ScienceDaily: Top Technology News

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• Catching solar particles infiltrating Earth's atmosphere
• X-ray 'echoes' map a supermassive black hole's environs in distant galaxies
• New small solid oxide fuel cell reaches record efficiency
• Slingshot-driven device stops high-velocity projectiles without destroying them
• Cosmic calculations for exploring where stars are born
• Predicting burglary patterns through math modeling of crime
• X-ray laser probes biomolecules to individual atoms
• Building molecular 'cages' to fight disease
• New tool to attack the mysteries of high-temperature superconductivity
• Crash of the Titans: Milky Way is destined for head-on collision with Andromeda Galaxy
• SpaceX Dragon capsule returns to Earth after first commercial flight to space station
• ALMA Turns its Eyes to Centaurus A
• Methane on Mars is not an indication of life: UV radiation releases methane from organic materials from meteorites
• Electric moon jolts the solar wind
• Hunting planets with laser rulers

Catching solar particles infiltrating Earth's atmosphere Posted: 31 May 2012 05:09 PM PDT On May 17, 2012, an M-class flare exploded from the sun. They caused a shower of particles to cascade down toward Earth's surface. The shower created what's called a ground level enhancement (GLE).

X-ray 'echoes' map a supermassive black hole's environs in distant galaxies Posted: 31 May 2012 01:57 PM PDT Astronomers have identified a long-sought X-ray "echo" that promises a new way to probe supersized black holes in distant galaxies.

New small solid oxide fuel cell reaches record efficiency Posted: 31 May 2012 01:57 PM PDT A new solid oxide fuel cell system can achieve a record of up to 57 percent efficiency and is designed to be scaled up to generate electricity for individual homes or neighborhoods.

Slingshot-driven device stops high-velocity projectiles without destroying them Posted: 31 May 2012 01:57 PM PDT What do you get when you combine a slingshot, a fish tank, a stack of 2-by-4s and five engineering students determined to help the United States Air Force? A device to stop high-velocity projectiles without destroying them.

Cosmic calculations for exploring where stars are born Posted: 31 May 2012 01:56 PM PDT Astrophysicists can now analyze the vast molecular clouds of gas and dust where stars are born more accurately. New research has solved equations of quantum mechanics to describe more precisely the interactions between molecules of hydrogen and carbon monoxide, the two most abundant gases in space.

Predicting burglary patterns through math modeling of crime Posted: 31 May 2012 11:58 AM PDT Pattern formation in physical, biological, and sociological systems has been studied for many years. One area where it has been of growing interest is in crime modeling.

X-ray laser probes biomolecules to individual atoms Posted: 31 May 2012 11:57 AM PDT Scientists have demonstrated how the world's most powerful X-ray laser can assist in cracking the structures of biomolecules, and in the processes helped to pioneer critical new investigative avenues in biology.

Building molecular 'cages' to fight disease Posted: 31 May 2012 11:57 AM PDT Biochemists have designed specialized proteins that assemble themselves to form tiny molecular cages hundreds of times smaller than a single cell. The creation of these miniature structures may be the first step toward developing new methods of drug delivery or even designing artificial vaccines.

New tool to attack the mysteries of high-temperature superconductivity Posted: 31 May 2012 11:57 AM PDT Using ultrafast lasers, scientists have tackled the long-standing mystery of how Cooper pairs form in high-temperature superconductors. With pump and probe pulses spaced just trillionths of a second apart, the researchers used photoemission spectroscopy to map rapid changes in electronic states across the superconducting transition, revealing relationships of energy and momentum never seen before in these promising, but stubborn, complex materials.

Crash of the Titans: Milky Way is destined for head-on collision with Andromeda Galaxy Posted: 31 May 2012 10:54 AM PDT Astronomers can now predict with certainty the next major cosmic event to affect our galaxy, Sun, and solar system: the titanic collision of our Milky Way galaxy with the neighboring Andromeda galaxy. The Milky Way is destined to get a major makeover during the encounter, which is predicted to happen four billion years from now. It's likely the Sun will be flung into a new region of our galaxy, but our Earth and solar system are in no danger of being destroyed.

SpaceX Dragon capsule returns to Earth after first commercial flight to space station Posted: 31 May 2012 10:37 AM PDT SpaceX's Dragon capsule splashed down in the Pacific Ocean at 11:42 a.m. EDT a few hundred miles west of Baja California, Mexico, marking a successful end to the first mission by a commercial company to resupply the International Space Station.

ALMA Turns its Eyes to Centaurus A Posted: 31 May 2012 08:23 AM PDT A new image of the center of the distinctive galaxy Centaurus A shows how the new observatory allows astronomers to see through the opaque dust lanes that obscure the galaxy's center, with unprecedented quality.

Methane on Mars is not an indication of life: UV radiation releases methane from organic materials from meteorites Posted: 31 May 2012 08:23 AM PDT It was a sensation when scientists discovered methane in Mars' atmosphere nine years ago. Many saw the presence of the gas as a clear indication of life on the inhospitable planet, as on Earth methane is produced predominantly by biological processes. Others assumed geological processes, such as volcanoes, to be the cause. Researchers have now been able to show that methane escapes from a meteorite if it is irradiated with ultraviolet light under Martian conditions.

Electric moon jolts the solar wind Posted: 31 May 2012 07:24 AM PDT With the moon as the most prominent object in the night sky and a major source of an invisible pull that creates ocean tides, many ancient cultures thought it could also affect our health or state of mind -- the word "lunacy" has its origin in this belief. Now, a powerful combination of spacecraft and computer simulations is revealing that the moon does indeed have a far-reaching, invisible influence -- not on us, but on the Sun, or more specifically, the solar wind.

Hunting planets with laser rulers Posted: 31 May 2012 07:19 AM PDT Laser frequency combs can be used for the calibration of astronomical spectrographs. This will help to find extra-solar planets, i.e. planets that are orbiting a star outside our solar-system. By refining this technology it might become possible to directly measure even very small changes in the expansion velocity of the universe.

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