The EDGE: ScienceDaily Technology Headlines -- for Wednesday, July 13, 2011

ScienceDaily Technology Headlines

for Wednesday, July 13, 2011

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

Scientists model physics of a key dark-energy probe: Simulations improve characterization of cosmology’s 'standard ruler’ (July 13, 2011) -- Researchers are leveraging powerful supercomputers to investigate one of the key observational probes of "dark energy." The project focuses on simulations created on Ohio Supercomputer Center systems to simplify and better characterize a subtle dark-matter clustering feature. The new model allows cosmologists to gain a more accurate understanding of certain aspects of large-scale structure, such as the effect of the expansion of the universe on the growth of density fluctuations. ... > full story

A novel enzymatic catalyst for biodiesel production (July 13, 2011) -- Continuous production of biodiesel can now be envisaged thanks to a novel new catalyst. Biofuel production provides an alternative to fossil fuels. Biodiesels, for instance, are processed products based on oils from oleaginous plants such as oilseed rape, palm, sunflower and soybeans. They result from a chemical reaction, catalyzed in either an acidic or preferably a basic medium, between a vegetable oil (90%) and an alcohol (10%). ... > full story

Innovative system for producing carpets (July 13, 2011) -- In Europe 700 million square meters of carpets are produced each year, and in the United States the volume is ten times higher. Researchers have now developed an enzyme-based biological technology that paves the way for manufacturing carpets that are much lighter, sustainable, biodegradable, and 100% recyclable. A wool carpet manufactured using this innovative system is a completely natural and biodegradable product. At the end of its useful life the entire product can be shredded and turned into organic material, which can then be used, for example, as fertilizer for growing plants. ... > full story

Computer learns language by playing games (July 12, 2011) -- Researchers have created a system that allows a computer to learn to play a computer game by learning the language required to read the manual. ... > full story

Deeper insight in the activity of cortical cells (July 12, 2011) -- Scientists can now image the processing of information deeper in the cortex with the help of a new multi-photon microscope design. ... > full story

Hubble's Neptune anniversary pictures (July 12, 2011) -- Today, Neptune has arrived at the same location in space where it was discovered nearly 165 years ago. To commemorate the event, NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has taken these "anniversary pictures" of the blue-green giant planet. ... > full story

Greener disaster alerts: Low-energy wireless sensor networks warn of hurricanes, earthquakes (July 12, 2011) -- New software allows wireless sensor networks to run at much lower energy, according to researchers. The technology could improve efficiency for hurricane and other natural disaster warning systems. ... > full story

Cracking the code of the mind (July 12, 2011) -- Researchers have applied advanced mathematical and engineering techniques to connect neurons with electronics and understand how neuronal networks work. In addition to real-world applications, this research also permits scientists to investigate activity patterns of many neurons simultaneously, providing a window on how different parts of the brain communicate with each other. ... > full story

'Automotive Internet': New app reduces motorway pile-ups by 40 percent (July 12, 2011) -- What do you do if you're driving down the motorway and 500 meters ahead of you there is an accident? Now there is an app that tells your car to stop. It does it in half the time of any of the applications, and in contrast to the systems already available on the market, not only does it act on what can be seen from your car but also on what is happening miles away. ... > full story

LiquidText software supports active reading through fingertip manipulation of text (July 12, 2011) -- Researchers have developed innovative software for active reading, an activity that involves highlighting, outlining and taking notes on a document. Taking advantage of touch-screen tablet computers, LiquidText enables active readers to interact with documents using finger motions. LiquidText can significantly enhance the experiences of active readers, a group that includes students, lawyers, managers, corporate strategists and researchers. ... > full story

First student hydrogen racing car revealed (July 11, 2011) -- A student team in the Netherlands has revealed its hydrogen-powered racing car. With this car, the students will be making their first appearance in Formula Student, a worldwide competition among 500 universities. The Delft DUT Racing Team will also be participating in the Formula Student race in the electric racing car they unveiled in June. ... > full story

Physicists discover new way to produce antimatter-containing atom (July 11, 2011) -- Physicists report that they have discovered a new way to create positronium, an exotic and short-lived atom that could help answer what happened to antimatter in the universe, why nature favored matter over antimatter at the universe's creation. The method works at almost any temperature -- including very low temperatures. ... > full story

Just add water and treat brain cancer: Freeze-dried gene therapy system avoids virus, potential complications (July 11, 2011) -- Researchers have developed a technique that delivers gene therapy into human brain cancer cells using nanoparticles that can be freeze-dried and stored for up to three months prior to use. The shelf-stable particles may obviate the need for virus-mediated gene therapy, which has been associated with safety concerns. ... > full story

'BPA-free' bottles live up to manufacturers' claims, new study suggests (July 11, 2011) -- Scientists have found that stainless steel- and/or co-polyester lined-aluminum bottles did not release BPA; however, aluminum bottles lined with epoxy-based resins still resulted in BPA contamination of liquids. ... > full story

Just like teens, parents get personal on Facebook (July 11, 2011) -- They may not dress like Justin Bieber or Selena Gomez, but parents are a whole lot like their teenagers when it comes to their behavior on Facebook. ... > full story

Researchers build an antenna for light (July 11, 2011) -- Researchers have derived inspiration from the photosynthetic apparatus in plants to engineer a new generation of nanomaterials that control and direct the energy absorbed from light. ... > full story

The perfect connection between guitar and computer (July 11, 2011) -- Guitar virtuosos have to master all kinds of playing techniques. But how can the intricate process of playing the instrument be captured digitally? A special thin film on the tailpiece has the answer. Functioning as a sensor, it converts the tension on the string into digital control signals. ... > full story

A flash of insight: Chemist uses lasers to see proteins at work (July 11, 2011) -- Scientists think they have an important brain transport protein -- glutamate transporter -- figured out. And they are using a novel approach to spy on them by taking aim with lasers. ... > full story

Light propagation controlled in photonic chips: Major breakthrough in telecommunications field (July 11, 2011) -- Researchers have built optical nanostructures that enable them to slow photons down and fully control light dispersion. They have shown that it is possible for light to propagate from point A to point B without accumulating any phase, spreading through the artificial medium as if the medium is completely missing in space. This is the first time simultaneous phase and zero-index observations have been made on the chip-scale and at the infrared wavelength. ... > full story

Researchers characterize biomechanics of ovarian cells according to phenotype at stages of cancer (July 11, 2011) -- Using ovarian surface epithelial cells from mice, researchers have released findings from a study that they believe will help in cancer risk assessment, cancer diagnosis, and treatment efficiency. ... > full story

Drug designer: New tool reveals mutations that cause HIV drug resistance (July 11, 2011) -- Protease inhibitor drugs are one of the major weapons in the fight against HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, but their effectiveness is limited as the virus mutates and develops resistance to the drugs over time. Now a new tool has been developed to help predict the location of the mutations that lead to drug resistance. ... > full story

Extremely rapid water: Scientists decipher a protein-bound water chain (July 11, 2011) -- Researchers have succeeded in providing evidence that a protein is capable of creating a water molecule chain for a few milliseconds for the directed proton transfer. The combination of vibrational spectroscopy and biomolecular simulations enabled the elucidation of the proton pump mechanism of a cell-membrane protein in atomic detail. The researchers demonstrated that protein-bound water molecules play a decisive role in the function. ... > full story

Nanocrystal transformers: Researchers observe structural transformations in single nanocrystals (July 10, 2011) -- Researchers have recorded the first direct observation of structural transformations within a single nanocrystal of copper sulfide. The results break new ground for the design of novel materials that will serve next-generation energy storage batteries and solar energy harvesting devices. ... > full story

Geothermal industry to get boost from new research (July 10, 2011) -- An ambitious project to understand and characterize geothermal potential at nearly 500 sites throughout the Great Basin in the western U.S. is yielding a bounty of information for the geothermal industry to use in developing resources in Nevada, according to a report to the US Department of Energy. ... > full story

Prototype 'optics table on a chip' places microwave photon in two colors at once (July 9, 2011) -- Researchers have created a tunable superconducting circuit on a chip that can place a single microwave photon in two frequencies, or colors, at the same time. ... > full story

World War II bombing raids offer new insight into the effects of aviation on climate (July 8, 2011) -- Climate researchers have turned to the Allied bombing raids of the Second World War for a unique opportunity to study the effect thousands of aircraft had on the English climate at a time when civilian aviation remained rare. The study reveals how civilian and military records can help assess the impact of modern aviation on the climate today. ... > full story

Recycling: A new source of indispensible 'rare earth' materials mined mainly in China (July 8, 2011) -- That axiom of sustainability -- "recycle and reuse" -- could help ease concerns about a reliable supply of substances, indispensable for a modern technological society, that are produced almost exclusively in the Peoples' Republic of China. That's the conclusion of a study on these so-called "rare earth" elements. ... > full story

NASA's final space shuttle mission begins with Atlantis' launch (July 8, 2011) -- Space shuttle Commander Chris Ferguson and his three crewmates are on their way to the International Space Station after launching from NASA's Kennedy Space Center at 11:29 a.m. EDT Friday. STS-135 is the final mission of NASA's Space Shuttle Program. ... > full story

Robotics: Safety without protective barriers (July 8, 2011) -- The modern working world is no longer conceivable without robots. They assist humans in manufacturing, laboratories or medicine. In the future, a new projection and camera-based system will prevent collisions between robots and humans working together, German researchers say. ... > full story

Power from the air: Device captures ambient electromagnetic energy to drive small electronic devices (July 8, 2011) -- Researchers have discovered a way to capture energy transmitted by such sources as radio and television transmitters and cell phone networks. By scavenging this ambient energy from the air around us, the technique could provide a new way to power networks of wireless sensors or other devices. ... > full story

Chips hold the key to understanding the human brain (July 8, 2011) -- Scientists have taken a key step towards producing a high-performance computer which aims to create working models of human brain functions. ... > full story

‘Cling-film’ solar cells could lead to advance in renewable energy (July 8, 2011) -- A scientific advance in renewable energy which promises a revolution in the ease and cost of using solar cells, has just been announced. A new study shows that even when using very simple and inexpensive manufacturing methods - where flexible layers of material are deposited over large areas like cling-film - efficient solar cell structures can be made. ... > full story

Nano detector for deadly anthrax (July 8, 2011) -- An automatic and portable detector that takes just fifteen minutes to analyze a sample suspected of contamination with anthrax is being developed by U.S. researchers. The technology amplifies any anthrax DNA present in the sample and can reveal the presence of just 40 microscopic cells of the deadly bacteria Bacillus anthracis. ... > full story

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

New research and technology experiments headed to International Space Station (July 8, 2011) -- The space shuttle Atlantis launched to the International Space Station on July 8, carrying with it a mix of research ranging from microscopic cell research to macroscopic technology development equipment deliveries. In addition, both plants and animals will be the subject of microgravity tests. ... > 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 astronomers observed 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