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(PhysOrg.com) -- In the continual quest for better thermoelectric materials—which convert heat into electricity and vice versa—researchers have identified a liquid-like compound whose properties give it the potential to be even more efficient than traditional thermoelectrics.

Image courtesy of iStockphoto/sjlocke The number of people who die from HIV-related causes each year in the U.S. is now down to about 12,700 from a peak of more than 50,000 in the mid-1990s thanks to condom education and distribution campaigns, increased testing and improved treatments.

Ghost imaging (GI), and its even more oddly named cousin virtual ghost imaging (VGI), seem to contradict conventional wisdom by being able to image an object by simply counting photons in a "light bucket." This non-intuitive technique, however, can lead to better images when conditions are less than ideal. In a first-of-its-kind demonstration, a team of researchers from the U.S. Army Research Laboratory in Adelphi, Md., and the University of Maryland in Baltimore, captured reflected photons from a highly specialized laser beam to create a VGI image of a remote target.

A team of University of California, San Diego researchers has built the smallest room-temperature nanolaser to date, as well as an even more startling device: a highly efficient, "thresholdless" laser that funnels all its photons into lasing, without any waste.

Cirrus personal airplanes are known for their roomy interior comfort, and now the 2012 edition provides an even more spacious backseat for up to three passengers. Tweaks to the interior side panels in the SR20, SR22, and SR22 Turbo models expanded the elbow room, and a lightweight seat design makes ...

It may be surprising to hear that hydraulic fracturing is not the cause of water contamination , but what may be even more surprising is that shale gas produced using fracking may have lower life cycle greenhouse gas emissions than conventional gas. According to a recent Environmental Science and Technology report , shale gas life-cycle [greenhouse gas] emissions are 6% lower than conventional natural gas [More]

Fabled audio designer Nelson Pass, who founded Pass Laboratories in 1991, has taken another step forward in his quest for the purest and most natural sound possible from solid-state gear. Already feted for his amplifiers’ transparency, clarity, and sonic beauty, Pass sought an even more liquid sound with the same ...

But experts say even more cancer deaths could have been prevented but weren't because of smoking, obesity

Who hasn't caught a snowflake in a mitten and marveled at its starlike detail, and then recalled that no two snowflakes are alike? But these crystals of ice are even more different than one might imagine - there are needle-like snowflakes, hollow-column snowflakes and flakes that look like delicate dumbbells, with two joined together by a column.

Who hasn't caught a snowflake in a mitten and marveled at its starlike detail, and then recalled that no two snowflakes are alike? But these crystals of ice are even more different than one might imagine - there are needle-like snowflakes, hollow-column snowflakes and flakes that look like delicate dumbbells, with two joined together by a column.

More than a third of adults in the U.S. are obese. And many of those already overweight continue to put on even more pounds.

Worried about birth control in light of headlines about side effects from Yaz and the patch? Women have a lot of options that are safe and effective, including some that are even more reliable.

Dark matter, the mysterious stuff thought to make up about 80 percent of matter in the universe, has become even more inscrutable.

News that Oneal Ron Morris was arrested for injecting a woman's buttocks with a combination of cement, Fix-A-Flat and Superglue stunned readers.

The recession is now taking an even more costly toll on people across the country, as many are being forced to make the devastating decision to not take their medicines or receive medical care. Following the story of one woman's struggle, Erica Hill and Chris Wragge talk to CBS News medical correspondent Dr. Jennifer Ashton about this choice facing many Americans.