The EDGE: ScienceDaily Technology Headlines -- for Saturday, May 7, 2011

ScienceDaily Technology Headlines

for Saturday, May 7, 2011

Welcome to another edition of ScienceDaily's email newsletter. You can change your subscription options or unsubscribe at any time.

Advanced instrument analyzes immune cells in far more detail: Technology promises more effective prescription drug therapies (May 6, 2011) -- Researchers have taken a machine already in use for the measurement of impurities in semiconductors and used it to analyze immune cells in far more detail than has been possible before. The new technology lets scientists take simultaneous measurements of dozens of features located on and in cells, whereas the existing technology typically begins to encounter technical limitations at about a half-dozen. ... > full story

Comet Elenin: Preview of a coming attraction (May 6, 2011) -- You may have heard the news: Comet Elenin is coming to the inner-solar system this fall. Comet Elenin (also known by its astronomical name C/2010 X1), was first detected on Dec. 10, 2010 by Leonid Elenin, an observer in Lyubertsy, Russia, who made the discovery "remotely" using the ISON-NM observatory near Mayhill, New Mexico. At the time of the discovery, the comet was about 647 million kilometers (401 million miles) from Earth. Over the past four-and-a-half months, the comet has -- as comets do -- closed the distance to Earth's vicinity as it makes its way closer to perihelion (its closest point to the sun). As of May 4, Elenin's distance is about 274 million kilometers (170 million miles). ... > full story

Mars Express sees deep fractures on Mars (May 6, 2011) -- Newly released images from the European Space Agency's Mars Express show Nili Fossae, a system of deep fractures around the giant Isidis impact basin. Some of these incisions into the martian crust are up to 500 m deep and probably formed at the same time as the basin. ... > full story

Quantum simulation with light: Frustrations between photon pairs (May 6, 2011) -- Researchers have used a quantum mechanical system in the laboratory to simulate complex many-body systems. This experiment promises future quantum simulators with enormous potential insights into unknown quantum phenomena. ... > full story

Scientists afflict computers with 'schizophrenia' to better understand the human brain (May 6, 2011) -- Computer networks that can't forget fast enough can show symptoms of a kind of virtual schizophrenia, giving researchers further clues to the inner workings of schizophrenic brains, researchers have found. ... > full story

EEG headset with flying harness lets users 'fly' by controlling their thoughts (May 6, 2011) -- Students have created a system that pairs an EEG headset with a 3-D theatrical flying harness, allowing users to "fly" by controlling their thoughts. The "Infinity Simulator" will make its debut with an art installation in which participants rise into the air -- and trigger light, sound, and special effects -- by calming their thoughts. ... > full story

Forecast calls for nanoflowers to help return eyesight: Physicist leads effort to design fractal devices to put in eyes (May 6, 2011) -- A researcher is on a quest to grow flowers that will help people who've lost their sight by designing nano-sized flowers whose fractal shapes on implants will engage with neurons to carry light to the optic nerve. ... > full story

NASA selects investigations for future key missions (May 6, 2011) -- NASA has selected three science investigations from which it will pick one potential 2016 mission to look at Mars' interior for the first time; study an extraterrestrial sea on one of Saturn's moons; or study in unprecedented detail the surface of a comet's nucleus. ... > full story

Mars tribute marks memories of Shepard's flight (May 6, 2011) -- The team exploring Mars via NASA's Opportunity rover for the past seven years has informally named a Martian crater for the Mercury spacecraft that astronaut Alan Shepard christened Freedom 7. On May 5, 1961, Shepard piloted Freedom 7 in America's first human spaceflight. ... > full story

New way to control conductivity: Reversible control of electrical and thermal properties could find uses in storage systems (May 5, 2011) -- A team of researchers has found a way to manipulate both the thermal conductivity and the electrical conductivity of materials simply by changing the external conditions, such as the surrounding temperature. And the technique they found can change electrical conductivity by factors of well over 100, and heat conductivity by more than threefold. ... > full story

Using solar power to sterilize medical instruments (May 5, 2011) -- Engineering students are using the sun to power an autoclave that sterilizes medical instruments and help solve a long-standing health issue for developing countries. ... > full story

Robot engages novice computer scientists (May 5, 2011) -- Learning how to program a computer to display the words "Hello World" once may have excited students, but that hoary chestnut of a lesson doesn't cut it in a world of videogames, smartphones and Twitter. One option to take its place and engage a new generation of students in computer programming is a robot called Finch. The robot was designed specifically to make introductory computer science classes an engaging experience once again. ... > full story