RefBan

Referral Banners

Thursday, February 16, 2012

ScienceDaily: Top Technology News

ScienceDaily: Top Technology News


Boiling breakthrough: Nano-coating doubles rate of heat transfer

Posted: 15 Feb 2012 12:53 PM PST

The old saw that a watched pot never boils may not apply to pots given an ultra-thin layer of aluminum oxide, which researchers have reported can double the heat transfer from a hot surface to a liquid.

New 'soft' motor made from artificial muscles

Posted: 15 Feb 2012 12:53 PM PST

The electrostatic motor, used more than 200 years ago by Benjamin Franklin to rotisserie a turkey, is making a comeback in a promising new design for motors that is light, soft, and operates without external electronic controllers.

Virtual ghost imaging: New technique enables imaging even through highly adverse conditions

Posted: 15 Feb 2012 12:53 PM PST

By using some of light's "spooky" quantum properties, researchers have created images of objects that might otherwise be hidden from view.

In new mass-production technique, robotic insects spring to life

Posted: 15 Feb 2012 12:53 PM PST

A new technique inspired by elegant pop-up books and origami will soon allow clones of robotic insects to be mass-produced by the sheet. Devised by engineers, the ingenious layering and folding process enables the rapid fabrication of not just microrobots, but a broad range of electromechanical devices.

Dust from industrial-scale processing of nanomaterials carries high explosion risk

Posted: 15 Feb 2012 11:31 AM PST

With expanded production of nanomaterials fast approaching, scientists are reporting indications that dust generated during processing may explode more easily than dust from other common dust explosion hazards. Their article indicates that nanomaterial dust could explode from a spark with only 1/30th the energy needed to ignite sugar dust — cause of the 2008 Portwentworth, Georgia, explosion that killed 13 people, injured 42 people and destroyed a factory.

Plasmas torn apart: Discovery hints at origin of phenomena like solar flares

Posted: 15 Feb 2012 11:29 AM PST

Using high-speed cameras to look at jets of plasma in the lab, researchers have made a discovery that may be important in understanding phenomena like solar flares and in developing nuclear fusion as a future energy source.

Great eruption replay: Astronomers watch delayed broadcast of powerful stellar eruption

Posted: 15 Feb 2012 11:28 AM PST

Astronomers are watching a delayed broadcast of a spectacular outburst from the unstable, behemoth double-star system Eta Carinae, an event initially seen on Earth nearly 170 years ago.

Black hole came from a shredded galaxy

Posted: 15 Feb 2012 09:39 AM PST

Astronomers have found a cluster of young, blue stars encircling the first intermediate-mass black hole ever discovered. The presence of the star cluster suggests that the black hole was once at the core of a now-disintegrated dwarf galaxy. The discovery of the black hole and the star cluster has important implications for understanding the evolution of supermassive black holes and galaxies.

Pocket microscope with accessory for ordinary smart phone

Posted: 15 Feb 2012 05:30 AM PST

Engineers have developed an optical accessory that turns an ordinary camera phone into a high-resolution microscope. The device is accurate to one hundredth of a millimeter. Among those who will benefit from the device are the printing industry, consumers, the security business, and even health care professionals.

Newborn stars emerge from dark clouds in Taurus

Posted: 15 Feb 2012 05:30 AM PST

A new image from the APEX telescope in Chile shows a sinuous filament of cosmic dust more than ten light-years long. In it, newborn stars are hidden, and dense clouds of gas are on the verge of collapsing to form yet more stars. The cosmic dust grains are so cold that observations at wavelengths of around one millimeter are needed to detect their glow.

Virtual reality supports planning by architects

Posted: 15 Feb 2012 05:28 AM PST

Even the most exact construction plan lacks many details and design options. The building owner needs imagination to obtain an idea of the constructed building. Now, new 3D video glasses provide a true representation in virtual reality. With the help of integrated high-resolution motion sensors, the virtual environment adapts to the natural movement of the head in real time.

No comments: