Physicists have announced that the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) has produced yet more tantalizing hints for the existence of the Higgs boson. The European Center for Nuclear Research (CERN) in Geneva, the international team of thousands of scientists—including many from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech)—unveiled for the first time all the data taken over the last year from the two main detectors at the LHC: the Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) and ATLAS (A Toroidal LHC ApparatuS).
LEXINGTON, Ky. (Dec. 15, 2011) Scientists from institutions around the nation and the world have collaborated to develop new resources poised to unlock yet another door in the hidden garden of medicinally important compounds found in plants.
(Boston) –Researchers from Boston University's Slone Epidemiology Center (SEC), in collaboration with Harvard School of Public Health, have found numerous prescription and over-the-counter drugs and supplements use certain chemicals called phthalates as inactive ingredients in their products. The findings appear on-line in Environmental Health Perspectives.