The EDGE: ScienceDaily Technology Headlines -- for Saturday, January 14, 2012

ScienceDaily Technology Headlines

for Saturday, January 14, 2012

Welcome to another edition of ScienceDaily's email newsletter. You can change your subscription options or unsubscribe at any time.

Novel chemical route to form organic molecules (January 13, 2012) -- Scientists have discovered a novel chemical route to form polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons -- complex organic molecules such as naphthalene carrying fused benzene rings -- in ultra-cold regions of interstellar space. ... > full story

New 'smart' nanotherapeutics can deliver drugs directly to the pancreas (January 13, 2012) -- Scientists have developed "smart" nanotherapeutics that can be programmed to selectively deliver drugs to the cells of the pancreas. The approach was found to increase drug efficacy by 200-fold in in vitro studies based on the ability of these nanomaterials to both protect the drug from degradation and concentrate it at key target sites, such as regions of the pancreas that contain the insulin-producing cells. ... > full story

Astronomers release unprecedented data set on celestial objects that brighten and dim (January 13, 2012) -- Astronomers have released the largest data set ever collected that documents the brightening and dimming of stars and other celestial objects -- two hundred million in total. ... > full story

Graphene quantum dots: The next big small thing (January 13, 2012) -- Scientists have found a way to turn common carbon fiber into graphene quantum dots, tiny specks of matter with properties expected to prove useful in electronic, optical and biomedical applications. ... > full story

Scientists predict the next big thing in particle physics: Supersymmetry (January 13, 2012) -- A better understanding of the universe will be the outgrowth of the discovery of the Higgs boson, according to a team of researchers. The team predicts the discovery will lead to supersymmetry or SUSY -- an extension of the standard model of particle physics. SUSY predicts new matter states or super partners for each matter particle already accounted for in the standard model. SUSY theory provides an important new step to a better understanding of the universe we live in. ... > full story

Mystery of source of supernova in nearby galaxy solved (January 13, 2012) -- Using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, astronomers have solved a longstanding mystery of the type of star, or so-called progenitor, that caused a supernova in a nearby galaxy. The finding yields new observational data for pinpointing one of several scenarios that trigger such outbursts. ... > full story

Platform safety on the radar for researchers (January 13, 2012) -- Systems used to detect aircraft and ships could soon be fitted in train stations to quickly identify objects – or even people – that have fallen on the tracks, preventing serious accidents and reducing delays that are frequently caused by these mishaps. ... > full story

Electron's negativity cut in half by supercomputer: Simulations slice electron in half -- a physical process that cannot be done in nature (January 13, 2012) -- Using several massive supercomputers, a team of physicists has split a simulated electron perfectly in half. The results are another example of how tabletop experiments on ultra-cold atoms and other condensed-matter materials can provide clues about the behavior of fundamental particles. ... > full story

Backing out of the nanotunnel (January 13, 2012) -- Nanopores provide a versatile tool for probing molecular structures. A new study shows that one can obtain more detailed information about the dynamic behavior of nucleic acids during passage through nanopores by directing them to asymmetric pores for the return journey. ... > full story

NASA's Hubble breaks new ground with distant supernova discovery (January 12, 2012) -- NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has looked deep into the distant universe and detected the feeble glow of a star that exploded more than 9 billion years ago. The sighting is the first finding of an ambitious survey that will help astronomers place better constraints on the nature of dark energy: the mysterious repulsive force that is causing the universe to fly apart ever faster. ... > full story

When galaxy clusters collide: Collision could help astronomers better understand 'dark matter' (January 12, 2012) -- The collision of two clusters of galaxies 5 billion light years away could help astronomers better understand "dark matter," the invisible stuff that makes up a big chunk of our universe. ... > full story

Planets with double suns are common (January 12, 2012) -- Astronomers have discovered two new circumbinary planet systems -- planets that orbit two stars, like Tatooine in the movie Star Wars. Their find, which brings the number of known circumbinary planets to three, shows that planets with two suns must be common, with many millions existing in our galaxy. ... > full story