The EDGE: ScienceDaily Technology Headlines -- for Thursday, October 13, 2011

ScienceDaily Technology Headlines

for Thursday, October 13, 2011

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Wet and mild: Researchers take the temperature of Mars' past (October 13, 2011) -- Researchers have directly determined the surface temperature of early Mars for the first time, providing evidence that's consistent with a warmer and wetter Martian past. ... > full story

New mathematical model explains patterns of human movement by considering the costs (October 13, 2011) -- People decide to take trips for a dauntingly complex mix of reasons, but out of the individual chaos of dry-cleaning pick-ups, pizza dinners, and European vacations, a new mathematical model has emerged. It finds hidden patterns in human beings' collective excursions near, not-so-near, and far from home. ... > full story

Scientists demonstrate the power of optical forces in blood cell identification (October 13, 2011) -- Biological analysis systems that rely on labels can be costly, labor intensive, and depend upon prior knowledge of the target in question. Researchers have developed a system that can detect optical pressure differences between populations or classes of cells. ... > full story

New technique offers enhanced security for sensitive data in cloud computing (October 13, 2011) -- Researchers have developed a new, experimental technique to better protect sensitive information in cloud computing -- without significantly affecting the system's overall performance. ... > full story

Delays in video calls may not always hurt communication, study finds (October 12, 2011) -- A new study reveals how the delay computer users sometimes experience when making video calls over the internet can actually help communication in some circumstances, even though it is frustrating in many others. Researchers found that when two strangers first talked about an emotionally charged topic over a video connection with a one-second delay, they actually reported less frustration than did those who talked with no delay. ... > full story

Fuel and plastics production could be made more energy efficient and cost effective (October 12, 2011) -- Researchers have overcome a major hurdle in the quest to design a specialized type of molecular sieve that could make the production of gasoline, plastics and various chemicals more cost effective and energy efficient. ... > full story

Metal shortages alert from leading geologists: Inexorable demand for consumer goods places strain on supply of metals (October 12, 2011) -- Geologists are warning of shortages and bottlenecks of some metals due to an insatiable demand for consumer products. ... > full story

Astrophysicists find evidence of black holes' destruction of stars (October 12, 2011) -- Astrophysicists have found evidence of black holes destroying stars, a long-sought phenomenon that provides a new window into general relativity. The research also opens up a method to search for the possible existence of a large population of presently undetectable "intermediate mass" black holes which are hypothesized to be precursors to the super-massive black holes at the centers of most large galaxies. ... > full story

Computer vision experts develop 'questionable observer detector' (October 12, 2011) -- Biometrics experts are developing a tool that can help law enforcement and military officials identify suspicious individuals at crime scenes. ... > full story

Progress in quantum computing: Researchers control rate of photon emission from luminescent imperfections in diamond (October 12, 2011) -- Engineers and physicists at Harvard have managed to capture light in tiny diamond pillars embedded in silver, releasing a stream of single photons at a controllable rate. The advance represents a milestone on the road to quantum networks in which information can be encoded in spins of electrons and carried through a network via light, one photon at a time. ... > full story

New view of Vesta mountain from NASA's Dawn mission (October 12, 2011) -- A new image from NASA's Dawn spacecraft shows a mountain three times as high as Mt. Everest, amidst the topography in the south polar region of the giant asteroid Vesta. ... > full story

Video documents three-year trek on Mars by NASA rover (October 12, 2011) -- While NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity was traveling from Victoria crater to Endeavour crater, between September 2008 and August 2011, the rover team took an end-of-drive image on each Martian day that included a drive. A new video compiles these 309 images, providing an historic record of the three-year trek that totaled about 13 miles (21 kilometers) across a Martian plain pocked with smaller craters. ... > full story

'Ghostwriting' the Torah? New algorithm distinguishes contributors to the Old Testament with high accuracy (October 12, 2011) -- A professor has developed a new computer algorithm to help unravel the different sources that contributed to the authorship of the scriptures. Sidestepping the problems of content-based analysis, his algorithm searches for patterns in writing style to give deeper insight into ancient writings such as the Bible. ... > full story

Liquid can turn into solid under high electric field, physicists show in simulations (October 12, 2011) -- Physicists have demonstrated in simulations that under the influence of sufficiently high electric fields, liquid droplets of certain materials will undergo solidification, forming crystallites at temperature and pressure conditions that correspond to liquid droplets at field-free conditions. ... > full story

New knowledge about 'flawed' diamonds could speed the development of diamond-based quantum computers (October 12, 2011) -- Scientists have established the presence of a dynamic Jahn-Teller effect in defective diamonds, a finding that will help advance the development of diamond-based systems in applications such as quantum information processing. ... > full story

Cyber threats forecast for 2012 released (October 12, 2011) -- The year ahead will feature new and increasingly sophisticated means to capture and exploit user data, as well as escalating battles over the control of online information that threatens to compromise content and erode public trust and privacy, according to computer security experts. ... > full story

Suspects in the quenching of star formation exonerated (October 11, 2011) -- Some supermassive black holes power luminous, rapidly growing objects called active galactic nuclei (AGN) that gather and condense enormous quantities of matter. Because astronomers had seen these objects primarily in massive, old galaxies with aging stars, many thought AGN might help to end the formation of new stars, though the evidence was always circumstantial. Now, a new survey has found AGN in all kinds of galaxies, including young, star-making factories. ... > full story

Astronomers find bounty of failed stars: One youngster only six times heftier than Jupiter (October 11, 2011) -- A team of astronomers has discovered over two dozen new free-floating brown dwarfs, including a lightweight youngster only about six times heftier than Jupiter, that reside in two young star clusters. What's more, one cluster contains a surprising surplus of them, harboring half as many of these astronomical oddballs as normal stars. ... > full story

New computer program promises to save the whales (October 11, 2011) -- Researchers have developed a computer program that enables regulators to evaluate the ecological and economic trade-offs between marine mammal conservation, whale watching and marine transportation activities in the Saint Lawrence Estuary. ... > full story

New equation predicts molecular forces in hydrophobic interactions (October 11, 2011) -- The physical model to describe the hydrophobic interactions of molecules has been a mystery that has challenged scientists and engineers since the 19th century. Hydrophobic interactions are central to explaining why oil and water don't mix, how proteins are structured, and what holds biological membranes together. Chemical engineering researchers have developed a novel method to study these forces at the atomic level, and have for the first time defined a mathematical equation to measure a substance's hydrophobic character. ... > full story

X-ray camera makes A-grade particle detector (October 11, 2011) -- Combining an off-the-shelf X-ray camera with a thin piece of carbon foil yields a device that can detect high-energy organic atoms and heavy molecules better than the typical devices used for these jobs, with potential benefits ranging from the science of cancer treatment to star chemistry. ... > full story

Fall market jitters a SAD thing: Less daylight in fall may lead to depressed markets (October 11, 2011) -- It's no surprise to researchers that financial market dips and crashes typically happen in the fall. Researchers now show that people who experience seasonal depression shun financial risk-taking during seasons with diminished daylight but are more willing to accept risk in spring and summer. Seasonal depression may be sufficiently powerful to move financial markets. ... > full story

New 'diamond?' New form of superhard carbon is as strong as a diamond (October 11, 2011) -- Carbon is the fourth-most-abundant element in the universe and takes on a wide variety of forms, called allotropes, including diamond and graphite. Scientists have now discovered a new form of carbon, which is capable of withstanding extreme pressure stresses that were previously observed only in diamond. ... > full story

Pendulums and floating film: Two seemingly unrelated phenomena share surprising link (October 11, 2011) -- A coupled line of swinging pendulums apparently has nothing in common with an elastic film that buckles and folds under compression while floating on a liquid, but scientists have discovered a deep connection between the two phenomena. ... > full story

Rangers and Brewers solid favorites for championships, math professor says (October 11, 2011) -- The Major League Baseball Division Series is underway and math professors have once again analyzed the probability of each team advancing to the World Series. ... > full story

How to count nanoparticles (October 11, 2011) -- Nanoparticles of a substance can be counted and the size distribution can be determined by dispersing the nanoparticles into a gas. But some nanoparticles tend to aggregate when the surrounding conditions change. Scientists have now shown that it is possible to sort and count the particles, even when they have formed aggregates. ... > full story

Measuring elusive solar neutrinos flowing through the Earth, physicists learn more about the sun (October 11, 2011) -- Using one of the most sensitive neutrino detectors on the planet, physicists are now measuring the flow of solar neutrinos reaching Earth more precisely than ever before. The detector probes matter at the most fundamental level and provides a powerful tool for directly observing the sun's composition. ... > full story

Critical minerals ignite geopolitical storm (October 11, 2011) -- The clean energy economy of the future hinges on a lot of things, chief among them the availability of the scores of rare earth minerals and other elements used to make everything from photovoltaic panels and cellphone displays to the permanent magnets in cutting edge new wind generators. And right out of the gate trouble is brewing over projected growth in demand for these minerals and the security of their supplies. ... > full story

Almahata Sitta meteorite could come from triple asteroid mash-up (October 11, 2011) -- Analysis of fragments of the Almahata Sitta meteorite, which landed in Sudan in 2008, has shown that the parent asteroid was probably formed through collisions of three different types of asteroids. The meteorites are of particular interest because they contain material both primitive and evolved types of asteroids. ... > full story

Crowdsourcing democracy through social media (October 11, 2011) -- Today the citizens of Liberia will participate in just their second presidential election since the country emerged from a brutal civil war in 2003, and in such an environment the specter of violence or other unrest is never far away. But what if social media, a professor is asking, could identify and even help prevent dangerous situations from occurring? ... > full story

Graphene's 'Big Mac' creates next generation of chips (October 10, 2011) -- Scientists in the UK have come one step closer to creating the next generation of computer chips using wonder material graphene. ... > full story

New optical signal processing to satisfy power-hungry, high-speed networks (October 10, 2011) -- A new all-optical signal processing device to meet the demands of high capacity optical networks and with a wide range of applications including ultrafast optical measurements and sensing has been developed. ... > full story

Removal of restrictions can decrease music piracy, study suggests (October 10, 2011) -- Contrary to the traditional views of the music industry, removal of digital rights management restrictions can actually decrease piracy, according to new research. ... > full story

Series of bumps sent Uranus into its sideways spin, new research suggests (October 10, 2011) -- Uranus' highly tilted axis makes it something of an oddball in our solar system. The accepted wisdom is that Uranus was knocked on its side by a single large impact, but new research rewrites our theories of how Uranus became so tilted and also solves fresh mysteries about the position and orbits of its moons. ... > full story

New membrane lipid measuring technique may help fight disease (October 10, 2011) -- Chemists have developed a technique which successfully quantifies signaling lipids on live cell membranes in real time, opening up possible new routes for treating diseases. ... > full story

Supersaturated water vapor in Martian atmosphere (October 10, 2011) -- Analysis of data collected by the European Space Agency's Mars Express spacecraft leaves no room for doubt: the Martian atmosphere of contains water vapor in a supersaturated state. This surprising finding will enable scientists to better understand the water cycle on Mars, as well as the evolution of its atmosphere. ... > full story

Smart phones: Keeping business data secure while allowing installation of personal apps (October 10, 2011) -- More and more companies are providing their employees with smartphones. While companies seek the best security available for their data, employees would also like to install apps of their own. Security experts have now developed equipment software with two separate areas: the business area and the personal area. ... > full story

Nanopores on a chip: Applications for analytical tasks in chemistry and biology (October 10, 2011) -- Biological nanopores are proteins of only a few nanometers in diameter that form tiny water-filled canals. They have proven to be promising tools in the field of nanobiotechnology. Researchers in Germany have succeeded in arranging nanopores on a tiny microchip and using it to determine the mass of chain-like molecules called polymers with a high degree of precision. ... > full story

Secure updates for navigation systems (October 10, 2011) -- At the push of a button by the driver, control units download the car manufacturer's new software -- such as enhanced map material for the navigation system. To ensure that this data channel is protected from hacker attack, the system needs the right cryptographic key. To date, these keys have been stored in each one of a vehicle's electronic control units. Thanks to a new form of trust anchor, this will be simpler and more economical in the future. ... > full story

CMOS integrated poly-SiGe piezoresistive pressure sensor demonstrated (October 10, 2011) -- A new integrated poly-SiGe-based piezoresistive pressure sensor has been directly fabricated above 0.13 µm copper (Cu) -backend CMOS technology. This represents not only the first integrated poly-SiGe pressure sensor directly fabricated above its readout circuit, but also the first time that a poly-SiGe MEMS device is processed on top of Cu-backend CMOS. ... > full story

Extremely high-speed heterojunction bipolar transistors demonstrated (October 10, 2011) -- Researchers have realized a fT/fMAX 245GHz/450GHz SiGe:C heterojunction bipolar transistor (HBT) device, a key enabler for future high-volume millimeter-wave low-power circuits to be used in automotive radar applications. These HBT devices also pave the way to silicon-based millimeter wave circuits penetrating the so-called THz gap, enabling enhanced imaging systems for security, medical and scientific applications. ... > full story

Venus has an ozone layer too, space probe discovers (October 9, 2011) -- The European Space Agency’s Venus Express spacecraft has discovered an ozone layer high in the atmosphere of Venus. Comparing its properties with those of the equivalent layers on Earth and Mars will help astronomers refine their searches for life on other planets. ... > full story

Tougher, lighter wind turbine blade developed: Polyurethane reinforced with carbon nanotubes (October 9, 2011) -- Efforts to build larger wind turbines able to capture more energy from the air are stymied by the weight of blades. Researchers have now built a prototype blade that is substantially lighter and eight times tougher and more durable than currently used blade materials. ... > full story

Laser light used to cool object to quantum ground state (October 9, 2011) -- For the first time, researchers have managed to cool a miniature mechanical object to its lowest possible energy state using laser light. The achievement paves the way for the development of exquisitely sensitive detectors as well as for quantum experiments that scientists have long dreamed of conducting. ... > full story

New software models immune responses (October 9, 2011) -- New software lets researchers see how the immune system responds to pathogens that invade the bacteria-rich environment of the gut. ... > full story

Electricity from the nose: Engineers make power from human respiration (October 8, 2011) -- The same piezoelectric effect that ignites your gas grill with the push of a button could one day power sensors in your body via the respiration in your nose. ... > full story

Early detection of plant disease (October 8, 2011) -- Each year, plant viruses and fungal attacks lead to crop losses of up to 30 percent. That is why it is important to detect plant disease early on. Yet laboratory tests are expensive and often time-consuming. Researchers are now developing a low-cost quick test for use on site. ... > full story

Wireless window contacts: No maintenance, no batteries (October 8, 2011) -- Window contacts tell us which of a house's windows are open or closed. Researchers have now developed a fail-safe system that is particularly easy to use and needs no wiring or batteries. The sensors harvest the energy they need to run from ambient radio signals. ... > full story