ScienceDaily: Top Technology News

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• Bioprinting methods on 2-D surfaces to link 3-D cellular structures
• Understanding graphene's electrical properties on an atomic level
• Transiting exoplanet with longest known year: 704 Earth days
• Chemists eye improved thin films with metal substitution
• Carbyne morphs when stretched: Calculations show carbon-atom chain would go metal to semiconductor
• More than glitter: How gold nanoparticles easily penetrate cells, making them useful for delivering drugs
• Replacing coal, oil with natural gas will not help fight global warming, expert argues
• Genes that contribute to radiation resistance identified
• Seals forage at offshore wind farms
• Philosopher uses game theory to understand how words, actions acquire meaning
• Mysterious dance of dwarf galaxies may force a cosmic rethink
• Human platelets successfully generated using next-generation bioreactor
• New drug against malaria effective: Uses synchrotron light
• Fires are major cause of wind farm failure, according to new research
• Cell membrane proteins give up their secrets
• Fair cake cutting gets its own algorithm

Bioprinting methods on 2-D surfaces to link 3-D cellular structures Posted: 21 Jul 2014 12:19 PM PDT New research focuses on the development of a novel, matrix-free method for generating 3-D cell spheroids that are combining knowledge from bioprinting methods on 2-D surfaces to link 3-D cellular structures.

Understanding graphene's electrical properties on an atomic level Posted: 21 Jul 2014 12:19 PM PDT For the first time, researchers have used a cutting-edge microscope to study the relationship between the atomic geometry of a ribbon of graphene and its electrical properties.

Transiting exoplanet with longest known year: 704 Earth days Posted: 21 Jul 2014 11:22 AM PDT Astronomers have discovered a transiting exoplanet with the longest known year. Kepler-421b circles its star once every 704 days. In comparison, Mars orbits our Sun once every 780 days. Most of the 1,800-plus exoplanets discovered to date are much closer to their stars and have much shorter orbital periods.

Chemists eye improved thin films with metal substitution Posted: 21 Jul 2014 10:20 AM PDT The yield so far is small, but chemists have developed a low-energy, solution-based mineral substitution process to make a precursor to transparent thin films that could find use in electronics and alternative energy devices.

Carbyne morphs when stretched: Calculations show carbon-atom chain would go metal to semiconductor Posted: 21 Jul 2014 09:40 AM PDT Applying just the right amount of tension to a chain of carbon atoms can turn it from a metallic conductor to an insulator. The research has implications for mechanically activated nanoscale electronics and optics.

More than glitter: How gold nanoparticles easily penetrate cells, making them useful for delivering drugs Posted: 21 Jul 2014 09:39 AM PDT A special class of tiny gold particles can easily slip through cell membranes, making them good candidates to deliver drugs directly to target cells. Scientists can now explain how gold nanoparticles easily penetrate cells, making them useful for delivering drugs.

Replacing coal, oil with natural gas will not help fight global warming, expert argues Posted: 21 Jul 2014 09:39 AM PDT Both shale gas and conventional natural gas have a larger greenhouse gas footprint than do coal or oil, especially for the primary uses of residential and commercial heating. "While emissions of carbon dioxide are less from natural gas than from coal and oil, methane emissions are far greater. Methane is such a potent greenhouse gas that these emissions make natural gas a dangerous fuel from the standpoint of global warming over the next several decades," said the author of a new article.

Genes that contribute to radiation resistance identified Posted: 21 Jul 2014 09:38 AM PDT Forty-six genes in Escherichia coli have been discovered that are necessary for its survival at exceptionally high levels of radiation, researchers report in a new article. "The research has revealed new pathways of cellular self-repair, including DNA pathways that in humans that may help protect us from cancer," says a corresponding author.

Seals forage at offshore wind farms Posted: 21 Jul 2014 09:38 AM PDT By using sophisticated GPS tracking to monitor seals' every movement, researchers have shown for the first time that some individual seals are repeatedly drawn to offshore wind farms and pipelines. Those human-made structures probably serve as artificial reefs and attractive hunting grounds, according to a study.

Philosopher uses game theory to understand how words, actions acquire meaning Posted: 21 Jul 2014 09:37 AM PDT Why does the word "dog" have meaning? If you say "dog" to a friend, why does your friend understand you? A philosopher aims to address these types of questions in his latest research, which focuses on long-standing philosophical questions about semantic meaning. Philosophers and a mathematician are collaborating to use game theory to analyze communication and how it acquires meaning.

Mysterious dance of dwarf galaxies may force a cosmic rethink Posted: 21 Jul 2014 07:04 AM PDT The discovery that many small galaxies throughout the universe do not 'swarm' around larger ones like bees do but 'dance' in orderly disc-shaped orbits is a challenge to our understanding of how the universe formed and evolved. The researchers believe the answer may be hidden in some currently unknown physical process that governs how gas flows in the universe, although, as yet, there is no obvious mechanism that can guide dwarf galaxies into narrow planes.

Human platelets successfully generated using next-generation bioreactor Posted: 21 Jul 2014 07:03 AM PDT A scalable, next-generation platelet bioreactor has been created to generate fully functional human platelets in vitro. The work is a major biomedical advancement that will help address blood transfusion needs worldwide.

New drug against malaria effective: Uses synchrotron light Posted: 21 Jul 2014 07:01 AM PDT The CD27 drug is a true alternative against malaria, researchers now report. They have analyzed the crystalline structure of the DNA with the drug by performing X-ray diffraction experiments at the ALBA synchrotron.

Fires are major cause of wind farm failure, according to new research Posted: 16 Jul 2014 04:46 PM PDT Fire is the second leading cause of accidents in wind turbines, after blade failure, according to research. Wind farming is one of the leading industries in the renewable energy sector. However, the industry faces a number of challenges, such as opposition by wind farm lobbyists. Today's research suggests that incidents of wind turbines catching fire are a big problem that is not currently being fully reported.

Cell membrane proteins give up their secrets Posted: 16 Jul 2014 01:59 PM PDT Scientists have succeeded in analyzing transmembrane proteins in the same way they study how globular proteins fold. The results should open up new possibilities for researchers who study proteins for their implications in disease and drug design. Membrane proteins are critical to such functions as photosynthesis and vision, among many others. They can also serve as a cell's gatekeepers by deciding what may pass through, and also as its gates by helping transport nourishment from the outside and waste from the inside.

Fair cake cutting gets its own algorithm Posted: 16 Jul 2014 01:58 PM PDT A mathematician and a political scientist have announced an algorithm by which they show how to optimally share cake between two people efficiently, in equal pieces and in such a way that no one feels robbed.

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