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(PhysOrg.com) -- The physicists of the University of Innsbruck and the Institute for Quantum Optics and Quantum Information (IQOQI) in Innsbruck have come considerably closer to their goal to investigate complex phenomena in a model system: They have realized a digital, and therefore, universal quantum simulator in their laboratory, which can, in principle, simulate any physical system efficiently. Their work has been published in the online issue of the journal Science.

The activity of online communities does not grow in line with the number of users, according to a model recently published in the European Physical Journal B.

Handwashing is the best way to avoid spreading infection, according to the CDC. But doctors, nurses and hospital staff wash up less than half as often as they should. Some hospitals encourage handwashing by posting signs that tell docs a simple scrub will prevent them from getting sick.

Historians have speculated for years that global environmental changes caused some ancient wars to erupt, or even societies to collapse. Such connections may still exist--because new research finds that the risk of civil war in tropical countries increases during hot, dry El Nino years as opposed to cooler La Nina periods.

Historians have speculated for years that global environmental changes caused some ancient wars to erupt, or even societies to collapse. Such connections may still exist--because new research finds that the risk of civil war in tropical countries increases during hot, dry El Nino years as opposed to cooler La Nina periods. The study is in the journal Nature .

A caesium fountain clock that keeps the United Kingdom's atomic time is now the most accurate long-term timekeeper in the world, according to a new evaluation of the clock that will be published in the October 2011 issue of the international scientific journal Metrologia by a team of physicists at the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) in the United Kingdom and Penn State University in the United States. An early posting of the paper on the journal's online site will occur on 26 August 2011.

Dengue fever affects 50 million people, with no cure in sight. But maybe prevention could work instead: Scientists have found a way to get mosquitoes sick with a bacteria that prevents them from carrying the disease.

To the list of cocaine’s many dangers, health officials have added at least one more: purpura, a rash caused by internal bleeding from small blood vessels. Two recent papers in major medical journals have documented cases of cocaine users showing up in emergency rooms with patches of blackened, dying skin on the ears, face, trunk or extremities. The condition causes scarring and sometimes requires reconstructive surgery.

Set ambitious goals, says a study.

Some graduate students in science, technology, engineering and math--or STEM--only do research, under the guidance of a mentor. Other STEM grad students also have teaching responsibilities, for example, instructing undergrads or local high schoolers. Now a study finds that grad students who also teach show significant improvement in written research proposals, compared with grad students with no teaching requirement

By Deborah Zabarenko, Environment Correspondent WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Plants and animals are responding up to three times faster to climate change than previously estimated, as wildlife shifts to cooler altitudes and latitudes, researchers said on Thursday. Scientists have reported this decade on individual species that moved toward the poles or uphill as their traditional habitats shifted due to global warming, but this study analyzed data on over 2,000 species to get a more comprehensive picture

To humans, ultraviolet (UV) radiation is a menace: we cannot see it, yet it is all around us, increasing our risks of melanoma, cataracts and other ills. It is especially harmful in the upper latitudes, where a thinning ozone layer has become less and less effective at blocking the sun’s UV rays, and ice and snow reflect them back up at us. All these facts have caused biologists to wonder: How have Arctic mammals adapted to handle acute UV exposure--not only tolerating the intense light conditions at the poles, but even using it as an evolutionary advantage

Leave it to a psychologist at the University of Essex to discover that the secret sauce in irresistible video games is the characters' personalities--especially those that leave just enough creative space for players to pour themselves into.

The ocean is a virtually limitless source of water, if we can get the salt out.

What's the best way to find out if an unknown mixture contains a specific substance, like an environmental contaminant? You could use an expensive, bulky gas chromatograph--but Harvard researchers have developed an instrument you can carry in your pocket. They describe the device, called an inverse opal, in the Journal of the American Chemical Society .