The EDGE: ScienceDaily Technology Headlines -- for Friday, July 8, 2011

ScienceDaily Technology Headlines

for Friday, July 8, 2011

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Using vital signs to predict severity of illness in children (July 8, 2011) -- Combining three vital signs (heart rate, temperature and oxygen saturation) in a simple score can identify children at risk of serious illness, according to a new study. Although this type of score cannot easily be calculated by hand, it could be incorporated into existing smart phone apps. ... > full story

Big step forward for SKA radio telescope (July 8, 2011) -- The discovery potential of the future international SKA radio telescope has been glimpsed following the commissioning of a working optical fiber link between CSIRO's Australian SKA Pathfinder telescope in Western Australia, and other radio telescopes across Australia and New Zealand. ... > full story

Graphene: What can go wrong? New studies point to wrinkles, process contaminants (July 8, 2011) -- Using a combination of sophisticated computer modeling and advanced materials analysis techniques at synchrotron laboratories, a research team has demonstrated how some relatively simple processing flaws can seriously degrade the otherwise near-magical electronic properties of graphene. ... > full story

Coating boosts nanowire efficiency and sensitivity: Promise for photodetectors and solar cells (July 7, 2011) -- By applying a coating to individual silicon nanowires, researchers have significantly improved the materials' efficiency and sensitivity. The findings suggest that the coated wires hold promise for photodetectors and energy harvesting technologies like solar cells. ... > full story

Global investments in green energy up nearly a third to 1 billion (July 7, 2011) -- Wind farms in China and small-scale solar panels on rooftops in Europe were largely responsible for last year's 32 percent rise in green energy investments worldwide according to the latest annual report on renewable energy investment trends. Last year, investors pumped a record 1 billion into renewables -- about one-third more than the 0 billion invested in 2009, and a 540 percent rise since 2004. ... > full story

Stardust in our backyard provides new clues to galaxy evolution (July 7, 2011) -- New data from Herschel Space Observatory reveal surprisingly large amounts of cold dust in the remnant of the famous supernova SN1987A, which exploded 24 years ago in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a neighboring galaxy of the Milky Way. With this discovery, astronomers confirm that supernovae are able to produce significant quantities of dust over very short time scales. This may help explain previous observations of abundant dust in the early Universe as seen in high-redshift galaxies. ... > full story

Promising fire retardant results when clay nanofiller has space (July 7, 2011) -- Materials scientists have demonstrated that the more widely and uniformly dispersed nanoscale plates of clay are in a polymer, the more fire protection the nanocomposite material provides. ... > full story

Eye of Gaia: billion-pixel camera to map Milky Way (July 7, 2011) -- The largest digital camera ever built for a space mission has been painstakingly mosaicked together from 106 separate electronic detectors. The resulting "billion-pixel array" will serve as the super-sensitive 'eye' of the European Space Agency's Galaxy-mapping Gaia mission. ... > full story

Microalgae could be Texas' next big cash crop (July 7, 2011) -- Just as corn and peanuts stunned the world decades ago with their then-newly discovered multi-beneficial uses and applications, Texas scientists think microalgae holds even more promise. ... > full story

Cosmic 'axis of evil': Masses of universe's largest objects appear to depend on which method is used to weigh them (July 7, 2011) -- Astronomers are puzzled by the announcement that the masses of the largest objects in the universe appear to depend on which method is used to weigh them. ... > full story

Baseball cheaters can't hide from the laws of physics (July 7, 2011) -- Some baseball superstitions are accepted as cold, hard truth. But in the world of physics, the most accepted verities are subject to experimentation. A corked bat hits the ball further? Not in Lloyd Smith's lab. Baseballs today are livelier than in the past? See above. A humidor can curb home run production? Yes, but only because Smith has fired the balls through a cannon and measured their bounciness as they hit a bat. ... > full story

Mechanical micro-drum cooled to quantum ground state (July 7, 2011) -- Scientists have demonstrated a flexible, broadly usable technique for steadily calming the vibrations of an engineered mechanical object down to the quantum "ground state," the lowest possible energy level. ... > full story

Branch offices: New family of gold-based nanoparticles could serve as biomedical 'testbed' (July 7, 2011) -- Researchers have demonstrated a sort of gold nanoparticle "testbed" to explore how the tiny particles behave in biological systems. ... > full story

Juno mission: Gas giant spacecraft all gassed up (July 7, 2011) -- The Juno spacecraft completed hydrazine fuel loading, oxidizer loading and final tank pressurizations this week, and now the complete propulsion system is ready for the trip to Jupiter. The spacecraft is currently at the Astrotech processing facility in Titusville, Fla. ... > full story

Herschel helps solve mystery of cosmic dust origins (July 7, 2011) -- New observations from the infrared Herschel Space Observatory reveal that an exploding star expelled the equivalent of between 160,000 and 230,000 Earth masses of fresh dust. This enormous quantity suggests that exploding stars, called supernovae, are the answer to the long-standing puzzle of what supplied our early universe with dust. ... > full story

Organizational climate at universities drives commercialization of scientific and engineering discoveries (July 7, 2011) -- Research universities with an organizational climate that actively supports commercialization and encourages interdisciplinary collaboration among researchers are more likely to produce invention disclosures and patent applications, according to a new study. ... > full story

NMR/MRI applied to microfluidic chromatography (July 6, 2011) -- By pairing a remote-detection version of NMR/MRI technology with a unique version of chromatography specifically designed for microfluidic chips, researchers have opened the door to a portable system for highly sensitive multi-dimensional chemical analysis that would be impractical if not impossible with conventional technologies. ... > full story

Cassini captures images and sounds of Saturn storm (July 6, 2011) -- Scientists analyzing data from NASA's Cassini spacecraft now have the first-ever, up-close details of a Saturn storm that is eight times the surface area of Earth. ... > full story

A look back: Scientists raced to estimate oil flow from Deepwater Horizon Macondo well (July 6, 2011) -- The first two weeks of June 2010 were a blur for six Berkeley Lab scientists. As the world focused on the ongoing crisis in the Gulf of Mexico after the blowout of BP's Deepwater Horizon Macondo well, the scientists dropped everything to estimate how much oil was flowing from the mangled wellhead. Their research is recounted in a new article. ... > full story

Mercury vapor released from broken compact fluorescent light bulbs can exceed safe exposure levels for humans, study finds (July 6, 2011) -- Once broken, a compact fluorescent light bulb continuously releases mercury vapor into the air for weeks to months, and the total amount can exceed safe human exposure levels in a poorly ventilated room, according to a new study. ... > full story

You are what you tweet: Tracking public health trends with Twitter (July 6, 2011) -- Computer scientists have sifted through two billion 'tweets' for information on where people are sick, what ails them, and what they're doing about it. ... > full story

Hydrogen peroxide found in space (July 6, 2011) -- Molecules of hydrogen peroxide have been found for the first time in interstellar space. The discovery gives clues about the chemical link between two molecules critical for life: water and oxygen. On Earth, hydrogen peroxide plays a key role in the chemistry of water and ozone in our planet's atmosphere, and is familiar for its use as a disinfectant or to bleach hair blonde. Now it has been detected in space by astronomers using the European Southern Observatory-operated APEX telescope in Chile. ... > full story

Unique gel capsule structure enables co-delivery of different types of drugs (July 6, 2011) -- Chemists have designed a multiple-compartment gel capsule that can simultaneously deliver hydrophilic and hydrophobic drugs. The microcapsules could be used for the treatment of diseases like cancer, which is often treated using combination chemotherapy. ... > full story

Termites' digestive system could act as biofuel refinery (July 6, 2011) -- One of the peskiest household pests, while disastrous to homes, could prove to be a boon for cars, according to a new study. ... > full story

New technology makes textiles permanently germ-free (July 6, 2011) -- Researchers have invented a new technology that can inexpensively render medical linens and clothing, face masks, paper towels -- and yes, even diapers, intimate apparel and athletic wear, including smelly socks -- permanently germ-free. ... > full story

Sounding rockets study how winds in space drive currents in the upper atmosphere (July 6, 2011) -- This July, scientists will launch four rockets for a five-minute journey some 100 miles up into the atmosphere. The rockets will collect data on the charged particles as well as winds of neutral particles that sweep through the lower ionosphere and how each affects the other, ultimately causing these dynamo currents. ... > full story

Gold nanoparticles bring scientists closer to a treatment for cancer (July 6, 2011) -- Scientists have developed smart nanomaterials, which can disrupt the blood supply to cancerous tumors. They have shown that a small dose of gold nanoparticles can activate or inhibit genes that are involved in angiogenesis -- a complex process responsible for the supply of oxygen and nutrients to most types of cancer. ... > full story

Bone loss prevention experiment on the last space shuttle flight (July 6, 2011) -- An experiment aboard Atlantis -- the last space shuttle launch of the NASA program -- is aimed at revealing strategies to protect future astronauts from bone loss during extended exposure to micro-gravity. ... > full story

New method used to detect 20 drugs in cow, goat and human milk (July 6, 2011) -- Researchers have developed a method that makes it possible to simultaneously detect 20 pharmaceutical products in cow, goat and human milk. The samples of the three types of milk studied showed that they all contain anti-inflammatories, although the largest number of drugs was found in whole cows' milk. ... > full story

Final countdown: Atlantis to carry next-generation vaccine candidate on last space voyage (July 6, 2011) -- The ability of spaceflight to enhance the efficacy of a recombinant attenuated Salmonella vaccine, or RASV, will be the focus of experiments conducted by Cheryl Nickerson and Roy Curtiss, of the Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University. The payload will be carried aboard the space shuttle Atlantis on its final mission to the International Space Station. ... > full story

Experiment aboard shuttle Atlantis will test novel therapy to build bone during space travel (July 6, 2011) -- When the final mission of NASA's 30-year Space Shuttle program is launched on July 8, an animal experiment to test a novel therapy to increase bone mass will be on board. ... > full story

Food-process engineering: Environmentally friendly process to improve storage stability of probiotics (July 6, 2011) -- Probiotic bacteria are rapidly gaining ground as healthy food supplements. However, the production of this "functional food" has its pitfalls: only few probiotic bacterial strains are robust enough to survive conventional production processes. Researchers have now developed a particularly gentle method that allows the use of thus far unutilized probiotics. The outcome is beneficial for both manufacturers and consumers: it's energy and cost efficient -- and it makes probiotics less perishable. ... > full story

Sun's 'DNA' revealed (July 6, 2011) -- Solar nitrogen is very different from that of meteorites or the Earth. Scientists reached this conclusion after analyzing samples of solar wind collected by the Genesis space mission launched by NASA in 2001. They succeeded in determining the isotopic composition of the Sun, its “DNA”, which reflects the composition of the cloud of gas and dust that gave rise to the solar system. This work could help to elucidate the phenomena behind the origin of the solar system. ... > full story

New laser technology could kill viruses and improve DVDs (July 5, 2011) -- Engineers have made a discovery in semiconductor nanowire laser technology that could potentially do everything from kill viruses to increase storage capacity of DVDs. ... > full story

NASA's Hubble makes one millionth science observation (July 5, 2011) -- NASA's Hubble Space Telescope crossed another milestone in its space odyssey of exploration and discovery. On Monday, July 4, the Earth-orbiting observatory logged its one millionth science observation during a search for water in an exoplanet's atmosphere 1,000 light-years away. ... > full story

Hot springs microbe yields record-breaking, heat-tolerant enzyme (July 5, 2011) -- Scientists looking for unusual cellulose-digesting enzymes, called cellulases, have found one that works at a higher temperature, 109 Celsius, than any others found to date. The cellulase comes from an Archaea found in a Nevada hot spring. Enzymes like this may prove useful in reaction chambers where plant fiber (lignocellulose) is digested to release cellulose. The cellulase could then convert this cellulose to sugar to be fermented into biofuel. ... > full story

Laser, electric fields combined for new 'lab-on-chip' technologies (July 5, 2011) -- Researchers are developing new technologies that combine a laser and electric fields to manipulate fluids and tiny particles such as bacteria, viruses and DNA for a range of potential applications, from drug manufacturing to food safety. ... > full story

Nature uses screws and nuts: Previously unknown musculoskeletal system discovered in weevils (July 5, 2011) -- A musculoskeletal system so far unknown in the animal world was recently discovered in weevils. The hip of Trigonopterus oblongus does not consist of the usual hinges, but of joints based on a screw-and-nut system. This first biological screw thread is about half a millimeter in size and was studied in detail using synchrotron radiation. ... > full story

Key ingredient: Change in material boosts prospects of ultrafast single-photon detector (July 5, 2011) -- By swapping one superconducting material for another, researchers have found a practical way to boost the efficiency of the world's fastest single-photon detector, while also extending light sensitivity to longer wavelengths. ... > full story

Ultimate energy efficiency: Magnetic microprocessors could use million times less energy than today's silicon chips (July 5, 2011) -- Information theory and the second law of thermodynamics dictate that a logical operation in a computer must consume a minimum amount of energy. Today's computers consume a million times more energy per operation than this limit, but magnetic computers with no moving electrons could theoretically operate at the minimum energy, called the Landauer limit, according to electrical engineers. ... > full story

New technique advances bioprinting of cells (July 5, 2011) -- By extending pioneering acoustical work that applied sound waves to generate droplets from fluids, researchers have made encouraging preliminary findings at an early and crucial point in a stem cell's career known as embroid body formation. ... > full story

Specialized seeds can really float your boat (July 5, 2011) -- A new artificial surface inspired by floating seeds could provide an alternative to the toxic paints currently used to prevent fouling on ship hulls. The artificial surface, developed by German scientists, is covered with fibers to prevent marine organisms from settling -- the same strategy used by the seeds. ... > full story

Final space shuttle to carry five University of Colorado at Boulder-built payloads (July 5, 2011) -- The University of Colorado Boulder is involved with five different space science payloads ranging from antibody tests that may lead to new bone-loss treatments to an experiment to improve vaccine effectiveness for combating salmonella when Atlantis thunders skyward July 8 on the last of NASA's 135 space shuttle missions. ... > full story

Design and print your own 3-D chocolate objects (July 4, 2011) -- Manufacturing and retail could get a much needed boost from a newly developed 3-D chocolate printer. In the long term the technology could be used by customers to design many different products themselves -- tailor-made to their needs and preferences. Using new digital technology the printer allows you to create your own designs on a computer and reproduce them physically in three dimensional form in chocolate. ... > full story

Tree frogs' self-cleaning feet could solve a sticky problem (July 4, 2011) -- Tree frogs have specially adapted self-cleaning feet which could have implications for new designs of medical bandages, tires, and even long lasting adhesives. Researchers have now discovered how tree frogs prevent their feet from picking up dirt while maintaining stickiness. ... > full story

Researchers map the physics of Tibetan singing bowls (July 4, 2011) -- Researchers have been investigating the connection between fifth century Himalayan instruments used in religious ceremonies and modern physics. ... > full story

First cookiecutter shark attack on a live human (July 4, 2011) -- A new study provides details on the first cookiecutter shark attack on a live human, a concern as warm summer waters attract more people to the ocean. ... > full story

Important step in next generation of computing: Vital insight into spintronics (July 4, 2011) -- Scientists have taken one step closer to the next generation of computers. New research provides insight into spintronics, which has been hailed as the successor to the transistor. ... > full story

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