ScienceDaily Technology Headlines
for Thursday, October 28, 2010
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Scientists helping keep in-demand smoked salmon safe to eat, thanks to new mathematical model (October 28, 2010) -- Scientists with the US Department of Agriculture are helping ensure that the smoked salmon that's always a hit at festive gatherings also is always safe to eat, including among their achievements the development of a first-of-its-kind mathematical model that food processors and others can use to select the optimal combination of temperature and concentrations of salt and smoke compounds to reduce or eliminate microbial contamination of the product. ... > full story
Making bone in the laboratory (October 28, 2010) -- Researchers in the Netherlands have succeeded in mimicking the process of bone formation in the laboratory, and in visualizing the process in great detail. ... > full story
Structural genomics accelerates protein structure determination (October 28, 2010) -- Membrane proteins are of immense biological and pharmaceutical importance. But so far there are only a handful of cases in which the exact structure could be successfully determined. Scientists have now succeeded in working out the structure of an important ion channel via the analysis of related proteins. ... > full story
Current loss tracked down by magnetic fingerprint; Researchers solve the case of lost current in organic solar cells (October 28, 2010) -- Conventional solar cells made from crystalline silicon are difficult and energy-intensive to manufacture. Organic solar cells are cheaper, but have always produced less electricity. Why this is so has never been fully explained. Now, a method developed by researchers in Germany reveals that current flow inside a solar cell can be affected by the spin of the charge-carrying particles. ... > full story
Out of THEMIS, ARTEMIS: Earth's loss is moon's gain (October 27, 2010) -- Two micro-satellites originally launched into Earth's orbit in 2007 by NASA have been redirected by scientists toward new orbits around the moon, extending study of the Earth and moon's interaction with the solar wind. ... > full story
Spiral galaxies stripped bare (October 27, 2010) -- Six spectacular spiral galaxies are seen in a clear new light in images from ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) at the Paranal Observatory in Chile. The pictures were taken in infrared light, using the impressive power of the HAWK-I camera, and will help astronomers understand how the remarkable spiral patterns in galaxies form and evolve. ... > full story
Tobacco and nicotine: They're good -- as a pesticide (October 27, 2010) -- Tobacco, used on a small scale as a natural organic pesticide for hundreds of years, is getting new scientific attention as a potential mass-produced alternative to traditional commercial pesticides. ... > full story
Controlling individual cortical nerve cells by human thought (October 27, 2010) -- Five years ago, neuroscientists and neurosurgeons discovered that a single neuron can function much like a sophisticated computer and recognize people, landmarks, and objects. Now the same researchers have found that individuals can exert conscious control over these single neurons -- despite the neurons' location in an area of the brain previously thought inaccessible to conscious control -- and manipulate the behavior of an image on a computer screen. ... > full story
Small particles show big promise in beating unpleasant odors (October 27, 2010) -- Scientists are reporting development of a new approach for dealing with offensive household and other odors -- one that doesn't simply mask odors like today's room fresheners, but eliminates them at the source. Their research found that a deodorant made from nanoparticles -- hundreds of times smaller than peach fuzz -- eliminates odors up to twice as effectively as today's gold standard. ... > full story
Astronomers discover most massive neutron star yet known; Discovery has broad implications for astrophysics, nuclear physics (October 27, 2010) -- Precise measurement of a neutron star's mass yields a surprisingly large figure that rules out several models for the star's composition and also strongly affects other fields of physics. ... > full story
Portable breast scanner allows cancer detection in the blink of an eye (October 27, 2010) -- Women could have a fast test for breast cancer and instantly identify the presence of a tumor in the comfort of their own home, thanks to groundbreaking research. ... > full story
'Sí' on the new SI: Proposal for a revamped system of measurement units (October 27, 2010) -- Taking the first steps of what would be a major historical advance in the science of measurement, the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology is participating in a worldwide effort to recommend major revisions to the International System of Units (SI), the modern metric system that is the basis of global measurements in commerce, science and other aspects of everyday life. ... > full story
Uranium in groundwater? 'Fracking' mobilizes uranium in marcellus shale (October 27, 2010) -- Researchers have found that hydraulic fracturing or "fracking" -- causes uranium that is naturally trapped inside Marcellus shale to be released, raising additional environmental concerns. ... > full story
Kepler spacecraft takes pulse of distant stars: 'Starquakes' yield new insights about the size, age and evolution of stars (October 27, 2010) -- An international cadre of scientists that used data from NASA's Kepler spacecraft announced the detection of stellar oscillations, or "starquakes," that yield new insights about the size, age and evolution of stars. ... > full story
Trapping charged particles with laser light (October 27, 2010) -- Scientists have demonstrated the feasibility of optical trapping for ions, which may lead to a new kind of hybrid quantum systems. ... > full story
Emissions from consumption outstrip efficiency savings in UK (October 27, 2010) -- Emissions from consumption growth have exceeded carbon savings from efficiency improvements in the global supply chain of products consumed in the UK, according to new research. ... > full story
Hubble data used to look 10,000 years into the future (October 26, 2010) -- Astronomers are used to looking millions of years into the past. Now scientists have used the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope to look thousands of years into the future. Looking at the heart of Omega Centauri, a globular cluster in the Milky Way, they have calculated how the stars there will move over the next 10,000 years. ... > full story
Six new isotopes of the superheavy elements discovered (October 26, 2010) -- Scientists have created six new isotopes of the superheavy elements, reaching in an unbroken chain of decays from element 114 down to rutherfordium. The discovery is a major step toward understanding how to explore the long-sought Island of Stability, which is thought to lie in the vicinity of element 114 -- and possibly beyond. ... > full story
Scented consumer products shown to emit many unlisted chemicals (October 26, 2010) -- Even "green" fragranced products give off many chemicals that are not listed on the label, including some that are classified as toxic. A study of 25 of the most popular scented products showed they emit 133 different chemicals, of which only two are listed anywhere. ... > full story
NASA's Kepler Mission changing how astronomers study distant stars (October 26, 2010) -- NASA's Kepler Mission is changing how astronomers study stars. Kepler, launched in March 2009, is returning data the astronomers say is amazing for its quantity and quality. ... > full story
Stable way to store the sun's heat: Storing thermal energy in chemical could lead to advances in storage and portability (October 26, 2010) -- Researchers have revealed exactly how a molecule called fulvalene diruthenium, which was discovered in 1996, works to store and release heat on demand. This understanding should make it possible to find similar chemicals based on more abundant, less expensive materials than ruthenium, and this could form the basis of a rechargeable battery to store heat rather than electricity. ... > full story
Microwave oven key to self-assembly process meeting semi-conductor industry need (October 26, 2010) -- The fundamental nanotechnology process of self assembly may soon replace the lithographic processing use to make the ubiquitous semi-conductor chips. By using microwaves, researchers in Canada have dramatically decreased the cooking time for a specific molecular self-assembly process used to assemble block copolymers, and have now made it a viable alternative to the conventional lithography process for use in patterning semi-conductors. ... > full story
Robotic gripper runs on coffee ... and balloons (October 26, 2010) -- Opting for simple elegance, researchers have bypassed traditional designs based around the human hand and fingers, and created a versatile gripper using everyday ground coffee and a latex party balloon. ... > full story
Tabletop instrument makes synchrotron X-rays: Simpler and cheaper way to produce tightly focused high-energy beams (October 26, 2010) -- Producing tightly focused beams of high energy X-rays, to examine everything from molecular structures to the integrity of aircraft wings, could become simpler and cheaper, according to new research. Researchers have now developed a tabletop instrument that produces synchrotron X-rays, whose energy and quality rivals that produced by some of the largest X-ray facilities in the world. ... > full story
Mouse brain seen in sharpest detail ever (October 26, 2010) -- The most detailed magnetic resonance images ever obtained of a mammalian brain are now available to researchers in a free, online atlas of an ultra-high-resolution mouse brain. The interactive images in the atlas will allow researchers worldwide to evaluate the brain from all angles and assess and share their mouse studies against this reference brain in genetics, toxicology and drug discovery. ... > full story
How to avoid fraud in biometric identification (October 26, 2010) -- Scientists in Spain are analyzing possible attempts at fraud in various biometric identification systems in order to improve the security of facial, iris, fingerprint or vascular recognition, among other types. ... > full story
Energy saving lamp is eco-winner: Swiss researcher evaluates environmental friendliness of light sources (October 26, 2010) -- In a new study, Swiss researchers have investigated the ecobalances of various household light sources. In doing so, not only did they take into account energy consumption, but also the manufacture and disposal processes. They also evaluated usage with different electrical power mixes. The clear winner is the compact fluorescent lamp, commonly known as the energy saving lamp. ... > full story
Harnessing tidal energy more efficiently than ever before (October 26, 2010) -- Researchers are developing a tidal turbine which has the potential to harness tidal energy more efficiently and cheaply, using a device which is simpler, more robust and more scaleable than current designs. ... > full story
Scientists examine energy trends of communications equipment (October 25, 2010) -- A team of scientists has examined the energy consumption trends of communications equipment in use today and determined that gains in energy efficiency are not keeping pace with traffic growth. One consequence is that energy is going to become an increasingly important problem for communication networks. ... > full story
'Unplugged' experiment detaches students from the media (October 25, 2010) -- Twenty-four hours without media. No internet, no mobiles, no TV... The biggest global media experiment. Ever. First year students at Bournemouth University in the UK have been sacrificing their TVs, mobile phones, the internet and all other gadgets for 24 hours as they take part in a groundbreaking global media experiment called 'Unplugged'. ... > full story
New concept in microscopy: Self-reconstructing laser beams (October 25, 2010) -- Researchers are developing a microscope with illuminating beams that actively refocus in a light-scattering medium. The new method not only provides novel insights into the physics of complex light scattering, but it also enables, for example, to look about 50 percent deeper into human skin tissue than with conventional laser beams. ... > full story
Plagiarism sleuths tackle full-text biomedical articles (October 25, 2010) -- In scientific publishing, how much reuse of text is too much? Researchers at the Virginia Bioinformatics Institute at Virginia Tech and collaborators have shown that a computer-based text-searching tool is capable of unearthing questionable publication practices from thousands of full-text papers in the biomedical literature. ... > full story
Tiny brained bees solve a complex mathematical problem (October 25, 2010) -- Bumblebees can find the solution to a complex mathematical problem which keeps computers busy for days. Scientists in the UK have discovered that bees learn to fly the shortest possible route between flowers even if they discover the flowers in a different order. Bees are effectively solving the 'Traveling Salesman Problem', and these are the first animals found to do this. ... > full story
Sterilizing with fluorescent lights: New surface may kill antibiotic-resistant staph bacteria with fluorescent light (October 25, 2010) -- Scientists in New Mexico are working on a new type of antimicrobial surface that won't harm people or animals but is inhospitable to methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus -- the bacterial cause of an estimated 19,000 deaths and -4 billion in health-care costs per year in the US. ... > full story
Synthetic FlexBone could help speed bone transplant recovery (October 25, 2010) -- With a failure rate as high as 50 percent, bone tissue grafts pose a significant obstacle to orthopedic surgeons attempting to repair complex fractures. Current synthetic substitutes rarely possess the bone-like properties needed for successful grafting and are often difficult for surgeons to manipulate in the operating room. In response to these challenges, researchers have developed a synthetic bone material called FlexBone. ... > full story
Computational model of swimming fish could inspire design of robots or medical prosthetics (October 25, 2010) -- Scientists have developed a computational model of a swimming fish that is the first to address the interaction of internal and external forces on locomotion. The research team simulated how the fish's body bends, depending on the forces from the fluid moving around it as well as the muscles inside. Understanding these interactions will help design medical prosthetics for humans that work with the body's natural mechanics. ... > full story
Photovoltaic medicine: Miniature solar cells might make chemotherapy less toxic (October 25, 2010) -- Micro-scaled photovoltaic devices may one day be used to deliver chemotherapeutic drugs directly to tumors, rendering chemotherapy less toxic to surrounding tissue. ... > full story
Kryptonite superglue improving the quality of life in heart patients recovering from surgery (October 25, 2010) -- New research shows that a surgical procedure using a cutting-edge super glue pioneered a year ago by Canadian researchers can improve the recovery of heart patients recovering from open-chest surgery. ... > full story
Falkland Islands radar study impacts climate research: New equipment will monitor activity which creates the ‘Southern Lights’ (October 25, 2010) -- Physicists and engineers have installed a radar system on the Falkland Islands to monitor the upper atmosphere activity which creates the 'Southern Lights'. The new radar joins a network of 22 such radars, the international Super Dual Auroral Radar Network or SuperDARN. Data from SuperDARN is made available across the internet in real time, monitoring the upper atmosphere to understand its link with the lower atmosphere, where our weather is, and the impact of the Sun's 'solar wind' on our environment. ... > full story
Changes in energy R&D needed to combat climate change, experts say (October 25, 2010) -- A new assessment of future scenarios that limit the extent of global warming cautions that unless current imbalances in research and development portfolios for the development of new, efficient, and clean energy technologies are redressed, greenhouse gas emission reduction targets are unlikely to be met, or met only at considerable costs. ... > full story
Computer software helps new medical graduates prescribe safely (October 25, 2010) -- New computer software has recently been created for new graduate doctors to ensure they prescribe safely from day one on the wards. The SCRIPT (Standard Computerized Revalidation Instrument for Prescribing and Therapeutics) project has brought together a team of experts in the UK to create this innovative, e-learning toolkit. ... > full story
Atomic-level manufacturing: Manufacturing with every atom in its proper place may be coming soon (October 24, 2010) -- The long-held dream of creating atomically precise 3-D structures in a manufacturing environment is approaching reality, according to the top scientist at a Texas company making tools aimed at that ambitious goal. ... > full story
Mathematical model helps marathoners pace themselves to a strong finish (October 24, 2010) -- Most marathon runners know they need to consume carbohydrates before and during a race, but many don't have a good fueling strategy. Now, one dedicated marathoner has taken a more rigorous approach to calculating just how much carbohydrate a runner needs to fuel him or herself through 26.2 miles, and what pace that runner can reasonably expect to sustain. ... > full story
Electron billiards in nanoscale circuits (October 24, 2010) -- In solar cells, solar radiation boosts electrons to higher energy states, thereby releasing them from their atomic bonds as electricity begins to flow. Scientists have now developed a novel method to analyze the way photogenerated electrons move in the smallest photodetectors. ... > full story
Largest parity violation and other adventures in table-top physics: Atomic experiments push boundary of known physical world (October 24, 2010) -- Exploring the fundamental laws of physics has often required huge accelerators and particles colliding at high energies. But table-top experiments, usually employing exquisitely tuned lasers and sensitive detectors, have also achieved the precision necessary for exploring the basic laws of physics at the heart of relativity and quantum mechanics. ... > full story
New nano techniques integrate electron gas-producing oxides with silicon (October 24, 2010) -- In cold weather, many children can't resist breathing onto a window and writing in the condensation. Now imagine the window as an electronic device platform, the condensation as a special conductive gas, and the letters as lines of nanowires. Researchers have demonstrated methods to harness essentially this concept for broad applications in nanoelectronic devices, such as next-generation memory or tiny transistors. ... > full story
A new way to weigh planets (October 23, 2010) -- Astronomers have developed a new way to weigh the planets in our solar system -- using radio signals from the small spinning stars called pulsars. ... > full story
Nanotube thermopower: Efforts to store energy in carbon nanotubes (October 23, 2010) -- Researchers from Massachusetts have found a way to store energy in thin carbon nanotubes by adding fuel along the length of the tube, chemical energy, which can later be turned into electricity by heating one end of the nanotubes. ... > full story
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