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Saturday, January 12, 2013

ScienceDaily: Top Technology News

ScienceDaily: Top Technology News


Astronomers find massive supply of gas around modern galaxies

Posted: 11 Jan 2013 11:39 AM PST

Galaxies have a voracious appetite for fuel -- in this case, fresh gas -- but astronomers have had difficulty finding the pristine gas that should be falling onto galaxies. Now, scientists have provided direct empirical evidence for these gas flows using new observations from the Hubble Space Telescope.

Nearby dwarf galaxy and possible protogalaxy discovered

Posted: 11 Jan 2013 11:38 AM PST

Peering deep into the dim edges of a distorted pinwheel galaxy in the constellation Ursa Major (the Great Bear), astronomers have discovered a faint dwarf galaxy and another possible young dwarf caught before it had a chance to form any stars.

NASA rules out Earth impact in 2036 for asteroid Apophis

Posted: 11 Jan 2013 10:35 AM PST

NASA scientists at the agency's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., effectively have ruled out the possibility the asteroid Apophis will impact Earth during a close flyby in 2036. The scientists used updated information obtained by NASA-supported telescopes in 2011 and 2012, as well as new data from the time leading up to Apophis' distant Earth flyby Jan. 9, 2013.

How to treat heat like light: New approach using nanoparticle alloys allows heat to be focused or reflected just like electromagnetic waves

Posted: 11 Jan 2013 06:27 AM PST

A new technique provides a new way of manipulating heat, allowing it to be controlled much as light waves can be manipulated by lenses and mirrors.

Biggest structure in universe: Large quasar group is 4 billion light years across

Posted: 11 Jan 2013 06:25 AM PST

Astronomers have found the largest known structure in the universe. The large quasar group (LQG) is so large that it would take a vehicle traveling at the speed of light some 4 billion years to cross it. Quasars are the nuclei of galaxies from the early days of the universe that undergo brief periods of extremely high brightness that make them visible across huge distances. These periods are 'brief' in astrophysics terms but actually last 10-100 million years.

Saline hiding places for bacteria in Río Tinto could be like those on Mars

Posted: 11 Jan 2013 06:24 AM PST

Researchers have identified microorganisms that live inside salt deposits in the acidic and ferrous environment of the Tinto River in Huelva, Spain. The extreme conditions of these microniches appear to be similar to those of the salt deposits on Mars and Jupiter's moon, Europa. This possibility should be borne in mind on missions operating in these places.

Investigating the bystander effect using virtual reality

Posted: 11 Jan 2013 06:24 AM PST

The bystander effect is well-known in behavioural psychology and suggests that the more people who witnessing a violent emergency the less likely it is that someone will intervene. It was first identified in the 1960s, but conducting research on the phenomenon has been difficult. Most experiments rely upon staging fake emergencies or violent encounters using actors, but it is tricky to gauge how genuine a response is.

Breath test identifies bacteria's fingerprint

Posted: 10 Jan 2013 06:21 PM PST

Scientists have identified the chemical 'fingerprints' given off by specific bacteria when present in the lungs, potentially allowing for a quick and simple breath test to diagnose infections such as tuberculosis. Researchers have successfully distinguished between different types of bacteria, as well as different strains of the same bacteria, in the lungs of mice by analyzing the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) present in exhaled breath.

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