ScienceDaily: Top Technology News

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• Silicon-carbon electrodes snap, swell, don't pop
• Scientists identify neural activity sequences that help form memory, decision-making
• Alleged robo-calling may have significantly impacted voting
• Killer silk: Making silk fibers that kill anthrax and other microbes in minutes
• Researchers send 'wireless' message using a beam of neutrinos
• NASA releases new WISE mission catalog of entire infrared sky
• Molecular graphene heralds new era of 'designer electrons'
• Tailored optical material from DNA: Light-modifying nanoparticles
• Getting a full picture of an elusive subject: Astronomers map dark matter in 3-D in galaxy cluster
• Astronomers get rare peek at early stage of star formation
• Fragrant new biofuel: Researchers develop a new candidate for a cleaner, greener and renewable diesel fuel
• Feeding habits of teenage galaxies
• Recycling galaxies caught in the act
• Dye-sensitized solar cells that use carbon nanotube thin films as transparent electrodes offer significant cost savings
• Butterfly molecule may aid quest for nuclear clean-up technology

Silicon-carbon electrodes snap, swell, don't pop Posted: 14 Mar 2012 03:33 PM PDT A new study that examines a new type of silicon-carbon nanocomposite electrode reveals details of how they function and how repeated use could wear them down. The study also provides clues to why this material performs better than silicon alone.

Scientists identify neural activity sequences that help form memory, decision-making Posted: 14 Mar 2012 02:06 PM PDT Researchers have used a novel virtual reality and brain imaging system to detect a form of neural activity underlying how the brain forms short-term memories that are used in making decisions.

Alleged robo-calling may have significantly impacted voting Posted: 14 Mar 2012 02:06 PM PDT An economist finds that robo-calling, if the phenomenon did occur, could have significantly influenced voter turnout and ballot results in the last federal election. Elections Canada is investigating New Democrat and Liberal party allegations that the Conservatives hired companies to robo-call voters in ridings across Canada, thereby influencing the Tories' 2011 federal election win.

Killer silk: Making silk fibers that kill anthrax and other microbes in minutes Posted: 14 Mar 2012 11:31 AM PDT A simple, inexpensive dip-and-dry treatment can convert ordinary silk into a fabric that kills disease-causing bacteria -- even the armor-coated spores of microbes like anthrax -- in minutes. Researchers describe a range of potential uses for this new killer silk, including make-shift curtains and other protective coatings that protect homes and other buildings in the event of a terrorist attack with anthrax.

Researchers send 'wireless' message using a beam of neutrinos Posted: 14 Mar 2012 11:31 AM PDT Scientists have for the first time sent a message using a beam of neutrinos -- nearly massless particles that travel at almost the speed of light. The message was sent through 240 meters of stone and said simply, "Neutrino."

NASA releases new WISE mission catalog of entire infrared sky Posted: 14 Mar 2012 11:30 AM PDT NASA has unveiled a new atlas and catalog of the entire infrared sky showing more than a half billion stars, galaxies and other objects captured by the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) mission.

Molecular graphene heralds new era of 'designer electrons' Posted: 14 Mar 2012 11:28 AM PDT Researchers have created the first-ever system of "designer electrons" -- exotic variants of ordinary electrons with tunable properties that may ultimately lead to new types of materials and devices. Their first examples were hand-crafted, honeycomb-shaped structures inspired by graphene.

Tailored optical material from DNA: Light-modifying nanoparticles Posted: 14 Mar 2012 11:28 AM PDT In the human body genetic information is encoded in double-stranded deoxyribonucleic acid building blocks, the so-called DNA. Using artificial DNA molecules, an international team of scientists have produced nanostructured materials that can be used to modify visible light by specification.

Getting a full picture of an elusive subject: Astronomers map dark matter in 3-D in galaxy cluster Posted: 14 Mar 2012 09:59 AM PDT Two teams of astronomers have used data from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory and other telescopes to map the distribution of dark matter in a galaxy cluster known as Abell 383, which is located about 2.3 billion light years from Earth. Not only were the researchers able to find where the dark matter lies in the two dimensions across the sky, they were also able to determine how the dark matter is distributed along the line of sight.

Astronomers get rare peek at early stage of star formation Posted: 14 Mar 2012 09:42 AM PDT Astronomers are excited to get their first look at a clump of gas they think is about to start forming stars. Unlike others seen, this one is "pristine," unaffected by the violent stellar winds and supernova shocks from other nearby stars.

Fragrant new biofuel: Researchers develop a new candidate for a cleaner, greener and renewable diesel fuel Posted: 14 Mar 2012 07:12 AM PDT Researchers have identified methyl ketones, chemical compounds known for their fragrance and flavor, as strong biofuel candidates. Methyl ketones produced from glucose by engineered E. coli yielded high cetane numbers -- a diesel fuel rating comparable to the octane number for gasoline.

Feeding habits of teenage galaxies Posted: 14 Mar 2012 07:07 AM PDT New observations made with ESO's Very Large Telescope are making a major contribution to understanding the growth of adolescent galaxies. In the biggest survey of its kind astronomers have found that galaxies changed their eating habits during their teenage years -- the period from about 3 to 5 billion years after the Big Bang. At the start of this phase smooth gas flow was the preferred snack, but later, galaxies mostly grew by cannibalising other smaller galaxies.

Recycling galaxies caught in the act Posted: 14 Mar 2012 07:07 AM PDT When astronomers add up all the gas and dust contained in ordinary galaxies (like our own Milky Way), they find a discrepancy: there is not nearly enough matter for stars to form at the observed rates for long. As a (partial) solution, a matter cycle on gigantic scales has been proposed. In our local galactic neighborhood, traces of this mechanism had already been found. Now, a new study has found the first direct evidence of such gas flowing back into distant galaxies that are actively forming new stars, validating a key part of "galactic recycling".

Dye-sensitized solar cells that use carbon nanotube thin films as transparent electrodes offer significant cost savings Posted: 14 Mar 2012 06:55 AM PDT Dye-sensitized solar cells that use carbon nanotube thin films as transparent electrodes offer significant cost savings

Butterfly molecule may aid quest for nuclear clean-up technology Posted: 12 Mar 2012 08:40 AM PDT Scientists have produced a previously unseen uranium molecule, in a development that could help improve clean-up processes for nuclear waste.

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