The EDGE: ScienceDaily Technology Headlines -- for Wednesday, February 1, 2012

ScienceDaily Technology Headlines

for Wednesday, February 1, 2012

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'Your password is invalid': Improving website password practices (January 31, 2012) -- Internet users are increasingly asked to register with a user name and password before being able to access the content of many sites. Researchers have now identified impediments to efficient password creation and provided design strategies for enhancing the user experience. ... > full story

Risk-based passenger screening could make air travel safer (January 31, 2012) -- Intensive screening of all airline passengers actually makes the system less secure by overtaxing security resources, while risk-based methods increase overall security, according to new research. The researchers developed three algorithms dealing with risk uncertainty in the passenger population. Then, they ran simulations to demonstrate how their algorithms could estimate risk in the overall passenger population and how errors in this estimation procedure can be mitigated to reduce the risk to the overall system. ... > full story

Ultra-fast photodetector and terahertz generator (January 31, 2012) -- Photodetectors made from graphene can process and conduct light signals as well as electric signals extremely fast. Within picoseconds the optical stimulation of graphene generates a photocurrent. Until now, none of the available methods were fast enough to measure these processes in graphene. Scientists have now developed a method to measure the temporal dynamics of this photo current. Furthermore they discovered that graphene can emit terahertz radiation. ... > full story

IBEX spacecraft measures 'alien' particles from outside solar system (January 31, 2012) -- Using data from NASA's Interstellar Boundary Explorer spacecraft, an international team of researchers has measured neutral "alien" particles entering our solar system from interstellar space. A suite of studies provides a first look at the constituents of the interstellar medium, the matter between star systems, and how they interact with our heliosphere. ... > full story

Perfect nanotubes shine brightest: Researchers show how length, imperfections affect carbon nanotube fluorescence (January 31, 2012) -- A painstaking study has brought a wealth of new information about single-walled carbon nanotubes through analysis of their fluorescence. The researchers found that the brightest nanotubes of the same length show consistent fluorescence intensity, and the longer the tube, the brighter. ... > full story

Online news portals get credibility boost from trusted sources (January 31, 2012) -- People who read news on the web tend to trust the gate even if there is no gatekeeper, according to researchers. ... > full story

Microscopy reveals 'atomic antenna' behavior in graphene (January 31, 2012) -- Atomic-level defects in graphene could be a path forward to smaller and faster electronic devices. With unique properties and potential applications in areas from electronics to biodevices, graphene, which consists of a single sheet of carbon atoms, has been hailed as a rising star in the materials world. Now, a new study suggests that point defects, composed of silicon atoms that replace individual carbon atoms in graphene, could aid attempts to transfer data on an atomic scale by coupling light with electrons. ... > full story

'Cool' gas may form and strengthen sunspots (January 31, 2012) -- Hydrogen molecules may act as a kind of energy sink that strengthens the magnetic grip that causes sunspots, according to scientists using a new infrared instrument on an old telescope. ... > full story

Terahertz polarizer nears perfection: Research leads to nanotube-based device for communication, security, sensing (January 30, 2012) -- Researchers are using carbon nanotubes as the critical component of a robust terahertz polarizer that could accelerate the development of new security and communication devices, sensors and non-invasive medical imaging systems as well as fundamental studies of low-dimensional condensed matter systems. ... > full story

Superfluorescence seen from solid-state material: Many bodies make one coherent burst of light (January 30, 2012) -- In a flash, the world changed for Tim Noe -- and for physicists who study what they call many-body problems. The graduate student was the first to see, in the summer of 2010, proof of a theory that solid-state materials are capable of producing an effect known as superfluorescence. ... > full story

Scientists see 'sloshing' galaxy cluster (January 30, 2012) -- Scientists have recently discovered that vast clouds of hot gas are "sloshing" in Abell 2052, a galaxy cluster located about 480 million light years from Earth. ... > full story

Bright lights of purity: Why pure quantum dots and nanorods shine brighter (January 30, 2012) -- Researchers have discovered why a promising technique for making quantum dots and nanorods has so far been a disappointment. Better still, they've also discovered how to correct the problem. ... > full story

Ferroelectric switching discovered for first time in soft biological tissue (January 30, 2012) -- The walls of the aorta, the largest blood vessel carrying blood from the heart, exhibits a response to electric fields known to exist in inorganic and synthetic materials. The discovery could have implications for treating human heart disease. ... > full story

Smart paint could revolutionize structural safety of bridges, mines and more (January 30, 2012) -- An innovative low-cost smart paint that can detect microscopic faults in wind turbines, mines and bridges before structural damage occurs is being developed. ... > full story

Chirality of a nanotube controls growth: Armchair nanotubes grow fastest (January 30, 2012) -- Scientists have experimentally confirmed a theory that foretold a pair of interesting properties about nanotube growth: That the chirality of a nanotube controls the speed of its growth, and that armchair nanotubes should grow the fastest. ... > full story

Sun unleashes an X1.8 class flare on Jan. 27, 2012 (January 30, 2012) -- The sun unleashed an X1.8 class flare that began at 1:12 PM ET on January 27, 2012 and peaked at 1:37. The flare immediately caused a strong radio blackout at low-latitudes, which was rated an R3 on NOAA's scale from R1-5. The blackout soon subsided to a minor R1 storm. Models from NASA's Goddard Space Weather Center predict that the CME is traveling at over 1500 miles per second. It does not initially appear to be Earth-directed, but Earth may get a glancing blow. ... > full story

Harnessing the predictive power of virtual communities (January 30, 2012) -- Scientists have created a new algorithm to detect virtual communities, designed to match the needs of real-life social, biological or information networks detection better than with current attempts. ... > full story

Oxygen molecule survives to enormously high pressures (January 30, 2012) -- Using computer simulations, researchers have shown that the oxygen molecule (O2) is stable up to pressures of 1.9 terapascal, which is about nineteen million times higher than atmosphere pressure. Above that, it polymerizes, i.e. builds larger molecules or structures. ... > full story

Targeted DNA vaccine using an electric pulse (January 30, 2012) -- The vaccines of the future against infections, influenza and cancer can be administered using an electrical pulse and a specially produced DNA code, new research suggests. The DNA code programs the body's own cells to produce a super-fast missile defense against the disease, researchers say. ... > full story

Astronomers solve mystery of vanishing electrons in Earth's outer radiation belt (January 29, 2012) -- Researchers have explained the puzzling disappearing act of energetic electrons in Earth's outer radiation belt using data collected from a fleet of orbiting spacecraft. ... > full story

Space weather center to add world's first 'ensemble forecasting' capability (January 27, 2012) -- Leaner, greener flying machines for the year 2025 are on the drawing boards of three industry teams under contract to the NASA Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate's Environmentally Responsible Aviation Project. ... > full story

New ideas sharpen focus for greener aircraft (January 27, 2012) -- Leaner, greener flying machines for the year 2025 are on the drawing boards of three industry teams under contract to the NASA Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate's Environmentally Responsible Aviation Project. ... > full story

Mars-bound instrument detects solar burst's effects: RAD measures radiation from solar storm (January 27, 2012) -- The largest solar particle event since 2005 hit Earth, Mars and the Mars Science Laboratory spacecraft traveling in-between, allowing the onboard Radiation Assessment Detector to measure the radiation a human astronaut could be exposed to en route to the Red Planet. ... > full story

NuSTAR spacecraft arrives in California (January 27, 2012) -- NASA's Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array, or NuSTAR, mission arrived at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California Jan. 27 after a cross-country trip by truck from the Orbital Sciences Corporation's manufacturing plant in Dulles, Va. The mission is scheduled to launch from Kwajalein Atoll in the Pacific Ocean on March 14. ... > full story

New drug release mechanism utilizes 3-D superhydrophobic materials (January 27, 2012) -- There is a new mechanism of drug release using 3-D superhydrophobic materials that utilizes air as a removable barrier to control the rate at which drug is released. ... > full story

Kitchen gadget inspires scientist to make more effective plastic electronics (January 27, 2012) -- A kitchen gadget that vacuum seals food in plastic inspired a physicist to improve the performance of organic transistors for potential use in video displays. ... > full story

Making better electronic memory (January 27, 2012) -- A rare combination of electric and magnetic properties in a now readily producible material could improve electronic memory devices. ... > full story

Visual nudge improves accuracy of mammogram readings (January 26, 2012) -- False negatives and positives plague the reading of mammograms, limiting their usefulness. Computer scientists have now shown that the accuracy of novice readers can be improved by nudging them visually to follow the scanpath of an expert radiologist. The "nudge" is a brief change in the brightness or warmth in the image in the peripheral field of view. ... > full story

Protein purification alternatives (January 26, 2012) -- Protein purification, often referred to as downstream processing, is the most costly and time-consuming process in the manufacture of bio-molecules. EU-funded researchers integrated materials science with process development to produce novel low-cost materials and methods for selective purification with a focus on chromatography, membrane separation and extraction. ... > full story

Can the economy bear what oil prices have in store? (January 26, 2012) -- The economic pain of a flattening oil supply will trump the environment as a reason to curb the use of fossil fuels, say scientists. ... > full story

NASA's Kepler announces 11 new planetary systems hosting 26 planets (January 26, 2012) -- NASA's Kepler mission has discovered 11 new planetary systems hosting 26 confirmed planets. These discoveries nearly double the number of verified Kepler planets and triple the number of stars known to have more than one planet that transits, or passes in front of, the star. Such systems will help astronomers better understand how planets form. ... > full story

How seawater could corrode nuclear fuel (January 26, 2012) -- Japan used seawater to cool nuclear fuel at the stricken Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear plant after the tsunami in March 2011 -- and that was probably the best action to take at the time, say experts. But researchers have since discovered a new way in which seawater can corrode nuclear fuel, forming uranium compounds that could potentially travel long distances, either in solution or as very small particles. ... > full story

Rap music powers rhythmic action of medical sensor (January 26, 2012) -- The driving bass rhythm of rap music can be harnessed to power a new type of miniature medical sensor designed to be implanted in the body. ... > full story

Rotational motion of cells plays a critical role in their normal development, researchers find (January 26, 2012) -- Researchers have discovered a rotational motion that plays a critical role in the ability of breast cells to form the spherical structures in the mammary gland known as acini. This rotation, called "CAMo," for coherent angular motion, is necessary for the cells to form spheres. Otherwise, cells undergo random motion, leading to loss of structure and malignancy. ... > full story

Scientists map one of life's molecular mysteries: Visualisation of the molecular gateway across and into cellular membranes (January 26, 2012) -- All living organisms are made up of cells, behind these intricate life forms lie complex cellular processes that allow our bodies to function. Researchers working on protein secretion -- a fundamental process in biology -- have revealed how protein channels in the membrane are activated by special signals contained in proteins destined for secretion. The results help explain the underlying mechanism responsible for the release of proteins such as hormones and antibodies into the blood stream. ... > full story

Touch screen democracy for the Twitter generation (January 26, 2012) -- Researchers in the UK have been using touch screen technology to help give teenagers more of a say in community life. ... > full story

Cosmology in a Petri dish (January 26, 2012) -- Scientists have found that micron-size particles which are trapped at fluid interfaces exhibit a collective dynamic that is subject to seemingly unrelated governing laws. These laws show a smooth transitioning from long-ranged cosmological-style gravitational attraction down to short-range attractive and repulsive forces. ... > full story

Graphene supermaterial goes superpermeable: Can be used to distill alcohol (January 26, 2012) -- Wonder material graphene has revealed another of its extraordinary properties Scientists have now found that it is superpermeable with respect to water. Graphene is one of the wonders of the science world, with the potential to create foldaway mobile phones, wallpaper-thin lighting panels and the next generation of aircraft. The new finding gives graphene’s potential a most surprising dimension – graphene can also be used for distilling alcohol. ... > full story

Microbubbles provide new boost for biofuel production (January 26, 2012) -- A solution to the difficult issue of harvesting algae for use as a biofuel has been developed using microbubble technology. ... > full story

Scientists create first free-standing 3-D cloak (January 25, 2012) -- Researchers in the US have, for the first time, cloaked a three-dimensional object standing in free space, bringing the much-talked-about invisibility cloak one step closer to reality. ... > full story

Optimal basketball shooting rate proposed based on mathematical model (January 25, 2012) -- NBA players may be too conservative with their shots, according to a comparison with a theoretical model describing shot selection. ... > full story

Photo from NASA Mars orbiter shows wind's handiwork (January 25, 2012) -- Some images of stark Martian landscapes provide visual appeal beyond their science value, including a recent scene of wind-sculpted features from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. ... > full story

Giant asteroid Vesta likely cold and dark enough for ice (January 25, 2012) -- Though generally thought to be quite dry, roughly half of the giant asteroid Vesta is expected to be so cold and to receive so little sunlight that water ice could have survived there for billions of years, according to the first published models of Vesta's average global temperatures and illumination by the sun. ... > full story

NASA's NuSTAR ships to Vandenberg for March 14 launch (January 25, 2012) -- NASA's Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array, or NuSTAR, shipped to Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., on Jan. 24, 2012, to be mated to its Pegasus launch vehicle. The observatory will detect X-rays from objects ranging from our sun to giant black holes billions of light-years away. It is scheduled to launch March 14 from an aircraft operating out of Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands. ... > full story

Speed limit on the quantum highway: Physicists measure propagation velocity of quantum signals in a many-body system (January 25, 2012) -- A quantum computer based on quantum particles instead of classical bits, can in principle outperform any classical computer. However, it still remains an open question, how fast and how efficient quantum computers really may be able to work. A critical limitation will be given by the velocity with which a quantum signal can spread within a processing unit. For the first time, a group of physicists has succeeded in observing such a process in a solid-state like system. ... > full story

Adolescents with autism spend free time using solitary, screen-based media (January 25, 2012) -- Children with autism spectrum disorders tend to be fascinated by screen-based technology. A new study found that adolescents with autism (64.2 percent) spend most of their free time using solitary, or non-social, screen-based media (television and video games) while only 13.2 percent spend time on socially interactive media (e-mail, Internet chatting). ... > full story

Injecting sulfate particles into stratosphere won't fully offset climate change (January 25, 2012) -- New research demonstrates that one suggested method of geoengineering the atmosphere to deal with climate change, injecting sulfate particles into the stratosphere, probably would have limited success. ... > full story

Chemists synthesize artificial cell membrane (January 25, 2012) -- Chemists have taken an important step in making artificial life forms from scratch. Using a novel chemical reaction, they have created self-assembling cell membranes, the structural envelopes that contain and support the reactions required for life. Instead of complex enzymes embedded in membranes, they used a simple metal ion as the catalyst. By assembling an essential component of earthly life with no biological precursors, they hope to illuminate life's origins. ... > full story