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Wednesday, October 2, 2013

ScienceDaily: Top Technology News

ScienceDaily: Top Technology News


Recent study reduces Casimir force to lowest recorded level

Posted: 01 Oct 2013 04:21 PM PDT

Scientists have recorded a drastically reduced measurement of the Casimir effect, a fundamental quantum phenomenon experienced between two neutral bodies that exist in a vacuum.

Gene expression databases could uncover therapeutic targets, biological processes

Posted: 01 Oct 2013 04:21 PM PDT

A new computational tool developed by US and Israeli scientists will help scientists exploit the massive databases of gene expression experimental results that have been created over the past decade. Researchers say it could uncover new links between diseases and treatments and provide new insights into biological processes.

Researchers propose new theory to explain seeds of life in asteroids

Posted: 01 Oct 2013 12:11 PM PDT

A new look at the early solar system introduces an alternative to a long-taught, but largely discredited, theory that seeks to explain how biomolecules were once able to form inside of asteroids.

Supercomputing the transition from ordinary to extraordinary forms of matter

Posted: 01 Oct 2013 12:10 PM PDT

Calculations plus experimental data help map nuclear phase diagram, offering insight into transition that mimics formation of visible matter in the universe today.

Supercomputers help solve a 50-year homework assignment

Posted: 01 Oct 2013 12:10 PM PDT

A group of theoretical physicists has solved half of a 50-year homework assignment —- a calculation of one type of subatomic particle decay aimed at helping to answer the question of why the early universe ended up with an excess of matter.

'Walking droplets': Strange behavior of bouncing drops demonstrates pilot-wave dynamics in action

Posted: 01 Oct 2013 11:12 AM PDT

A research team recently discovered that it's possible to make a tiny fluid droplet levitate on the surface of a vibrating bath, walking or bouncing across, propelled by its own wave field. Surprisingly, these walking droplets exhibit certain features previously thought to be exclusive to the microscopic quantum realm. This finding of quantum-like behavior inspired a team of researchers to examine the dynamics of these walking droplets.

Solar power's future brawl

Posted: 01 Oct 2013 11:12 AM PDT

Scientists have turned to computer modeling to help decide which of two competing materials should get its day in the sun as the nanoscale energy-harvesting technology of future solar panels -- quantum dots or nanowires.

New kind of 'X-ray/CT vision' reveals objects' internal nanoscale structure, chemistry

Posted: 01 Oct 2013 10:13 AM PDT

Researchers have developed a new kind of "x-ray vision"—a way to peer inside real-world devices such as batteries and catalysts to map the internal nanostructures and properties of the various components, and even monitor how properties evolve as the devices operate.

Breakthrough in photonics could allow for faster and faster electronics

Posted: 01 Oct 2013 08:57 AM PDT

A pair of breakthroughs in the field of silicon photonics could allow for the trajectory of exponential improvement in microprocessors that began nearly half a century ago -- known as Moore's Law -- to continue well into the future, allowing for increasingly faster electronics, from supercomputers to laptops to smartphones.

Solving ethanol's corrosion problem may help speed the biofuel to market

Posted: 01 Oct 2013 08:57 AM PDT

To meet a goal set by the US Environmental Protection Agency's Renewable Fuels Standard to use 36 billion gallons of biofuels each year -- mostly ethanol -- the nation must expand its infrastructure for transporting and storing ethanol. Ethanol, however, is known for triggering stress corrosion cracking of steel. Researchers investigated the mechanism of how ethanol triggers stress corrosion cracking, along with ways to circumvent this issue to prevent ethanol-related corrosion issues.

'Waviness' explains why carbon nanotube forests have low stiffness

Posted: 01 Oct 2013 07:47 AM PDT

A new study has found that "waviness" in forests of carbon nanotubes dramatically reduces their stiffness. Instead of being a detriment, the waviness may make the nanotube arrays more useful as thermal interface material for conducting heat away from integrated circuits.

Putting a face on a robot

Posted: 01 Oct 2013 07:45 AM PDT

Older and younger people have varying preferences about what they would want a personal robot to look like. And they change their minds based on what the robot is supposed to do.

Scientists who share data publicly receive more citations

Posted: 01 Oct 2013 06:14 AM PDT

A new study finds that papers with data shared in public gene expression archives received increased numbers of citations for at least five years. The large size of the study allowed the researchers to exclude confounding factors that have plagued prior studies of the effect and to spot a trend of increasing dataset reuse over time. The findings will be important in persuading scientists that they can benefit directly from publicly sharing their data.

More accurate estimate of amount of water on surface layer of Mars

Posted: 01 Oct 2013 06:12 AM PDT

NASA's rover Curiosity, which landed on the surface of Mars on 6 August 2012, has led to more detailed estimates of the amount of water on the Martian surface.

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