ScienceDaily Technology Headlines -- for Sunday, March 20, 2011

ScienceDaily Technology Headlines

for Sunday, March 20, 2011

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More efficient means of creating, arranging carbon nanofibers developed (March 19, 2011) -- Carbon nanofibers hold promise for technologies ranging from medical imaging devices to precise scientific measurement tools, but the time and expense associated with uniformly creating nanofibers of the correct size has been an obstacle -- until now. A new study demonstrates an improved method for creating carbon nanofibers of specific sizes, as well as explaining the science behind the method. ... > full story

Secrets of plague revealed through super-resolution microscopy technique (March 19, 2011) -- In work that is pushing the "diffraction barrier" associated with microscopic imaging of living cells, researchers have demonstrated the power of a new super-resolution microscopy technique called Stochastic Optical Reconstruction Microscopy (STORM), which can simultaneously image multiple molecules in living immune cells. ... > full story

An icy gaze into the big bang: Quantum physicists investigate new states of matter in ultracold atom mixtures (March 19, 2011) -- Scientists have reached a milestone in the exploration of quantum gas mixtures. In an international first, researchers have succeeded in producing controlled strong interactions between two fermionic elements -- lithium-6 and potassium-40. This model system not only promises to provide new insights into solid-state physics but also shows intriguing analogies to the primordial substance right after the Big Bang. ... > full story

New blood analysis chip could lead to disease diagnosis in minutes (March 18, 2011) -- A major milestone in microfluidics could soon lead to stand-alone, self-powered chips that can diagnose diseases within minutes. The device is able to process whole blood samples without the use of external tubing or external components. ... > full story

Quantum pen for single atoms is a big step toward large-scale quantum computing (March 18, 2011) -- Physicists have succeeded in manipulating atoms individually in a lattice of light and in arranging them in arbitrary patterns. These results are an important step towards large-scale quantum computing and for the simulation of condensed matter systems. ... > full story

New technologies to crack down on counterfeit whisky (March 18, 2011) -- Experts are working to create a handheld device which will detect fake whisky and wine – through the bottle. ... > full story

World first: Localized delivery of an anti-cancer drug by remote-controlled microcarriers (March 18, 2011) -- Soon, drug delivery that precisely targets cancerous cells without exposing the healthy surrounding tissue to the medication's toxic effects will no longer be an oncologist's dream but a medical reality, new research suggests. Using a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system, scientists have successfully guided microcarriers loaded with a dose of anti-cancer drug through the bloodstream of a living rabbit, right up to a targeted area in the liver, where the drug was successfully administered. ... > full story

Graphene cloak protects bacteria, leading to better images (March 18, 2011) -- Scientists are wrapping bacteria with graphene to address current challenges with imaging bacteria under electron microscopes. The method creates a carbon cloak that protects the bacteria, allowing them to be imaged at their natural size and increasing the image's resolution. ... > full story

Green sludge can protect groundwater from radioactive contamination, study suggests (March 18, 2011) -- Anyone planning a storage facility for atomic waste should make sure to bury their canisters in an area where green rust will form. ... > full story

Tying the knot with computer-generated holograms: Winding optical path moves matter (March 18, 2011) -- In the latest twist on optical knots, physicists have discovered a new method to create extended and knotted optical traps in 3-D. This method may one day help enable fusion energy as a practical power source, according to researchers. ... > full story

NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft begins historic orbit around Mercury (March 18, 2011) -- NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft successfully achieved orbit around Mercury at approximately 9 p.m. EDT Thursday. This marks the first time a spacecraft has accomplished this engineering and scientific milestone at our solar system's innermost planet. ... > full story

New testing device may help to 'seal the deal' for building owners (March 18, 2011) -- Just as a chain is as strong as its weakest link, a building is as secure against the environment as its most degraded joint sealants, about 50 percent of which fail in less than 10 years after installation. The upshot for U.S. homeowners is that moisture damage due to failed sealants is responsible for much of the billion to billion they collectively shell out for house repairs annually. Researchers are now assembling a toolkit of measurement devices and scientific data that will help manufacturers of sealants systematically improve the protective performance of their products. ... > full story