ScienceDaily: Top Technology News

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• It's go time for LUX-Zeplin dark matter experiment
• Universal three-body relation: Physicists succeed in revealing the scaling behavior of exotic giant molecules
• New material puts a twist in light
• Looking back at the Jupiter crash 20 years later
• NASA rover's images show laser flash on Martian rock
• Rosetta spacecraft approaching twofold comet
• Getting a grip on robotic grasp: New wrist-mounted device augments the human hand with two robotic fingers
• Big data used to guide conservation efforts
• Revealed: The mystery behind starling flocks
• Nature's strongest glue comes unstuck
• More energy from a liter of biofuel
• Random nature of metastasis revealed by physicists
• 'Nanocamera' takes pictures at distances smaller than light's own wavelength
• Robot-assisted surgery for prostate cancer controls the disease for 10 years

It's go time for LUX-Zeplin dark matter experiment Posted: 18 Jul 2014 10:15 AM PDT From the physics labs at Yale University to the bottom of a played-out gold mine in South Dakota, a new generation of dark matter experiments is ready to commence. The go-ahead has been given to the Large Underground Xenon-Zeplin, a key experiment in the hunt for dark matter, the invisible substance that may make up much of the universe.

Universal three-body relation: Physicists succeed in revealing the scaling behavior of exotic giant molecules Posted: 18 Jul 2014 10:14 AM PDT When a two-body relation becomes a three-body relation, the behavior of the system changes and typically becomes more complex. While the basic physics of two interacting particles is well understood, the mathematical description of a three- or many-body system becomes increasingly difficult, such that calculating the dynamics can blast the capacities of even modern super computers. However, under certain conditions, the quantum mechanical three-body problem may have a universal scaling solution. The predictions of such a model have now been confirmed experimentally.

New material puts a twist in light Posted: 18 Jul 2014 08:04 AM PDT Scientists have uncovered the secret to twisting light at will. It is the latest step in the development of photonics, the faster, more compact and less carbon-hungry successor to electronics. A random find in the washing basket led the team to create the latest in a new breed of materials known as metamaterials. These artificial materials show extraordinary properties quite unlike natural materials.

Looking back at the Jupiter crash 20 years later Posted: 18 Jul 2014 07:30 AM PDT Twenty years ago, human and robotic eyes observed the first recorded impact between cosmic bodies in the solar system, as fragments of comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 slammed into the atmosphere of Jupiter. Between July 16 and July 22, 1994, space- and Earth-based assets managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, joined an armada of other NASA and international telescopes, straining to get a glimpse of the historic event.

NASA rover's images show laser flash on Martian rock Posted: 18 Jul 2014 07:22 AM PDT Flashes appear on a baseball-size Martian rock in a series of images taken Saturday, July 12 by the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) camera on the arm of NASA's Curiosity Mars Rover. The flashes occurred while the rover's Chemistry and Camera (ChemCam) instrument fired multiple laser shots to investigate the rock's composition.

Rosetta spacecraft approaching twofold comet Posted: 18 Jul 2014 07:20 AM PDT As the European Space Agency's spacecraft Rosetta is slowly approaching its destination, comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, the comet is again proving to be full of surprises. New images obtained by OSIRIS, the onboard scientific imaging system, confirm the body's peculiar shape hinted at in earlier pictures. Comet 67P is obviously different from other comets visited so far.

Getting a grip on robotic grasp: New wrist-mounted device augments the human hand with two robotic fingers Posted: 18 Jul 2014 06:57 AM PDT Twisting a screwdriver, removing a bottle cap, and peeling a banana are just a few simple tasks that are tricky to pull off single-handedly. Now a new wrist-mounted robot can provide a helping hand -- or rather, fingers. Researchers have developed a robot that enhances the grasping motion of the human hand.

Big data used to guide conservation efforts Posted: 18 Jul 2014 06:57 AM PDT Genetic studies have given us detailed information about the evolutionary relationships embodied in the Tree of Life, while newly digitized museum collections contain a wealth of information about species distribution. To date, however, these big data collections have not been applied to conservation efforts. Now researchers have created a model taking both distribution and relationships into account to identify lineages that need preservation, in particular rare endemics.

Revealed: The mystery behind starling flocks Posted: 18 Jul 2014 06:56 AM PDT The mystery behind the movements of flocking starlings could be explained by the areas of light and dark created as they fly, new research suggests. The research found that flocking starlings aim to maintain an optimum density at which they can gather data on their surroundings. This occurs when they can see light through the flock at many angles, a state known as marginal opacity. The subsequent pattern of light and dark, formed as the birds attempt to achieve the necessary density, is what provides vital information to individual birds within the flock.

Nature's strongest glue comes unstuck Posted: 18 Jul 2014 06:54 AM PDT Over a 150 years since it was first described by Darwin, scientists are finally uncovering the secrets behind the super strength of barnacle glue. Still far better than anything we have been able to develop synthetically, barnacle glue -- or cement -- sticks to any surface, under any conditions. But exactly how this superglue of superglues works has remained a mystery -- until now.

More energy from a liter of biofuel Posted: 18 Jul 2014 06:54 AM PDT Oil produced from biomass - such as wood chips or plant residues - seldom has the same quality and energy content as 'classical' crude oil. A new, simple catalyst improves the quality of this oil before it is even transported to the refinery.

Random nature of metastasis revealed by physicists Posted: 17 Jul 2014 06:22 PM PDT The spreading of a cancerous tumor from one part of the body to another may occur through pure chance instead of key genetic mutations, a new study has shown. Physicists have used a statistical model to show that the formation of a new secondary tumor -- commonly known as a metastasis -- could just as likely derive from "common" cancer cells that circulate in the bloodstream, as from "specialist" cancer cells.

'Nanocamera' takes pictures at distances smaller than light's own wavelength Posted: 17 Jul 2014 03:05 PM PDT Researchers have demonstrated that an array of novel gold, pillar-bowtie nanoantennas can be used like traditional photographic film to record light for distances that are much smaller than the wavelength of light. A standard optical microscope acts as a 'nanocamera' whereas the pillar-bowtie nanoantennas are the analogous film.

Robot-assisted surgery for prostate cancer controls the disease for 10 years Posted: 16 Jul 2014 12:11 PM PDT Robot-assisted surgery to remove cancerous prostate glands is effective in controlling the disease for 10 years, according to a new study. The study also suggested that traditional methods of measuring the severity and possible spread of the cancer together with molecular techniques might, with further research, help to create personalized, cost-effective treatment regimens for prostate cancer patients who undergo the surgical procedure.

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