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How does a classical temperature form in the quantum world? An experiment at the Vienna University of Technology has directly observed the emergence and the spreading of a temperature in a quantum system. Remarkably, the quantum properties are lost, even though the quantum system is completely isolated and not connected to the outside world. The experimental results are being published in this week's issue of "Nature Physics".

Quantum and Classical Physics: From the Microscopic to the Macroscopic World

INDIANAPOLIS, Sept. 9, 2013 — Chemical processes are involved in production of almost 96 percent of all manufactured goods, and some of the latest advances in efforts to redesign those processes from the ground up are on the agenda here today at the 246th National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society (ACS), the world's largest scientific society.

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INDIANAPOLIS, Sept. 9, 2013 — How will emerging 21st century toxicity testing technologies impact agricultural products? How do they fit in the life cycle of discovery, regulatory registration and product defense or product stewardship? What's the outlook for improved, science-informed hazard prediction and risk assessment?

INDIANAPOLIS, Sept. 9, 2013 — A weekly news magazine that has been around since before Time began celebrates its 90th anniversary this week with a special issue commemorating chemistry's contributions over the past nine decades to medicine, industry and other scientific advances that have improved people's lives. The magazine is Chemical & Engineering News (C&EN), a publication of the American Chemical Society (ACS), the world's largest scientific society.

New research from the University of East Anglia shows that rising ocean temperatures will upset natural cycles of carbon dioxide, nitrogen and phosphorous.

Plankton plays an important role in the ocean's carbon cycle by removing half of all CO2 from the atmosphere during photosynthesis and storing it deep under the sea – isolated from the atmosphere for centuries.

Findings published today in the journal Nature Climate Change reveal that water temperature has a direct impact on maintaining the delicate plankton ecosystem of our oceans.

INDIANAPOLIS, Sept. 8, 2013 — New discoveries from the labs of several Nobel laureates will be presented here this week during the 246th National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society (ACS), the world's largest scientific society. Research from the laureates' teams will be among almost 7,000 presentations during the event.

They are Ei-ichi Negishi, Ph.D.; Richard Schrock, Ph.D.; George A. Olah, Ph.D.; and Roald Hoffmann, Ph.D.

The amazing diversity of flower colors among species is often controlled by a predictable set of genes, suggesting that evolution may be repeatable.

In a review of the published literature, researchers from the University of Oregon revealed that mutations in a single gene are responsible for much of this diversity. Although mutations in at least ten genes are capable of causing similar changes in color, mutations in only one of these genes are believed to be preferentially targeted by natural selection.

Scientists generally believe that the Hawaiian Islands formed primarily through endogenous growth, or intrusion, in which hot magma intrudes into a rock and then solidifies before it reaches the surface.

However, a new study suggests that the islands may actually have formed primarily through extrusion, which occurs when a volcano erupts and magma reaches the surface and flows away from the eruption site before cooling and solidifying.

WASHINGTON, D.C. Sept. 6, 2013 -- A team of researchers from Uppsala University in Sweden has designed a microplasma source capable of exciting matter in a controlled, efficient way. This miniature device may find use in a wide range of applications in harsh environments, but can also help revolutionize archaeology.

As the researchers describe in the Journal of Applied Physics, produced by AIP Publishing, their new device offers many advantages, such as electromagnetic compatibility, an integrated fluidic system, and Langmuir probes for plasma diagnostics.

WASHINGTON, D.C. Sept. 6, 2013 -- Researchers have developed a new technique to produce thin films of germanium crystals -- key components for next-generation electronic devices such as advanced large-scale integrated circuits and flexible electronics, which are required for gadgets that move or bend.

HOUSTON, Sept. 5, 2013 – Physicists at the University of Houston's physics department and the Texas Center for Superconductivity are working on an innovation that could boost vehicle mileage by 5 percent and power plant and industrial processing performance as much as 10 percent.

Their research uses non-toxic materials – tin telluride, with the addition of the chemical element indium – for waste heat recovery.

London -- The unhappiness of being in a bad job is strongly linked to people's decision to leave permanent work for the uncertain world of temporary employment, the British Sociological Association's conference in Warwick heard today.

An analysis of data collected from almost 69,000 British people from 1991-2009 found that higher levels of anxiety and distress were a good indicator that people in a permanent job would leave to go into temping, casual work or seasonal labour.

SCIENTISTS at the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) have devised a novel method to identify suitable new homes for animals under threat from climate change.

Conservation scientists used their knowledge on species ecology to create habitat suitability maps and correctly identify sites that will remain viable in the future regardless of changing climate. However, the key for success is to understand, and account for, the link between variation in species population size, climate and how the climate may change.

Berkeley — Scientists at the University of California, Berkeley, have detected previously unknown channels of slow-moving seismic waves in Earth's upper mantle, a discovery that helps explain "hotspot volcanoes" that give birth to island chains such as Hawaii and Tahiti.