ScienceDaily: Top Technology News

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• Research rides dragon to the International Space Station
• NASA on course to launch Orion flight test
• Pixels guide the way for the visually impaired
• Space race underway to create quantum satellite
• Pour, shake and stir: How gold particles, DNA and water have the potential to shape the future of medicine
• 'Rain Man'-like brains mapped at using MRIs and network analysis
• Mineral diversity clue to early Earth chemistry
• Physicist develops new silicone rubber
• NASA's Van Allen Probes reveal a new radiation belt around Earth
• Cell movement explained by molecular recycling
• Trackable drug-filled nanoparticles: Potential weapon against cancer
• Icy cosmic start for amino acids and DNA ingredients
• Birth of a giant Planet? Candidate protoplanet spotted inside its stellar womb
• Physicists demonstrate the acceleration of electrons by a laser in a vacuum
• Novel wireless brain sensor unveiled: Wireless, broadband, rechargeable, fully implantable
• Brain-to-brain interface allows transmission of tactile and motor information between rats
• Renewable energy: Nanotubes to channel osmotic power
• Atoms with quantum-memory

Research rides dragon to the International Space Station Posted: 01 Mar 2013 01:18 AM PST A second contracted flight for the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft to the International Space Station will be twice as nice for researchers working with investigations on the orbiting laboratory. While other cargo ships can bring research payloads to the station, only the Dragon and the Russian Soyuz can safely get the cargo home. Scientists in the United States, Canada, France and Japan -- and several high school students -- are awaiting the return of their research studying a wide range of subjects, from plants to liquid crystals.

NASA on course to launch Orion flight test Posted: 01 Mar 2013 01:16 AM PST The first spacecraft NASA has designed to fly astronauts beyond Earth orbit since the Apollo era is well on its way to making a flight test next year, agency officials said Wednesday. The mission is planned for launch in September 2014, and will see an Orion capsule orbit Earth without a crew and return through the atmosphere at speeds unseen since astronauts last returned from the moon in 1972.

Pixels guide the way for the visually impaired Posted: 28 Feb 2013 04:46 PM PST Images have been transformed into pixels and projected onto a headset to help the visually impaired in everyday tasks such as navigation, route-planning and object finding. Developed using a video camera and mathematical algorithm, the researchers hope the pixels can provide more information and enhance the vision of patients already fitted with retinal implants.

Space race underway to create quantum satellite Posted: 28 Feb 2013 04:46 PM PST A new article describes how a quantum space race is under way to create the world's first global quantum-communication network.

Pour, shake and stir: How gold particles, DNA and water have the potential to shape the future of medicine Posted: 28 Feb 2013 02:15 PM PST A diagnostic "cocktail" containing a single drop of blood, a dribble of water, and a dose of DNA powder with gold particles could mean rapid diagnosis and treatment of the world's leading diseases in the near future.

'Rain Man'-like brains mapped at using MRIs and network analysis Posted: 28 Feb 2013 02:13 PM PST Combining hospital MRIs with the mathematical tool known as network analysis, a group of researchers has mapped the three-dimensional global connections within the brains of seven adults who have genetic malformations that leave them without the corpus callosum, which connects the left and right sides of the brain.

Mineral diversity clue to early Earth chemistry Posted: 28 Feb 2013 12:58 PM PST Mineral evolution is a new way to look at our planet's history. It's the study of the increasing diversity and characteristics of Earth's near-surface minerals, from the dozen that arrived on interstellar dust particles when the Solar System was formed to the more than 4,700 types existing today. New research on a mineral called molybdenite provides important new insights about the changing chemistry of our planet as a result of geological and biological processes.

Physicist develops new silicone rubber Posted: 28 Feb 2013 12:55 PM PST A physicist has developed a new type of silicone rubber that may have widespread applications, including shoes, prosthetics, sporting goods and toys.

NASA's Van Allen Probes reveal a new radiation belt around Earth Posted: 28 Feb 2013 12:54 PM PST NASA's Van Allen Probes mission has discovered a previously unknown third radiation belt around Earth, revealing the existence of unexpected structures and processes within these hazardous regions of space.

Cell movement explained by molecular recycling Posted: 28 Feb 2013 09:40 AM PST Scientists have identified the method by which cells control the recycling of molecules, a process that is essential for them to move. The discovery provides researchers with a better understanding of how our bodies heal wounds.

Trackable drug-filled nanoparticles: Potential weapon against cancer Posted: 28 Feb 2013 08:34 AM PST Tiny particles filled with a drug could be a new tool for treating cancer in the future. Scientists show how such nanoparticles can be combined to secure the effective delivery of cancer drugs to tumor cells -- and how they can be given properties to make them visible in MR scanners and thus be rendered trackable.

Icy cosmic start for amino acids and DNA ingredients Posted: 28 Feb 2013 08:34 AM PST Using new technology at the telescope and in laboratories, researchers have discovered an important pair of prebiotic molecules in interstellar space. The discoveries indicate that some basic chemicals that are key steps on the way to life may have formed on dusty ice grains floating between the stars.

Birth of a giant Planet? Candidate protoplanet spotted inside its stellar womb Posted: 28 Feb 2013 07:33 AM PST Astronomers have obtained what is likely the first direct observation of a forming planet still embedded in a thick disc of gas and dust. If confirmed, this discovery will greatly improve our understanding of how planets form and allow astronomers to test the current theories against an observable target.

Physicists demonstrate the acceleration of electrons by a laser in a vacuum Posted: 28 Feb 2013 06:38 AM PST The acceleration of a free electron by a laser is a long-time goal of solid-state physicists. Physicists have established that an electron beam can be accelerated by a laser in free space. This has never been done before at high energies and represents a significant breakthrough, and may have implications for fusion as a new energy source.

Novel wireless brain sensor unveiled: Wireless, broadband, rechargeable, fully implantable Posted: 28 Feb 2013 06:38 AM PST In a significant advance for brain-computer interfaces, engineers have developed a novel wireless, broadband, rechargeable, fully implantable brain sensor that has performed well in animal models for more than a year.

Brain-to-brain interface allows transmission of tactile and motor information between rats Posted: 28 Feb 2013 06:38 AM PST Researchers have electronically linked the brains of pairs of rats for the first time, enabling them to communicate directly to solve simple behavioral puzzles. A further test of this work successfully linked the brains of two animals thousands of miles apart -- one in Durham, N.C., and one in Natal, Brazil.

Renewable energy: Nanotubes to channel osmotic power Posted: 28 Feb 2013 06:35 AM PST The salinity difference between fresh water and salt water could be a source of renewable energy. However, power yields from existing techniques are not high enough to make them viable. A solution to this problem may now have been found. Researchers have discovered a new means of harnessing this energy: osmotic flow through boron nitride nanotubes generates huge electric currents, with 1,000 times the efficiency of any previous system.

Atoms with quantum-memory Posted: 28 Feb 2013 05:02 AM PST Order tends towards disorder. This is also true for quantum states. Measurements show that in quantum mechanics this transition can be quite different from what we experience in our daily lives.

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