ScienceDaily Technology Headlines
for Thursday, March 18, 2010
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Water oxidation advance boosts potential for solar fuel (March 18, 2010) -- Chemists have developed the most potent homogeneous catalyst known for water oxidation, considered a crucial component for generating clean hydrogen fuel using only water and sunlight. ... > full story
'Smart Hip' monitors real-time performance of bone implants, stimulates bone growth (March 18, 2010) -- To monitor the real-time performance of bone implants is the challenge of "Smart Hip," an innovative medical device that aims to reduce the number of surgical interventions in the hip area and regenerate bone tissue by using non-evasive methods. The device -- developed by an engineering doctoral student in Portugal -- has already been successfully tested on animals. ... > full story
Modified home video game shows promise for improving hand function in teens with cerebral palsy (March 17, 2010) -- Engineers have modified a popular home video game system to help teenagers with cerebral palsy improve their hand functions. In a pilot trial, the system improved the teens' abilities to perform a range of daily personal and household activities. The modified system with custom-developed software and games provided exercise routines aimed at improving hand speed and range of finger motion. ... > full story
First temperate exoplanet -- size of Jupiter -- discovered (March 17, 2010) -- Astronomers have discovered a new planet the size of Jupiter. The planet is mostly made of hydrogen and helium, but may contain up to 20 Earth masses of heavier elements including rock and water under high pressure. It thus appears to be very similar to the solar system's giant planets, Jupiter and Saturn. ... > full story
A better way to watch YouTube: Openflow opens up carrier networks (March 17, 2010) -- To ensure that we can all watch YouTube without interruption, major Internet service providers must manage two very different switching technologies. Wide area "IP" networks made up of packet switches are interconnected over long distances by circuit-switched "transport" networks. Past efforts to bridge packet-based and circuit-based technologies have approached the problem with the assumption that the two networks, which have very different architectures, must remain distinct. As a result, trying to span the two networks has resulted in very complex solutions. ... > full story
Cosmic tapestry: Giant filaments of cold dust stretch through Milky Way (March 17, 2010) -- Giant filaments of cold dust stretching through the Milky Way are revealed in a new image from the European Space Agency's Planck satellite. Analyzing these structures could help to determine the forces that shape our galaxy and trigger star formation. ... > full story
Russian lunar rover found: 37-year-old space mystery solved (March 17, 2010) -- A Canadian researcher has helped solve a 37-year-old space mystery using lunar images released by NASA and maps from an atlas of the moon. ... > full story
NASA's chopper crash test a smash hit (March 17, 2010) -- The second crash test of a small lightweight helicopter at NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va., was a smashing success, literally -- just as engineers had predicted. ... > full story
Frogs, foam and fuel: Solar energy converted to sugars (March 17, 2010) -- In natural photosynthesis, plants take in solar energy and carbon dioxide and then convert it to oxygen and sugars. The oxygen is released to the air and the sugars are dispersed throughout the plant -- like that sweet corn we look for in the summer. Unfortunately, the allocation of light energy into products we use is not as efficient as we would like. Now engineering researchers are doing something about that. ... > full story
Metallic glass yields secrets under pressure (March 17, 2010) -- Metallic glasses are potentially useful materials at the frontier of materials science research. They combine the advantages and avoid many of the problems of normal metals and glasses, two classes of materials with a wide range of applications. Scientists used high pressure to probe the connection between the density and electronic structure of a cerium-aluminum metallic glass, opening up new possibilities for developing metallic glasses for specific purposes. ... > full story
Seeking dark matter on a desktop (March 17, 2010) -- Desktop experiments could point the way to dark matter discovery, complementing grand astronomical searches and deep underground observations. According to recent theoretical results, small blocks of matter on a tabletop could reveal elusive properties of the as-yet-unidentified dark matter particles that make up a quarter of the universe. ... > full story
Safer, greener cars: Cork may be better than polymer foam, study suggests (March 17, 2010) -- Crash-test dummies could soon be facing vehicle collision tests in cars padded with cork rather than traditional materials such as polymer foams or porous aluminium metal, according to Portuguese engineers. ... > full story
Jupiter's spot seen glowing: Scientists get first look at weather inside the solar system's biggest storm (March 16, 2010) -- New ground-breaking thermal images obtained with ESO's Very Large Telescope and other powerful ground-based telescopes show swirls of warmer air and cooler regions never seen before within Jupiter's Great Red Spot, enabling scientists to make the first detailed interior weather map of the giant storm system linking its temperature, winds, pressure and composition with its color. ... > full story
Ultra-powerful laser makes silicon pump liquid uphill with no added energy (March 16, 2010) -- Researchers have discovered a way to make liquid flow vertically upward along a silicon surface, overcoming the pull of gravity, without pumps or other mechanical devices. The research could lead to the design of better computer cooling systems. ... > full story
Robot teaches stroke survivors (March 16, 2010) -- Shaking hands with a robotic arm could be a new way to help stroke patients learn to use their arms again. Researchers report a pilot trial of the "Braccio di Ferro" (iron arm) robot in 10 patients. ... > full story
An express-lane for the Internet (March 16, 2010) -- The Internet is expected to be inundated in the future with billions of gigabytes (or exabytes) of data as high-definition video and other bandwidth-busting downloads become the norm. The cost of upgrading the Internet for this so-called "exaflood" could make Web connections too expensive for most consumers. Internet service providers may be able to keep prices down by opening up an express-lane for large data hauls. ... > full story
Golden bullet for cancer? Nanoparticles provide targeted version of photothermal therapy for cancer (March 16, 2010) -- Nanocages that efficiently convert light to heat are the basis for a targeted form of phototherapy that would destroy tumors without making cancer patients sick. ... > full story
March Madness: Bracket seedings irrelevant after Sweet Sixteen round (March 16, 2010) -- For the average college basketball fan looking for an edge in a March Madness office pool, an expert in statistics and data analysis has some advice on how to pick winners: After the Sweet Sixteen round of play, ignore a team's seeding, which is a statistically insignificant predictor of a team's chances of winning. ... > full story
Super supernova: White dwarf star system exceeds mass limit (March 16, 2010) -- Astronomers have, for the first time, measured the mass of a type of supernova thought to belong to a unique subclass and confirmed that it surpasses what was believed to be an upper mass limit. Their findings could affect the way cosmologists measure the expansion of the universe. ... > full story
Computational feat speeds finding of genes to milliseconds instead of years (March 16, 2010) -- Like a magician who says, "Pick a card, any card," computer scientist Debashis Sahoo seemed to be offering some kind of trick when he asked researchers to pick any two genes already known to be involved in stem cell development. Finding such genes can take years and hundreds of thousands of dollars, but Sahoo was promising the skeptical stem cell scientists that, in a fraction of a second and for practically zero cost, he could find new genes involved in the same developmental pathway as the two genes provided. Sahoo went on to show that this amazing feat could actually be performed. ... > full story
3-D cell culture: Making cells feel right at home, suspended in magnetic fields (March 16, 2010) -- New research takes aim at a biological icon: the two-dimensional petri dish. Scientists have found a simple way to suspend cells in magnetic fields so they grow into three-dimensional cell cultures. Compared with flat cell cultures, the 3-D cell cultures more closely resemble real tissues from the body and should provide more realistic targets for testing new drugs. ... > full story
Controlling structure on the nanoscale could lead to better superconductors (March 16, 2010) -- A new experiment shows how adjacent regions affect each other in superconductors, and suggests ways that the materials could be improved by controlling their nanoscopic structures. ... > full story
New hand bacteria study holds promise for forensics identification (March 16, 2010) -- Forensic scientists may soon have a valuable new item in their toolkits -- a way to identify individuals using unique, telltale types of hand bacteria left behind on objects like keyboards and computer mice, says a new study. ... > full story
Potential CITES trade ban for rare salamander underscores wildlife e-commerce (March 16, 2010) -- A little-known Iranian salamander is poised to become the first example of a species requiring international government protection because of e-commerce -- a major threat to endangered wildlife that authorities are struggling to address. ... > full story
Emergency online communities: Building social networks to help the disadvantaged during disaster recovery (March 15, 2010) -- Online social networks could help with communications and recovery for people with disabilities following major natural disasters, or even terrorist attack, according a new research paper. ... > full story
Phobos flyby images: proposed landing sites for the forthcoming Phobos-Grunt mission (March 15, 2010) -- Images from the recent flyby of Phobos, on March 7, 2010, have been released. The images show Mars' rocky moon in exquisite detail, with a resolution of just 4.4 m per pixel. They show the proposed landing sites for the forthcoming Phobos-Grunt mission. ... > full story
Carbon emissions 'outsourced' to developing countries (March 15, 2010) -- Scientists report that over a third of carbon dioxide emissions associated with consumption of goods and services in many developed countries are actually emitted outside their borders. The study finds that, per person, about 2.5 tons of carbon dioxide are consumed in the US but produced somewhere else. For Europeans, the figure can exceed four tons per person. Most of these emissions are outsourced to developing countries, especially China. ... > full story
Interventional radiology: Zapping uterine fibroids with heat from high-energy sound waves (March 15, 2010) -- There's a new interventional radiology tool showing promise in the treatment of uterine fibroids: magnetic resonance-guided focused ultrasound (MRgFUS), a minimally invasive treatment that uses high-energy ultrasound waves to generate heat at a specific point to destroy uterine fibroid tissue and relieve symptoms. ... > full story
Turning up the heat: Finding out how well the Webb telescope's sunshield will perform (March 15, 2010) -- Keeping an infrared telescope at very cold operating temperatures isn't an option, it's an absolute necessity. Serving as a radiation blocker, the Webb telescope sunshield is subjected to nearly 100,000 thermal watts of solar heat, and reduces that to one tenth of a watt on the cold side, a million to one reduction. ... > full story
New microscopy technique offers close-up, real-time view of cellular phenomena (March 15, 2010) -- For two decades, scientists have been pursuing a potential new way to treat bacterial infections, using naturally occurring proteins known as antimicrobial peptides (AMPs). Now, scientists have recorded the first microscopic images showing the deadly effects of AMPs, most of which kill by poking holes in bacterial cell membranes. ... > full story
New 'hearing' maps are real conversation starters (March 15, 2010) -- Innovative sound-mapping software based on human hearing has been developed to help architects design out unwanted noise. The new software generates audibility maps of proposed room designs. ... > full story
Scientists glimpse nanobubbles on super non-stick surfaces (March 15, 2010) -- Scientists have obtained the first glimpse of minuscule air bubbles that keep water from wetting a super non-stick surface. The research could lead to a new class of non-stick materials for a range of applications, including improved-efficiency power plants, speedier boats and surfaces that are resistant to contamination by germs. ... > full story
Silk structure analysis explains paradox of super-strength; could lead to even stronger synthetic materials (March 15, 2010) -- Spiders and silkworms are masters of materials science, but scientists are finally catching up. Silks are among the toughest materials known, stronger and less brittle, pound for pound, than steel. Now scientists have unraveled some of their deepest secrets in research that could lead the way to the creation of synthetic materials that duplicate, or even exceed, the extraordinary properties of natural silk. ... > full story
Analytical eye: Viewing through the data jungle (March 15, 2010) -- Unmanageable volumes of data accumulate in our digitized working world. Scientists are developing analytical techniques that make use of our ability to identify complex data relationships by means of pictorial images. ... > full story
Mars constantly loses part of its atmosphere to space due to solar wind (March 14, 2010) -- Space physicists have identified the impact of the Sun on Mars' atmosphere. The scientists report that Mars is constantly losing part of its atmosphere to space. The new study shows that pressure from solar wind pulses is a significant contributor to Mars's atmospheric escape. ... > full story
Designer nano luggage to carry drugs to diseased cells (March 14, 2010) -- Scientists have succeeded in growing empty particles derived from a plant virus and have made them carry useful chemicals. The external surface of these nano containers could be decorated with molecules that guide them to where they are needed in the body, before the chemical load is discharged to exert its effect on diseased cells. The containers are particles of the Cowpea mosaic virus, which is ideally suited for designing biomaterial at the nanoscale. ... > full story
Quantum dots spotlight DNA-repair proteins in motion (March 14, 2010) -- Repair proteins appear to efficiently scan the genome for errors by jumping like fleas between DNA molecules, sliding along the strands, and perhaps pausing at suspicious spots, say researchers who tagged the proteins with quantum dots to watch the action unfold. ... > full story
New tool for operations on people with severe or profound auditory loss (March 14, 2010) -- Engineers and doctors have designed a new tool for operating on the inner ear with maximum precision, reducing the possibility of damage to the auditory function during the surgery. This is the first micromanipulator specifically for operations involving cochlear and middle ear implants, of which about a hundred are carried out in this hospital annually. ... > full story
Scientists identify driving forces in human cell division (March 14, 2010) -- Using a novel imaging system for quantifying aspects of cell division in three dimensions, scientists have discovered new interactions between sister kinetochores -- the protein bundles at the contact point between the two identical strands of a chromosome -- and the microtubule motors that help pull the strands apart. ... > full story
Compliant systems: Flexible yet strong materials allow aircraft wings to flex with air flow (March 14, 2010) -- Researchers once wanted to build aircraft wings based on compliant systems, which would continually change shape in response to the air flow resistance, obviating the need for rigid flap and rudder surfaces. A range of different industries are interested in so-called "smart" systems because they can be used to make low-maintenance (and therefore economic) products such as medical tools and robot gripper arms. ... > full story
Human cells exhibit foraging behavior like amoebae and bacteria (March 13, 2010) -- When cells move about in the body, they follow a complex pattern similar to that which amoebae and bacteria use when searching for food, researchers have found. ... > full story
Mars dunes: On the move? (March 13, 2010) -- New studies of ripples and dunes shaped by the winds on Mars testify to variability on that planet, identifying at least one place where ripples are actively migrating and another where the ripples have been stationary for 100,000 years or more. ... > full story
Calculations made by physicist Gustav Mie in 1908 put to test on single nanoparticles (March 13, 2010) -- Rice students put calculations by German physicist Gustav Mie, made in 1908, to the test when they decided to look at the optical properties of single nanoparticles. ... > full story
PEGylated dendrimers: A novel mechanism of drug delivery (March 13, 2010) -- A research team has shown how PEGylated polylysine dendrimers, a new type of nano-sized drug delivery system, can be altered to target either the lymphatic system or the bloodstream, which may improve the treatment of particular types of diseases. ... > full story
Mathematical model can help communities better evaluate sex offender policies (March 13, 2010) -- A new mathematical model developed by geographers could help communities that are in the midst of passing or reforming sex offender laws. ... > full story
New imaging technology brings trace chemicals into focus (March 12, 2010) -- Scientists have hit on a new, versatile method to significantly improve the detection of trace chemicals important in such areas as national security, human health and the environment. The research team was able to detect and identify tiny particles of the explosive trinitrotoluene or TNT -- each weighing less than a billionth of a gram -- on the ridges and canals of a fingerprint. ... > full story
Scavenging energy waste to turn water into hydrogen fuel (March 12, 2010) -- Materials scientists have designed a way to harvest small amounts of waste energy and harness them to turn water into usable hydrogen fuel. ... > full story
Proposed mission would return sample from asteroid 'time capsule' (March 12, 2010) -- Meet asteroid 1999 RQ36, a chunk of rock and dust about 1,900 feet in diameter that could tell us how the solar system was born, and perhaps, shed light on how life began. It also might hit us someday. ... > full story
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