ScienceDaily: Top Technology News

---

• Breakthrough could lead to cheaper, more sustainable chemical production
• Enzymes allow DNA to swap information with exotic molecules
• Quantum computers coming soon? Metamaterials used to observe giant photonic spin Hall effect
• Quantum computers counting on carbon nanotubes
• Scientists develop innovative twists to DNA nanotechnology
• Terradynamics: Technique could help designers predict how legged robots will move on granular surfaces
• 'Sideline quasars' helped to stifle early galaxy formation
• New method may sharpen microscopic images
• Best map ever made of universe's oldest light: Planck mission brings universe into sharp focus
• Molecular geometry, new field in the making
• Computerized mannequin changes body shape and size
• Study reveals working of motor with revolution motion in bacteria-killing virus; Advances nanotechnology
• NASA's LRO sees GRAIL's explosive farewell
• New database to speed genetic discoveries

Breakthrough could lead to cheaper, more sustainable chemical production Posted: 21 Mar 2013 12:19 PM PDT A new advance could enable the production of an important commodity chemical using carbon dioxide as a carbon source instead of petroleum. Carbon dioxide is basically free, and something the planet currently has in excess. Activating carbon dioxide for the production of commodity chemicals could be a way make them more cheaply and sustainably.

Enzymes allow DNA to swap information with exotic molecules Posted: 21 Mar 2013 12:19 PM PDT Scientists have been hunting for a biological Rosetta Stone -- an enzyme allowing DNA's four-letter language to be written into a simpler (and potentially more ancient) molecule that may have existed as a genetic pathway to DNA and RNA in the prebiotic world. Research results demonstrate that DNA sequences can be transcribed into a molecule known as TNA and reverse transcribed back into DNA, with the aid of commercially available enzymes.

Quantum computers coming soon? Metamaterials used to observe giant photonic spin Hall effect Posted: 21 Mar 2013 12:19 PM PDT Engineering a unique metamaterial of gold nanoantennas, researchers were able to obtain the strongest signal yet of the photonic spin Hall effect, an optical phenomenon of quantum mechanics that could play a prominent role in the future of computing.

Quantum computers counting on carbon nanotubes Posted: 21 Mar 2013 11:15 AM PDT Carbon nanotubes can be used as quantum bits for quantum computers. A study by physicists has shown how nanotubes can store information in the form of vibrations. Up to now, researchers have experimented primarily with electrically charged particles. Because nanomechanical devices are not charged, they are much less sensitive to electrical interference.

Scientists develop innovative twists to DNA nanotechnology Posted: 21 Mar 2013 11:14 AM PDT In a new discovery that represents a major step in solving a critical design challenge, scientists have produced a wide variety of 2-D and 3-D structures that push the boundaries of the burgeoning field of DNA nanotechnology.

Terradynamics: Technique could help designers predict how legged robots will move on granular surfaces Posted: 21 Mar 2013 11:14 AM PDT Using a combination of theory and experiment, researchers have developed a new approach for understanding and predicting how small legged robots -- and potentially also animals -- move on and interact with complex granular materials such as sand.

'Sideline quasars' helped to stifle early galaxy formation Posted: 21 Mar 2013 08:10 AM PDT Astronomers targeting one of the brightest quasars glowing in the universe some 11 billion years ago say "sideline quasars" likely teamed up with it to heat abundant helium gas billions of years ago, preventing small galaxy formation.

New method may sharpen microscopic images Posted: 21 Mar 2013 07:51 AM PDT UT Dallas researchers are developing a new low-light imaging method that could improve a number of scientific applications, including the microscopic imaging of molecules in cancer research.

Best map ever made of universe's oldest light: Planck mission brings universe into sharp focus Posted: 21 Mar 2013 05:42 AM PDT The Planck space mission has released the most accurate and detailed map ever made of the oldest light in the universe, revealing new information about its age, contents and origins.

Molecular geometry, new field in the making Posted: 21 Mar 2013 05:13 AM PDT Scientists are working towards creating a new field called Molecular Geometry which provides geometrical solutions within the study of molecules.

Computerized mannequin changes body shape and size Posted: 21 Mar 2013 05:13 AM PDT At its first glance, the mannequin 'i.Dummy' looks no different from an ordinary dummy but it is no plain stuff - this sophisticated mannequin can change its body shape and size or even elongate at the point of a fingertip on computer.

Study reveals working of motor with revolution motion in bacteria-killing virus; Advances nanotechnology Posted: 20 Mar 2013 06:54 AM PDT Scientists have cracked a 35-year-old mystery about the workings of the natural motors that are serving as models for development of a futuristic genre of synthetic nanomotors that pump therapeutic DNA, RNA or drugs into individual diseased cells. Their report reveals the innermost mechanisms of these nanomotors in a bacteria-killing virus -- and a new way to move DNA through cells.

NASA's LRO sees GRAIL's explosive farewell Posted: 19 Mar 2013 05:24 PM PDT Many spacecraft just fade away, drifting silently through space after their mission is over, but not GRAIL. NASA's twin GRAIL (Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory) spacecraft went out in a blaze of glory Dec. 17, 2012, when they were intentionally crashed into a mountain near the moon's north pole.

New database to speed genetic discoveries Posted: 18 Mar 2013 07:53 AM PDT A new online database combining symptoms, family history and genetic sequencing information is speeding the search for diseases caused by a single rogue gene. The database, known as PhenoDB, enables any clinician to document cases of unusual genetic diseases for analysis by researchers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine or the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston.

You are subscribed to email updates from ScienceDaily: Top Technology News To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now.	Email delivery powered by Google
Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610