ScienceDaily: Top Technology News |
- Ecotoxicity: All clear for silver nanoparticles?
- New approach to chip design could yield light speed computing
- Bullying black holes force galaxies to stay red and dead
- Low power high performance radio frequency transceiver for enhanced wireless smart energy management
- Smartphone-based voting technology may lead to fewer user errors
- Malware? Software ensures 'what you see is what you send'
- Climate engineering: Minor potential, major risk of side-effects?
- Technique to create holes in graphene could improve water filters, desalination
- New record set for data-transfer speeds: Existing technology for short-range data transmission may be fast enough for years to come
- Horticulture: Multiple commercial uses of wireless sensor networks outlined in report
- How do you build a large-scale quantum computer?
- Magnetic Medicine: Nanoparticles target cancer-fighting immune cells
- Novel optical fibers transmit high-quality images
- 3-D printer creates transformative device for heart treatment
- 'Greener' aerogel technology holds potential for oil and chemical clean-up
- First contagious airborne WiFi virus discovered
- How did the universe begin? Hot Big Bang or slow thaw?
- Ventriloquist delight: Scientists twist sound with metamaterials so sound appears to come from somewhere else
- Water detected in a planet outside our solar system
- System that automatically fills gaps in computer programmers' code gains power
- Using stolen computer processing cycles to mine Bitcoin
- Improvement in polymers for aviation
- Carbon dating uncovers forged Cubist painting
- Rare form of nitrogen detected in comet ISON
- Drone shows new view of energy coal ash spill
- Portable hydrogen fuel cell unit to provide green, sustainable power to Honolulu port
- Success in generating skyrmion molecules and driving them under low current density
- Pinwheel 'living' crystals and the origin of life
- A paper diagnostic for cancer: Low-cost urine test amplifies signals from growing tumors to detect disease
- Faster tumor analysis software developed, speeds cancer discoveries
- Scientists complete the top quark puzzle
- On the road to Mottronics: Key to controlling the electronic and magnetic properties of Mott thin films
- In the eye of a chicken, a new state of matter comes into view
- Fast, effective mechanism to combat an aggressive cancer
- New technique promises cheaper second-generation biofuel for cars
- New biological scaffold offers promising foundation for engineered tissues
- Graphene's bonding effect on platinum nanoparticles characterized: Lower costs in fuel cell production?
- 3D model of child's heart helps surgeons save life
- Sugarcane converted to cold-tolerant, oil-producing crop
- World first: hyperpolarization technique makes visible changes in metabolism while they are taking place
- Researchers 'design for failure' with model material
- Microanalysis technique makes the most of small nanoparticle samples
- Light used to quickly, easily measure blood's clotting properties
- New device measures nanoparticle travel in wells
- Revealing secrets of exploding clusters
- New process uses recyclable catalyst to create porous materials
- Computerized checklist reduces type of hospital infection, study finds
- Creating animated characters outdoors
- Stimulation glove for stroke patients helps improve tactile perception, motor function
- Scientific scrutiny authenticates 1860s Huddersfield pistol using 3-D micro CT scanning
- Astronomers spot record-breaking lunar impact
| Ecotoxicity: All clear for silver nanoparticles? Posted: 25 Feb 2014 10:45 AM PST It has long been known that, in the form of free ions, silver particles can be highly toxic to aquatic organisms. Yet to this day, there is a lack of detailed knowledge about the doses required to trigger a response and how the organisms deal with this kind of stress. In the past, silver mostly found its way into the environment in the vicinity of silver mines or via wastewater emanating from the photo industry. More recently, silver nanoparticles have become commonplace in many applications -- as ingredients in cosmetics, food packaging, disinfectants, and functional clothing. To learn more about the cellular processes that occur in the cells, scientists subjected algae to a range of silver concentrations.  |
| New approach to chip design could yield light speed computing Posted: 25 Feb 2014 10:45 AM PST Researchers are the first to create a device that integrates both optical and electronic signals to perform the most elementary computational operations that could inform 'light speed' computing.  |
| Bullying black holes force galaxies to stay red and dead Posted: 25 Feb 2014 10:43 AM PST Astronomers have discovered massive elliptical galaxies in the nearby Universe containing plenty of cold gas, even though the galaxies fail to produce new stars. Comparison with other data suggests that, while hot gas cools down in these galaxies, stars do not form because jets from the central supermassive black hole heat or stir up the gas and prevent it from turning into stars. Giant elliptical galaxies are the most puzzling type of galaxy in the Universe.  |
| Low power high performance radio frequency transceiver for enhanced wireless smart energy management Posted: 25 Feb 2014 10:43 AM PST Scientists have developed and demonstrated a 400 MHz radio frequency transceiver with the highest power efficiency and leading performance reported to deliver high quality signals over industry's widest coverage in wireless sensor network applications.  |
| Smartphone-based voting technology may lead to fewer user errors Posted: 25 Feb 2014 10:42 AM PST A new study examines how smartphone-based voting systems can be incorporated into the current large-scale election process.  |
| Malware? Software ensures 'what you see is what you send' Posted: 25 Feb 2014 10:42 AM PST Researchers have created a prototype software, Gyrus, that takes extra steps to prevent malware from sending spam emails and instant messages, and blocking unauthorized commands such as money transfers.  |
| Climate engineering: Minor potential, major risk of side-effects? Posted: 25 Feb 2014 09:25 AM PST Researchers have studied with computer simulations the long-term global consequences of several 'climate engineering' methods. They show that all the proposed methods would either be unable to significantly reduce global warming if CO2 emissions remain high, or they could not be stopped without causing dangerous climate disruption.  |
| Technique to create holes in graphene could improve water filters, desalination Posted: 25 Feb 2014 09:25 AM PST A new technique produces highly selective filter materials that could lead to more efficient desalination. Scientists succeeded in creating subnanoscale pores in a sheet of the one-atom-thick material, which is one of the strongest materials known.  |
| Posted: 25 Feb 2014 09:24 AM PST Researchers have set a new record for data transmission over a multimode optical fiber, a type of cable that is typically used to connect nearby computers within a single building or on a campus. The achievement demonstrated that the standard, existing technology for sending data over short distances should be able to meet the growing needs of servers, data centers and supercomputers through the end of this decade, the researchers said.  |
| Horticulture: Multiple commercial uses of wireless sensor networks outlined in report Posted: 25 Feb 2014 09:24 AM PST A review examines three on-farm case studies of product development, deployment, and implementation of wireless sensor networks as a means to increase irrigation efficiency in commercial horticulture operations. The report focuses on the use of capacitance-based soil moisture sensors to both monitor and control irrigation events, describing the implementation and use of soil moisture-based irrigation hardware and software developed.  |
| How do you build a large-scale quantum computer? Posted: 25 Feb 2014 09:22 AM PST Physicists have now proposed a modular quantum computer architecture that promises scalability to much larger numbers of qubits. The components of this architecture have individually been tested and are available, making it a promising approach.  |
| Magnetic Medicine: Nanoparticles target cancer-fighting immune cells Posted: 25 Feb 2014 09:22 AM PST Using tiny particles designed to target cancer-fighting immune cells, researchers have trained the immune systems of mice to fight melanoma, a deadly skin cancer. The experiments represent a significant step toward using nanoparticles and magnetism to treat a variety of conditions, the researchers say. They also note that in addition to its potential medical applications, combining nanoparticles and magnetism may give researchers a new window into fundamental biological processes.  |
| Novel optical fibers transmit high-quality images Posted: 25 Feb 2014 09:22 AM PST Engineers have found that a new kind of optical fiber they designed can not only transmit more data than single core optical fibers but also transmit images with less pixelation and higher contrast than the current commercial endoscopy imaging fibers.  |
| 3-D printer creates transformative device for heart treatment Posted: 25 Feb 2014 09:22 AM PST Using an inexpensive 3-D printer, biomedical engineers have developed a custom-fitted, implantable device with embedded sensors that could transform treatment and prediction of cardiac disorders. The 3-D elastic membrane is made of a soft, flexible, silicon material that is precisely shaped to match the heart's outer layer of the wall. Current technology is two-dimensional and cannot cover the full surface of the epicardium or maintain reliable contact for continual use without sutures or adhesives. The team can then print tiny sensors onto the membrane that can precisely measure temperature, mechanical strain and pH, among other markers, or deliver a pulse of electricity in cases of arrhythmia.  |
| 'Greener' aerogel technology holds potential for oil and chemical clean-up Posted: 25 Feb 2014 08:29 AM PST A group of researchers is examining alternative materials that can be modified to absorb oil and chemicals without absorbing water. If further developed, the technology may offer a cheaper and 'greener' method to absorb oil and heavy metals from water and other surfaces.  |
| First contagious airborne WiFi virus discovered Posted: 25 Feb 2014 08:29 AM PST Researchers have shown for the first time that WiFi networks can be infected with a virus that can move through densely populated areas as efficiently as the common cold spreads between humans.  |
| How did the universe begin? Hot Big Bang or slow thaw? Posted: 25 Feb 2014 08:19 AM PST Did the universe begin with a hot Big Bang or did it slowly thaw from an extremely cold and almost static state? A physicist has developed a theoretical model that complements the nearly 100-year-old conventional model of cosmic expansion. According to the new theory, the Big Bang did not occur 13.8 billion years ago -- instead, the birth of the universe stretched into the infinite past. This view holds that the masses of all particles constantly increase. The scientist explains that instead of expanding, the universe is shrinking over extended periods of time.  |
| Posted: 25 Feb 2014 08:18 AM PST A Chinese-U.S. research team is exploring the use of metamaterials -- artificial materials engineered to have exotic properties not found in nature -- to create devices that manipulate sound in versatile and unprecedented ways. They now report a simple design for a device, called an acoustic field rotator, which can twist wave fronts inside it so that they appear to be propagating from another direction.  |
| Water detected in a planet outside our solar system Posted: 25 Feb 2014 07:17 AM PST Water has been detected in the atmosphere of a planet outside our solar system with a new technique that could help researchers to learn how many planets with water, like Earth, exist throughout the universe. The team of scientists that made the discovery detected the water in the atmosphere of a planet as massive as Jupiter that is orbiting the nearby star tau Boötis.  |
| System that automatically fills gaps in computer programmers' code gains power Posted: 25 Feb 2014 07:16 AM PST A system that automatically fills in the gaps in programmers' code becomes more powerful. A recent programming language called Sketch allows programmers to simply omit some of the computational details of their code. Sketch then automatically fills in the gaps.  |
| Using stolen computer processing cycles to mine Bitcoin Posted: 25 Feb 2014 07:15 AM PST Computer scientists have taken an unprecedented, in-depth look at how malware operators use the computers they infect to mine Bitcoin, a virtual currency whose value is highly volatile. Researchers examined more than 2,000 pieces of malware used by Bitcoin mining operations in 2012 and 2013. They were able to estimate how much money operators made off their operations and which countries were most affected.  |
| Improvement in polymers for aviation Posted: 25 Feb 2014 07:12 AM PST We live surrounded by polymers and today, rather than come up with new polymers, there is a tendency to modify them in order to obtain new applications. Carbon nanotubes have excellent mechanical properties, are very tough, very rigid, and what is more, they conduct electricity. "The problem with them is that they get dispersed, in other words, it's very difficult to get them to blend with polymers," explained a researcher. That is why it is essential to come up with methods that will enable the carbon nanotubes to have a high degree of dispersion and stability within the polymer matrix. "In this research we have come up with the successful preparation of one of these materials," he added.  |
| Carbon dating uncovers forged Cubist painting Posted: 25 Feb 2014 07:11 AM PST Physicists have used carbon dating to confirm that an alleged Fernand Léger painting was definitely a fake. This is the first time it has been possible to identify a fake painting by relying on the anomalous behavior of the concentration of the radioactive form of carbon (14C) in the atmosphere after 1955 to date the canvas.  |
| Rare form of nitrogen detected in comet ISON Posted: 25 Feb 2014 07:11 AM PST Astronomers observed the Comet ISON during its bright outburst in the middle of November 2013. Subaru Telescope's High Dispersion Spectrograph has detected two rare forms of nitrogen in the comet ISON. Their results support the hypothesis that there were two distinct reservoirs of nitrogen the massive, dense cloud ("solar nebula") from which our Solar System may have formed and evolved.  |
| Drone shows new view of energy coal ash spill Posted: 25 Feb 2014 07:09 AM PST Aerial images captured by a drone aircraft provide a new look at the extent of contaminants leaked into a North Carolina river from a Duke Energy coal ash dump as concerns about water pollution grow and a federal criminal investigation continues.  |
| Portable hydrogen fuel cell unit to provide green, sustainable power to Honolulu port Posted: 25 Feb 2014 07:09 AM PST Clean hydrogen power that's expected to lower emissions and reduce energy consumption will be coming to the Port of Honolulu in 2015 after the completion of a new fuel cell technology demonstration, one that could lead to a commercial technology for ports worldwide.  |
| Success in generating skyrmion molecules and driving them under low current density Posted: 24 Feb 2014 05:47 PM PST Scientists have succeeded for the first time in generating and visualizing electron spin vortex state "skyrmion molecules" with topological charge 2 within a thin film of "La1+2xSr2-2xMn2O7," a layered manganese oxide which is a ferromagnetic material with uniaxial anisotropy.  |
| Pinwheel 'living' crystals and the origin of life Posted: 24 Feb 2014 02:17 PM PST Simply making nanoparticles spin coaxes them to arrange themselves into what researchers call 'living rotating crystals' that could serve as a nanopump. They may also, incidentally, shed light on the origin of life itself. The researchers refer to the crystals as 'living' because they, in a sense, take on a life of their own from very simple rules.  |
| Posted: 24 Feb 2014 02:14 PM PST A low-cost urine test amplifies signals from growing tumors to detect disease. Cancer rates in developing nations have climbed sharply in recent years, and now account for 70 percent of cancer mortality worldwide. Early detection has been proven to improve outcomes, but screening approaches such as mammograms and colonoscopy, used in the developed world, are too costly to be implemented in settings with little medical infrastructure. To address this gap, engineers have developed a simple, cheap, paper test that could improve diagnosis rates and help people get treated earlier. The diagnostic, which works much like a pregnancy test, could reveal within minutes, based on a urine sample, whether a person has cancer. This approach has helped detect infectious diseases, and the new technology allows noncommunicable diseases to be detected using the same strategy.  |
| Faster tumor analysis software developed, speeds cancer discoveries Posted: 24 Feb 2014 02:13 PM PST Researchers have fashioned a new key to unlocking the secrets of the human genome. The Binary Indexing Mapping Algorithm, version 3 (BIMA V3) is a freely available computer algorithm that identifies alterations in tumor genomes up to 20 times faster and with 25 percent greater accuracy than other popular genomic alignment programs. "BIMA allows us to evaluate tumor genomes in a fraction of the time it takes many popular technologies," says the senior author of the paper. "We believe this tool will lead to a better understanding of tumor genomics, and ultimately better therapy for patients with cancer."  |
| Scientists complete the top quark puzzle Posted: 24 Feb 2014 11:04 AM PST Researchers on the two main Tevatron experiments, CDF and DZero, have discovered the final predicted way of producing top quarks. Scientists have observed one of the rarest methods of producing the elementary particle -- creating a single top quark through the weak nuclear force, in what is called the "s-channel."  |
| Posted: 24 Feb 2014 10:31 AM PST Researchers have controlled the conducting/insulating phases of ultra-thin films of Mott materials by applying an epitaxial strain to the crystal lattice. This is an important step on the road to Mottronics.  |
| In the eye of a chicken, a new state of matter comes into view Posted: 24 Feb 2014 09:42 AM PST Along with eggs, soup and rubber toys, the list of the chicken's most lasting legacies may eventually include advanced materials, according to scientists. The researchers report that the unusual arrangement of cells in a chicken's eye constitutes the first known biological occurrence of a potentially new state of matter known as 'disordered hyperuniformity,' which has been shown to have unique physical properties.  |
| Fast, effective mechanism to combat an aggressive cancer Posted: 24 Feb 2014 09:41 AM PST A new strategy to tackle an aggressive subtype of ovarian cancer using a new nanoscale drug-delivery system designed to target specific cancer cells has been developed. A research team has devised a cluster of nanoparticles called gagomers, made of fats and coated with a kind of polysugar. When filled with chemotherapy drugs, these clusters accumulate in tumors, producing dramatically therapeutic benefits. The objective of the research is two-fold: to provide a specific target for anti-cancer drugs, and to reduce the toxic side effects of anti-cancer therapies.  |
| New technique promises cheaper second-generation biofuel for cars Posted: 24 Feb 2014 09:41 AM PST Producing second-generation biofuel from dead plant tissue is environmentally friendly -- but it is also expensive because the process, as used today, needs expensive enzymes, and large companies dominate this market. Now scientists have a new technique that avoids the expensive enzymes. The production of second generation biofuels thus becomes cheaper, probably attracting many more producers and competition, and this may finally bring the price down.  |
| New biological scaffold offers promising foundation for engineered tissues Posted: 24 Feb 2014 09:38 AM PST Engineered tissues like the ones used to create artificial skin need a scaffold for cells to grow on. Now a team of researchers has coaxed cells called fibroblasts into creating a scaffold that mimics the body's own internal matrix, and in early tests, cells seem happy to set up residence, and had the added advantage of provoking a very low immune response.  |
| Posted: 24 Feb 2014 09:37 AM PST Physicists have found that platinum nanoparticles limit their size and organize into specific patterns when bonded to freestanding graphene. While displaying this behavior, the bonded platinum nanoparticles maintain an effective surface area functioning as a catalyst for chemical reactions, a discovery that could lower the production costs of platinum-catalyzed fuel cells.  |
| 3D model of child's heart helps surgeons save life Posted: 24 Feb 2014 09:37 AM PST Experts created a 3D model of a child's heart using images from a CT scan. The model helped doctors figure out the best approach to fix the child's multiple heart defects. The result of the Rapid Prototyping Center's work was a model heart 1.5 times the size of the child's. It was built in three pieces using a flexible filament and required about 20 machine hours -- and only about $600 -- to make, and was a "game changer" for the planning of a complex surgery, the surgeon involved said.  |
| Sugarcane converted to cold-tolerant, oil-producing crop Posted: 24 Feb 2014 08:02 AM PST A multi-institutional team reports that it can increase sugarcane's geographic range, boost its photosynthetic rate by 30 percent and turn it into an oil-producing crop for biodiesel production.  |
| Posted: 24 Feb 2014 08:02 AM PST A new scanning technique can see changes in metabolism that have until now remained invisible, while they are taking place. The research is a world-first and stems from a study of the correlation between oxygen level and the development of kidney disease in rats with and without diabetes. Though advanced hyperpolarization technique has initially been utilized to document metabolic changes in the kidneys, it will be possible to use it to gain a greater insight into the development of diseases in all of the body's organs.  |
| Researchers 'design for failure' with model material Posted: 24 Feb 2014 08:01 AM PST Researchers have devised a method to study stress at the macro and micro scales at the same time, using a model system in which microscopic particles stand in for molecules. This method has allowed the researchers to demonstrate an unusual hybrid behavior in their model material: a reversible rearrangement of its particles that nevertheless has the characteristics of plastic deformation on the macroscale.  |
| Microanalysis technique makes the most of small nanoparticle samples Posted: 24 Feb 2014 08:01 AM PST Sensitive chemical analyses of minute samples of nanoparticles can be done by, essentially, roasting them on top of a quartz crystal, new research demonstrates. Chemical analysis of nanoparticles is a challenging task, and not just because they're small. They're also complicated. The technique, 'microscale thermogravimetric analysis,' holds promise for studying nanomaterials in biology and the environment, where sample sizes often are quite small and larger-scale analysis won't work.  |
| Light used to quickly, easily measure blood's clotting properties Posted: 24 Feb 2014 08:00 AM PST Defective blood coagulation is one of the leading causes of preventable death in patients who have suffered trauma or undergone surgery. Now, a new optical device requires only a few drops of blood and a few minutes to measure the key coagulation parameters that can guide medical decisions, like how much blood to transfuse or what doses of anticoagulant drugs to administer. The new device has the potential to provide rapid test results for patients in operating suites, emergency departments, and intensive care units, or for any patient with a coagulation disorder.  |
| New device measures nanoparticle travel in wells Posted: 24 Feb 2014 08:00 AM PST A tabletop device recently invented can tell how efficiently a nanoparticle would travel through a well and may provide a wealth of information for oil and gas producers. The device gathers data on how tracers -- microscopic particles that can be pumped into and recovered from wells -- move through deep rock formations that have been opened by hydraulic fracturing. Drilling companies use fracturing to pump oil and gas from previously unreachable reservoirs. Fluids are pumped into a wellbore under high pressure to fracture rocks, and materials called "proppants," like sand or ceramic, hold the fractures open. But currently the companies struggle to know which insertion wells -- where fluids are pumped in -- are connected to the production wells where oil and gas are pumped out.  |
| Revealing secrets of exploding clusters Posted: 24 Feb 2014 07:59 AM PST The investigation of cluster explosion dynamics under intense extreme-ultraviolet (XUV) pulses has so far been limited to large scale facilities like free-electron lasers. In a recent publication, it was shown that the research on clusters is now also possible with intense XUV pulses obtained in a laboratory-scale environment with a newly developed light source that makes use of the high-order harmonic generation process. For the first time, the formation of high-lying Rydberg atoms by electron-ion recombination during the cluster expansion initially triggered by an intense XUV pulse was identified, giving new insight into the cluster dissociation process.  |
| New process uses recyclable catalyst to create porous materials Posted: 24 Feb 2014 05:17 AM PST Chemists have discovered a new way of making monomodal mesoporous metal oxides that allows for greater manufacturing controls and has significantly broader applications than the longtime industry standard.  |
| Computerized checklist reduces type of hospital infection, study finds Posted: 24 Feb 2014 05:16 AM PST A computerized safety checklist that automatically pulls information from patients' electronic medical records was associated with a threefold drop in rates of one serious type of hospital-acquired infection, according to a study. The study targeted bloodstream infections that begin in central lines -- catheters inserted into major veins. The automated checklist, and a dashboard-style interface used to interact with it, made it fast and easy for caregivers to follow national guidelines for keeping patients' central lines infection-free.  |
| Creating animated characters outdoors Posted: 24 Feb 2014 05:11 AM PST So far, film studios have had to put in huge amounts of effort to set monsters, superheroes, fairies or other virtual characters into real feature film scenes. Within the so-called motion capturing process, real actors wear skintight suits with markers on them. These suits reflect infrared light that is emitted and captured by special cameras. Subsequent to this, the movements of the actors are rendered with the aid of software into animated characters. Now, researchers in Germany have developed a method that works without markers. It immediately transfers actors' movements to the virtual characters in near real-time.  |
| Stimulation glove for stroke patients helps improve tactile perception, motor function Posted: 24 Feb 2014 05:10 AM PST A glove that uses weak electrical pulses to stimulate the nerve fibers that connect the hands with the brain has been developed and been used to help recovery of patients who have suffered a stroke by using passive stimulation that improves sense of touch and motor skills. If applied regularly, this passive stimulation results in an improvement of both tactile perception and motor function.  |
| Scientific scrutiny authenticates 1860s Huddersfield pistol using 3-D micro CT scanning Posted: 24 Feb 2014 05:10 AM PST Scientists have carried out 3-D micro CT scanning on a pistol from the 1860s. The round-framed pocket pistol was scrutinized in a special laboratory equipped with advanced technology.  |
| Astronomers spot record-breaking lunar impact Posted: 24 Feb 2014 05:10 AM PST A meteorite with the mass of a small car crashed into the Moon last September, according to Spanish astronomers. The impact, the biggest seen to date, produced a bright flash and would have been easy to spot from Earth.  |
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