ScienceDaily: Top Technology News

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• Around the world in four days: NASA tracks Chelyabinsk meteor plume
• Binding together repelling atoms
• Dwarf galaxy caught ramming into a large spiral
• Preschoolers inability to estimate quantity relates to later math difficulty
• Raising the IQ of smart windows: Embedded nanocrystals provide selective control over visible light and heat-producing near-infrared light
• Teleported by electronic circuit: Physicists 'beam' information
• A magnetar at the heart of our Milky Way
• Research shows precisely which strategies help players win team-oriented video games
• Plastic solar cells' new design promises bright future
• Digital streak camera captures full-color photographs of high-speed objects
• Advancing resistive memory to improve portable electronics

Around the world in four days: NASA tracks Chelyabinsk meteor plume Posted: 14 Aug 2013 04:22 PM PDT Atmospheric physicist Nick Gorkavyi missed witnessing an event of the century last winter when a meteor exploded over his hometown of Chelyabinsk, Russia. From Greenbelt, Md., however, NASA's Gorkavyi and colleagues witnessed a never-before-seen view of the atmospheric aftermath of the explosion.

Binding together repelling atoms Posted: 14 Aug 2013 11:47 AM PDT Basic chemistry tells us that a bond between atoms can form if it is energetically more favorable for the atoms to stick together than staying apart. This fundamentally requires an attractive force between the atoms. However, new theoretical predictions show that the combination of a repelling force and controlled noise from an environment can also have the surprising effect of leading to a bound state, although one with quite exotic properties.

Dwarf galaxy caught ramming into a large spiral Posted: 14 Aug 2013 11:47 AM PDT Astronomers have observed a massive cloud of multimillion-degree gas in a galaxy about 60 million light years from Earth. The hot gas cloud is likely caused by a collision between a dwarf galaxy and a much larger galaxy called NGC 1232.

Preschoolers inability to estimate quantity relates to later math difficulty Posted: 14 Aug 2013 10:25 AM PDT Preschool children who showed less ability to estimate the number of objects in a group were 2.4 times more likely to have a later mathematical learning disability than other young people, according to psychologists.

Raising the IQ of smart windows: Embedded nanocrystals provide selective control over visible light and heat-producing near-infrared light Posted: 14 Aug 2013 10:24 AM PDT Researchers have designed a new material to make smart windows even smarter. The material is a thin coating of nanocrystals embedded in glass that can dynamically modify sunlight as it passes through a window. Unlike existing technologies, the coating provides selective control over visible light and heat-producing near-infrared light, so windows can maximize both energy savings and occupant comfort in a wide range of climates.

Teleported by electronic circuit: Physicists 'beam' information Posted: 14 Aug 2013 10:24 AM PDT Researchers cannot "beam" humans or objects through space yet, a feat sometimes alluded to in science fiction movies. They managed, however, to teleport information from A to B -- for the first time in an electronic circuit.

A magnetar at the heart of our Milky Way Posted: 14 Aug 2013 10:23 AM PDT Astronomers have discovered a magnetar at the centre of our Milky Way. This pulsar has an extremely strong magnetic field and enables researchers to investigate the direct vicinity of the black hole at the heart of the galaxy. Scientists have, for the first time, measured the strength of the magnetic field around this central source and were able to show that the latter is fed by magnetic fields. These control the inflow of mass into the black hole, also explaining the x-ray emissions of this gravity trap.

Research shows precisely which strategies help players win team-oriented video games Posted: 14 Aug 2013 09:47 AM PDT Computer science researchers have developed a technique to determine which strategies give players an edge at winning in multi-player (action) real-time strategy games, such as Defense of the Ancients, Warcraft III and Starcraft II. The technique offers extremely precise information about how a player's actions affect a team's chances of winning, and could be used to develop technology for use by players and developers to improve gameplay experiences.

Plastic solar cells' new design promises bright future Posted: 14 Aug 2013 07:14 AM PDT Harvesting energy directly from sunlight to generate electricity using photovoltaic technologies is a very promising method for producing electricity in an environmentally benign fashion. Polymer solar cells offer unique attractions, but the challenge has been improving their power-conversion efficiency. Now a research team reports the design and synthesis of new polymer semiconductors and reports polymer solar cells with fill factors of 80 percent -- a first. This number is close to that of silicon solar cells.

Digital streak camera captures full-color photographs of high-speed objects Posted: 14 Aug 2013 07:14 AM PDT Researchers have developed a new design for a digital streak camera that captures full-color images of projectiles traveling up to 10 times the speed of sound. This system was designed to replace the outdated film-based streak cameras that are still in use at high-speed test tracks.

Advancing resistive memory to improve portable electronics Posted: 14 Aug 2013 07:14 AM PDT Scientists have developed a novel way to build what many see as the next generation memory storage devices for portable electronic devices including smart phones, tablets, laptops and digital cameras.

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