The EDGE: ScienceDaily Technology Headlines -- for Sunday, July 17, 2011

ScienceDaily Technology Headlines

for Sunday, July 17, 2011

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Breakthrough toward quantum computing (July 16, 2011) -- To build a quantum computer, one needs to create and precisely control individual quantum memory units, called qubits, for information processing. Scientists have made a breakthrough in the creation of massive numbers of entangled qubits, more precisely a multilevel variant thereof called Qmodes. ... > full story

Your brain on androids (July 15, 2011) -- Cognitive scientist have taken a peek inside the brains of people viewing videos of a humanoid robot. The functional MRI study suggests that what may be going on in the "uncanny valley" phenomenon is due to a perceptual mismatch between appearance and motion. ... > full story

Virtual natural environments and benefits to health (July 15, 2011) -- Researchers have compared the benefits of interaction with actual and virtual natural environments and concluded that the development of accurate simulations are likely to be beneficial to those who cannot interact with nature because of infirmity or other limitations: but virtual worlds are not a substitute for the real thing. ... > full story

Most elliptical galaxies are 'like spirals' (July 15, 2011) -- The majority of 'elliptical' galaxies are not spherical but disc-shaped, resembling spiral galaxies such as our own Milky Way with the gas and dust removed, new observations suggest. ... > full story

Childhood cancer no higher in vicinity of nuclear power plants, Swiss study suggests (July 15, 2011) -- A large longitudinal study found no evidence of an increased risk of cancer in children born near nuclear power plants in Switzerland. ... > full story

Swarms of locusts use social networking to communicate (July 15, 2011) -- Social studies of Facebook and Twitter have been adapted to gain a greater understanding of the swarming behavior of locusts. The enormous success of social networking sites has vividly illustrated the importance of networking for humans; however for some animals, keeping informed about others of their kind is even more important. ... > full story

'Amplified' nanotubes may power the future (July 15, 2011) -- Scientists have achieved a pivotal breakthrough in the development of a cable that will make an efficient electric grid of the future possible. Armchair quantum wire (AQW) will be a weave of metallic nanotubes that can carry electricity with negligible loss over long distances. It will be an ideal replacement for the nation's copper-based grid, which leaks electricity at an estimated 5 percent per 100 miles of transmission. ... > full story

How to grow wires and tiny plates: Liquid processing method can control shapes of nanowires and produce complete electronic devices (July 15, 2011) -- Researchers have found a way to grow submicroscopic wires in water with great precision, using a method that makes it possible to produce entire electronic devices through a liquid-based process. ... > full story

Editing the genome: Scientists unveil new tools for rewriting the code of life (July 15, 2011) -- Researchers have unveiled genome-engineering technologies capable of fundamentally re-engineering genomes from the nucleotide to the megabase scale. Treating the chromosome as both an editable and an evolvable template, the researchers have demonstrated methods to rewrite a cell's genome through powerful new tools for biotechnology, energy and agriculture. ... > full story

New opportunity for AM radio (July 15, 2011) -- Radio broadcasters compete for airwave space in the saturated FM range, in detriment to AM wavebands with a poorer sound quality. Nevertheless, frequencies at wavebands less than 30 MHz (AM ones) could well have a new opportunity, with terrestrial digital radio broadcasting. ... > full story

A LEAP in controlling cardiac fibrillation: Researchers develop a new low-energy defibrillation method (July 15, 2011) -- An international team of scientists has developed a new low-energy method for terminating life-threatening cardiac fibrillation of the heart. They have shown that their new technique called LEAP (Low-Energy Anti-fibrillation Pacing) reduces the energy required for defibrillation by more than 80% as compared to the current conventional method. Their discovery opens the path for the painless therapy of life threatening cardiac fibrillation. ... > full story

Conducting energy on a nano scale: Are 'doped' nanocrystals the future of technology? (July 15, 2011) -- Scientists have succeeded in making delicate and sensitive nanocrystals susceptible to the engineering techniques that would make them practical semi-conductors. The new method of "doping" these crystals may lead to advances in solar panels, cell phones and cameras. ... > full story

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