Thursday, December 15, 2011

ScienceDaily Technology Headlines -- for Thursday, December 15, 2011

ScienceDaily Technology Headlines

for Thursday, December 15, 2011

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Disaster looms for gas cloud falling into Milky Way's central black hole (December 15, 2011) -- Astronomers have observed a cloud of gas several times the mass of Earth approaching the 4.3 million solar-mass black hole at the center of the Milky Way, and calculate that it will not survive the encounter. Astronomers calculate that by 2013, the cloud will be shredded and heated, emitting X-rays. The violent event provides a unique opportunity to record a black hole disruption until now only theorized. ... > full story

Largest ever gas mix caught in ultra-freeze trap (December 15, 2011) -- A team of scientists have made it easier to study atomic or subatomic-scale properties of the building blocks of matter (which also include protons, neutrons and electrons) known as fermions by slowing down the movement of a large quantity of gaseous atoms at ultra-low temperature. ... > full story

Engineering cartilage replacements (December 15, 2011) -- Self-assembling sheets of mesenchymal stem cells permeated with tiny beads filled with growth factor formed thicker, stiffer cartilage than previous tissue engineering methods, researchers have found. This step toward implantable replacement cartilage, holds promise for damaged joints, ears and noses. ... > full story

Ramping up wind energy research (December 15, 2011) -- As the percentage of wind energy contributing to the power grid continues to increase, the variable nature of wind can make it difficult to keep the generation and the load balanced. But recent work may help this balance through a project that alerts control room operators of wind conditions and energy forecasts so they can make well-informed scheduling decisions. This is especially important during extreme events, such as ramps, when there is a sharp increase or decrease in the wind speed over a short period of time, which leads to a large rise or fall in the amount of power generated. ... > full story

Scientists develop new technology to detect deep sea gas leaks (December 15, 2011) -- A new ultra-sensitive technology which can monitor leaks from underwater gas pipelines has been developed by scientists in the UK. ... > full story

Society may get stuck with the bill for expensive higher education (December 15, 2011) -- The rising cost of a college education and limited access to financial aid may create a less productive workforce and steeper wealth inequity, according to a study by North American economists. ... > full story

Glow of recognition: New detectors could provide easy visual identification of toxins or pathogens (December 14, 2011) -- Researchers have developed a new way of revealing the presence of specific chemicals -- whether toxins, disease markers, pathogens or explosives. The system visually signals the presence of a target chemical by emitting a fluorescent glow. ... > full story

Do consumers prefer brands that appear on their Facebook pages? (December 14, 2011) -- You are likely to identify with a brand that advertises alongside your personal information on a Facebook page (especially if you have high self-esteem), according to a new study. The same ad will have less impact if you view it on a stranger's page. ... > full story

Microneedle sensors may allow real-time monitoring of body chemistry (December 14, 2011) -- Researchers have developed new technology that uses microneedles to allow doctors to detect real-time chemical changes in the body -- and to continuously do so for an extended period of time. ... > full story

Sharpening the lines: Advance could lead to smaller features in the quest for more compact, faster microchips (December 14, 2011) -- The microchip revolution has seen a steady shrinking of features on silicon chips, packing in more transistors and wires to boost chips' speed and data capacity. But in recent years, the technologies behind these chips have begun to bump up against fundamental limits, such as the wavelengths of light used for critical steps in chip manufacturing. Now, a new technique offers a way to break through one of these limits, possibly enabling further leaps in the computational power packed into a tiny sliver of silicon. ... > full story

Early research on cellphone conversations likely overestimated crash risk, study suggests (December 14, 2011) -- A new study suggests that two influential early studies of cellphone use and crash risk may have overestimated the relative risk of conversation on cellphones while driving. ... > full story

'Supernova of a generation' shows its stuff: Astronomers determine how brightest and closest stellar explosion in 25 years happened (December 14, 2011) -- It was the brightest and closest stellar explosion seen from Earth in 25 years, dazzling professional and backyard astronomers alike. Now, thanks to this rare discovery -- which some have called the "supernova of a generation" -- astronomers have the most detailed picture yet of how this kind of explosion happens. ... > full story

Simple test to help diagnose bowel and pancreatic cancer could save thousands of lives (December 14, 2011) -- A simple online calculator could offer family GPs a powerful new tool in tackling two of the most deadly forms of cancer, say researchers. ... > full story

Preparing for future human exploration, RAD measures radiation on journey to Mars (December 14, 2011) -- The Radiation Assessment Detector, the first instrument on NASA's next rover mission to Mars to begin science operations, was powered up and began collecting data Dec. 6, almost 2 weeks ahead of schedule. RAD is the only instrument scheduled to collect science data on the journey to Mars. The instrument is measuring the energetic particles inside the spacecraft to characterize the radiation environment an astronaut would experience on a future human mission to the Red Planet. ... > full story

Artificially enhanced athletes (December 14, 2011) -- Superstar swimmers and certain comic book superheroes have something unusual in common -- when they wear special suits, they gain phenomenal abilities. A first-of-its-kind study shows how now-banned technical swimsuits artificially enhanced athlete performance in 2009. ... > full story

Small reactors could figure into US energy future (December 14, 2011) -- A new study concludes that small modular reactors may hold the key to the future of U.S. nuclear power generation. ... > full story

New path to flex and stretch electronics: Artificial electronic skin device capable of detecting and responding to touch (December 14, 2011) -- Researchers have developed a promising new inexpensive technique for fabricating large-scale flexible and stretchable backplanes using semiconductor-enriched carbon nanotube solutions. To demonstrate the utility of their carbon nanotube backplanes, the researchers constructed an artificial electronic skin device capable of detecting and responding to touch. ... > full story

Nanoparticles help researcher deliver steroids to retina (December 14, 2011) -- Hitching a ride into the retina on nanoparticles called dendrimers offers a new way to treat age-related macular degeneration and retinitis pigmentosa. ... > full story

Using many instruments to track a comet (December 14, 2011) -- In 16 years of data observations, the Solar Heliophysics Observatory (SOHO) -- a joint European Space Agency and NASA mission -- made an unexpected claim for fame: the sighting of new comets at an alarming rate. SOHO has spotted over 2100 comets, most of which are from what's known as the Kreutz family, which graze the solar atmosphere where they usually evaporate completely. ... > full story

Tycho's star shines in gamma rays, NASA's Fermi shows (December 14, 2011) -- In early November 1572, observers on Earth witnessed the appearance of a "new star" in the constellation Cassiopeia, an event now recognized as the brightest naked-eye supernova in more than 400 years. It's often called "Tycho's supernova" after the great Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe, who gained renown for his extensive study of the object. Now, years of data collected by NASA's Fermi Gamma-Ray Space Telescope reveal that the shattered star's remains shine in high-energy gamma rays. ... > full story

High-energy physicists set record for network data transfer (December 14, 2011) -- Researchers have set a new world record for data transfer, helping to usher in the next generation of high-speed network technology. They transferred data in opposite directions at a combined rate of 186 gigabits per second (Gbps) in a wide-area network circuit. The rate is equivalent to moving two million gigabytes per day, fast enough to transfer nearly 100,000 full Blu-ray disks -- each with a complete movie and all the extras -- in a day. ... > full story

NASA developing comet harpoon for sample return (December 14, 2011) -- The best way to grab a sample of a rotating comet that is racing through the inner solar system at up to 150,000 miles per hour while spewing chunks of ice, rock and dust may be to avoid the risky business of landing on it. Instead, researchers want to send a spacecraft to rendezvous with a comet, then fire a harpoon to rapidly acquire samples from specific locations with surgical precision while hovering above the target. Using this "standoff" technique would allow samples to be collected even from areas that are much too rugged or dangerous to permit the landing and safe operation of a spacecraft. ... > full story

First electronic optical fibers with hydrogenated amorphous silicon are developed (December 14, 2011) -- A new chemical technique for depositing a non-crystalline form of silicon into the long, ultra-thin pores of optical fibers is the first of its kind to use high-pressure chemistry for making well-developed films and wires of this particular kind of silicon semiconductor. The research will help scientists to make more-efficient and more-flexible optical fibers. ... > full story

Closest Type Ia supernova in decades solves a cosmic mystery (December 14, 2011) -- Even as the "supernova of a generation" came into view in backyards across the northern hemisphere last August, physicists and astronomers who had caught its earliest moments were developing a surprising and much clearer picture of what happens during a titanic Type Ia explosion. Now they have announced the closest, most detailed look ever at one of the universe's brightest "standard candles," the celestial mileposts that led to the discovery of dark energy. ... > full story

Early black holes grew big eating cold, fast food (December 13, 2011) -- Researchers have discovered what caused the rapid growth of early supermassive black holes -- a steady diet of cold, fast food. Computer simulations show that thin streams of cold gas flow uncontrolled into the center of the first black holes, causing them to grow faster than anything else in the universe. ... > full story

New device uses gold nanoparticles to test for lung cancer (December 13, 2011) -- A new device clearly distinguishes between the volatile organic compounds in cancer patients' exhaled breath compared to the breath of a control group. Subjects simply exhale into a bag, and the breath is analyzed by an array of gold nanoparticle sensors. ... > full story

Trillion-frame-per-second video: Researchers have created an imaging system that makes light look slow (December 13, 2011) -- Researchers have created a new imaging system that can acquire visual data at a rate of one trillion exposures per second. That's fast enough to produce a slow-motion video of a burst of light traveling the length of a one-liter bottle, bouncing off the cap and reflecting back to the bottle's bottom. ... > full story

Nighttime images help track disease from the sky (December 13, 2011) -- Satellite images of nighttime lights normally used to spot where people live can help keep tabs on the diseases festering among them, too. ... > full story

Possible hints of Higgs boson remain in latest analyses, physicists say (December 13, 2011) -- Two experiments at the Large Hadron Collider have nearly eliminated the space in which the Higgs boson could dwell, scientists announced in a seminar held at CERN Dec. 13. However, the ATLAS and CMS experiments see modest excesses in their data that could soon uncover the famous missing piece of the physics puzzle. Theorists have predicted that some subatomic particles gain mass by interacting with other particles called Higgs bosons. The Higgs boson is the only undiscovered part of the Standard Model of physics, which describes the basic building blocks of matter and their interactions. ... > full story

Visual tour of Earth's fires (December 13, 2011) -- NASA has released a series of new satellite data visualizations that show tens of millions of fires detected worldwide from space since 2002. ... > full story

Space weather prediction model improves forecasting (December 13, 2011) -- NOAA is now using a sophisticated forecast model that substantially improves predictions of space weather impacts on Earth. Better forecasts offer additional protection for people and the technology-based infrastructure we use daily. ... > full story

Reliable nuclear device to heat, power Mars Science Lab (December 13, 2011) -- NASA's Mars Science Laboratory mission has the potential to be the most productive Mars surface mission in history. That's due in part to its nuclear heat and power source. The rover Curiosity's scientific instruments will get their lifeblood from a new radioisotope power system. ... > full story

Elusive ultrafine indoor air contaminants yield to analysis (December 13, 2011) -- Researchers spent 75 days on the job carrying out some very important homework -- measurements in a 'typical dwelling' of the release, distribution and fate of nanoscale particles emitted by gas and electric stoves, hair dryers, power tools and candles. ... > full story

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

Online brand comments: How do they affect consumer decisions? (December 13, 2011) -- Consumer reactions to online comments depend on the number of comments and the reader's orientation (whether it's positive or negative), according to a new study. ... > full story

NASA Mars-bound rover begins research in space (December 13, 2011) -- NASA's car-sized Curiosity rover has begun monitoring space radiation during its 8-month trip from Earth to Mars. The research will aid in planning for future human missions to the Red Planet. Curiosity launched on Nov. 26 from Cape Canaveral, Fla., aboard the Mars Science Laboratory. The rover carries an instrument called the Radiation Assessment Detector (RAD) that monitors high-energy atomic and subatomic particles from the sun, distant supernovas and other sources. These particles constitute radiation that could be harmful to any microbes or astronauts in space or on Mars. The rover also will monitor radiation on the surface of Mars after its August 2012 landing. ... > full story

Portraits of Saturn moons captured by Cassini (December 13, 2011) -- NASA's Cassini spacecraft successfully completed its closest-ever pass over Saturn's moon Dione on Dec. 12, slaloming its way through the Saturn system on its way to a close flyby of Titan. Cassini is expected to glide about 2,200 miles (3,600 kilometers) over the Titan surface on Dec. 13. ... > 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


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