The EDGE: ScienceDaily Technology Headlines -- for Saturday, February 18, 2012

ScienceDaily Technology Headlines

for Saturday, February 18, 2012

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Who goes there? Verifying identity online (February 17, 2012) -- We are all used to logging into networks where we have a unique identity, verified by the network server and associated with our account for other members of the network to see. Such an identity-based network system is useful because it is relatively simple. However, there are three major drawbacks including loss of anonymity of communicating users, misplaced trust and identity theft. ... > full story

New braille-like texting app lets you text without looking (February 17, 2012) -- Researchers have designed a texting solution that could become a modern substitute for passing notes under the table. BrailleTouch is a prototype texting app that requires only finger gestures to key in letters on touch screen devices – no sight required. ... > full story

Revealed in accurate detail, the underground world of plants (February 17, 2012) -- Plant and computer scientists can now study the underground world of plants with more accuracy and clarity. The revolutionary technique will improve our chances of breeding better crop varieties and increasing yields. ... > full story

A robot sketches portraits (February 17, 2012) -- An industrial robot as artist? A painter made of metal really can sketch faces. Its artistic genius only emerges if someone takes a seat on the model’s stool positioned in front of the robot: first, its camera records an image of its model; then it whips out its pencil and traces a portrait of the individual on its easel. After around ten minutes have passed, it grabs the work and proudly presents it to its public. ... > full story

3-D microscopy to aid in cell analysis (February 17, 2012) -- The understanding of diseases such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's is set to take a step forward following groundbreaking technology which will enable cell analysis using automated 3D microscopy. ... > full story

Nano-technology uses virus' coats to fool cancer cell (February 17, 2012) -- While there have been major advances in the detection, diagnosis, and treatment of tumors within the brain, brain cancer continues to have a very low survival rate in part to high levels of resistance to treatment. New research has used Sendai virus to transport Quantum Dots (Qdots) into brain cancer cells and to specifically bind Qdots to epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) which is often over-expressed and up-regulated in tumors. ... > full story

Geoscientists use numerical model to better forecast forces behind earthquakes (February 17, 2012) -- Researchers have devised a numerical model to help explain the linkage between earthquakes and the powerful forces that cause them. Their findings hold implications for long-term forecasting of earthquakes. ... > full story

Nanoparticles in food, vitamins could harm human health, researchers warn (February 16, 2012) -- Billions of engineered nanoparticles in foods and pharmaceuticals are ingested by humans daily, and new study warns they may be more harmful to health than previously thought. ... > full story

'Honeycombs' and hexacopters help tell story of Mars (February 16, 2012) -- In a rough-and-tumble wonderland of plunging canyons and towering buttes, some of the still-raw bluffs are lined with soaring, six-sided stone columns so orderly and trim, they could almost pass as relics of a colossal temple. The secret of how these columns, packed in edge to edge, formed en masse from a sea of molten rock is encrypted in details as tiny as the cracks running across their faces. To add to this mystery's allure, decoding it might do more than reveal the life story of some local lava: it might help explain the history of Mars. ... > full story

'Mini-cellulose' molecule unlocks biofuel chemistry (February 16, 2012) -- Chemical engineers have discovered a small molecule that behaves the same as cellulose when it is converted to biofuel. Studying this "mini-cellulose" molecule reveals for the first time the chemical reactions that take place in wood and prairie grasses during high-temperature conversion to biofuel. ... > full story

Strange new nano-region can form in quasicrystals (February 16, 2012) -- Researchers have discovered a new type of structural anomaly, or defect, that can appear in quasicrystals, a unique material with some crystal-like properties but a more complex structure. The new defect type occurs under certain circumstances to help balance competing energetic issues. The defect's formation at those times enables higher-energy transition-metal-rich surfaces to be exposed rather than the expected lower-energy aluminum-rich surfaces. ... > full story

Cell phone hackers can track your location without your knowledge (February 16, 2012) -- Cellular networks leak the locations of cell phone users, allowing a third party to easily track the location of the cell phone user without the user's knowledge, according to new research by computer scientists. ... > full story

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