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Thursday, December 6, 2012

ScienceDaily: Top Technology News

ScienceDaily: Top Technology News


Synthetic fuel could eliminate U.S. need for crude oil, researchers say

Posted: 05 Dec 2012 05:02 PM PST

The United States could eliminate the need for crude oil by using a combination of coal, natural gas and non-food crops to make synthetic fuel, a team of researchers has found. Besides economic and national security benefits, the plan has potential environmental advantages. Because plants absorb carbon dioxide to grow, the United States could cut vehicle greenhouse emissions by as much as 50 percent in the next several decades using non-food crops to create liquid fuels, the researchers said.

When the first stars blinked on: Very first stars may have turned on when the universe was 750 million years old

Posted: 05 Dec 2012 10:24 AM PST

Researchers have peered far back in time, to the era of the first stars and galaxies, and found matter with no discernible trace of heavy elements.

Astronomers discover and 'weigh' infant solar system: Young star with rotating dust disk is youngest still-forming planetary system yet found

Posted: 05 Dec 2012 10:24 AM PST

A young star no more than 300,000 years old is surrounded by a disk of dust and gas rotating in the same manner as planets in our Solar System, making it the youngest such infant system yet found.

Proliferation warnings on nuclear 'wonder-fuel', thorium

Posted: 05 Dec 2012 10:22 AM PST

Thorium is being touted as an ideal fuel for a new generation of nuclear power plants, but new research suggests it may not be as benign as portrayed.

Speeding up electronics to light frequencies

Posted: 05 Dec 2012 10:22 AM PST

New results on the interaction of femto- and attosecond light pulses with a solid insulator hold promise for reaching electronic switching rates up to the petahertz domain.

Switching with a few photons for quantum computing

Posted: 05 Dec 2012 10:02 AM PST

Quantum computing, where bits of information, or "qubits," are represented by the state of single atomic particles or photons of light, won't be of much use unless we can read the results. Researchers have taken a step in that direction with a device that can measure the presence of just a few photons without disturbing them.

NASA twin spacecraft create most accurate gravity map of moon

Posted: 05 Dec 2012 09:43 AM PST

Twin NASA probes orbiting the moon have generated the highest resolution gravity field map of any celestial body. The new map, created by the Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) mission, is allowing scientists to learn about the moon's internal structure and composition in unprecedented detail. Data from the two washing machine-sized spacecraft also will provide a better understanding of how Earth and other rocky planets in the solar system formed and evolved.

First synthesis of gold nanoparticles inside human hair for dyeing and much more

Posted: 05 Dec 2012 09:11 AM PST

In a discovery with applications ranging from hair dyeing to electronic sensors to development of materials with improved properties, scientists are reporting the first synthesis of gold nanoparticles inside human hairs.

DNA hydrogel flows like liquid but remembers its original shape

Posted: 05 Dec 2012 08:28 AM PST

A new material is so soft it can flow like a liquid and then, strangely, return to its original shape. It is a hydrogel, a mesh of organic molecules with many small empty spaces that can absorb water like a sponge, and qualifies as a "metamaterial" with properties not found in nature.

Mobile browsers fail Internet safety test

Posted: 05 Dec 2012 08:28 AM PST

How unsafe are mobile browsers? Unsafe enough that even cyber-security experts are unable to detect when their smartphone browsers have landed on potentially dangerous websites, according to a recent study.

Microchoreography: Synthetic molecule used to guide cellular 'dance'

Posted: 05 Dec 2012 08:28 AM PST

Researchers have used a small synthetic molecule to stimulate cells to move and change shape, bypassing the cells' usual way of sensing and responding to their environment. The experiment pioneers a new tool for studying cell movement, a phenomenon involved in everything from development to immunity to the spread of cancer.

Africa's Homo sapiens were the first techies

Posted: 05 Dec 2012 07:30 AM PST

The search for the origin of modern human behavior and technological advancement among our ancestors in southern Africa some 70,000 years ago has taken a step closer to firmly establishing Africa, and especially South Africa, as the primary center for the early development of human behavior.

Breakthrough in augmented reality contact lens

Posted: 05 Dec 2012 06:09 AM PST

Scientists have developed an innovative spherical curved LCD display, which can be embedded in contact lenses. The first step toward fully pixilated contact lens displays, this achievement has potential wide-spread applications in medical and cosmetic domains.

Hybrid scaffold more than skin deep

Posted: 05 Dec 2012 06:08 AM PST

Researchers have created a hybrid scaffold which promotes tissue regeneration, strong and biodegradable.

Galaxy-wide echoes from the past: VLT observations identify very rare new kind of galaxy

Posted: 05 Dec 2012 05:38 AM PST

A new galaxy class has been identified using observations from ESO's Very Large Telescope (VLT), the Gemini South telescope, and the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (CFHT). Nicknamed "green bean galaxies" because of their unusual appearance, these galaxies glow in the intense light emitted from the surroundings of monster black holes and are amongst the rarest objects in the Universe.

Superconductors that work by themselves: Scientists discover new possibilities in cryoelectronics

Posted: 05 Dec 2012 05:38 AM PST

Scientists have experimentally demonstrated a new type of superconducting element -- named the phi-Josephson junction. Implemented in cryogenic devices, this element will make superconducting electronic circuits work practically "by themselves" and improve functionality.

World's first demonstration of power transfer from wheels to power an electric car

Posted: 05 Dec 2012 05:26 AM PST

Electric vehicles (EV) have ten times higher energy performance than automobiles powered by gasoline-based engines. However, they are not yet popular with drivers due to the need to store large batteries onboard. Now, researchers are developing an innovative method for powering EVs that drastically reduces the number of batteries.

Visualizing the structures of molecules

Posted: 05 Dec 2012 05:26 AM PST

Scientists have developed high performance molecular simulation tools to study the 3D arrangement of molecules, enabling better design of medicinal and agricultural drugs.

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