ScienceDaily: Top Technology News

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• New infrared technique aims to remotely detect dangerous materials
• Ground-improvement methods might protect against earthquakes
• Preterm children at increased risk of having math problems
• Now even more likely that there are particles smaller than Higgs out there
• Mathematical equation that explains the behavior of nanofoams
• Race against time: Climate change and the Olympic Winter Games
• Can you drive fast enough to avoid being clocked by speed cameras?
• Rapid materials testing in 3-D
• Switching an antibiotic on and off with light
• It looks like rubber but isn't: What goes on in a concentrated solution of circular polymers?
• Playing as black: Avatar race affects white video game players
• Anti-counterfeit 'fingerprints' made from silver nanowires
• Parents should try to find middle ground to keep teens safe online
• Web Tool Successfully Measures Farms’ Water Footprint

New infrared technique aims to remotely detect dangerous materials Posted: 21 Mar 2014 07:17 AM PDT A new method to detect and describe potentially dangerous materials from a distance has been proposed in a new study. The approach directly separates the incoming signals to provide the material's unique signature for each pixel of the image. The resulting information is more akin to measuring the material with a spectrometer in a lab.

Ground-improvement methods might protect against earthquakes Posted: 21 Mar 2014 07:17 AM PDT Researchers are developing ground-improvement methods to help increase the resilience of homes and low-rise structures built on top of soils prone to liquefaction during strong earthquakes. Findings will help improve the safety of structures in Christchurch and the Canterbury region in New Zealand, which were devastated in 2010 and 2011 by a series of powerful earthquakes. Parts of Christchurch were severely affected by liquefaction, in which water-saturated soil temporarily becomes liquid-like and often flows to the surface creating sand boils.

Preterm children at increased risk of having math problems Posted: 21 Mar 2014 06:53 AM PDT Preterm children are at an increased risk of having general cognitive and mathematic problems, research has concluded. "Teachers should be aware of these children's problems and need to work on ways of math instruction that help preterm children deal with the high cognitive workload and integration of information required for mathematic tasks in school," says a co-author.

Now even more likely that there are particles smaller than Higgs out there Posted: 21 Mar 2014 06:53 AM PDT Nobody has seen them yet; particles that are smaller than the Higgs particle. However theories predict their existence, and now the most important of these theories have been critically tested. The result: The existence of the yet unseen particles is now more likely than ever.

Mathematical equation that explains the behavior of nanofoams Posted: 21 Mar 2014 06:50 AM PDT A research study has discovered that nanometric-size foam structures follow the same universal laws as does soap lather: small bubbles disappear in favor of the larger ones. Scientists reached this conclusion after producing and characterizing nanofoam formed by ion radiation on a silicon surface.

Race against time: Climate change and the Olympic Winter Games Posted: 21 Mar 2014 06:50 AM PDT Time may be running out for some Olympic Winter Games host locations – including the 2014 host, Sochi (Russia) – according to an article. Researchers have analyzed two climatic indicators – minimum temperature of ≤0°C and snow depth of ≥30cm – both from a historical point of view and using future projections. They find that only 10 of the 19 previous host locations for the Winter Games are expected to remain suitable in the 2050s, and as few as 6 in the 2080s. This will have a major impact on where – and how – future Winter Games can be staged.

Can you drive fast enough to avoid being clocked by speed cameras? Posted: 21 Mar 2014 06:49 AM PDT Anyone wanting to avoid being caught out by speed cameras can do so very simply -- by obeying the speed limits. But physics students have suggested that -- theoretically, at least -- there may also be another way of avoiding getting a ticket. A group of students found that drivers could escape detection by driving so fast that their number plates would appear invisible to speed cameras. But any drivers tempted to give this a try next time they are on the motorway should be warned; the car would need to be traveling at 119 million miles per hour to make the number plate invisible. This speed equates to one sixth of the speed of light -- and no human-made vehicle is capable of going anywhere near this speed.

Rapid materials testing in 3-D Posted: 21 Mar 2014 06:48 AM PDT Ultrasound is a proven technology in components testing, but until now evaluating the data has always been quite a time-consuming process. Researchers have developed an optimized ultrasonic testing solution – a method for testing materials quickly and reliably with the help of 3D images.

Switching an antibiotic on and off with light Posted: 21 Mar 2014 06:48 AM PDT An antibiotic, whose biological activity can be controlled with light, has been produced by researchers. Thanks to the robust diarylethene photoswitch, the antimicrobial effect of the peptide mimetic can be applied in a spatially and temporally specific manner. This might open up new options for the treatment of local infections, as side effects are reduced.

It looks like rubber but isn't: What goes on in a concentrated solution of circular polymers? Posted: 21 Mar 2014 06:48 AM PDT The experimental and numerical study of the behavior of polymers in concentrated solutions is a line of research that is still highly active. In the past, it enabled us to understand why materials like rubber have certain elastic properties. A distinctive feature of these systems is that the long "chained" molecules composing them tend to penetrate each other and interweave at their ends forming very durable bonds that make them always return to their initial conformation whenever they are "stretched".

Playing as black: Avatar race affects white video game players Posted: 21 Mar 2014 06:47 AM PDT What happens when white video game players see themselves as black characters in a violent game? A new study suggests some disturbing answers. It makes the white players act more aggressively after the game is over, have stronger explicit negative attitudes toward blacks and display stronger implicit attitudes linking blacks to weapons.

Anti-counterfeit 'fingerprints' made from silver nanowires Posted: 20 Mar 2014 06:47 PM PDT Unique patterns made from tiny, randomly scattered silver nanowires have been created by a group of researchers from South Korea in an attempt to authenticate goods and tackle the growing problem of counterfeiting.

Parents should try to find middle ground to keep teens safe online Posted: 20 Mar 2014 07:14 AM PDT Parents might take a lesson from Goldilocks and find a balanced approach to guide their teens in making moral, safe online decisions, according to researchers. In a study on parenting strategies and online adolescent safety, the researchers found evidence that suggests that parents should try to establish a middle ground between keeping their teens completely away from the internet not monitoring their online activities at all.

Web Tool Successfully Measures Farms’ Water Footprint Posted: 20 Mar 2014 07:05 AM PDT Enter some data into a computer and you'll find out how much water farms use. The global implications of this study include the consequences of water sent overseas. This includes water used to grow crops and commodities made from water. The WaterFootprint tool can help not just growers, but world water managers as well, the authors say.

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