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Saturday, March 15, 2014

ScienceDaily: Top Technology News

ScienceDaily: Top Technology News


Brighter inks, without pigment: Nanostructured capsules could bring about paints and electronic displays that never fade

Posted: 14 Mar 2014 01:42 PM PDT

Encapsulated nanoparticles can create bright colors by amplifying particular wavelengths of light. These microcapsules could offer a new, non-toxic and long-lasting source of color for paints and electronic displays. Unlike color that we usually think of, which arises from paints and dyes absorbing certain wavelengths of light and reflecting the remainder, structural color is created when an object's very nanostructure amplifies a specific wavelength.

Do you know whether this story was written by a human?

Posted: 14 Mar 2014 01:41 PM PDT

A recent study investigates how readers perceive computer-generated news articles.  The advent of new technologies has always spurred questions about changes in journalism -- how it is produced and consumed. A recent development which has come to the fore in the digital world is software-generated content. A recent article investigates how readers perceive automatically produced news articles vs. articles which have been written by a journalist.

Big data tackles tiny molecular machines

Posted: 14 Mar 2014 08:15 AM PDT

Open, feed, cut. Such is the humdrum life of a motor molecule that eats and excretes damaged proteins and turns them into harmless peptides for disposal. The why is obvious: Without these trash bins, the Escherichia coli bacteria they serve would die. And thanks to new research, the how is becoming clearer. Researchers have combined genetic and structural data to begin to solve one of the most compelling mysteries in biology: how proteins perform the regulatory mechanisms in cells upon which life depends.

Atomically thick metal membranes

Posted: 14 Mar 2014 08:14 AM PDT

For the first time researchers have shown that freestanding metal membranes consisting of a single layer of atoms can be stable under ambient conditions. The success and promise of atomically thin carbon, in which carbon atoms are arranged in a honeycomb lattice, also known as graphene has triggered enormous enthusiasm for other two dimensional materials, for example, hexagonal boron nitride and molybdenum sulphide. These materials share a common structural aspect, namely, they are layered materials that one can think of as individual atomic planes that can be pulled away from their bulk 3D structure.

An experiment recreates the crust of Saturn's moon Europa

Posted: 14 Mar 2014 06:36 AM PDT

Water, salts and gases dissolved in the huge ocean that scientists believe could exist below Europa´s icy crust can rise to the surface generating the enigmatic geological formations associated to red-tinged materials that can be seen on this Jupiter's satellite. This is confirmed by the experiment carried out in the laboratory with water, carbon dioxide and magnesium sulfate.

Emotion detectors could make driving safer

Posted: 13 Mar 2014 02:30 PM PDT

Technology now allows us to read facial expressions and identify which of the seven universal emotions a person is feeling: fear, anger, joy, sadness, disgust, surprise, or suspicion. This is very useful in video game development, medicine, marketing, and, perhaps less obviously, in driver safety. We know that in addition to fatigue, the emotional state of the driver is a risk factor.

Nanoscale optical switch breaks miniaturization barrier

Posted: 13 Mar 2014 02:29 PM PDT

An ultra-fast and ultra-small optical switch has been invented that could advance the day when photons replace electrons in the innards of consumer products ranging from cell phones to automobiles. The new optical device can turn on and off trillions of times per second. It consists of individual switches that are only one five-hundredths the width of a human hair (200 nanometers) in diameter. This size is much smaller than the current generation of optical switches and it easily breaks one of the major technical barriers to the spread of electronic devices that detect and control light: miniaturizing the size of ultrafast optical switches.

Facebook feelings are contagious, study shows

Posted: 12 Mar 2014 03:19 PM PDT

Emotions can spread in an online social network, a study shows. The study also demonstrated that positive emotions spread more than negative. The researchers believe their findings have widespread implications. Emotions, they write, "might ripple through social networks to generate large-scale synchrony that gives rise to clusters of happy and unhappy individuals." And with ever more avenues for expression in a digitally connected world, they write, "we may see greater spikes in global emotion that could generate increased volatility in everything from political systems to financial markets."

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