Wednesday, 22 May 2013

ScienceDaily: Top Technology News

ScienceDaily: Top Technology News


Bacterial spare parts filter antibiotic residue from groundwater

Posted: 21 May 2013 04:40 PM PDT

Researchers have developed and tested a solar-powered nano filter that is able to remove harmful carcinogens and antibiotics from water sources -- lakes and rivers -- at a significantly higher rate than the currently used filtering technology made of activated carbon.

Engineers devise new way to produce clean hydrogen

Posted: 21 May 2013 12:39 PM PDT

Engineers have developed a novel method for producing clean hydrogen, which could prove essential to weaning society off of fossil fuels and their environmental implications.

Better understanding of water's freezing behavior at nanoscale

Posted: 21 May 2013 12:24 PM PDT

The results of a new study provide direct computational evidence that nucleation of ice in small droplets is strongly size-dependent, an important conclusion in understanding water's behavior at the nanoscale.

Going green: U.S. equipped to grow serious amounts of pond scum for fuel

Posted: 21 May 2013 11:09 AM PDT

A new analysis shows that the nation's land and water resources could likely support the growth of enough algae to produce up to 25 billion gallons of algae-based fuel a year in the United States, one-twelfth of the country's yearly needs. For the best places to produce algae for fuel, think hot, humid and wet. Especially promising are the Gulf Coast and the Southeastern seaboard.

NASA launching experiment to examine the beginnings of the universe

Posted: 21 May 2013 10:40 AM PDT

When did the first stars and galaxies form in the universe? How brightly did they burn their nuclear fuel? Scientists will seek to gain answers to these questions with the launch of the Cosmic Infrared Background ExpeRIment (CIBER) on a Black Brant XII suborbital sounding rocket between 11 and 11:59 p.m. EDT, June 4 from the Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.

Single-cell transfection tool enables added control for biological studies

Posted: 21 May 2013 10:22 AM PDT

Researchers have developed a novel tool for single-cell transfection, in which they deliver molecules into targeted cells through temporary nanopores in the cell membrane created by a localized electric field.

New method for tailoring optical processors

Posted: 21 May 2013 09:16 AM PDT

Physicists and engineers have unveiled a robust new method for arranging metal nanoparticles in geometric patterns that can act as optical processors that transform incoming light signals into output of a different color.

Observations of stellar visibility by citizen scientists accurately measure the brightness of the night sky

Posted: 21 May 2013 07:54 AM PDT

Observations of stellar visibility by citizen scientists accurately measure the brightness of the night sky. The researchers hope that such data can eventually be used to track changes in artificial night sky brightness, also known as skyglow, worldwide.

A tiny programmable fly's eye

Posted: 21 May 2013 07:54 AM PDT

A novel curved artificial compound eye (CurvACE) has been created. Compared to single-lens eyes, compound eyes offer lower resolution, but significantly larger fields of view, thin package, and with negligible distortion.

Magnetic fingerprints of superfluid helium-3

Posted: 21 May 2013 07:54 AM PDT

Superconducting sensors have allowed for highly sensitive measurements of the nuclear magnetic resonance of thin helium-3 layers.

Soft matter offers new ways to study how materials arrange

Posted: 21 May 2013 07:52 AM PDT

A fried breakfast food popular in Spain provided the inspiration for the development of doughnut-shaped droplets that may provide scientists with a new approach for studying fundamental issues in physics, mathematics and materials.

NASA builds unusual testbed for analyzing X-ray navigation technologies

Posted: 20 May 2013 03:55 PM PDT

Pulsars have a number of unusual qualities. Like zombies, they shine even though they're technically dead, and they rotate rapidly, emitting powerful and regular beams of radiation that are seen as flashes of light, blinking on and off at intervals from seconds to milliseconds. A NASA team has built a first-of-a-kind testbed that simulates these distinctive pulsations.

Tuesday, 21 May 2013

ScienceDaily: Top Technology News

ScienceDaily: Top Technology News


The mammoth's lament: How cosmic impact sparked devastating climate change

Posted: 20 May 2013 03:55 PM PDT

Researchers have found evidence of a major cosmic event near the end of the Ice Age. The ensuing climate change forced many species to adapt or die.

NASA Mars rover Curiosity drills second rock target

Posted: 20 May 2013 02:32 PM PDT

NASA's Mars rover Curiosity has used the drill on its robotic arm to collect a powdered sample from the interior of a rock called "Cumberland." Plans call for delivering portions of the sample in coming days to laboratory instruments inside the rover. This is only the second time that a sample has been collected from inside a rock on Mars.

Human-like opponents lead to more aggression in video game players

Posted: 20 May 2013 01:39 PM PDT

Video games that pit players against human-looking characters may be more likely to provoke violent thoughts and words than games where monstrous creatures are the enemy, according to a new study.

Iron-platinum alloys could be new-generation hard drives

Posted: 20 May 2013 01:39 PM PDT

Researchers have found a convenient way to make layered iron-platinum alloys and tailor their properties, a promising material for a potential new generation of data storage media.

Non-wetting fabric that drains sweat invented

Posted: 20 May 2013 01:36 PM PDT

Waterproof fabrics that whisk away sweat could be the latest application of microfluidic technology developed by bioengineers.

Ant study could help future robot teams work underground

Posted: 20 May 2013 01:32 PM PDT

Future teams of subterranean search and rescue robots may owe their success to the lowly fire ant, a much-despised insect whose painful bites and extensive networks of underground tunnels are all-too-familiar to people living in the southern United States.

Fastest measurements ever made of ion channel proteins

Posted: 20 May 2013 12:42 PM PDT

Engineers have used miniaturized electronics to measure the activity of individual ion-channel proteins with temporal resolution as fine as one microsecond, producing the fastest recordings of single ion channels ever performed. They designed a custom integrated circuit to perform these measurements, in which an artificial cell membrane and ion channel are attached directly to the surface of the amplifier chip.

Opening doors to foldable electronics with inkjet-printed graphene

Posted: 20 May 2013 12:42 PM PDT

Imagine a bendable tablet computer or an electronic newspaper that could fold to fit in a pocket. The technology for these devices may not be so far off, thanks to new research.

Coming into existence: Lab sets a new record for creating heralded photons

Posted: 20 May 2013 12:42 PM PDT

A new experiment establishes a heralding efficiency that might allow loopholes to be eliminated in the validation of spooky action-at-a-distance in quantum reality.

Nanoantennas improve infrared sensing

Posted: 20 May 2013 11:29 AM PDT

Engineers have used a pattern of nanoantennas to develop a new way of turning infrared light into mechanical action, opening the door to more sensitive infrared cameras and more compact chemical-analysis techniques.

Not just blowing in the wind: Compressing air for renewable energy storage

Posted: 20 May 2013 11:28 AM PDT

A comprehensive study into the potential for compressed air energy storage in the Pacific Northwest has identified two locations in Washington state that could store enough Northwest wind energy combined to power about 85,000 homes each month.

Advance in nanotech gene sequencing technique

Posted: 20 May 2013 10:37 AM PDT

The allure of personalized medicine has made new, more efficient ways of sequencing genes a top research priority. One promising technique involves reading DNA bases using changes in electrical current as they are threaded through a nanoscopic hole. Now, physicists has used solid-state nanopores to differentiate single-stranded DNA molecules containing sequences of a single repeating base.

Bionimbus protected data cloud to enable researchers to analyze cancer data

Posted: 20 May 2013 05:32 AM PDT

The University of Chicago has launched the first secure cloud-based computing system that enables researchers to access and analyze human genomic cancer information without the costly and cumbersome infrastructure normally needed to download and store massive amounts of data.

Competition in the quantum world

Posted: 19 May 2013 04:48 PM PDT

Physicists have gained a deep insight into the nature of quantum mechanical phase transitions. Scientists have simulated the competition between two rival dynamical processes at a novel type of transition between two quantum mechanical orders.

Bacteria use hydrogen, carbon dioxide to produce electricity

Posted: 19 May 2013 04:11 PM PDT

Researchers have engineered a strain of electricity-producing bacteria that can grow using hydrogen gas as its sole electron donor and carbon dioxide as its sole source of carbon.

Kinks and curves at the nanoscale: New research shows 'perfect twin boundaries' are not so perfect

Posted: 19 May 2013 04:04 PM PDT

Since 2004, materials scientists and nanotechnology experts have been excited about a special of arrangement of atoms called a "coherent twin boundary" that can add enormous strength to metals like gold and copper. The CTBs are described as "perfect," appearing like a one-atom-thick plane in models and images. New research shows that these boundaries are not perfect. Even more surprising, the newly discovered kinks and defects appear to be the cause of the CTB's strength.

Computational tool translates complex data into simplified two-dimensional images

Posted: 19 May 2013 11:56 AM PDT

Researchers have developed a computational method that enables scientists to visualize and interpret "high-dimensional" data produced by single-cell measurement technologies such as mass cytometry. The method has particular relevance to cancer research and therapeutics.

Sunday, 19 May 2013

ScienceDaily: Top Technology News

ScienceDaily: Top Technology News


Mars rover Opportunity examines clay clues in rock

Posted: 18 May 2013 07:06 AM PDT

NASA's senior Mars rover, Opportunity, is driving to a new study area after a dramatic finish to 20 months on "Cape York" with examination of a rock intensely altered by water.

Saturday, 18 May 2013

ScienceDaily: Top Technology News

ScienceDaily: Top Technology News


Nine-year-old Mars rover passes 40-year-old record

Posted: 17 May 2013 09:09 AM PDT

While Apollo 17 astronauts Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt visited Earth's moon for three days in December 1972, they drove their mission's Lunar Roving Vehicle 19.3 nautical miles (22.210 statute miles or 35.744 kilometers). That was the farthest total distance for any NASA vehicle driving on a world other than Earth until yesterday.

Electric and magnetic characteristics of a material which could be used in spintronics: Promising doped zirconia

Posted: 17 May 2013 06:46 AM PDT

Materials belonging to the family of dilute magnetic oxides (DMOs) - an oxide-based variant of the dilute magnetic semiconductors - are good candidates for spintronics applications.

Add boron for better batteries

Posted: 16 May 2013 01:17 PM PDT

A graphene-boron compound is theoretically capable of storing double the energy of common graphite anodes used in lithium-ion batteries.

New record in wireless data transmission

Posted: 16 May 2013 07:53 AM PDT

Researchers have achieved the wireless transmission of 40 Gbit/s at 240 GHz over a distance of one kilometer. Researchers say that their most recent demonstration sets a new world record and ties in seamlessly with the capacity of optical fiber transmission. In the future, such radio links will be able to close gaps in providing broadband internet by supplementing the network in rural areas and places which are difficult to access.

South Africa's new radio telescope reveals giant outbursts from binary star system

Posted: 16 May 2013 07:52 AM PDT

An international team of astronomers have reported the first scientific results from the Karoo Array Telescope (KAT-7) in South Africa.

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