The EDGE: ScienceDaily Technology Headlines -- for Thursday, July 21, 2011

ScienceDaily Technology Headlines

for Thursday, July 21, 2011

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Movement of black holes powers quasars, the universe's brightest lights (July 21, 2011) -- Research finds that black holes' spin and lateral movement can power bright jets of light known as quasars. ... > full story

Fast prediction of axon behavior: Computer modeling method may lead to more accurate and capable electrodes to stimulate nerves (July 21, 2011) -- Researchers have developed a computer modeling method to accurately predict how a peripheral nerve axon responds to electrical stimuli, slashing the complex work from an inhibitory weeks-long process to just a few seconds. ... > full story

Disputes over content of Wikipedia articles reflect a country’s geopolitical instability, study finds (July 21, 2011) -- Disputes over the content of articles in the internet encyclopaedia Wikipedia can serve as an indicator for the political stability of a country. This was proposed based on a “Wikipedia Dispute Index” developed by researchers in Germany. This index measures the frequency of pages linked to a country that are disputed by users of the online encyclopaedia. The ranking of countries based on this index is similar to other, much more complex indices relating, for example, to governance or the economy. To calculate the index, the scientists used methods similar to those applied to biological networks and applied them to the cross-linked information in Wikipedia. ... > full story

Bold new approach to wind 'farm' design may provide efficiency gains (July 20, 2011) -- Conventional wisdom suggests that because we're approaching the theoretical limit on individual wind turbine efficiency, wind energy is now a mature technology. But researchers have recently revisited some of the fundamental assumptions that guided the wind industry for the past 30 years, and now believe that a new approach to wind farm design -- one that places wind turbines close together instead of far apart -- may provide significant efficiency gains. ... > full story

Seeing the S-curve in everything (July 20, 2011) -- Esses are everywhere. From economic trends, population growth, the spread of cancer, or the adoption of new technology, certain patterns inevitably seem to emerge. A new technology, for example, begins with slow acceptance, followed by explosive growth, only to level off before "hitting the wall." ... > full story

Technology to throw new light on ancient artifacts (July 20, 2011) -- New technology which makes it possible to study the finer details of some of the world’s greatest historical artifacts has been developed by computer scientists and archaeologists. ... > full story

NASA's Hubble discovers another moon around Pluto (July 20, 2011) -- Astronomers using the Hubble Space Telescope discovered a fourth moon orbiting the icy dwarf planet Pluto. The tiny, new satellite -- temporarily designated P4 -- was uncovered in a Hubble survey searching for rings around the dwarf planet. ... > full story

At small scales, tug-of-war between electrons can lead to magnetism (July 20, 2011) -- At the smallest scales, magnetism may not work quite the way scientists expected, according to a recent article. ... > full story

First artificial neural network created out of DNA: Molecular soup exhibits brainlike behavior (July 20, 2011) -- Researchers have now taken a major step toward creating artificial intelligence -- not in a robot or a silicon chip, but in a test tube. The researchers are the first to have made an artificial neural network out of DNA, creating a circuit of interacting molecules that can recall memories based on incomplete patterns, just as a brain can. ... > full story

Fundamental constants 'change': Gravity weaker, electromagnetic force stronger, according to latest recommended values (July 20, 2011) -- The electromagnetic force has gotten a little stronger, gravity a little weaker, and the size of the smallest "quantum" of energy is now known a little better. NIST has posted the latest internationally recommended values of the fundamental constants of nature. ... > full story

New graphene discovery boosts oil exploration efforts, could enable self-powered microsensors (July 20, 2011) -- Researchers have developed a new method to harvest energy from flowing water. The research team demonstrated how the flow of water over surfaces coated with the nanomaterial graphene could generate small amounts of electricity. ... > full story

Environmental pollutants lurk long after they 'disappear' (July 20, 2011) -- Scientists say that current environmental tests look for specific drugs -- but these drugs break down into other chemicals through sun exposure or oxidation. In their new and equally lethal forms, they don't show up in tests, so they pose a hidden threat. ... > full story

Rock-paper-scissors players are natural copycats (July 20, 2011) -- Players of the game rock paper scissors subconsciously copy each other's hand shapes, significantly increasing the chance of the game ending in a draw, according to new research. ... > full story

New 'electronic tongue' system assesses the antioxidant power of juices and fruit (July 20, 2011) -- Researchers in Spain have developed a new electronic tongue system that can be applied to the analysis of the antioxidant power and other quality parameters of juices, fruit and fruit purées. ... > full story

Engineering excitable cells for studies of bioelectricity and cell therapy (July 20, 2011) -- By altering the genetic makeup of normally "unexcitable" cells, bioengineers have turned them into cells capable of generating and passing electrical current. ... > full story

NASA's Opportunity tops 20 miles of Mars driving (July 20, 2011) -- More than seven years into what was planned as a three-month mission on Mars, NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity has driven more than 20 miles, which is more than 50 times the mission's original distance goal. ... > full story

E-health records should play bigger role in patient safety initiatives, researchers advocate (July 20, 2011) -- Patient safety researchers are calling for the expanded use of electronic health records to address the disquieting number of medical errors in the health care system that can lead to readmissions and even death. ... > full story

It's simple: Increasing complexity of models does not necessarily increase their accuracy (July 20, 2011) -- Mathematical modeling of infectious diseases is an important tool in the understanding and prediction of epidemics. Knowledge of social interactions is used to understand how infectious diseases spread through populations and how to control epidemics. New research shows that a model, which included dynamic information about the heterogeneity of contact length and rate of making new contacts, was as effective as a more complex model which included the order of contacts. ... > full story

Discovery may overcome obstacle for quantum computing: Researchers find a way to quash decoherence (July 20, 2011) -- Researchers have discovered how to quiet environmental decoherence, a major obstacle to realizing the enormous potential of quantum computing. ... > full story

Chemical make-up of Gulf of Mexico plume determined (July 20, 2011) -- Taking another major step in sleuthing the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill, scientists have determined what chemicals were contained in a deep, hydrocarbon-containing plume. ... > full story

New scientific milestone in optical communications: Revolutionary chip for optical routers (July 19, 2011) -- Researchers in Spain, the Netherlands, and Canada have achieved a scientific milestone in the field of optical communications. After many months of research, they have succeeded in developing a revolutionary chip for optical routers, capable of operating up to 100 times faster than currently available chips. This is the first monolithic integrated optical circuit for optical routers. ... > full story

Galaxy-sized twist in time pulls violating particles back into line (July 19, 2011) -- A physicist in the UK has produced a galaxy-sized solution that explains one of the outstanding puzzles of particle physics, while leaving the door open to the related conundrum of why different amounts of matter and antimatter seem to have survived the birth of our Universe. Physicists would like a neat universe where the laws of physics are so universal that every particle and its antiparticle behave in the same way. ... > full story

Twisted tale of our galaxy's ring: Strange kink in Milky Way (July 19, 2011) -- New observations from the Herschel Space Observatory show a bizarre, twisted ring of dense gas at the center of our Milky Way galaxy. Only a few portions of the ring, which stretches across more than 600 light-years, were known before. Herschel's view reveals the entire ring for the first time, and a strange kink that has astronomers scratching their heads. ... > full story

Solar panels keep buildings cool (July 19, 2011) -- Those solar panels on top of your roof aren't just providing clean power; they are cooling your house, or your workplace, too, according to a team of environmental engineering researchers. ... > full story

Fewer verbs and nouns in financial reporting could predict stock market bubble, study shows (July 19, 2011) -- After examining 18,000 online articles published by the Financial Times, The New York Times, and the BBC, scientists discovered that verbs and nouns used by financial commentators converge in a 'herd-like' fashion in the lead up to a stock market bubble. The findings show that trends in word use financial journalists correlate closely with changes in leading stock indices. ... > full story

'Smart' sunglasses block blinding glare (July 19, 2011) -- The days of being blinded by glare from the sun, despite the 0 sunglasses straddling your face, may soon be over. ... > full story

Click chemistry with copper: A biocompatible version (July 19, 2011) -- Researchers have found a way to make copper-catalyzed click chemistry biocompatible. By adding a ligand that minimizes the toxicity of copper but still allows it to catalyze the click chemistry reaction, the researchers can safely use their reaction in living cells. ... > full story

Bacteria use Batman-like grappling hooks to 'slingshot' on surfaces, study shows (July 19, 2011) -- Researchers have diagnosed a complex sequence of movements that make-up the "twitching" motility in bacteria with type IV pili (TFP). TFP act like Batman's grappling hooks that extend and bind to a surface to retract and pull the cell along. Using a high-speed camera and a novel two-point tracking algorithm, researchers also noticed the bacteria had the additional capability to "slingshot" on surfaces. ... > full story

Scientists analyze, explain the chemical makeup of Gulf plume (July 19, 2011) -- Taking another major step in sleuthing the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill, a research team has determined what chemicals were contained in a deep, hydrocarbon-containing plume at least 22 miles long that WHOI scientists mapped and sampled last summer in the Gulf of Mexico, a residue of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Moreover, they have taken a big step in explaining why some chemicals, but not others, made their way into the plume. ... > full story

Cadmium selenide quantum dots degrade in soil, releasing their toxic guts, study finds (July 19, 2011) -- Quantum dots made from cadmium and selenium degrade in soil, unleashing toxic cadmium and selenium ions into their surroundings, a new study has found. ... > full story

NASA's Dawn spacecraft returns close-up image of giant asteroid Vesta (July 19, 2011) -- NASA's Dawn spacecraft has returned the first close-up image after beginning its orbit around the giant asteroid Vesta. On July 15, Dawn became the first probe to enter orbit around an object in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. ... > full story

Machines to compare notes online? (July 19, 2011) -- The best way for autonomous machines, networks and robots to improve in future will be for them to publish their own upgrade suggestions on the Internet. This transparent dialogue should help humans to both guide and trust them, according to new research. ... > full story

Race matters when recruiting, retaining undergraduate women engineers (July 19, 2011) -- A new study of female engineering students' perceived challenges finds significant differences between black, Hispanic, Native American, Asian-American and white women. The findings could help institutions better attract and retain particular groups of underrepresented students. ... > full story

Reinventing the toilet for safe and affordable sanitation (July 19, 2011) -- Scientists are working to develop new technology for processing human waste without links to water, energy, or sewer lines, and at costs affordable to the poor in developing countries. ... > full story

Monitoring cellular interactions at nano-scale in more detail than ever before (July 18, 2011) -- Using nanotechnology to engineer sensors onto the surface of cells, researchers have developed a platform technology for monitoring single-cell interactions in real-time. ... > full story

Study of soil effects from March 11 Japan earthquake could improve building design (July 18, 2011) -- Japan's March 11 Tohoku Earthquake is among the strongest ever recorded, and because it struck one of the world's most heavily instrumented seismic zones, this natural disaster is providing scientists with a treasure trove of data on rare magnitude 9 earthquakes. Among the new information is what is believed to be the first study of how a shock this powerful affects the rock and soil beneath the surface. ... > full story

New technology allows lenses to change color rapidly (July 18, 2011) -- A chemist has developed new technology that allows lenses to change color instantly using an electric current triggered by a stimulus, such as light. ... > full story

Nanotechnology: injections or sampling? New 'molecular syringes' under testing (July 18, 2011) -- Which is better, a quick vertical jab on the buttock or the delicately soft entry of a blood sample? One group of researchers has no doubt. The easiest way of penetrating a cell membrane with a carbon nanotube, is at an angle which is almost flat against the membrane surface. Just as a nurse does to "find" a vein. ... > full story

Writing nanostructures: Heated AFM tip allows direct fabrication of ferroelectric nanostructures on plastic (July 18, 2011) -- Using a technique known as thermochemical nanolithography (TCNL), researchers have developed a new way to fabricate nanometer-scale ferroelectric structures directly on flexible plastic substrates that would be unable to withstand the processing temperatures normally required to create such nanostructures. ... > full story

Graphene gives up more of its secrets (July 18, 2011) -- Scientists have used the Advanced Light Source to investigate theories about the electronic structure of graphene never before tested by experiment. They find that near the neutral point of undoped graphene, graphene's semimetallic behavior includes very long-range interactions among electrons and other unusual properties, confirming that graphene is every bit as strange as expected -- perhaps even more so. ... > full story

When minor planets Ceres and Vesta rock Earth into chaos (July 18, 2011) -- A new study examines the orbital evolution of minor planets Ceres and Vesta, a few days before the flyby of Vesta by the Dawn spacecraft. A team of astronomers found that close encounters among these bodies lead to strong chaotic behavior of their orbits, as well as of Earth's eccentricity. This means, in particular, that Earth's past orbit cannot be reconstructed beyond 60 million years. ... > full story

Comet Hartley 2 leaves a bumpy trail (July 18, 2011) -- New findings from NEOWISE, the asteroid- and comet-hunting portion of NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer mission, show that comet Hartley 2 leaves a pebbly trail as it laps the sun, dotted with grains as big as golf balls. ... > full story

NASA's Dawn spacecraft enters orbit around asteroid Vesta (July 18, 2011) -- NASA's Dawn spacecraft is now the first probe ever to enter orbit around an object in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. Dawn will study the asteroid, named Vesta, for a year before departing for a second destination, a dwarf planet named Ceres, in July 2012. Observations will provide unprecedented data to help scientists understand the earliest chapter of our solar system. The data also will help pave the way for future human space missions. ... > full story

New material could offer hope to those with no voice (July 18, 2011) -- Researchers are developing a synthetic material to revitalize damaged vocal cords. ... > full story

New ways to measure magnetism around the sun (July 18, 2011) -- NASA researchers have made use of old mathematical techniques and new insights on how coronal mass ejections travel to devise a fresh way to measure this magnetic environment in the sun's upper atmosphere, the corona. ... > full story

A manganite changes its stripes: Advanced Light Source uncovers colossal conductivity changes in a special material (July 18, 2011) -- Manganites exhibiting colossal magnetoresistance and high-temperature superconductors are among materials that show their stripes, regions where electrical charges concentrate. Until now, only static stripes have been seen. A team of scientists have discovered a manganite whose stripes form or fall apart depending on the temperature, simultaneously giving rise to colossal changes in electrical conductivity. ... > full story

Deep below the Deepwater Horizon oil spill: New molecular model better explains diffusion of spill under water (July 18, 2011) -- For the first time, scientists gathered oil and gas directly as it escaped from a deep ocean wellhead -- that of the damaged Deepwater Horizon oil rig. What they found allows a better understanding of how pollution is partitioned and transported in the depths of the Gulf of Mexico and permits superior estimation of the environmental impact of escaping oil, allowing for a more precise evaluation of previously estimated repercussions on seafloor life in the future. ... > full story

Early talking doll recording discovered (July 17, 2011) -- Scientists recently recovered sound from an artifact that historians believe is the earliest surviving talking doll record. The artifact is a ring-shaped cylinder phonograph record made of solid metal, preserved by the National Park Service at Thomas Edison National Historical Park. Phonograph inventor Thomas Edison made the record during the fall or winter of 1888 in West Orange, New Jersey. ... > full story