ScienceDaily: Top Health News

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• Electric 'thinking cap' controls learning speed
• Path to safer drugs for heart disease, cancer found by researchers
• Southeast England most at risk of rising deaths due to climate change
• Leukaemia caused by chromosome catastrophe
• Shifting evolution into reverse promises cheaper, greener way to make new drugs
• Drugs fail to reawaken dormant HIV infection
• Cold snare polypectomy effective for removal of small colorectal polyps in patients on anticoagulants
• New way to make muscle cells from human stem cells
• Genetic signature reveals new way to classify gum disease

Electric 'thinking cap' controls learning speed Posted: 23 Mar 2014 02:19 PM PDT Caffeine-fueled cram sessions are routine occurrences on any college campus. But what if there was a better, safer way to learn new or difficult material more quickly? What if "thinking caps" were real? Scientists have now shown that it is possible to selectively manipulate our ability to learn through the application of a mild electrical current to the brain, and that this effect can be enhanced or depressed depending on the direction of the current.

Path to safer drugs for heart disease, cancer found by researchers Posted: 23 Mar 2014 12:21 PM PDT Investigators may have found a way to solve a problem that has plagued a group of drugs called ligand-mimicking integrin inhibitors, which have the potential to treat conditions ranging from heart attacks to cancer metastasis.

Southeast England most at risk of rising deaths due to climate change Posted: 23 Mar 2014 12:20 PM PDT Warmer summers brought on by climate change will cause more deaths in London and southeast England than the rest of the country, scientists predict. In the most vulnerable districts, in London and the southeast, the odds of dying from cardiovascular or respiratory causes increased by over 10 per cent for every 1C rise in temperature. Districts in the far north were much more resilient, seeing no increase in deaths at equivalent temperatures.

Leukaemia caused by chromosome catastrophe Posted: 23 Mar 2014 12:19 PM PDT Researchers have found that people born with a rare abnormality of their chromosomes have a 2,700-fold increased risk of a rare childhood leukaemia. In this abnormality, two specific chromosomes are fused together but become prone to catastrophic shattering.

Shifting evolution into reverse promises cheaper, greener way to make new drugs Posted: 23 Mar 2014 12:17 PM PDT By shifting evolution into reverse, it may be possible to use "green chemistry" to make a number of costly synthetic drugs as easily and cheaply as brewing beer. Normally, both evolution and synthetic chemistry proceed from the simple to the complex. Small molecules are combined and modified to make larger and more complex molecules that perform specific functions. Bioretrosynthesis works in the opposite direction. It starts with the final, desired product and then uses natural selection to produce a series of specialized enzymes that can make the final product out of a chain of chemical reactions that begin with simple, commonly available compounds.

Drugs fail to reawaken dormant HIV infection Posted: 23 Mar 2014 12:17 PM PDT Scientists report that compounds they hoped would "wake up" dormant reservoirs of HIV inside immune system T cells — a strategy designed to reverse latency and make the cells vulnerable to destruction — have failed to do so in laboratory tests of such white blood cells taken directly from patients infected with HIV.

Cold snare polypectomy effective for removal of small colorectal polyps in patients on anticoagulants Posted: 21 Mar 2014 01:48 PM PDT A new study that compares cold snare polypectomy with conventional polypectomy for the removal of small colorectal polyps in anticoagulated patients. The study showed that delayed bleeding requiring hemostasis (stoppage of bleeding) occurred significantly less often after cold snare polypectomy than during conventional polypectomy despite continuation of anticoagulants.

New way to make muscle cells from human stem cells Posted: 21 Mar 2014 01:46 PM PDT As stem cells continue their gradual transition from the lab to the clinic, a research group has discovered a new way to make large concentrations of skeletal muscle cells and muscle progenitors from human stem cells. The new method could be used to generate large numbers of muscle cells and muscle progenitors directly from human pluripotent stem cells. These stem cells, such as embryonic (ES) or induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells, can be made into virtually any adult cell in the body.

Genetic signature reveals new way to classify gum disease Posted: 21 Mar 2014 01:46 PM PDT A new system for classifying periodontal disease has been devised based on the genetic signature of affected tissue, rather than on clinical signs and symptoms. The new classification system, the first of its kind, may allow for earlier detection and more individualized treatment of severe periodontitis, before loss of teeth and supportive bone occurs.

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ScienceDaily: Top Environment News

---

• Engineers design 'living materials': Hybrid materials combine bacterial cells with nonliving elements that emit light
• Southeast England most at risk of rising deaths due to climate change
• Off-rift volcanoes explained
• Shifting evolution into reverse promises cheaper, greener way to make new drugs
• Study on element could change ballgame on radioactive waste
• New way to make muscle cells from human stem cells
• Ancient clam gardens nurture food security

Engineers design 'living materials': Hybrid materials combine bacterial cells with nonliving elements that emit light Posted: 23 Mar 2014 12:21 PM PDT Inspired by natural materials such as bone -- a matrix of minerals and other substances, including living cells -- engineers have coaxed bacterial cells to produce biofilms that can incorporate nonliving materials, such as gold nanoparticles and quantum dots. These "living materials" combine the advantages of live cells, which respond to their environment, produce complex biological molecules, and span multiple length scales, with the benefits of nonliving materials, which add functions such as conducting electricity or emitting light.

Southeast England most at risk of rising deaths due to climate change Posted: 23 Mar 2014 12:20 PM PDT Warmer summers brought on by climate change will cause more deaths in London and southeast England than the rest of the country, scientists predict. In the most vulnerable districts, in London and the southeast, the odds of dying from cardiovascular or respiratory causes increased by over 10 per cent for every 1C rise in temperature. Districts in the far north were much more resilient, seeing no increase in deaths at equivalent temperatures.

Off-rift volcanoes explained Posted: 23 Mar 2014 12:19 PM PDT Rift valleys are large depressions formed by tectonic stretching forces. Volcanoes often occur in rift valleys, within the rift itself or on the rift flanks as e.g. in East Africa. The magma responsible for this volcanism is formed in the upper mantle and ponds at the boundary between crust and mantle. For many years, the question of why volcanoes develop outside the rift zone in an apparently unexpected location offset by tens of kilometers from the source of molten magma directly beneath the rift has remained unanswered. Scientists have now shown that the pattern of stresses in the crust changes when the crust thins due to stretching and becomes gravitationally unloaded. As a consequence of this stress pattern, the path of the magma pockets ascending from the ponding zone is deviated diagonally to the sides of the rift. Eventually, the magma pockets emerge at distances of tens, sometime hundreds of kilometers from the rift axis, creating the so-called off-rift volcanoes.

Shifting evolution into reverse promises cheaper, greener way to make new drugs Posted: 23 Mar 2014 12:17 PM PDT By shifting evolution into reverse, it may be possible to use "green chemistry" to make a number of costly synthetic drugs as easily and cheaply as brewing beer. Normally, both evolution and synthetic chemistry proceed from the simple to the complex. Small molecules are combined and modified to make larger and more complex molecules that perform specific functions. Bioretrosynthesis works in the opposite direction. It starts with the final, desired product and then uses natural selection to produce a series of specialized enzymes that can make the final product out of a chain of chemical reactions that begin with simple, commonly available compounds.

Study on element could change ballgame on radioactive waste Posted: 23 Mar 2014 12:17 PM PDT Groundbreaking work by a team of chemists on a fringe element of the periodic table could change how the world stores radioactive waste and recycles fuel. The element is called californium -- Cf if you're looking at the Periodic Table of Elements -- and it's what researchers called "wicked stuff."

New way to make muscle cells from human stem cells Posted: 21 Mar 2014 01:46 PM PDT As stem cells continue their gradual transition from the lab to the clinic, a research group has discovered a new way to make large concentrations of skeletal muscle cells and muscle progenitors from human stem cells. The new method could be used to generate large numbers of muscle cells and muscle progenitors directly from human pluripotent stem cells. These stem cells, such as embryonic (ES) or induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells, can be made into virtually any adult cell in the body.

Ancient clam gardens nurture food security Posted: 20 Mar 2014 02:34 PM PDT A three-year study of ancient clam gardens in the Pacific Northwest has led researchers to make a discovery that could benefit coastal communities' food production. The researchers discovered that ancient clam gardens made by Aboriginal people produced quadruple the number of butter clams and twice the number of littleneck clams as unmodified clam beaches.

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ScienceDaily: Most Popular News

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• NASA orbiter finds new gully channel on Mars
• Deep ocean current may slow due to climate change
• Unique chromosomes preserved in Swedish fossil
• Now even more likely that there are particles smaller than Higgs out there
• Genetic factor contributes to forgetfulness
• Humans can distinguish at least one trillion different odors
• Computers see through faked expressions of pain better than people
• WPA2 wireless security cracked

NASA orbiter finds new gully channel on Mars Posted: 22 Mar 2014 06:44 AM PDT A comparison of images taken by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter in November 2010 and May 2013 reveal the formation of a new gully channel on a crater-wall slope in the southern highlands of Mars.

Deep ocean current may slow due to climate change Posted: 21 Mar 2014 01:49 PM PDT Far beneath the surface of the ocean, deep currents act as conveyer belts, channeling heat, carbon, oxygen and nutrients around the globe. A new has found that recent climate change may be acting to slow down one of these conveyer belts, with potentially serious consequences for the future of the planet's climate.

Unique chromosomes preserved in Swedish fossil Posted: 21 Mar 2014 07:17 AM PDT Researchers have made a unique discovery in a well-preserved fern that lived 180 million years ago. Both undestroyed cell nuclei and individual chromosomes have been found in the plant fossil, thanks to its sudden burial in a volcanic eruption.

Now even more likely that there are particles smaller than Higgs out there Posted: 21 Mar 2014 06:53 AM PDT Nobody has seen them yet; particles that are smaller than the Higgs particle. However theories predict their existence, and now the most important of these theories have been critically tested. The result: The existence of the yet unseen particles is now more likely than ever.

Genetic factor contributes to forgetfulness Posted: 21 Mar 2014 06:50 AM PDT Misplaced your keys? Can't remember someone's name? Didn't notice the stop sign? Those who frequently experience such cognitive lapses now have an explanation. Psychologists have found a connection between such everyday lapses and the DRD2 gene. Those who have a certain variant of this gene are more easily distracted and experience a significantly higher incidence of lapses due to a lack of attention.

Humans can distinguish at least one trillion different odors Posted: 20 Mar 2014 11:07 AM PDT Humans are capable of discriminating at least one trillion different odors, new research shows. Scientists determined that our sense of smell is prepared to recognize this vast olfactory palette after testing individuals' ability to recognize differences between complex odors mixed in the laboratory. It has been said for decades that humans were limited to distinguishing only 10,000 different odors.

Computers see through faked expressions of pain better than people Posted: 20 Mar 2014 09:19 AM PDT Scientists have found that a computer system spots real or faked expressions of pain more accurately than people can. Humans could not discriminate real from faked expressions of pain better than random chance -- and, even after training, only improved accuracy to a modest 55 percent. The computer system attains an 85 percent accuracy.

WPA2 wireless security cracked Posted: 20 Mar 2014 07:08 AM PDT There are various ways to protect a wireless network. Some are generally considered to be more secure than others. Some, such as WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy), were broken several years ago and are not recommended as a way to keep intruders away from private networks. Now, a new study reveals that one of the previously strongest wireless security systems, Wi-Fi protected access 2 (WPA2) can also be easily broken into on wireless local area networks (WLANs).

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ScienceDaily: Top Science News

---

• Experiment opens the door to multi-party quantum communication
• Electric 'thinking cap' controls learning speed
• Engineers design 'living materials': Hybrid materials combine bacterial cells with nonliving elements that emit light
• 3-D model links facial features and DNA
• Vast gene-expression map yields neurological, environmental stress insights

Experiment opens the door to multi-party quantum communication Posted: 23 Mar 2014 03:44 PM PDT In the world of quantum science, Alice and Bob have been talking to one another for years. Charlie joined the conversation a few years ago, but now with spacelike separation, scientists have measured that their communication occurs faster than the speed of light. For the first time, physicists have demonstrated the distribution of three entangled photons at three different locations (Alice, Bob and Charlie) several hundreds of meters apart, proving quantum nonlocality for more than two entangled photons.

Electric 'thinking cap' controls learning speed Posted: 23 Mar 2014 02:19 PM PDT Caffeine-fueled cram sessions are routine occurrences on any college campus. But what if there was a better, safer way to learn new or difficult material more quickly? What if "thinking caps" were real? Scientists have now shown that it is possible to selectively manipulate our ability to learn through the application of a mild electrical current to the brain, and that this effect can be enhanced or depressed depending on the direction of the current.

Engineers design 'living materials': Hybrid materials combine bacterial cells with nonliving elements that emit light Posted: 23 Mar 2014 12:21 PM PDT Inspired by natural materials such as bone -- a matrix of minerals and other substances, including living cells -- engineers have coaxed bacterial cells to produce biofilms that can incorporate nonliving materials, such as gold nanoparticles and quantum dots. These "living materials" combine the advantages of live cells, which respond to their environment, produce complex biological molecules, and span multiple length scales, with the benefits of nonliving materials, which add functions such as conducting electricity or emitting light.

3-D model links facial features and DNA Posted: 20 Mar 2014 02:33 PM PDT DNA can already tell us the sex and ancestry of unknown individuals, but now an international team of researchers is beginning to connect genetics with facial features, degrees of femininity and racial admixture. The researchers looked at both actual physical face shape and genetic markers of face shape.

Vast gene-expression map yields neurological, environmental stress insights Posted: 18 Mar 2014 06:40 AM PDT The largest survey yet of how information encoded in an animal genome is processed in different organs, stages of development, and environmental conditions has been conducted, leading to findings that paint a new picture of how genes function in the nervous system and in response to environmental stress.

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ScienceDaily: Strange Science News

---

• Electric 'thinking cap' controls learning speed
• Engineers design 'living materials': Hybrid materials combine bacterial cells with nonliving elements that emit light
• Study on element could change ballgame on radioactive waste

Electric 'thinking cap' controls learning speed Posted: 23 Mar 2014 02:19 PM PDT Caffeine-fueled cram sessions are routine occurrences on any college campus. But what if there was a better, safer way to learn new or difficult material more quickly? What if "thinking caps" were real? Scientists have now shown that it is possible to selectively manipulate our ability to learn through the application of a mild electrical current to the brain, and that this effect can be enhanced or depressed depending on the direction of the current.

Engineers design 'living materials': Hybrid materials combine bacterial cells with nonliving elements that emit light Posted: 23 Mar 2014 12:21 PM PDT Inspired by natural materials such as bone -- a matrix of minerals and other substances, including living cells -- engineers have coaxed bacterial cells to produce biofilms that can incorporate nonliving materials, such as gold nanoparticles and quantum dots. These "living materials" combine the advantages of live cells, which respond to their environment, produce complex biological molecules, and span multiple length scales, with the benefits of nonliving materials, which add functions such as conducting electricity or emitting light.

Study on element could change ballgame on radioactive waste Posted: 23 Mar 2014 12:17 PM PDT Groundbreaking work by a team of chemists on a fringe element of the periodic table could change how the world stores radioactive waste and recycles fuel. The element is called californium -- Cf if you're looking at the Periodic Table of Elements -- and it's what researchers called "wicked stuff."

You are subscribed to email updates from Strange & Offbeat News -- ScienceDaily To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now.	Email delivery powered by Google
Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610

ScienceDaily: Top News

---

• Experiment opens the door to multi-party quantum communication
• Electric 'thinking cap' controls learning speed
• Engineers design 'living materials': Hybrid materials combine bacterial cells with nonliving elements that emit light
• Path to safer drugs for heart disease, cancer found by researchers
• Unavoidable disorder used to build nanolaser
• Southeast England most at risk of rising deaths due to climate change
• Off-rift volcanoes explained
• Leukaemia caused by chromosome catastrophe
• Shifting evolution into reverse promises cheaper, greener way to make new drugs
• Study on element could change ballgame on radioactive waste
• Drugs fail to reawaken dormant HIV infection
• Spintronics: Could diamonds be a computer's best friend?
• New way to make muscle cells from human stem cells
• Genetic signature reveals new way to classify gum disease
• Box-shaped pressure vessel for liquefied natural gas
• Ancient clam gardens nurture food security

Experiment opens the door to multi-party quantum communication Posted: 23 Mar 2014 03:44 PM PDT In the world of quantum science, Alice and Bob have been talking to one another for years. Charlie joined the conversation a few years ago, but now with spacelike separation, scientists have measured that their communication occurs faster than the speed of light. For the first time, physicists have demonstrated the distribution of three entangled photons at three different locations (Alice, Bob and Charlie) several hundreds of meters apart, proving quantum nonlocality for more than two entangled photons.

Electric 'thinking cap' controls learning speed Posted: 23 Mar 2014 02:19 PM PDT Caffeine-fueled cram sessions are routine occurrences on any college campus. But what if there was a better, safer way to learn new or difficult material more quickly? What if "thinking caps" were real? Scientists have now shown that it is possible to selectively manipulate our ability to learn through the application of a mild electrical current to the brain, and that this effect can be enhanced or depressed depending on the direction of the current.

Engineers design 'living materials': Hybrid materials combine bacterial cells with nonliving elements that emit light Posted: 23 Mar 2014 12:21 PM PDT Inspired by natural materials such as bone -- a matrix of minerals and other substances, including living cells -- engineers have coaxed bacterial cells to produce biofilms that can incorporate nonliving materials, such as gold nanoparticles and quantum dots. These "living materials" combine the advantages of live cells, which respond to their environment, produce complex biological molecules, and span multiple length scales, with the benefits of nonliving materials, which add functions such as conducting electricity or emitting light.

Path to safer drugs for heart disease, cancer found by researchers Posted: 23 Mar 2014 12:21 PM PDT Investigators may have found a way to solve a problem that has plagued a group of drugs called ligand-mimicking integrin inhibitors, which have the potential to treat conditions ranging from heart attacks to cancer metastasis.

Unavoidable disorder used to build nanolaser Posted: 23 Mar 2014 12:21 PM PDT World around researchers are working to develop nano-optical chips, where light can be controlled. These could be used for future circuits based on light (photons) instead of electrons -- that is photonics instead of electronics. But it has proved to be impossible to achieve perfect photonic nanostructures. Now researchers have shown that imperfect optical chips can be used to produce 'nanolasers', which is an ultimately compact and energy-efficient light source.

Southeast England most at risk of rising deaths due to climate change Posted: 23 Mar 2014 12:20 PM PDT Warmer summers brought on by climate change will cause more deaths in London and southeast England than the rest of the country, scientists predict. In the most vulnerable districts, in London and the southeast, the odds of dying from cardiovascular or respiratory causes increased by over 10 per cent for every 1C rise in temperature. Districts in the far north were much more resilient, seeing no increase in deaths at equivalent temperatures.

Off-rift volcanoes explained Posted: 23 Mar 2014 12:19 PM PDT Rift valleys are large depressions formed by tectonic stretching forces. Volcanoes often occur in rift valleys, within the rift itself or on the rift flanks as e.g. in East Africa. The magma responsible for this volcanism is formed in the upper mantle and ponds at the boundary between crust and mantle. For many years, the question of why volcanoes develop outside the rift zone in an apparently unexpected location offset by tens of kilometers from the source of molten magma directly beneath the rift has remained unanswered. Scientists have now shown that the pattern of stresses in the crust changes when the crust thins due to stretching and becomes gravitationally unloaded. As a consequence of this stress pattern, the path of the magma pockets ascending from the ponding zone is deviated diagonally to the sides of the rift. Eventually, the magma pockets emerge at distances of tens, sometime hundreds of kilometers from the rift axis, creating the so-called off-rift volcanoes.

Leukaemia caused by chromosome catastrophe Posted: 23 Mar 2014 12:19 PM PDT Researchers have found that people born with a rare abnormality of their chromosomes have a 2,700-fold increased risk of a rare childhood leukaemia. In this abnormality, two specific chromosomes are fused together but become prone to catastrophic shattering.

Shifting evolution into reverse promises cheaper, greener way to make new drugs Posted: 23 Mar 2014 12:17 PM PDT By shifting evolution into reverse, it may be possible to use "green chemistry" to make a number of costly synthetic drugs as easily and cheaply as brewing beer. Normally, both evolution and synthetic chemistry proceed from the simple to the complex. Small molecules are combined and modified to make larger and more complex molecules that perform specific functions. Bioretrosynthesis works in the opposite direction. It starts with the final, desired product and then uses natural selection to produce a series of specialized enzymes that can make the final product out of a chain of chemical reactions that begin with simple, commonly available compounds.

Study on element could change ballgame on radioactive waste Posted: 23 Mar 2014 12:17 PM PDT Groundbreaking work by a team of chemists on a fringe element of the periodic table could change how the world stores radioactive waste and recycles fuel. The element is called californium -- Cf if you're looking at the Periodic Table of Elements -- and it's what researchers called "wicked stuff."

Drugs fail to reawaken dormant HIV infection Posted: 23 Mar 2014 12:17 PM PDT Scientists report that compounds they hoped would "wake up" dormant reservoirs of HIV inside immune system T cells — a strategy designed to reverse latency and make the cells vulnerable to destruction — have failed to do so in laboratory tests of such white blood cells taken directly from patients infected with HIV.

Spintronics: Could diamonds be a computer's best friend? Posted: 23 Mar 2014 12:17 PM PDT For the first time, physicists have demonstrated that information can flow through a diamond wire. In the experiment, electrons did not flow through diamond as they do in traditional electronics; rather, they stayed in place and passed along a magnetic effect called "spin" to each other down the wire -- like a row of sports spectators doing "the wave." Spin could one day be used to transmit data in computer circuits -- and this new experiment revealed that diamond transmits spin better than most metals in which researchers have previously observed the effect.

New way to make muscle cells from human stem cells Posted: 21 Mar 2014 01:46 PM PDT As stem cells continue their gradual transition from the lab to the clinic, a research group has discovered a new way to make large concentrations of skeletal muscle cells and muscle progenitors from human stem cells. The new method could be used to generate large numbers of muscle cells and muscle progenitors directly from human pluripotent stem cells. These stem cells, such as embryonic (ES) or induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells, can be made into virtually any adult cell in the body.

Genetic signature reveals new way to classify gum disease Posted: 21 Mar 2014 01:46 PM PDT A new system for classifying periodontal disease has been devised based on the genetic signature of affected tissue, rather than on clinical signs and symptoms. The new classification system, the first of its kind, may allow for earlier detection and more individualized treatment of severe periodontitis, before loss of teeth and supportive bone occurs.

Box-shaped pressure vessel for liquefied natural gas Posted: 21 Mar 2014 06:55 AM PDT A pressure vessel that is neither cylindrical nor spherical has been developed by a multinational steel-making company. The scientists have developed a box-type, large size pressure vessel for the storage and transportation of liquids such as liquefied petroleum gas, compressed natural gas, or liquefied natural gas.

Ancient clam gardens nurture food security Posted: 20 Mar 2014 02:34 PM PDT A three-year study of ancient clam gardens in the Pacific Northwest has led researchers to make a discovery that could benefit coastal communities' food production. The researchers discovered that ancient clam gardens made by Aboriginal people produced quadruple the number of butter clams and twice the number of littleneck clams as unmodified clam beaches.

You are subscribed to email updates from All Top News -- ScienceDaily To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now.	Email delivery powered by Google
Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610

ScienceDaily: Top Technology News

---

• Electric 'thinking cap' controls learning speed
• Engineers design 'living materials': Hybrid materials combine bacterial cells with nonliving elements that emit light
• Unavoidable disorder used to build nanolaser
• Shifting evolution into reverse promises cheaper, greener way to make new drugs
• Study on element could change ballgame on radioactive waste
• Spintronics: Could diamonds be a computer's best friend?
• Basketball: The physics of the 3-point shot
• Box-shaped pressure vessel for liquefied natural gas

Electric 'thinking cap' controls learning speed Posted: 23 Mar 2014 02:19 PM PDT Caffeine-fueled cram sessions are routine occurrences on any college campus. But what if there was a better, safer way to learn new or difficult material more quickly? What if "thinking caps" were real? Scientists have now shown that it is possible to selectively manipulate our ability to learn through the application of a mild electrical current to the brain, and that this effect can be enhanced or depressed depending on the direction of the current.

Engineers design 'living materials': Hybrid materials combine bacterial cells with nonliving elements that emit light Posted: 23 Mar 2014 12:21 PM PDT Inspired by natural materials such as bone -- a matrix of minerals and other substances, including living cells -- engineers have coaxed bacterial cells to produce biofilms that can incorporate nonliving materials, such as gold nanoparticles and quantum dots. These "living materials" combine the advantages of live cells, which respond to their environment, produce complex biological molecules, and span multiple length scales, with the benefits of nonliving materials, which add functions such as conducting electricity or emitting light.

Unavoidable disorder used to build nanolaser Posted: 23 Mar 2014 12:21 PM PDT World around researchers are working to develop nano-optical chips, where light can be controlled. These could be used for future circuits based on light (photons) instead of electrons -- that is photonics instead of electronics. But it has proved to be impossible to achieve perfect photonic nanostructures. Now researchers have shown that imperfect optical chips can be used to produce 'nanolasers', which is an ultimately compact and energy-efficient light source.

Shifting evolution into reverse promises cheaper, greener way to make new drugs Posted: 23 Mar 2014 12:17 PM PDT By shifting evolution into reverse, it may be possible to use "green chemistry" to make a number of costly synthetic drugs as easily and cheaply as brewing beer. Normally, both evolution and synthetic chemistry proceed from the simple to the complex. Small molecules are combined and modified to make larger and more complex molecules that perform specific functions. Bioretrosynthesis works in the opposite direction. It starts with the final, desired product and then uses natural selection to produce a series of specialized enzymes that can make the final product out of a chain of chemical reactions that begin with simple, commonly available compounds.

Study on element could change ballgame on radioactive waste Posted: 23 Mar 2014 12:17 PM PDT Groundbreaking work by a team of chemists on a fringe element of the periodic table could change how the world stores radioactive waste and recycles fuel. The element is called californium -- Cf if you're looking at the Periodic Table of Elements -- and it's what researchers called "wicked stuff."

Spintronics: Could diamonds be a computer's best friend? Posted: 23 Mar 2014 12:17 PM PDT For the first time, physicists have demonstrated that information can flow through a diamond wire. In the experiment, electrons did not flow through diamond as they do in traditional electronics; rather, they stayed in place and passed along a magnetic effect called "spin" to each other down the wire -- like a row of sports spectators doing "the wave." Spin could one day be used to transmit data in computer circuits -- and this new experiment revealed that diamond transmits spin better than most metals in which researchers have previously observed the effect.

Basketball: The physics of the 3-point shot Posted: 21 Mar 2014 01:46 PM PDT What makes the perfect 3-pointer? Well, there is the angle the player takes on the 3-point line and the arc of the ball, which is the path the basketball flies from the time it leaves the shooter's hand until it arrives at the basket. What makes the perfect 3-pointer? Well, there is the angle the player takes on the 3-point line and the arc of the ball, which is the path the basketball flies from the time it leaves the shooter's hand until it arrives at the basket.

Box-shaped pressure vessel for liquefied natural gas Posted: 21 Mar 2014 06:55 AM PDT A pressure vessel that is neither cylindrical nor spherical has been developed by a multinational steel-making company. The scientists have developed a box-type, large size pressure vessel for the storage and transportation of liquids such as liquefied petroleum gas, compressed natural gas, or liquefied natural gas.

You are subscribed to email updates from Top Technology News -- ScienceDaily To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now.	Email delivery powered by Google
Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610