ScienceDaily: Top Technology News

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• 3-D scanning shapes the future of childrenswear
• Research paves way for larger, safer lithium ion batteries
• Modifications of a nanoparticle can change chemical interactions with cell membranes
• Controlled crumpling of graphene forms artificial muscle
• Motion control keeps electric car's four wheels -- and four motors -- on the road
• Space instrument adds big piece to solar corona puzzle
• Putting the squeeze on cells: By deforming cells, researchers can deliver RNA, proteins and nanoparticles for many applications
• Self-healing, stretchable wires created using liquid metal
• Researchers make DNA data storage a reality: Every film and TV program ever created -- in a teacup
• Biometrics using internal body parts: Knobbly knees in competition with fingerprints
• Nanoparticles digging the world's smallest tunnels
• How the universe has cooled since the Big Bang fits Big Bang theory
• Self-assembling silica microwires may herald new generation of integrated optical devices
• Setting the Dark on Fire: Beautiful view of clouds of cosmic dust in region of Orion
• Slippery surface? Ice detector warns drivers in advance

3-D scanning shapes the future of childrenswear Posted: 23 Jan 2013 04:51 PM PST Childrenswear designers and retailers will be able to design and make better fitting clothes for British children from four to seventeen years thanks to 3-D scanning of children.

Research paves way for larger, safer lithium ion batteries Posted: 23 Jan 2013 04:51 PM PST Looking toward improved batteries for charging electric cars and storing energy from renewable but intermittent solar and wind, scientists have developed the first high-performance, nanostructured solid electrolyte for more energy-dense lithium ion batteries.

Modifications of a nanoparticle can change chemical interactions with cell membranes Posted: 23 Jan 2013 01:51 PM PST Researchers are studying the toxicity of commonly used nanoparticles, particles up to one million times smaller than a millimeter that could potentially penetrate and damage cell membranes.

Controlled crumpling of graphene forms artificial muscle Posted: 23 Jan 2013 01:50 PM PST Engineers are layering atom-thick lattices of carbon with polymers to create unique materials with a broad range of applications, including artificial muscles.

Motion control keeps electric car's four wheels -- and four motors -- on the road Posted: 23 Jan 2013 01:49 PM PST It weighs half as much as a sports car, and turns on a dime —- so its no surprise that a new electric car needs an exceptional traction and motion control system to keep it on the road.

Space instrument adds big piece to solar corona puzzle Posted: 23 Jan 2013 11:42 AM PST How can the solar atmosphere get hotter, rather than colder, the farther you go from the sun's surface? This mystery has puzzled solar astronomers for decades. A suborbital rocket mission that launched in July 2012 has just provided a major piece of the puzzle.

Putting the squeeze on cells: By deforming cells, researchers can deliver RNA, proteins and nanoparticles for many applications Posted: 23 Jan 2013 10:37 AM PST Living cells are surrounded by a membrane that tightly regulates what gets in and out of the cell. This barrier is necessary for cells to control their internal environment, but it makes it more difficult for scientists to deliver large molecules such as nanoparticles for imaging, or proteins that can reprogram them into pluripotent stem cells. Researchers have now found a safe and efficient way to get large molecules through the cell membrane, by squeezing the cells through a narrow constriction that opens up tiny, temporary holes in the membrane.

Self-healing, stretchable wires created using liquid metal Posted: 23 Jan 2013 10:37 AM PST Researchers have developed elastic, self-healing wires in which both the liquid-metal core and the polymer sheath reconnect at the molecular level after being severed.

Researchers make DNA data storage a reality: Every film and TV program ever created -- in a teacup Posted: 23 Jan 2013 10:34 AM PST Researchers have created a way to store data in the form of DNA – a material that lasts for tens of thousands of years. The new method makes it possible to store at least 100 million hours of high-definition video in about a cup of DNA.

Biometrics using internal body parts: Knobbly knees in competition with fingerprints Posted: 23 Jan 2013 08:53 AM PST Forget digital fingerprints, iris recognition and voice identification, the next big thing in biometrics could be your knobbly knees. Just as a fingerprints and other body parts are unique to us as individuals and so can be used to prove who we are, so too are our kneecaps. Computer scientists have now demonstrated how a knee scan could be used to single us out.

Nanoparticles digging the world's smallest tunnels Posted: 23 Jan 2013 08:52 AM PST The world's smallest tunnels have a width of a few nanometers only. Researchers have dug such tunnels into graphite samples. This will allow structuring of the interior of materials through self-organization in the nanometer range and tailoring of nanoporous graphite for applications in medicine and battery technology.

How the universe has cooled since the Big Bang fits Big Bang theory Posted: 23 Jan 2013 07:16 AM PST Astronomers have taken the universe's temperature, and have found that it has cooled down just the way the Big Bang theory predicts.

Self-assembling silica microwires may herald new generation of integrated optical devices Posted: 23 Jan 2013 07:16 AM PST Silica microwires are the tiny and as yet underutilized cousins of optical fibers. If precisely manufactured, however, these hair-like slivers of silica could enable applications and technology not currently possible with comparatively bulky optical fiber. By carefully controlling the shape of water droplets with an ultraviolet laser, a team of researchers has found a way to coax silica nanoparticles to self-assemble into much more highly uniform silica wires.

Setting the Dark on Fire: Beautiful view of clouds of cosmic dust in region of Orion Posted: 23 Jan 2013 06:45 AM PST In space, dense clouds of cosmic gas and dust are the birthplaces of new stars. In visible light, this dust is dark and obscuring, hiding the stars behind it. So much so that, when astronomer William Herschel observed one such cloud in the constellation of Scorpius in 1774, he thought it was a region empty of stars and is said to have exclaimed, "Truly there is a hole in the sky here!"

Slippery surface? Ice detector warns drivers in advance Posted: 23 Jan 2013 06:41 AM PST New technology makes driving on black ice safer. Engineers have developed an automatic slipperiness detection system for cars. Thanks to the system, vehicles are warned in advance of a road's actual slipperiness. If the road becomes slippery, other vehicles arriving in the area will also be warned immediately.

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