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Thursday, May 29, 2014

ScienceDaily: Top Technology News

ScienceDaily: Top Technology News


Billions of kg of CO2 could be saved by scrapping DVDs, research suggests

Posted: 28 May 2014 05:43 PM PDT

A new study has shown that streaming can be much better for the environment, requiring less energy and emitting less carbon dioxide, than some traditional methods of DVD renting, buying and viewing.

Breakthrough technology uncovers fingerprints on ATM bills and receipts

Posted: 28 May 2014 05:42 PM PDT

New technology could help in the fight against theft and fraud – by identifying fingerprints on old receipts and ATM bills previously hidden from view. The technology uses a specially tailored UV light source to visualize fingerprints not possible to see otherwise on 'thermal paper' -- that is, the paper used for shop receipts and for bank statements from ATMs.

Crow or raven? New birdsnap app can help

Posted: 28 May 2014 01:36 PM PDT

Using computer vision and machine learning techniques, researchers have developed Birdsnap, a free new iPhone app that's an electronic field guide featuring 500 of the most common North American bird species. The app enables users to identify bird species through uploaded photos, and accompanies a comprehensive website.

Increased social network can have big payoff for nonprofits, study shows

Posted: 28 May 2014 12:06 PM PDT

Charitable fundraising once depended primarily upon a charity's size, efficiency and longstanding reputation. That was before Razoo, Chipin, Facebook and Twitter came to town. Technology and social media, it turns out, can not only raise the online profile of even small organizations, but increase their support bases and their ability to generate donations online and off.

Light coaxes stem cells to repair teeth: Noninvasive laser therapy could radically shift dental treatment

Posted: 28 May 2014 12:05 PM PDT

Scientists have used low-power light to trigger stem cells inside the body to regenerate tissue. The research lays the foundation for a host of clinical applications in restorative dentistry and regenerative medicine more broadly, such as wound healing, bone regeneration, and more.

Zeroing in on the proton's magnetic moment

Posted: 28 May 2014 10:28 AM PDT

As part of a series of experiments designed to resolve one of the deepest mysteries of physics today, researchers have made the most precise ever direct measurement of the magnetic moment of a proton. The work seeks to answer the fundamental question of why we exist at all. It is believed that the Big Bang some 13 billion years ago generated equal amounts of matter and antimatter -- which annihilate when they collide -- and yet the universe today seems to contain only matter.

Analysis of financial markets using laws of molecular fluid dynamics

Posted: 28 May 2014 10:25 AM PDT

Scientists have develop an innovative new model to aid the analysis of financial markets uses the laws of molecular fluid dynamics to describe order-book transactions.

Technology marketers should take consumer life-cycle into account, new study shows

Posted: 28 May 2014 08:48 AM PDT

Marketers should pay attention to where consumers are in their lifecycles when determining how to get them to adopt new technologies. Marketers may have incorrectly assumed that older consumers avoid products such as debit or credit cards because they are technophobic or find them hard to learn. Instead, the paper suggests, these consumers may simply see limited future benefits to changing their current habits because of their shorter remaining lifespans.

Surface physics: Leaving the islands

Posted: 28 May 2014 08:41 AM PDT

In a recent study, the desorption of oxygen molecules from a silver surface was successfully visualized for the first time. The effects account for the shortcomings of conventional models of desorption.

Brazil will enjoy a big bump in attendance after World Cup games

Posted: 28 May 2014 08:41 AM PDT

Big soccer clubs in nations that host the World Cup enjoy significant bumps in attendance after the event, which provides at least a small ray of sunshine amid the howls of protest from Brazilians over the extravagant hosting costs.

Supersonic spray delivers high-quality graphene layer

Posted: 28 May 2014 08:41 AM PDT

A simple, inexpensive spray method that deposits a graphene film can heal manufacturing defects and produce a high-quality graphene layer on a range of substrates.

Water in moon rocks provides clues and questions about lunar history

Posted: 28 May 2014 07:54 AM PDT

A recent review of hundreds of chemical analyses of Moon rocks indicates that the amount of water in the Moon's interior varies regionally -- revealing clues about how water originated and was redistributed in the Moon. These discoveries provide a new tool to unravel the processes involved in the formation of the Moon, how the lunar crust cooled, and its impact history.

'Nanodaisies' deliver drug cocktail to cancer cells

Posted: 28 May 2014 07:53 AM PDT

Daisy-shaped, nanoscale structures that are made predominantly of anti-cancer drugs and are capable of introducing a 'cocktail' of multiple drugs into cancer cells, biomedical engineering researchers report. Once injected, the nanodaisies float through the bloodstream until they are absorbed by cancer cells. Once in a cancer cell, the drugs are released.

Flame retardants during pregnancy as bad as lead? Exposure linked to lower IQs in kids

Posted: 28 May 2014 07:52 AM PDT

Prenatal exposure to flame retardants can be significantly linked to lower IQs and greater hyperactivity in five-year old children. The researchers found that a 10-fold increase in PBDE concentrations in early pregnancy, when the fetal brain is developing, was associated with a 4.5 IQ decrement, which is comparable with the impact of environmental lead exposure. PBDEs have been widely used as flame retardants in furniture, carpet padding, car seats and other consumer products over the past three decades.

Artificial lung the size of a sugar cube may replace animal testing

Posted: 28 May 2014 07:40 AM PDT

What medications can be used to treat lung cancer, and how effective are they? Until now, drug companies have had to rely on animal testing to find out. But in the future, a new 3-D model lung is set to achieve more precise results and ultimately minimize -- or even completely replace -- animal testing.

The clumping behavior of galaxies

Posted: 28 May 2014 06:37 AM PDT

Active, supermassive black holes at the hearts of galaxies tend to fall into two categories: those that are hidden by dust, and those that are exposed. Data from NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE, have shown that galaxies with hidden supermassive black holes tend to clump together in space more than the galaxies with exposed, or unobscured, black holes.

SpaceX-3 science payloads return to Kennedy

Posted: 28 May 2014 05:59 AM PDT

A trio of science payloads have completed their missions on the International Space Station and returned to NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, where they'll be turned over to the scientists who designed them.

NASA, Khan Academy collaborate to bring STEM opportunities to online learners

Posted: 28 May 2014 05:54 AM PDT

NASA and Khan Academy, a non-profit educational website, has debuted a series of online tutorials designed to increase student interest in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, or STEM. The announcement of the new collaborative effort was made today at the 6th annual White House Science Fair.

Precision-guided epidurals, better blood monitors for better care

Posted: 27 May 2014 10:33 AM PDT

An established imaging technology called 'optical coherence tomography,' or OCT, has been integrated with other instruments to bring about the next revolution in imaging by helping doctors provide safer, less painful and more effective care for women in labor and people with diabetic retinopathy and glaucoma.

Moving 'natural capital' from metaphor to reality: New approach to calculating price of stocks

Posted: 27 May 2014 10:33 AM PDT

An approach to calculating a fair and consistent price for natural capital stocks that is grounded in the same theory of economic capital that governs the pricing of other capital assets, from stock prices to factories, has been developed.

How a cancer-killing gene may actually work

Posted: 27 May 2014 09:41 AM PDT

Scientists armed with a supercomputer and a vast trove of newly collected data on the body's most potent "tumor suppressor" gene have created the best map yet of how the gene works, an accomplishment that could lead to new techniques for fighting cancers, which are adept at disabling the gene in order to thrive.

X-ray dark-field radiography provides detailed imaging of lung diseases

Posted: 27 May 2014 05:54 AM PDT

Scientists tested for the first time X-ray dark-field radiography on a living organism for the diagnosis of lung disease. This enables highly detailed images of the lung to be produced. As the team reports, this method shows promise in detecting diseases such as pulmonary emphysema at an earlier stage, than it is currently available.

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