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Wednesday, April 9, 2014

ScienceDaily: Top Technology News

ScienceDaily: Top Technology News


Is the power grid too big?

Posted: 08 Apr 2014 09:19 AM PDT

Researchers are asking whether there is a "right" size for the U.S. power grid; they believe that smaller grids would reduce the likelihood of severe outages, such as the 2003 Northeast blackout, likening the grid behavior to sandpiles: "Sandpiles are stable until you get to a certain height. Then you add one more grain and the whole thing starts to avalanche."

Future computers that are normally off

Posted: 08 Apr 2014 09:19 AM PDT

Researchers have broadly envisioned the future of spin-transfer torque magnetoresistive random access memory (STT-MRAM), and they have now described how it will radically alter computer architectures and consumer electronics.

Scalable CVD process for making 2-D molybdenum diselenide

Posted: 08 Apr 2014 08:22 AM PDT

Nanoengineering researchers have unveiled a potentially scalable method for making one-atom-thick layers of molybdenum diselenide -- a material that is similar to graphene but has better properties for making certain electronic devices like switchable transistors and light-emitting diodes.

Expanding particles to engineer defects: Adding larger particle to crystalline system can create order rather than distortions

Posted: 08 Apr 2014 08:22 AM PDT

Materials scientists have long known that introducing defects into three-dimensional materials can improve their mechanical and electronic properties. Now a new study finds how defects affect two-dimensional crystalline structures, and the results hold information for designing new materials.

Tracking sugar movement in plants

Posted: 08 Apr 2014 08:21 AM PDT

A long-held belief that plant hormones control the shape of plant growth has been overturned by new research. Instead, it has shown that this process starts with sugar. Researchers conducted critical radiotracer studies that support the new theory that plant sugars play a dominant role in regulating branching at plant stems. While branching has relevance in agriculture, it is also very important in bioenergy crop production.

How coughs and sneezes float much farther than you think

Posted: 08 Apr 2014 08:21 AM PDT

The next time you feel a sneeze coming on, raise your elbow to cover up that multiphase turbulent buoyant cloud you're about to expel. It turns out that smaller droplets that emerge in a cough or sneeze may travel five to 200 times further than they would if those droplets simply moved as groups of unconnected particles -- which is what previous estimates had assumed.

Hybrid technology could make Star Trek-style medical tricorder a reality

Posted: 08 Apr 2014 08:14 AM PDT

Scientists are aiming to develop a handheld testing device to provide same day diagnosis from a patient's bedside. In the fictional Star-Trek universe, the tricorder was used to remotely scan patients for a diagnosis. The new device could replace the current conventional diagnostic method, which is lengthy and is limited to single point measurements, due to the prohibitive costs and sample volumes required, preventing continuous monitoring of disease progression.

Saturn's hexagon: An amazing phenomenon

Posted: 08 Apr 2014 04:48 AM PDT

An unusual structure with a hexagonal shape surrounding Saturn's north pole was spotted on the planet for the first time thirty years ago. Nothing similar with such a regular geometry had ever been seen on any planet in the solar system. Astronomers have now been able to study and measure the phenomenon and, among other achievements, establish its rotation period. What is more, this period could be the same as that of the planet itself. Saturn is the only planet in the solar system whose rotation time remains unknown.

New 'tweetment': Twitter users describe real-time migraine agony

Posted: 03 Apr 2014 10:19 AM PDT

Someone's drilling an icicle into your temple, you're throwing up, and light and sound are unbearable. Yes, it's another migraine attack. But now in 140 characters on Twitter, you can share your agony with other sufferers. It indicates a trend toward the cathartic sharing of physical pain, as well as emotional pain on social media.

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