ScienceDaily: Top Technology News

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• Potential speed bump in quantum computing eliminated: Global symmetry not required for fast quantum search
• Understanding biomechanics behind amazing ant strength opens door to advanced robotics
• Online game helps doctors improve patients' blood pressure faster
• Professors' super waterproof surfaces cause water to bounce like a ball
• Engineers build world's smallest, fastest nanomotor: Can fit inside a single cell
• Is there really cash in your company's trash?
• Slip knot key to creating world's toughest fiber
• Websites: Reading privacy policy lowers trust
• Busting rust with light: New technique safely penetrates top coat for perfect paint job
• Water caged in buckyballs: Work on 'spin isomer conversion' may enhance magnetic resonance imaging
• Better than polygraphs: Brain scanning for evidence
• New lithium battery created
• Mars mineral could be linked to microbes
• Power plant emissions verified remotely at Four Corners sites, largest point source pollution in U.S.
• Particles near absolute zero do not break the laws of physics after all
• Improved computer simulations enable better calculation of interfacial tension
• Scientists calculate nuclear structures with high level of accuracy
• Planting the 'seeds' of solar technology in the home
• Electric vehicles: Mix of quick and conventional charging protects the battery
• Little exercise, heavy use of electronic media constitute a significant health risk for children
• Optical brain scanner goes where other brain scanners can't
• Improved gloves enhance safety of first responders

Potential speed bump in quantum computing eliminated: Global symmetry not required for fast quantum search Posted: 20 May 2014 11:24 AM PDT A quantum particle can search for an item in an unsorted 'database' by jumping from one item to another in superposition, and it does so faster than a classical computer ever could, assuming that the particle can directly hop from any item to any other, in a structure with global symmetry. Other structures were thought to slow down the search. Now researchers have used a physics technique in a novel way to prove that global symmetry is not required for a sped up search.

Understanding biomechanics behind amazing ant strength opens door to advanced robotics Posted: 20 May 2014 10:32 AM PDT A recent study into the biomechanics of the necks of ants -- a common insect that can amazingly lift objects many times heavier than its own body -- might unlock one of nature's little mysteries and, quite possibly, open the door to advancements in robotic engineering.

Online game helps doctors improve patients' blood pressure faster Posted: 20 May 2014 10:32 AM PDT Patients whose doctors and nurses received high blood pressure education in a competitive online game reached their blood pressure goals sooner. The game of emailed questions used 'spaced education,' which sends new information in regular intervals and reinforces the lessons over time. Researchers found that patients of clinicians playing the game lowered their blood pressure to their target level in 142 days compared to 148 days for those who read an online posting.

Professors' super waterproof surfaces cause water to bounce like a ball Posted: 20 May 2014 09:34 AM PDT Engineers have spent decades studying super-hydrophobic surfaces because of the plethora of real-life applications. And while some of this research has resulted in commercial products that keep shoes dry or prevent oil from building up on bolts, scientists are also aiming to uncovering characteristics that might lead to large-scale solutions for society.

Engineers build world's smallest, fastest nanomotor: Can fit inside a single cell Posted: 20 May 2014 09:34 AM PDT Engineers have built the fastest, smallest and longest-running nanomotor to date. The nanomotor is capable of drug delivery on a nanoscale. One day, nanomotors could lead to the development of tiny devices that seek out and treat cancer cells.

Is there really cash in your company's trash? Posted: 20 May 2014 09:34 AM PDT One company's trash can be another's treasure. Take Marmite. Made from a by-product of commercial beer production, the yeast-based spread has topped toast throughout the Commonwealth for decades. By recuperating the waste product from one company, another was able to thrive.

Slip knot key to creating world's toughest fiber Posted: 20 May 2014 09:01 AM PDT A new way of making super tough fibers could be realized by a simple knot, according to new research from a materials scientist. A new article suggests the new method could make ordinary polymers -- large molecules with repeating units -- reach unprecedented toughness by adding a knot to absorb additional energy.

Websites: Reading privacy policy lowers trust Posted: 20 May 2014 09:01 AM PDT Website privacy policies are almost obligatory for many online services, but for anyone who reads these often unwieldy documents, trust in the provider is more commonly reduced than gained, according to researchers.

Busting rust with light: New technique safely penetrates top coat for perfect paint job Posted: 20 May 2014 09:00 AM PDT To keep your new car looking sleek and shiny for years, factories need to make certain that the coats of paint on it are applied properly. But ensuring that every coat of paint -- whether it is on a car or anything else -- is of uniform thickness and quality is not easy. Now researchers have developed a new way to measure the thickness of paint layers and the size of particles embedded inside.

Water caged in buckyballs: Work on 'spin isomer conversion' may enhance magnetic resonance imaging Posted: 20 May 2014 08:59 AM PDT A research team describes how water molecules 'caged' in fullerene spheres ('buckyballs') are providing a deeper insight into spin isomers -- varieties of a molecule that differ in their nuclear spin. The results of this work may one day help enhance the analytical and diagnostic power of nuclear magnetic resonance and magnetic resonance imaging.

Better than polygraphs: Brain scanning for evidence Posted: 20 May 2014 08:57 AM PDT If conventional lie detector machines, polygraphs, have been endlessly debunked and shown not to provide admissible nor even valid evidence, then the 21st Century tool of choice for reading the minds of witnesses and putative criminals may well be the brain scanner. More specifically, the kind of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) that can seemingly probe our inner selves and reveal the flow of blood in the different regions of the brain that light up when we lie.

New lithium battery created Posted: 20 May 2014 08:55 AM PDT A team of researchers has created a new type of lithium ion conductor for future batteries that could be the basis for a whole new generation of solid-state batteries. It uses rock salt Lithium Borohydride (LiBH4), a well-known agent in organic chemistry laboratories that has been considered for batteries before, but up to now has only worked at high temperatures or pressures.

Mars mineral could be linked to microbes Posted: 20 May 2014 07:05 AM PDT Scientists have discovered that living organisms on Earth were capable of making a mineral that may also be found on Mars. Scientists had believed deposits of the clay-mineral stevensite could only be formed in harsh conditions like volcanic lava and hot alkali lakes. However researchers have now found living microbes create an environment that allows stevensite to form, raising new questions about the stevensite found on Mars.

Power plant emissions verified remotely at Four Corners sites, largest point source pollution in U.S. Posted: 20 May 2014 07:05 AM PDT Air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions from two coal-fired power plants in the Four Corners area of northwest New Mexico, the largest point source of pollution in America, were measured remotely. The study is the first to show that space-based techniques can successfully verify international regulations on fossil energy emissions.

Particles near absolute zero do not break the laws of physics after all Posted: 20 May 2014 07:03 AM PDT A change of models demystifies anomalous particle behavior at very low temperatures, supporting that the third law of thermodynamics cannot be violated. In theory, the laws of physics are absolute. However, when it comes to the laws of thermodynamics —- the science that studies how heat and temperature relate to energy -— there are times where they no longer seem to apply.

Improved computer simulations enable better calculation of interfacial tension Posted: 20 May 2014 06:52 AM PDT Researchers have identified a novel mechanisms of logarithmic finite-size corrections relevant to the determination of interfacial tension.

Scientists calculate nuclear structures with high level of accuracy Posted: 20 May 2014 06:52 AM PDT Scientists have determined the most accurate means of calculating nuclear structures yet known. To do so, they used more than 8000 neutron-proton and proton-proton experimental scattering data, measured between 1950 and 2013 in particle accelerators all over the world.

Planting the 'seeds' of solar technology in the home Posted: 20 May 2014 06:49 AM PDT In an effort to better understand what persuades people to buy photovoltaic (PV) systems for their homes, researchers are gathering data on consumer motivations that can feed sophisticated computer models and thus lead to greater use of solar energy.

Electric vehicles: Mix of quick and conventional charging protects the battery Posted: 20 May 2014 06:34 AM PDT Interference-free charging is a major prerequisite for the economically efficient use of electric vehicles. After about 120,000 km driven electrically, a new project has demonstrated that a combination of quick and conventional charging is ideal for the battery performance: The controlled mix ensures a high utilization rate of the vehicles and protects the battery.

Little exercise, heavy use of electronic media constitute a significant health risk for children Posted: 20 May 2014 06:34 AM PDT Low levels of physical activity combined with heavy use of electronic media and sedentary behavior are linked to an increased risk for type 2 diabetes and vascular diseases already in 6-8 year-old children, a study concludes. The study showed that low levels of physical activity - and unstructured physical activity in particular - are linked to increased risk factors serious health problems. Heavy use of electronic media, and especially watching too much TV and videos, was linked to higher levels of risk factors in children.

Optical brain scanner goes where other brain scanners can't Posted: 19 May 2014 11:25 AM PDT A brain-scanning technology that tracks what the brain is doing by shining dozens of tiny LED lights on the head has been advanced by new research. The improvement avoids the radiation exposure and bulky magnets the others require. The new optical approach to brain scanning is ideally suited for children and for patients with electronic implants, such as pacemakers, cochlear implants and deep brain stimulators (used to treat Parkinson's disease).

Improved gloves enhance safety of first responders Posted: 16 May 2014 05:27 PM PDT New Structure Glove addresses fit, form, and dexterity issues. Firefighters need gloves in the field that fit properly, enable dexterity, and aren't bulky, while still meeting the heat and water resistance criteria. If structure gloves become soggy and uncomfortable, a firefighter may need to remove them in order to complete tasks. This exposes their hands to the dangerous conditions of a fire or other emergency environment. Designed using current technology and improved materials, the Improved Structure Firefighting Glove is lightweight, provides improved fit and form, and allows for more precise movements.

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