ScienceDaily: Top Technology News

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• No-wait data centers: Data-transmission delays across server farms can be reducd by 99. 6 percent
• Sharpest map of Mars surface properties
• 70-foot-long, 52-ton concrete bridge survives series of simulated earthquakes
• Asteroid Vesta to reshape theories of planet formation
• Making a mental match: Pairing mechanical device with stroke patients
• Dispersant from Deepwater Horizon spill found to persist in the environment
• Efficient structures help build a sustainable future
• An anti-glare, anti-reflective display for mobile devices?
• Bubble wrap serves as sheet of tiny test tubes in resource-limited regions
• People in leadership positions may sacrifice privacy for security
• Improving tumor radiation therapy: When basic ions break DNA down
• Supercomputers reveal strange, stress-induced transformations in world's thinnest materials
• What do Google searches tell us about our climate change fears?
• Self-assembling nanoparticle could improve MRI scanning for cancer diagnosis
• NOAA's GOES-R satellite Magnetometer ready for spacecraft integration
• NASA's Van Allen Probes show how to accelerate electrons
• Smarter ads for smartphones: When they do and don't work

No-wait data centers: Data-transmission delays across server farms can be reducd by 99. 6 percent Posted: 16 Jul 2014 03:32 PM PDT Big websites usually maintain their own "data centers," banks of tens or even hundreds of thousands of servers, all passing data back and forth to field users' requests. Like any big, decentralized network, data centers are prone to congestion: Packets of data arriving at the same router at the same time are put in a queue, and if the queues get too long, packets can be delayed. Researchers have designed a new network-management system that, in experiments, reduced the average queue length of routers in a Facebook data center by 99.6 percent -- virtually doing away with queues.

Sharpest map of Mars surface properties Posted: 16 Jul 2014 11:13 AM PDT A heat-sensing camera has provided data to create the most detailed global map yet made of Martian surface properties. Surface properties tell geologists about the physical nature of a planet or moon's surface. Is a particular area coated with dust, and if so, how thick is it likely to be? Where are the outcrops of bedrock? How loose are the sediments that fill this crater or that valley? A map of surface properties lets scientists begin to answer questions such as these.

70-foot-long, 52-ton concrete bridge survives series of simulated earthquakes Posted: 16 Jul 2014 11:13 AM PDT A 70-foot-long, 52-ton concrete bridge survived a series of earthquakes in the first multiple-shake-table experiment in the University of Nevada, Reno's new Earthquake Engineering Lab, the newest addition to the world-renowned earthquake and seismic engineering facility.

Asteroid Vesta to reshape theories of planet formation Posted: 16 Jul 2014 10:16 AM PDT Researchers have a better understanding of the asteroid Vesta and its internal structure, thanks to numerical simulations and data from the space mission Dawn. Their findings question contemporary models of rocky planet formation, including that of Earth.

Making a mental match: Pairing mechanical device with stroke patients Posted: 16 Jul 2014 09:38 AM PDT A functional MRI-compatible hemiparesis rehab device that creates a long latency stretch reflex at the exact time as a brain signal has been developed by researchers. It is designed to assist stroke victims. "The device is designed to adapt to people whether they are hyper, normo or hyporeflexive," said one developer.

Dispersant from Deepwater Horizon spill found to persist in the environment Posted: 16 Jul 2014 09:34 AM PDT Dispersant compound DOSS, which decreases the size of oil droplets and hampers the formation of large oil slicks, remains associated with oil and can persist in the environment for up to four years, a study has demonstrated. The study examined samples collected from deep-sea corals and surrounding sediments collected in Dec. 2010 as well as oil-soaked sand patties found on coastal beaches since July 2010 to the present.

Efficient structures help build a sustainable future Posted: 16 Jul 2014 08:27 AM PDT Researchers have found that the selection of steel cable structural system for long spans has considerably less environmental impact than a steel truss system to achieve the same structural requirements, through the entire life cycle of the structure. "Thoughtful selection, by the architectural engineer, in the initial stages of the design process, can reduce environmental impact related to the construction process," said one author of the new study.

An anti-glare, anti-reflective display for mobile devices? Posted: 16 Jul 2014 08:27 AM PDT If you've ever tried to watch a video on a tablet on a sunny day, you know you have to tilt it at just the right angle to get rid of glare or invest in a special filter. But now scientists are reporting that they've developed a novel glass surface that reduces both glare and reflection, which continue to plague even the best mobile displays today.

Bubble wrap serves as sheet of tiny test tubes in resource-limited regions Posted: 16 Jul 2014 08:27 AM PDT Popping the blisters on the bubble wrap might be the most enjoyable thing about moving. But now, scientists propose a more productive way to reuse the popular packing material -- as a sheet of small, test tube-like containers for medical and environmental samples. Their report shows that analyses can take place right in the bubbles.

People in leadership positions may sacrifice privacy for security Posted: 16 Jul 2014 08:27 AM PDT People with higher job status may be more willing to compromise privacy for security reasons and also be more determined to carry out those decisions, according to researchers.

Improving tumor radiation therapy: When basic ions break DNA down Posted: 16 Jul 2014 07:17 AM PDT Scientists now have a better understanding of how short DNA strands decompose in microseconds. A research team found new fragmentation pathways that occur universally when DNA strands are exposed to metal ions from a family of alkaline and alkaline earth elements. These ions tend to replace protons in the DNA backbone and at the same time induce a reactive conformation leading more readily to fragmentation.

Supercomputers reveal strange, stress-induced transformations in world's thinnest materials Posted: 16 Jul 2014 06:57 AM PDT Interested in an ultra-fast, unbreakable, and flexible smart phone that recharges in a matter of seconds? Monolayer materials may make it possible. These atom-thin sheets -- including the famed super material graphene -- feature exceptional and untapped mechanical and electronic properties. But to fully exploit these atomically tailored wonder materials, scientists must pry free the secrets of how and why they bend and break under stress. Supercomputer simulations have revealed unexpected transitions in graphene and other promising super materials under strain.

What do Google searches tell us about our climate change fears? Posted: 16 Jul 2014 06:07 AM PDT Political ideology and education levels affect when people search for climate information, research indicates. Republicans search the net for information about the weather, climate change and global warming during extremely hot or cold spells. Democrats Google these terms when they experience changes in the average temperatures. These are some of the surprising findings from a study that tracked how the temperature fluctuations and rainfall that Americans experience daily in their own cities make them scour the Internet in search of information about climate change and global warming.

Self-assembling nanoparticle could improve MRI scanning for cancer diagnosis Posted: 16 Jul 2014 06:07 AM PDT A new self-assembling nanoparticle has been developed that targets tumors, to help doctors diagnose cancer earlier. The new nanoparticle boosts the effectiveness of MRI scanning by specifically seeking out receptors that are found in cancerous cells. The nanoparticle is coated with a special protein that looks for specific signals given off by tumors. When it finds one, it begins to interact with the cancerous cells; this interaction strips off the protein coating, causing the nanoparticle to self-assemble into a much larger particle so that it is more visible on the scan.

NOAA's GOES-R satellite Magnetometer ready for spacecraft integration Posted: 15 Jul 2014 06:43 PM PDT The Magnetometer instrument that will fly on NOAA's GOES-R satellite when it is launched in early 2016 has completed the development and testing phase and is ready to be integrated with the spacecraft.

NASA's Van Allen Probes show how to accelerate electrons Posted: 15 Jul 2014 06:43 PM PDT One of the great, unanswered questions for space weather scientists is just what creates two gigantic donuts of radiation surrounding Earth, called the Van Allen radiation belts. Recent data from the Van Allen Probes -- two nearly identical spacecraft that launched in 2012 -- address this question.

Smarter ads for smartphones: When they do and don't work Posted: 15 Jul 2014 11:27 AM PDT Brands spent $8.4 billion on mobile advertising in 2013, and that number is expected to quadruple to $36 billion by 2017, according to eMarketer. But do mobile display ads -- those tiny banner ads that pop up in your smartphone's web browser -- actually work? Researchers have found that, despite their size, mobile ads can have a big effect on consumers who are in the market for certain types of products.

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