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Monday, April 21, 2014

ScienceDaily: Top Technology News

ScienceDaily: Top Technology News


NASA completes LADEE mission with planned impact on moon's surface

Posted: 19 Apr 2014 04:37 PM PDT

Ground controllers at NASA's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif., have confirmed that NASA's Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) spacecraft impacted the surface of the moon, as planned, between 9:30 and 10:22 p.m. PDT Thursday, April 17.

MRI, on a molecular scale: System could one day peer into the atomic structure of individual molecules

Posted: 18 Apr 2014 01:14 PM PDT

A magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system that can produce nano-scale images, and may one day allow researchers to peer into the atomic structure of individual molecules, has been developed by researchers. For decades, scientists have used techniques like X-ray crystallography and nuclear magnetic resonance imaging (NMR) to gain invaluable insight into the atomic structure of molecules, but such efforts have long been hampered by the fact that they demand large quantities of a specific molecule and often in ordered and crystalized form to be effective -- making it all but impossible to peer into the structure of most molecules.

Under some LED bulbs whites aren't 'whiter than white'

Posted: 18 Apr 2014 11:11 AM PDT

For years, companies have been adding whiteners to laundry detergent, paints, plastics, paper and fabrics to make whites look 'whiter than white,' but now, with a switch away from incandescent and fluorescent lighting, different degrees of whites may all look the same, according to experts in lighting.

Innovative strategy to facilitate organ repair

Posted: 18 Apr 2014 11:11 AM PDT

A significant breakthrough could revolutionize surgical practice and regenerative medicine. Researchers have demonstrated that the principle of adhesion by aqueous solutions of nanoparticles can be used in vivo to repair soft-tissue organs and tissues. This adhesion method is exceptional because of its potential spectrum of clinical applications. It is simple, easy to use and the nanoparticles employed can be metabolized by the organism. It can easily be integrated into ongoing research on healing and tissue regeneration and contribute to the development of regenerative medicine.

Is UK shale gas extraction posing a risk to public health?

Posted: 17 Apr 2014 06:25 PM PDT

More needs to be done to investigate the risks to human health that extracting shale gas poses, suggests one expert, who says that risk reduction technologies should be deployed, but that reviewing the public health implications of shale gas development "requires more than merely gesturing to technological improvements. Best practices should not be mistaken for actual practices." The author asserts that scientific data should drive decisions on health and safety, instead of gestures to understudied assertions of best practice deployment.

Sporting latest tech toy can make you seem more like a leader

Posted: 17 Apr 2014 04:11 PM PDT

If you want to be perceived as a leader, new research suggests investing in the latest technological gadgets is the way to go. "Familiarity with and usage of new high-tech products appears to be a common manifestation of innovative behavior," write the authors. "Those who are tech-savvy are also perceived as authoritative on other subjects and as leaders."

Wireless power transfer achieved at 5-meter distance

Posted: 17 Apr 2014 09:45 AM PDT

A great improvement has been demonstrated in the distance that electric power can travel wirelessly. Researchers developed the 'Dipole Coil Resonant System' for an extended range of inductive power transfer, up to 5 meters between transmitter and receiver coils. "Our technology proved the possibility of a new remote power delivery mechanism that has never been tried at such a long distance. Although the long-range wireless power transfer is still in an early stage of commercialization and quite costly to implement, we believe that this is the right direction for electric power to be supplied in the future. Just like we see Wi-Fi zones everywhere today, we will eventually have many Wi-Power zones at such places as restaurants and streets that provide electric power wirelessly to electronic devices," they say.

Rapid whole-brain imaging with single cell resolution

Posted: 17 Apr 2014 09:42 AM PDT

A major challenge of systems biology is understanding how phenomena at the cellular scale correlate with activity at the organism level. A concerted effort has been made especially in the brain, as scientists are aiming to clarify how neural activity is translated into consciousness and other complex brain activities. One example of the technologies needed is whole-brain imaging at single-cell resolution. This imaging normally involves preparing a highly transparent sample that minimizes light scattering and then imaging neurons tagged with fluorescent probes at different slices to produce a 3D representation.

Pocket-sized anthrax detector created

Posted: 17 Apr 2014 09:41 AM PDT

A credit-card-sized anthrax detection cartridge makes testing safer, easier, faster and cheaper. Bacillus anthracis, the bacteria that causes anthrax, is commonly found in soils all over the world and can cause serious, and often fatal, illness in both humans and animals. The bacteria can survive in harsh conditions for decades. In humans, exposure to B. anthracis may occur through skin contact, inhalation of spores or eating contaminated meat.

Atom probe assisted dating of oldest piece of Earth

Posted: 17 Apr 2014 09:41 AM PDT

It's a scientific axiom: big claims require extra-solid evidence. So when a geoscience professor dated an ancient crystal to 4.4 billion years ago, skeptics questioned the dating. Then, in 2013, researchers put the zircon inside an ultra-precise atom probe and got "data that answered the most serious of the challenges going back to 2001."

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