ScienceDaily: Top Technology News

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• 'Quantum critical' theory gets experimental boost
• Astronomers find three smallest planets outside solar system
• Planets with double suns are common
• Scientists predict the next big thing in particle physics: Supersymmetry
• Starving galaxies revealed
• Why do dew drops do what they do on leaves?
• Hubble zooms in on double nucleus in Andromeda galaxy
• Planet population is plentiful: Planets around stars are the rule rather than the exception
• Distant supernova discovery, 9 billion years ago
• Mystery on source of supernova in nearby galaxy solved
• Rare ultra-blue stars found in neighboring galaxy's hub
• Solar energy: New sunflower-inspired pattern increases concentrated solar efficiency
• When galaxy clusters collide

'Quantum critical' theory gets experimental boost Posted: 11 Jan 2012 12:41 PM PST New evidence supports a theory developed five years ago to explain the electrical properties of unconventional superconductors and other classes of materials that have long vexed scientists. Physicists say the new findings represent an important step toward the ultimate goal of creating a unified theoretical description of quantum effects in electronic materials at the border of magnetism and superconductivity.

Astronomers find three smallest planets outside solar system Posted: 11 Jan 2012 12:40 PM PST Astronomers have discovered the three smallest confirmed planets ever detected outside our solar system. The three planets, which all orbit a single star, are smaller than Earth and appear to be rocky. Their existence suggests that the galaxy could be teeming with similarly rocky planets—and that there's a good chance that many are in the so-called habitable zone, where liquid water and possibly life could exist.

Planets with double suns are common Posted: 11 Jan 2012 12:40 PM PST Astronomers have discovered two new circumbinary planet systems -- planets that orbit two stars, like Tatooine in the movie Star Wars. Their find, which brings the number of known circumbinary planets to three, shows that planets with two suns must be common, with many millions existing in our galaxy.

Scientists predict the next big thing in particle physics: Supersymmetry Posted: 11 Jan 2012 10:59 AM PST A better understanding of the universe will be the outgrowth of the discovery of the Higgs boson, according to a team of researchers. The team predicts the discovery will lead to supersymmetry or SUSY -- an extension of the standard model of particle physics. SUSY predicts new matter states or super partners for each matter particle already accounted for in the standard model. SUSY theory provides an important new step to a better understanding of the universe we live in.

Starving galaxies revealed Posted: 11 Jan 2012 10:40 AM PST Astronomers using the partially completed ALMA observatory have found compelling evidence for how star-forming galaxies evolve into '"ed and dead" elliptical galaxies, catching a large group of galaxies right in the middle of this change.

Why do dew drops do what they do on leaves? Posted: 11 Jan 2012 10:40 AM PST Nobel laureate poet Rabindranath Tagore once wrote, "Let your life lightly dance on the edges of time like dew on the tip of a leaf." Now, a new study is finally offering an explanation for why small dew drops do as Tagore advised and form on the tips, rather than the flat surfaces, of leaves.

Hubble zooms in on double nucleus in Andromeda galaxy Posted: 11 Jan 2012 10:39 AM PST A new Hubble Space Telescope image centers on the 100-million-solar-mass black hole at the hub of the neighboring spiral galaxy M31, or the Andromeda galaxy, the only galaxy outside the Milky Way visible to the naked eye and the only other giant galaxy in the local group.

Planet population is plentiful: Planets around stars are the rule rather than the exception Posted: 11 Jan 2012 10:35 AM PST Astronomers have used the technique of gravitational microlensing to measure how common planets are in the Milky Way. After a six-year search that surveyed millions of stars, the team concludes that planets around stars are the rule rather than the exception.

Distant supernova discovery, 9 billion years ago Posted: 11 Jan 2012 10:33 AM PST NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has looked deep into the distant universe and detected the feeble glow of a star that exploded more than 9 billion years ago. The sighting is the first finding of an ambitious survey that will help astronomers place better constraints on the nature of dark energy: the mysterious repulsive force that is causing the universe to fly apart ever faster.

Mystery on source of supernova in nearby galaxy solved Posted: 11 Jan 2012 10:33 AM PST Using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, astronomers have solved a longstanding mystery on the type of star, or so-called progenitor, that caused a supernova in a nearby galaxy. The finding yields new observational data for pinpointing one of several scenarios that trigger such outbursts.

Rare ultra-blue stars found in neighboring galaxy's hub Posted: 11 Jan 2012 08:37 AM PST Peering deep inside the hub of the neighboring Andromeda galaxy, NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has uncovered a large, rare population of hot, bright stars.

Solar energy: New sunflower-inspired pattern increases concentrated solar efficiency Posted: 11 Jan 2012 07:40 AM PST A new sunflower-inspired pattern increases concentrated solar efficiency.

When galaxy clusters collide Posted: 10 Jan 2012 08:44 AM PST The collision of two clusters of galaxies 5 billion light years away could help astronomers better understand "dark matter," the invisible stuff that makes up a big chunk of our universe.

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