The EDGE: ScienceDaily Technology Headlines -- for Tuesday, December 13, 2011

ScienceDaily Technology Headlines

for Tuesday, December 13, 2011

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Targeted proton transfer within a molecule: Smallest conceivable switch (December 13, 2011) -- For a long time miniaturization has been the magic word in electronics. Physicists have now presented a novel molecular switch. Decisive for the functionality of the switch is the position of a single proton in a porphyrin ring with an inside diameter of less than half a nanometer. The physicists can set four distinct states on demand. ... > full story

World record for one-loop calculations (December 13, 2011) -- Physicists have significantly improved the calculation method for scattering experiments in particle physics. This kind of calculation is used to predict the outcome of accelerator experiments in which high-energy particles collide with one another. However, the calculations become increasingly difficult the greater the number of orders the physicists wish to calculate. Scientists have now developed an algorithm which is far faster and requires less computing capacity than other algorithms. ... > full story

Robotic telescope network with access via Internet to be built (December 13, 2011) -- Internauts will be able to connect to 17 telescopes on four continents to share observation time. A world network of robotic telescopes is to be developed as part of a European citizen science project that has just kicked off in Spain. The network, to which any citizen will be able to connect and share observation time, will offer free open access via the Internet. ... > full story

New biometric data standard adds DNA, footmarks and enhanced fingerprint descriptions (December 12, 2011) -- The U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology has published a revised biometric standard that vastly expands the type and amount of information that forensic scientists can share across their international networks to identify victims or solve crimes. ... > full story

Women are best at being social on social media (December 12, 2011) -- Results of extensive study reveals gender divide in use of social media -- and how celebrities exploit social media to connect with their fans. Young women are leaders of change in styles of storytelling in the new digital economy, a social media expert has found. ... > full story

Study debunks myths about gender and math performance (December 12, 2011) -- A major study of recent international data on school mathematics performance casts doubt on some common assumptions about gender and math achievement -- in particular, the idea that girls and women have less ability due to a difference in biology. ... > full story

Powerful detectors on Hawaiian telescope to probe origins of stars, planets and galaxies (December 12, 2011) -- The world's largest submillimeter camera -- based on superconducting technology -- is now ready to scan the universe, including faint and faraway parts never seen before. ... > full story

A dash of physics thrown into the cocktail mix (December 12, 2011) -- Top-end bartenders are ditching trial and error for a more measured, controlled and scientific approach to the art of cocktail making, according to experts. ... > full story

Diamonds and dust for better cement (December 12, 2011) -- Scientists are seeking ways to use cement more efficiently and reduce the carbon emissions associated with its manufacture have revealed new properties of the mineral tobermorite. Using X-ray-diffraction to probe its crystalline structure, which corresponds to Portland cement's most important component, they squeezed the mineral in a diamond anvil cell to pressures equivalent to 100 miles deep in the Earth. ... > full story

Evolution reveals missing link between DNA and protein shape (December 12, 2011) -- Using evolutionary genetic information, an international team of researchers has taken major steps toward solving a classic problem of molecular biology: Predicting how a protein will fold in three dimensions. ... > full story

Researchers design Alzheimer’s antibodies: Surprisingly simple method to target harmful proteins (December 12, 2011) -- Researchers have developed a new method to design antibodies aimed at combating disease. The surprisingly simple process was used to make antibodies that neutralize the harmful protein particles that are believed to lead to Alzheimer's disease. ... > full story

Star explosion leaves behind a rose (December 12, 2011) -- About 3,700 years ago, people on Earth would have seen a brand-new bright star in the sky. It slowly dimmed out of sight and was eventually forgotten, until modern astronomers later found its remains, called Puppis A. In this new image from NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE), Puppis A looks less like the remains of a supernova explosion and more like a red rose. ... > full story

Study finds failure points in firefighter protective equipment (December 12, 2011) -- In fire experiments conducted in uniformly furnished, but vacant Chicago-area townhouses, researchers uncovered temperature and heat-flow conditions that can seriously damage facepiece lenses on standard firefighter breathing equipment, a potential contributing factor for first-responder fatalities and injuries. ... > full story

World's smallest steam engine: Heat engine measuring only a few micrometers works as well as its larger counterpart, although it sputters (December 12, 2011) -- What would be a case for the repair shop for a car engine is completely normal for a micro engine. If it sputters, this is caused by the thermal motions of the smallest particles, which interfere with its running. Researchers have now observed this with a heat engine on the micrometer scale. They have also determined that the machine does actually perform work, all things considered. Although this cannot be used as yet, the experiment shows that an engine does basically work, even if it is on the microscale. This means that there is nothing, in principle, to prevent the construction of highly efficient, small heat engines. ... > full story

Scientists assess radioactivity in the ocean from Japan nuclear power facility (December 12, 2011) -- With current news of additional radioactive leaks from the Fukushima nuclear power plants, the impact on the ocean of releases of radioactivity from the plants remains unclear. ... > full story

Shampoo formulation puzzle solved (December 12, 2011) -- A research team has demonstrated quantitatively the science behind an anomaly in the surface tension of polyelectrolyte/surfactant mixtures. Their findings show that the dramatic increase in surface tension that affects the production of various pharmaceutical and cosmetic formulations is caused by the comprehensive aggregation of active ingredients. They have outlined a way to reload interfaces with functional components simply by tuning the way the materials are handled. ... > full story

Nanowrinkles, nanofolds yield strange hidden channels (December 12, 2011) -- Wrinkles and folds, common in nature, do something unusual at the nanoscale. Researchers have discovered that wrinkles on super-thin films have hidden long waves. The team also found that folds in the film produce nanochannels, like thousands of tiny subsurface pipes. The research could lead to advances in medicine, electronics and energy. ... > full story

New solar-powered classroom brings science to schools in developing countries (December 12, 2011) -- An innovative project is using solar generators to provide IT resources and 'hands-on' science for students in developing countries. ... > full story

Multi-purpose photonic chip paves the way to programmable quantum processors (December 12, 2011) -- A multi-purpose optical chip which generates, manipulates and measures entanglement and mixture -- two quantum phenomena which are essential driving forces for tomorrow's quantum computers -- has now been developed. This work represents an important step forward in the race to develop a quantum computer. ... > full story

A hidden order unraveled: Microscopic views on quantum fluctuations (December 12, 2011) -- Fluctuations are fundamental to many physical phenomena in our everyday lives. Using a high resolution microscope, scientists have now been able to image quantum-correlated particle-hole pairs in a gas of ultracold atoms. This has allowed the physicists to unravel a hidden order in the crystal. ... > full story

Cassini to make a double play (December 12, 2011) -- In an action-packed day and a half, NASA's Cassini spacecraft will be making its closest swoop over the surface of Saturn's moon Dione and scrutinizing the atmosphere of Titan, Saturn's largest moon. ... > full story

Synthetic cricket pricks up its 'ears' (December 11, 2011) -- The tiny hairs on the abdomen of a cricket have inspired researchers to make a new type of sensor which is ultra sensitive to air flows. These synthetic cricket hairs can now also be tuned very precisely for a certain range of frequencies: the hairs are 10 times more sensitive in this range. ... > full story

Slow road to stability for emulsions (December 11, 2011) -- Physical equilibrium, assumed to be almost instant, may take months or years for particles in oil-water mixtures. By studying the behavior of tiny particles at an interface between oil and water, researchers have discovered that stabilized emulsions may take longer to reach equilibrium than previously thought. ... > full story

Carving at the nanoscale (December 10, 2011) -- Researchers have successfully demonstrated a new method for producing a wide variety of complex hollow nanoparticles. The work applies well known processes of corrosion in a novel manner to produce highly complex cage-like nanoscale structures with potential applications in fields from medicine to industrial processing. ... > full story

Computerized method for matching images in photos, paintings, sketches created (December 10, 2011) -- Computers can mimic the human ability to find visually similar images, such as photographs of a fountain in summer and in winter, or a photograph and a painting of the same cathedral, by using a technique that analyzes the uniqueness of images, say researchers. The research team found that their surprisingly simple technique performed well on a number of visual tasks that normally stump computers, including matching sketches of automobiles with photographs of cars. ... > full story

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

Patterns seen in spider silk and melodies connected (December 8, 2011) -- Using a new mathematical methodology, researchers have created a scientifically rigorous analogy showing the similarities between the physical structure of spider silk and the sonic structure of a musical composition, proving that the structure of each relates to its function in an equivalent way. The comparison begins with the primary building blocks of each item and explains that structural patterns are directly related to the functional properties of silk and a melodic riff. ... > full story

New '3-D' transistors promising future chips, lighter laptops (December 8, 2011) -- Researchers have created a new type of transistor made from a material that could replace silicon and have a 3-D structure instead of conventional flat computer chips. ... > full story

Heads up, Kobe Bryant: Researchers discover that trying for another 3-pointer is a mistake (December 8, 2011) -- Researchers shattered the myth that players who score one or more three-pointers improve their odds of scoring another. A new report raises doubts about the ability of athletes in particular, and people in general, to predict future success based on past performance. ... > full story

New tool for touring Mars using detailed images (December 8, 2011) -- An improved tool debuts Dec. 7 for viewing channels, dunes, boulders and other features revealed in the huge image files from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. ... > full story

One of the world's smallest electronic circuits created (December 8, 2011) -- Scientists have engineered one of the world's smallest electronic circuits. It is formed by two wires separated by only about 150 atoms or 15 nanometers. ... > full story

High tech detection of breast cancer using nanoprobes and SQUID (December 8, 2011) -- Mammography saves lives by detecting very small tumors. However, it fails to find 10-25% of tumors and is unable to distinguish between benign and malignant disease. New research provides a new and potentially more sensitive method using tumor-targeted magnetic nanoprobes and superconducting quantum interference device sensors. ... > full story

Avatars help people develop real world skills (December 8, 2011) -- New research suggests that far from disengaging young people from real life, virtual worlds can provide unique environments that can help them learn and negotiate new situations. ... > full story

NASA Mars rover finds mineral vein deposited by water (December 8, 2011) -- NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity has found bright veins of a mineral, apparently gypsum, deposited by water. Analysis of the vein will help improve understanding of the history of wet environments on Mars. ... > full story

Ingredients involved in 'splashing' revealed (December 8, 2011) -- "Splashing" plays a central role in the transport of pollutants and the spread of diseases, but while the sight of a droplet striking and splashing off of a solid surface is a common experience, the actual physical ingredients and mechanisms involved in splashing aren't all that well understood. A team of researchers has discovered that there is indeed more involved in splashing than previously believed. ... > full story

Best routes found to self-assembling 3-D shapes (December 7, 2011) -- Researchers have found optimal configurations for creating 3-D geometric shapes — like tiny, highly simplified geodesic domes that assemble by themselves. The team developed the algorithmic tools and tested selected configurations. The research may lead to advances from drug-delivery containers to 3-D sensors and electronic circuits. ... > full story

Supercomputer reveals new details behind drug-processing protein model (December 7, 2011) -- Supercomputer simulations are giving scientists unprecedented access to a key class of proteins involved in drug detoxification. ... > full story