The EDGE: ScienceDaily Technology Headlines -- for Saturday, December 10, 2011

ScienceDaily Technology Headlines

for Saturday, December 10, 2011

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Researchers develop a way to monitor engineered blood vessels as they grow in patients (December 9, 2011) -- New research describes how by using magnetic resonance imaging and nanoparticle technology, scientists can monitor the growth of laboratory-engineered blood vessels after implantation in patients. This is an important step toward ensuring that blood vessels, and tissues engineered from a patient's own biological material, are taking hold and working as expected. This is the first method for monitoring the growth and progress of engineered tissues once they are implanted. ... > full story

Microscopic worms could hold the key to living life on Mars (December 9, 2011) -- The astrophysicist Stephen Hawking believes that if humanity is to survive we will have up sticks and colonize space. But is the human body up to the challenge? Scientists believe that Caenorhabditis elegans, a microscopic worm which has biologically similarities to human beings, could help us understand how humans might cope with long-duration space exploration. ... > full story

Extraordinary long gaseous tails in two groups of galaxies (December 9, 2011) -- An international group of astronomers has discovered extraordinary long one-sided gaseous tails in two groups of galaxies that are amongst the longest structures ever observed in such environments. The tails emanate from CGCG 097-026 and FGC1287, two spiral galaxies in small groups in the outskirts of the galaxy cluster known as Abell 1367 in the constellation of Leo, at a distance of 300 million light years. The new work could lead to a major shift in our understanding of galaxy evolution. ... > full story

Catching terrorists: Backpacks, not the bombs inside, key to finding DNA (December 9, 2011) -- Catching terrorists who detonate bombs may be easier by testing the containers that hide the bombs rather than the actual explosives, according to pioneering research. ... > full story

Atoms dressed with light show new interactions, could reveal way to observe enigmatic particle (December 9, 2011) -- Physicists have found a way to manipulate atoms' internal states with lasers that dramatically influences their interactions in specific ways. Such light-tweaked atoms can be used as proxies to study important phenomena that would be difficult or impossible to study in other contexts. ... > full story

For Midwesterners, more boxcars mean cleaner air (December 9, 2011) -- Shifting a fraction of truck-borne freight onto trains would have an outsized impact on air quality in the Midwest, according to researchers. ... > full story

NMR used to determine whether gold nanoparticles exhibit 'handedness' (December 9, 2011) -- Scientists have successfully used NMR to analyze the structure of infinitesimal gold nanoparticles, which could advance the development and use of the tiny particles in drug development. Their approach offers a significant advantage over routine methods for analyzing gold nanoparticles because it can determine whether the nanoparticles exist in a both right-handed and left-handed configuration, a phenomenon called chirality. ... > full story

Making factories smarter so they can react to changes on their own (December 9, 2011) -- The time it takes for new products to come to market is getting ever shorter. As a consequence, goods are being produced using manufacturing facilities and IT systems that were designed with completely different models in mind. Developers want to make factories smarter so they can react to changes of their own accord. ... > full story

Physicists manipulate single molecules to unravel secrets of protein folding (December 8, 2011) -- Physicists are opening a new window on protein folding, using a technique that lets them grab the ends of a single protein molecule and pull, making continuous, direct measurements as it unfolds and refolds. The latest study of the protein calmodulin reveals a complex network of intermediate states along the way to functionally correct folded forms. Better understanding of protein folding is essential because incorrectly folded proteins cause diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. ... > full story

The perfect clone: Researchers hack RFID smartcards (December 8, 2011) -- Professional safecrackers use a stethoscope to find the correct combination by listening to the clicks of the lock. Researchers have now demonstrated how to bypass the security mechanisms of a widely used contactless smartcard in a similar way. Employing so-called “Side-Channel Analysis” the researchers can break the cryptography of millions of cards that are used all around the world. ... > full story

New interface could help Facebook members limit security leaks (December 8, 2011) -- A sign-up interface for Facebook apps could help members prevent personal information -- and their friends' information -- from leaking out through third-party games and apps to hackers and identity thieves. ... > full story

Computer simulations shed light on the physics of rainbows (December 8, 2011) -- Computer scientists who set out to simulate all rainbows found in nature, wound up answering questions about the physics of rainbows as well. The scientists recreated a wide variety of rainbows by using an improved method for simulating how light interacts with water drops of various shapes and sizes. Their new approach even yielded realistic simulations of difficult-to-replicate "twinned" rainbows that split their primary bow in two. ... > full story