ScienceDaily: Top Technology News

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• Ultrasound idea: Prototype bioreactor evaluates engineered tissue while creating it
• Lightning signature could help reveal the solar system's origins
• Fabrication method can affect the use of block copolymer thin films
• First light: Researchers develop new way to generate superluminal pulses
• Simulating reality: Less memory required on quantum computer than on classical computer, study shows
• Next-generation nanoelectronics: A decade of progress, coming advances
• 'Smart doorknobs' and gesture-controlled smartphones: Revolutionary technology enables objects to know your touch
• Thanks for the (computer) memory: More room for data in 'phase-change' material
• Fast, low-power, all-optical switch
• Life-size 3-D hologram-like telepods may revolutionize videoconferencing in the future
• Flying 3-D eye-bots
• Atomic-scale visualization of electron pairing in iron superconductors
• Mars: Evidence of water flows at ancient impact crater endeavour
• New technique generates predictable complex, wavy shapes: May explain brain folds and be useful for drug delivery
• Mitigating disasters by hunting down Dragon Kings: Forecasting natural or economic disasters by identifying statistical anomalies
• Four white dwarf stars caught in the act of consuming 'Earth-like' exoplanets

Ultrasound idea: Prototype bioreactor evaluates engineered tissue while creating it Posted: 03 May 2012 04:42 PM PDT Researchers have developed a prototype bioreactor that both stimulates and evaluates tissue as it grows, mimicking natural processes while eliminating the need to stop periodically to cut up samples for analysis.

Lightning signature could help reveal the solar system's origins Posted: 03 May 2012 04:42 PM PDT Every second, lightning flashes some 50 times on Earth. Together these discharges coalesce and get stronger, creating electromagnetic waves circling around Earth, to create a beating pulse between the ground and the lower ionosphere, about 60 miles up in the atmosphere. This electromagnetic signature, known as Schumann Resonance, had only been observed from Earth's surface until, in 2011, scientists discovered they could also detect it using NASA's Vector Electric Field Instrument (VEFI) aboard the U.S. Air Force's Communications/Navigation Outage Forecast System (C/NOFS) satellite. In a new paper, researchers describe how this new technique could be used to study other planets in the solar system as well, and even shed light on how the solar system formed.

Fabrication method can affect the use of block copolymer thin films Posted: 03 May 2012 04:42 PM PDT Thin polymer films can have different properties depending on the method by which they are made. The results suggest that deeper work is necessary to explore the best way of creating these films, which are used in applications ranging from high-tech mirrors to organic electronic devices.

First light: Researchers develop new way to generate superluminal pulses Posted: 03 May 2012 04:42 PM PDT Researchers have developed a novel way of producing light pulses that are "superluminal" -- in some sense they travel faster than the speed of light. The new method could be used to improve the timing of communications signals and to investigate the propagation of quantum correlations.

Simulating reality: Less memory required on quantum computer than on classical computer, study shows Posted: 03 May 2012 01:31 PM PDT Simulations of reality would require less memory on a quantum computer than on a classical computer, new research has shown. The study demonstrates a new way in which computers based on quantum physics could beat the performance of classical computers.

Next-generation nanoelectronics: A decade of progress, coming advances Posted: 03 May 2012 01:20 PM PDT Nano-electromechanical switch technology could change the future of electronics. In two recent articles, researchers have explored the progress and future applications of the burgeoning technology.

'Smart doorknobs' and gesture-controlled smartphones: Revolutionary technology enables objects to know your touch Posted: 03 May 2012 01:20 PM PDT A doorknob that knows whether to lock or unlock based on how it is grasped, a smartphone that silences itself if the user holds a finger to her lips and a chair that adjusts room lighting based on recognizing if a user is reclining or leaning forward are among the many possible applications of Touché, a new sensing technique.

Thanks for the (computer) memory: More room for data in 'phase-change' material Posted: 03 May 2012 12:40 PM PDT Engineers have discovered previously unknown properties of a common computer memory material, paving the way for new memory drives, movie discs and computer systems that absorb data more quickly, last longer and allow far more capacity than current data storage media.

Fast, low-power, all-optical switch Posted: 03 May 2012 11:27 AM PDT A new solid-state device uses one beam of light to switch another beam of light from one direction to another. It uses one-fifth the power -- only 90 atto-joules -- than the previous all-optical switch.

Life-size 3-D hologram-like telepods may revolutionize videoconferencing in the future Posted: 03 May 2012 11:26 AM PDT Imagine a Star Trek-like human-scale 3-D videoconferencing pod that allows people in different locations to video conference as if they are standing in front of each other. "Why Skype when you can talk to a life-size 3-D holographic image of another person?" says one of the inventors.

Flying 3-D eye-bots Posted: 03 May 2012 11:26 AM PDT They can be deployed as additional surveillance resources during major events, or as high-resolution 3-D street imaging systems. Intelligent swarms of aerial drones are a universally useful tool for police, crisis managers and urban planners. Special 3-D sensors ensure flawless aerobatics and prevent collisions.

Atomic-scale visualization of electron pairing in iron superconductors Posted: 03 May 2012 11:25 AM PDT By measuring how strongly electrons are bound together to form Cooper pairs in an iron-based superconductor, scientists provide direct evidence supporting theories in which magnetism holds the key to this material's ability to carry current with no resistance.

Mars: Evidence of water flows at ancient impact crater endeavour Posted: 03 May 2012 11:24 AM PDT Evidence of ancient water at a Martian crater is the latest in a long series of discoveries by a surprisingly long-lived Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity. The latest discovery was made at the rim of the Endeavour Crater, a large ancient impact crater on Mars measuring 14 miles in diameter.

New technique generates predictable complex, wavy shapes: May explain brain folds and be useful for drug delivery Posted: 03 May 2012 09:01 AM PDT A new technique predictably generates complex, wavy shapes and may help improve drug delivery and explain natural patterns from brain folds to bell peppers.

Mitigating disasters by hunting down Dragon Kings: Forecasting natural or economic disasters by identifying statistical anomalies Posted: 03 May 2012 07:43 AM PDT Professional Dragon King hunters are exploring the ways in which natural or economic disasters can be predicted by identifying statistical anomalies.

Four white dwarf stars caught in the act of consuming 'Earth-like' exoplanets Posted: 03 May 2012 07:41 AM PDT Astrophysicists have pinpointed four white dwarfs surrounded by dust from shattered planetary bodies which once bore striking similarities to the composition of Earth.

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