ScienceDaily Technology Headlines
for Tuesday, November 16, 2010
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Robo-op marks new world first for heart procedure (November 16, 2010) -- The world's first remote heart procedure, using a robotic arm alongside 3-D mapping, is due to take place. It comes six months after the first ever remote catheter ablation procedure using the Amigo Robotic Catheter System was performed. ... > full story
Robotic-assisted surgery appears safe for complicated pancreatic procedures (November 16, 2010) -- A study involving 30 patients suggests that robotic-assisted surgery involving complex pancreatic procedures can be performed safely in a high-volume facility, according to a new report. ... > full story
Light technology to combat hospital infections (November 16, 2010) -- Researchers have developed a pioneering lighting system that can decontaminate air and exposed surfaces in hospitals and other clinical environments. The technology decontaminates the air and exposed surfaces by bathing them in a narrow spectrum of visible-light wavelengths, known as HINS-light. ... > full story
Adapted MRI scan improves picture of changes to the brain (November 16, 2010) -- Standard MRI scans have so far been unable to produce satisfactory images of nerve bundles. However, this is now possible using an MRI technique called Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI). A researcher in the Netherlands has succeeded in improving the DTI method, enabling him to produce more accurate images of the damage that radiotherapy and chemotherapy cause in young leukemia patients. ... > full story
Small assist device used in emergency case as twin, heart booster pumps for first time in US (November 16, 2010) -- Medical researchers recently implanted a patient with two of the smallest experimental ventricular assist devices currently available for study in humans. ... > full story
Tests show bright future for gadonanotubes in stem cell tracking (November 16, 2010) -- Gadonanotubes are beginning to show positive results. A new study has determined GNTs are effective in helping doctors track stems cells through the body by making them 40 times better than standard contrast agents used in magnetic resonance imaging. Contrast agents help doctors spot signs of disease or damage in MR images. ... > full story
Video game-based therapy helps stroke patients recover study (November 16, 2010) -- Repeated exercise, even in a virtual environment, helped stroke patients improve arm and hand function, according to a new human study of an interactive video game-based therapy. ... > full story
'Racetrack' magnetic memory could make computer memory 100,000 times faster (November 15, 2010) -- Imagine a computer equipped with shock-proof memory that's 100,000 times faster and consumes less power than current hard disks. EPFL Professor Mathias Kläui is working on a new kind of "Racetrack" memory -- a high-volume, ultra-rapid non-volatile read-write magnetic memory that may soon make such a device possible. ... > full story
Microsensors offer first look at whether cell mass affects growth rate (November 15, 2010) -- Researchers are using a new kind of microsensor to answer one of the weightiest questions in biology -- the relationship between cell mass and growth rate. Each microsensor is a small, suspended platform with a resonance frequency that changes as the cells on it grow heavier. Researchers tacked individual cells' masses and divisions over time and found that the cells they studied did grow faster as they grew heavier, rather than growing at the same rate throughout the cell cycle. ... > full story
New tech to help protect bridges, other infrastructure from scour (November 15, 2010) -- New technology allows engineers to assess the scour potential of soils at various depths and on-site for the first time -- which will help evaluate the safety of civil infrastructure before and after storm events. Scour, or erosion of soil around structures due to water flow, is responsible for a wide range of critical infrastructure failures -- from unstable bridges to the levees that gave way in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. ... > full story
Performing blood counts automatically (November 15, 2010) -- If a blood count is abnormal, a medical laboratory scientist has to manually perform a differential blood count analysis. This costs time and money. A computer-assisted blood cell analysis system has recently been launched on the market and does just this. ... > full story
NASA's Chandra finds youngest nearby black hole (November 15, 2010) -- Astronomers using NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory have found evidence of the youngest black hole known to exist in our cosmic neighborhood. The 30-year-old black hole provides a unique opportunity to watch this type of object develop from infancy. ... > full story
New standard proposed for supercomputing (November 15, 2010) -- A new supercomputer rating system has been developed. The rating system, Graph500, tests supercomputer ability to analyze large, graph-based structures that link the huge number of data points present in biological, social and security problems. The intent is to influence computer makers to build computers with the architecture to deal with these increasingly complex problems. ... > full story
Google queries and stock market volumes: Financial markets and Internet's 'swarm intelligence' linked, researchers find (November 15, 2010) -- Financial markets and the 'swarm intelligence' of the internet are linked, according to a new study that analyzed search engine query data. ... > full story
Quantum memory for communication networks of the future (November 15, 2010) -- Researchers have succeeded in storing quantum information using two 'entangled' light beams. Quantum memory or information storage is a necessary element of future quantum communication networks. ... > full story
Nanoscale light sensor compatible with 'Etch-a-Sketch' nanoelectronic platform (November 15, 2010) -- Researchers have overcome one of nanotechnology's most daunting challenges by creating a nanoscale light sensor that can be combined with near-atomic-size electronic circuitry to produce hybrid optic and electronic devices. ... > full story
Updated software uses combination testing to catch bugs fast and easy (November 15, 2010) -- Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology have released an updated version of a computer system testing tool that can cut costs by more efficiently finding flaws. A tutorial on using the tool accompanies the new release. ... > full story
Researchers develop light technology to combat hospital infections (November 15, 2010) -- A pioneering lighting system that can kill hospital superbugs -- including MRSA and C. difficile -- has been developed by researchers in Scotland. The technology decontaminates the air and exposed surfaces by bathing them in a narrow spectrum of visible-light wavelengths, known as HINS-light. ... > full story
Proteins in motion: World’s largest video database of proteins for the pharmaceutical industry published (November 15, 2010) -- After four years of conducting intensive supercomputer calculations, scientists in Spain have presented the world’s largest database of protein motions. Called MoDEL, this new database holds more than 1,700 proteins and is partially accessible through the Internet to researchers worldwide. MoDEL has been developed to study the basic biology of proteins and to accelerate and facilitate the design of new pharmaceutical agents. ... > full story
Synchrotron reveals human children outpaced Neanderthals by slowing down (November 15, 2010) -- Human childhood is considerably longer than chimpanzees, our closest-living ape relatives. A multinational team of specialists, applied cutting-edge synchrotron X-ray imaging to resolve microscopic growth in 10 young Neanderthal and Homo sapiens fossils. ... > full story
Coronal mass ejections: Scientists unlock the secrets of exploding plasma clouds on the Sun (November 14, 2010) -- The Sun sporadically expels trillions of tons of million-degree hydrogen gas in explosions called coronal mass ejections (CMEs). Such clouds are enormous in size (spanning millions of miles) and are made up of magnetized plasma gases, so hot that hydrogen atoms are ionized. Now, using data from the twin-satellite STEREO mission, scientists have demonstrated for the first time that the observed motion of erupting plasma clouds driven by magnetic forces can be correctly explained by a theoretical model. ... > full story
Mathematical equation calculates cost of walking for first time (November 14, 2010) -- Why do tall people burn less energy per kilogram when walking than shorter ones do, and how much energy does walking require? These are basic questions that doctors, trainers, fitness buffs and weight-watchers would all like to have answered, and now researchers from Texas have derived a fundamental equation to calculate how much energy walkers use, based simply on height and weight, which has direct applications across all walks of life. ... > full story
Mathematical model of the life cycle of red blood cells may predict risk of anemia (November 14, 2010) -- Mathematicians have developed a mathematical model reflecting how red blood cells change in size and hemoglobin content during their four-month lifespan. The model, which uses data from routinely performed blood tests, may be able to predict the development of anemia up to two months before it can be detected by standard measurements. ... > full story
Nanostructured materials repel water droplets before they have a chance to freeze (November 14, 2010) -- Engineers have designed and demonstrated ice-free nanostructured materials that literally repel water droplets before they even have the chance to freeze. The finding could lead to a new way to help keep airplane wings, buildings, powerlines, and even entire highways free and clear of ice during the worst winter weather. ... > full story
X-ray imaging advances efforts to harness nuclear fusion: More accurate simulations could lead to 'break-even' fusion (November 14, 2010) -- A new X-ray imaging capability has taken pictures of a critical instability at the heart of Sandia's huge Z accelerator. The effort may help remove a major impediment in the worldwide, multi-decade, multi-billion dollar effort to harness nuclear fusion to generate electrical power from sea water. ... > full story
Discovery could reveal secrets of ancient Martian and terrestrial atmospheres (November 13, 2010) -- Chemists have uncovered a new chemical reaction on tiny particulates in the atmosphere that could allow scientists to gain a glimpse from ancient rocks of what the atmospheres of the Earth and Mars were like hundreds of millions years ago. ... > full story
Better student performance with peer learning (November 13, 2010) -- Engineering students with average grades from upper secondary school can manage difficult courses just as well as students with high grades. At least, if a group of them meet an older student once a week during the first semester to discuss and solve maths problems and other difficult exercises from their courses, according to new research. ... > full story
Quantum computers easier to build: Can tolerate faulty or missing components, researchers say (November 13, 2010) -- Quantum computers should be much easier to build than previously thought, because they can still work with a large number of faulty or even missing components, according to researchers. This surprising discovery brings scientists one step closer to designing and building real-life quantum computing systems -- devices that could have enormous potential across a wide range of fields, from drug design, electronics, and even code-breaking. ... > full story
New forms of highly efficient, flexible nanogenerator technology (November 12, 2010) -- Can a heart-implanted micro-robot operate permanently? Can cell phones and tiny robots implanted in the heart operate without having their batteries charged? Such advances may be possible in the near future, thanks to new forms of highly efficient, flexible nanogenerator technology. ... > full story
Formation of bulge on far side of moon explained (November 12, 2010) -- A new study shows that the lunar far side highlands may be the result of tidal forces acting early in the moon's history when its solid outer crust floated on an ocean of liquid rock. ... > full story
All-optical transistor: Controling the flow of light with a novel optical transistor (November 12, 2010) -- Researchers have discovered a method for coupling photons and mechanical vibrations that could have numerous applications in telecommunications and quantum information technologies. ... > full story
Scientists ping key material in sonar, closes gap on structural mystery (November 12, 2010) -- Using a neutron beam as a probe, researchers have begun to reveal the crystal structure of a compound essential to technologies ranging from sonar to computer memory. Their recent work provides long-sought insight into just how a widely used material of modern technology actually works. ... > full story
'Toxic toy crisis' requires fresh solutions, experts say (November 12, 2010) -- Manufacturer recalls of toys, promotional drinking glasses, and other children's products constitute an ongoing "toxic toys crisis" that requires banning potentially harmful ingredients in these products and other changes in policy and practices, a new analysis concludes. ... > full story
Brass devices in plumbing systems can create serious lead-in-water problems (November 12, 2010) -- A new research study highlights problems with some brass products in plumbing systems that can leach high levels of lead into drinking water, even in brand new buildings -- and suggests that such problems may often go undetected. ... > full story
New ultra-clean nanowires have great potential in solar cell technology and electronics (November 12, 2010) -- New ultra-clean nanowires will have a central role in the development of new high-efficiency solar cells and electronics on a nanometer scale. ... > full story
New highly stable fuel-cell catalyst gets strength from its nano core (November 12, 2010) -- Scientists have developed a new electrocatalyst that uses a single layer of platinum and minimizes its wear and tear while maintaining high levels of reactivity during tests that mimic stop-and-go driving. The research may greatly enhance the practicality of fuel-cell vehicles and may also be applicable for improving the performance of other metallic catalysts. ... > full story
Detailed dark matter map yields clues to galaxy cluster growth (November 12, 2010) -- Astronomers using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope took advantage of a giant cosmic magnifying glass to create one of the sharpest and most detailed maps of dark matter in the universe. Dark matter is an invisible and unknown substance that makes up the bulk of the universe's mass. ... > full story
Mind is a frequent, but not happy, wanderer: People spend nearly half their waking hours thinking about what isn’t going on around them (November 12, 2010) -- People spend 46.9 percent of their waking hours thinking about something other than what they're doing, and this mind-wandering typically makes them unhappy. So says a study that used an iPhone web app to gather 250,000 data points on subjects' thoughts, feelings, and actions as they went about their lives. ... > full story
Softening crystals without heat: Using terahertz pulses to manipulate molecular networks (November 12, 2010) -- As if borrowing from a scene in a science fiction movie, researchers in Japan have successfully developed a kind of tractor beam that can be used to manipulate the network of the molecules. In a new paper, the team has demonstrated a technique using terahertz pulses that could have broad applications in the chemical and pharmaceutical industries. ... > full story
Graphene's strength lies in its defects (November 11, 2010) -- Materials engineers have found that the juncture at which graphene sheets meet does not compromise the material's strength. These so-called grain boundaries are so strong, in fact, that the sheets are nearly as strong as pure graphene. The trick lies in the angles at which the individual sheets are stitched together. ... > full story
Step by step towards tomorrow’s nanomaterial: Swiss researchers fabricate graphene-like materials using surface chemical route (November 11, 2010) -- Graphene is a promising material for tomorrow's nanoelectronics devices. Precise and upscaleable methods to fabricate graphene and derived materials with desired electronic properties are however still searched after. To overcome the current limitations, Swiss researchers have fabricated graphene-like materials using a surface chemical route and clarified in detail the corresponding reaction pathway. ... > full story
Supercomputer warfare: New research provides effective battle planning (November 11, 2010) -- New research from the UK, to be presented at the world’s largest supercomputing conference, pits China’s new No. 1 supercomputer against alternative US designs. The work provides crucial new analysis that will benefit the battle plans of both sides, in an escalating war between two competing technologies. ... > full story
Sugar and slice make graphene real nice: Table sugar, metallic sheets produce pristine graphene in one step (November 11, 2010) -- Rice researchers have learned to make pristine sheets of graphene, the one-atom-thick form of carbon, from plain table sugar and other carbon-based substances. They do so in a one-step process at temperatures low enough to make graphene easy to manufacture. ... > full story
Oil spill vacuum cleaner uses bark for spills (November 11, 2010) -- Cleaning up oil spills is a time consuming, difficult process. But a novel approach developed by researchers in Norway uses a new kind of vacuum cleaner that blows bark or other absorbent material onto oil spills, and then sucks the material up again. ... > full story
Leaking underground CO<sub>2</sub> storage could contaminate drinking water, study finds (November 11, 2010) -- Leaks from carbon dioxide injected deep underground to help fight climate change could bubble up into drinking water aquifers near the surface, driving up levels of contaminants in the water tenfold or more in some places, according to a new study. ... > full story
Primordial dry ice fuels comet jets (November 11, 2010) -- One of the biggest comet findings coming out of the amazing images and data taken by the EPOXI mission as it zipped past comet Hartley 2 last week is that dry ice is the 'jet' fuel for this comet and perhaps many others. ... > full story
Out-sniffing bomb-sniffing dogs (November 11, 2010) -- Researchers have developed a small, portable sensor based on recent advances in nanotechnology that's more sensitive and reliable at detecting explosives than any sniffer dog. In the future it may also be used to detect toxins and other biological threats, such as anthrax, cholera or botulinum, the team reports. ... > full story
Tetris effect: Classic computer game may have special ability to reduce flashbacks after viewing traumatic images (November 11, 2010) -- The computer game Tetris may have a special ability to reduce flashbacks after viewing traumatic images not shared by other types of computer game, scientists have discovered in a series of experiments. ... > full story
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