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Thursday, April 18, 2013

ScienceDaily: Top Technology News

ScienceDaily: Top Technology News


Frog-like robot will help surgeons

Posted: 17 Apr 2013 07:47 PM PDT

Researchers are using the feet of tree frogs as a model for a tiny robot designed to crawl inside patients' bodies during keyhole surgery.

Prototype generators emit much less carbon monoxide

Posted: 17 Apr 2013 03:59 PM PDT

Portable electric generators retrofitted with off-the-shelf hardware emitted significantly lower levels of carbon monoxide, according to the results of recent tests.

Super-nanotubes: 'Remarkable' spray-on coating combines carbon nanotubes with ceramic

Posted: 17 Apr 2013 03:59 PM PDT

Researchers have demonstrated a spray-on mixture of carbon nanotubes and ceramic that has unprecedented ability to resist damage while absorbing laser light. Coatings that absorb as much of the energy of high-powered lasers as possible without breaking down are essential for measuring the output of such lasers.

X-ray view of a thousand-year-old cosmic tapestry

Posted: 17 Apr 2013 01:50 PM PDT

A long Chandra observation reveals the SN 1006 supernova remnant in exquisite detail. By overlapping 10 different pointings of Chandra's field-of-view, astronomers have stitched together a cosmic tapestry of the debris field that was created when a white dwarf star exploded, sending its material hurtling into space as seen from Earth over a millennium ago. In this new Chandra image, low, medium, and higher-energy X-rays are colored red, green, and blue respectively.

SOFIA observations reveal a surprise in massive star formation

Posted: 17 Apr 2013 10:25 AM PDT

Researchers using the airborne Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) have captured the most detailed mid-infrared images yet of a massive star condensing within a dense cocoon of dust and gas.

How to target an asteroid

Posted: 17 Apr 2013 10:20 AM PDT

Like many of his colleagues at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., Shyam Bhaskaran is working a lot with asteroids these days. And also like many of his colleagues, the deep space navigator devotes a great deal of time to crafting, and contemplating, computer-generated 3-D models of these intriguing nomads of the solar system. But while many of his coworkers are calculating asteroids' past, present and future locations in the cosmos, zapping them with the world's most massive radar dishes, or considering how to rendezvous and perhaps even gently nudge an asteroid into lunar orbit, Bhaskaran thinks about how to collide with one.

Scientists produce best image yet of atoms moving in real time

Posted: 17 Apr 2013 10:19 AM PDT

Call it the ultimate nature documentary. Scientists have recorded atomic motions in real time, offering a glimpse into the very essence of chemistry and biology at the atomic level. Their recording is a direct observation of a transition state in which atoms undergo chemical transformation into new structures with new properties -- in this case the transfer of charge leading to metallic behavior in organic molecules.

A new twist for quantum systems

Posted: 17 Apr 2013 10:18 AM PDT

Physicists have developed a method for precisely controlling quantum systems by exploiting a trick that helps cats to land on their feet and motorists to fit their cars into parking spots. In the longer run, the method could lead to the development of more reliable quantum computers.

Massive galaxy had intense burst of star formation when universe was only 6 percent of current age

Posted: 17 Apr 2013 10:18 AM PDT

Astronomers find the most prolific star factory yet seen, in a far-distant galaxy that reveals important information about the cosmic environment in the early history of the Universe.

Quantum computing taps nucleus of single atom

Posted: 17 Apr 2013 10:18 AM PDT

Australian engineers have demonstrated that quantum information can be "written" onto the nucleus of a single atom and "read" out with incredible accuracy. The result was achieved using a silicon chip that can be wired up and operated electronically.

How smart are your clothes? Interactive electronic fabrics created

Posted: 17 Apr 2013 06:22 AM PDT

From corsets to caftans, we have seen dramatic changes in popular style over the past 100 years. New research now brings the future of fashion into focus by taking a closer look at the next quantum leap in textile design: computerized fabrics that change their color and their shape in response to movement.

ALMA telescope pinpoints early galaxies at record speed

Posted: 17 Apr 2013 06:20 AM PDT

Astronomers have used the new ALMA (Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array) telescope to pinpoint the locations of over 100 of the most fertile star-forming galaxies in the early Universe.

New keyboard for touchscreens enables faster thumb-typing

Posted: 17 Apr 2013 06:19 AM PDT

Scientists have created a new keyboard called KALQ that enables faster thumb-typing on touchscreen devices. They used computational optimization techniques in conjunction with a model of thumb movement to search among millions of potential layouts before identifying one that yields superior performance. A user study confirmed that, after a short amount of practice, users could type 34% faster than they could with a QWERTY layout.

Security holes in smartphone apps

Posted: 17 Apr 2013 06:19 AM PDT

Popular texting, messaging and microblog apps developed for the Android smartphone have security flaws that could expose private information or allow forged fraudulent messages to be posted, according to researchers.

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