The EDGE: ScienceDaily Technology Headlines -- for Thursday, August 23, 2012

ScienceDaily Technology Headlines

for Thursday, August 23, 2012

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

Milky Way now has a twin (or two): Astronomers find first group of galaxies just like ours (August 22, 2012) -- Researchers have found the first group of galaxies that is just like ours, a rare sight in the local Universe. The Milky Way is a fairly typical galaxy on its own, but when paired with its close neighbours -- the Magellanic Clouds -- it is very rare, and could have been one of a kind, until a survey of our local Universe found another two examples just like us. ... > full story

Batteries made from world’s thinnest material could power tomorrow’s electric cars (August 22, 2012) -- Engineering researchers have made a sheet of paper from the world’s thinnest material, graphene, and then zapped the paper with a laser or camera flash to blemish it with countless cracks, pores, and other imperfections. The result is a graphene anode material that can be charged or discharged 10 times faster than conventional graphite anodes used in today's lithium-ion batteries. ... > full story

Scientists create chemical 'brain': Giant network links all known compounds and reactions (August 22, 2012) -- Scientists have connected 250 years of organic chemical knowledge into one giant computer network -- a chemical Google on steroids. This "immortal chemist" will never retire and take away its knowledge but instead will continue to learn, grow and share. The software optimizes syntheses of drug molecules and other important compounds, combines long (and expensive) syntheses of compounds into shorter and more economical routes and identifies suspicious chemical recipes that could lead to chemical weapons. ... > full story

Elusive metal discovered: Nickel oxide turned into an electricity-conducting metal (August 22, 2012) -- Scientists have discovered the conditions under which nickel oxide can turn into an electricity-conducting metal. Nickel oxide is one of the first compounds to be studied for its electronic properties, but until now scientists have not been able to induce a metallic state. The compound becomes metallic at enormous pressures of 2.4 million times the atmospheric pressure (240 gigapascals). ... > full story

Researchers probe invisible vacancies in fuel cell materials (August 22, 2012) -- Knowing the position of missing oxygen atoms could be the key to cheaper solid oxide fuel cells with longer lifetimes. New microscopy research is enabling scientists to map these vacancies at an atomic scale. ... > full story

Mars rover Curiosity begins driving at Bradbury landing (August 22, 2012) -- NASA's Mars rover Curiosity has begun driving from its landing site, which scientists announced Aug. 22 they have named for the late author Ray Bradbury. Making its first movement on the Martian surface, Curiosity's drive combined forward, turn and reverse segments. This placed the rover roughly 20 feet (6 meters) from the spot where it landed 16 days ago. ... > full story

Biorefinery makes use of every bit of a soybean (August 22, 2012) -- Scientists have unveiled new technology intended to move soybeans, second only to corn as the top food crop in the U.S., along the same use-to-all path of corn and crude oil as a raw material for a wider portfolio of products. ... > full story

Super-strong, high-tech material found to be toxic to aquatic animals (August 22, 2012) -- Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have potential uses in everything from medicine to electronics to construction. However, CNTs are not without risks. A new study found that they can be toxic to aquatic animals. The researchers urge that care be taken to prevent the release of CNTs into the environment as the materials enter mass production. ... > full story

Future memory: Ferroelectric materials could bring down cost of cloud computing and electronic devices (August 22, 2012) -- A new class of organic materials boasts an attractive but elusive property: Ferroelectricity. The crystalline materials also have a great memory, which could be very useful in computer and cellphone memory applications, including cloud computing. The very long crystals with desirable properties are made using just two small organic molecules that are extremely attracted to each other. The starting compounds are simple and inexpensive, making the lightweight materials scalable for technology applications. ... > full story

Sky-high methane mystery closer to being solved (August 22, 2012) -- Increased capture of natural gas from oil fields probably accounts for up to 70 percent of the dramatic leveling off seen in atmospheric methane at the end of the 20th century, according to new research. ... > full story

Long-standing chemistry mystery cracked (August 22, 2012) -- Chemists have answered a key question concerning the widely-used Fenton reaction – important in wastewater treatment to destroy hazardous organic chemicals and decontaminate bacterial pathogens and in industrial chemical production. ... > full story

Researchers study the structure of drug resistance in tuberculosis (August 22, 2012) -- A research group is studying disease resistance in tuberculosis. The group has described the structure of a regulator that controls the expression of a pump that removes toxins from the bacteria. ... > full story

CSI: NASA -- Deciphering today's technological failures to prevent future problems (August 22, 2012) -- Working side-by-side with designers developing technologies of the future are engineers deciphering what went wrong with some of the technologies of the present. They analyze readouts from precision tools, devise ways to test large pieces of rocket hardware without damaging the rocket itself, and burn, blow up or vaporize leftover fragments in an effort to find out why something failed. ... > full story

Glass offers improved means of storing nuclear waste, researchers say (August 22, 2012) -- Researchers have shown, for the first time, that a method of storing nuclear waste normally used only for high level waste, could provide a safer, more efficient, and potentially cheaper, solution for the storage and ultimate disposal of intermediate level waste. ... > full story

New cancer scanner halves radiation (August 22, 2012) -- Particle physicists have developed a new medical technology that combines PET and MRI in one. Benefit: Improved image quality and less radiation. ... > full story

Semiconductor lasers: Surface emitters set a new world record for spectral bandwidth (August 22, 2012) -- Scientists have developed semiconductor lasers that emit light over a wavelength range of 100 nm, a new world record for a single semiconductor laser. Such lasers might allow more efficient, lower-cost operation of future fiberoptic telecommunications networks and the development of high-responsivity gas sensors. ... > full story

Lifelike, cost-effective robotic hand can disable IEDs (August 21, 2012) -- Researchers have developed a cost-effective robotic hand that can be used in disarming improvised explosive devices, or IEDs. ... > full story

NASA's Curiosity studies Mars surroundings, nears drive (August 21, 2012) -- NASA's Mars rover Curiosity has been investigating the Martian weather around it and the soil beneath it, as its controllers prepare for the car-size vehicle's first drive on Mars. ... > full story

Twin satellites will help improve space weather forecasts (August 21, 2012) -- On Aug. 24, NASA will launch two identical satellites from Cape Canaveral, Fla., to begin its Radiation Belt Storm Probes mission to study the extremes of space weather and help scientists improve space weather forecasts. The University of Iowa has designed the Electromagnetic Instrument Suite with Integrated Science project to study how various amounts of space radiation form and change during space storms. ... > full story

Moving closer to extracting uranium from seawater (August 21, 2012) -- Fueling nuclear reactors with uranium harvested from the ocean could become more feasible because of a new material. ... > full story

Fueling nuclear power with seawater: Tests adsorbent to extract uranium from the ocean (August 21, 2012) -- A new absorbent material may be able to soak up enough trace uranium in seawater to help fuel future nuclear power plants. Tests showed the material can soak up more than two times the uranium than a similar material developed in Japan. ... > full story

'Electronic nose' prototype developed: Device has applications in agriculture, industry, homeland security and the military (August 21, 2012) -- Research has led to the development of an "electronic nose" prototype that can detect small quantities of harmful airborne substances. ... > full story

New catalyst could improve production of glass alternatives (August 21, 2012) -- Chemists have identified a catalyst that could dramatically reduce the amount of waste made in the production of methyl methacrylate, a monomer used in the large-scale manufacturing of lightweight, shatter-resistant alternatives to glass such as Plexiglas. ... > full story

Public wave energy test facility begins operation in Oregon (August 21, 2012) -- One of the first public wave energy testing systems in the United States began operation this week off the Oregon coast near Newport, and will allow private industry or academic researchers to test new technology that may help advance this promising form of sustainable energy. ... > full story

Self-charging power cell converts and stores energy (August 21, 2012) -- Researchers have developed a self-charging power cell that directly converts mechanical energy to chemical energy, storing the power until it is released as electrical current. The development eliminates the need to convert mechanical energy to electrical energy for charging a battery. ... > full story

New technology to transform blood processing (August 21, 2012) -- A pioneering surgical blood salvage technology is set to transform the way major surgery is carried out by reducing blood loss in patients. ... > full story

Halo of neutrinos alters physics of exploding stars (August 21, 2012) -- Sparse halos of neutrinos within the hearts of exploding stars exert a previously unrecognized influence on the physics of the explosion and may alter which elements can be forged by these violent events. ... > full story

Intense bursts of star formation drive fierce galactic winds (August 21, 2012) -- Fierce galactic winds powered by an intense burst of star formation may blow gas right out of massive galaxies, shutting down their ability to make new stars. ... > full story

Sun's plasma loops recreated in the lab to help understand solar physics (August 21, 2012) -- In orbit around Earth is a wide range of satellites that we rely on for everything from television feeds to GPS navigation. Although these spacecraft soar high above storms on Earth, they are still vulnerable to weather from the sun. Large solar flares can cause widespread damage, which is why researchers are working to learn more about the possible precursors to solar flares called plasma loops by recreating them in the lab. ... > full story

Computer program recognizes any language (August 21, 2012) -- New technology that allows computers to recognize any language without pre-learning stands to revolutionize automatic speech recognition. ... > full story

New aerogel-based plaster provides better insulation: Space technology for old buildings (August 21, 2012) -- Old buildings are beautiful -- and hard to insulate. Swiss engineers have developed a new Aerogel-based plaster that provides twice the insulation of currently used insulating renders. The product should come onto the market next year. ... > full story

Big picture of the universe confirmed, WiggleZ survey of more than 200,000 galaxies shows (August 21, 2012) -- We know that stars group together to form galaxies, galaxies clump to make clusters and clusters gather to create structures known as superclusters. At what scale though, if at all, does this Russian doll-like structure stop? Scientists have been debating this very question for decades because clustering on large scales would be in conflict with our 'standard model' of cosmology. The current model is based on Einstein's equations assuming everything is smooth on the largest scales. If matter were instead clumpy on very large scales, then the entire model would need to be rethought. ... > full story

'CSI' technology holds potential in everyday medicine (August 21, 2012) -- A scientific instrument featured on CSI and CSI: Miami for instant fingerprint analysis is forging another life in real-world medicine, helping during brain surgery and ensuring that cancer patients get effective doses of chemotherapy. ... > full story

New solar panels made with more common metals could be cheaper and more sustainable (August 21, 2012) -- With enough sunlight falling on home roofs to supply at least half of America’s electricity, scientists have described advances toward the less-expensive solar energy technology needed to roof many of those homes with shingles that generate electricity. ... > full story

Symbiotic Nodulation in a Reduced Gravity Environment: Plant research reaps two-fold benefits (August 20, 2012) -- What can we learn from sending codependent bacteria and plants into space? Quite a bit, it would appear. An experiment with the tongue-twisting name Symbiotic Nodulation in a Reduced Gravity Environment, or SyNRGE for short, could yield benefits on Earth as well as space. ... > full story

Radiation Belt Storm Probes: Fundamental physics to benefit life on Earth, in space (August 20, 2012) -- Encircling Earth's equator are two concentric, wide rings of high-intensity particles known as the Van Allen radiation belts. This dynamic region changes in response to the sun, with the potential to affect GPS satellites, satellite television and more. NASA's Radiation Belt Storm Probes (RBSP) mission aims to study this ever-changing environment in greater detail than ever before. ... > full story

New NASA mission to take first look deep inside Mars (August 20, 2012) -- NASA has selected a new mission, set to launch in 2016, that will take the first look into the deep interior of Mars to see why the Red Planet evolved so differently from Earth as one of our solar system's rocky planets. The new mission, named InSight, will place instruments on the Martian surface to investigate whether the core of Mars is solid or liquid like Earth's, and why Mars' crust is not divided into tectonic plates that drift like Earth's. Detailed knowledge of the interior of Mars in comparison to Earth will help scientists understand better how terrestrial planets form and evolve. ... > full story

Voyager at 35: Break on through to the other side (August 20, 2012) -- Thirty-five years ago Aug. 20, NASA's Voyager 2 spacecraft, the first Voyager spacecraft to launch, departed on a journey that would make it the only spacecraft to visit Uranus and Neptune and the longest-operating NASA spacecraft ever. Voyager 2 and its twin, Voyager 1, that launched 16 days later on Sept. 5, 1977, are still going strong, hurtling away from our sun. Mission managers are eagerly anticipating the day when they break on through to the other side -- the space between stars. ... > full story

Curiosity stretches its arm (August 20, 2012) -- NASA's Mars rover Curiosity flexed its robotic arm Aug. 20, 2012 for the first time since before launch in November 2011. The 7-foot-long (2.1-meter-long) arm maneuvers a turret of tools including a camera, a drill, a spectrometer, a scoop and mechanisms for sieving and portioning samples of powdered rock and soil. ... > full story

First evidence discovered of planet's destruction by its star (August 20, 2012) -- The first evidence of a planet's destruction by its aging star has been discovered by an international team of astronomers. A similar fate may await the Earth and other inner planets in our solar system, when the sun expands all the way out to Earth's orbit some five-billion years from now. ... > full story

Nanoparticles added to platelets double internal injury survival rate: Early lab study hold promise for trauma cases (August 20, 2012) -- Naonparticles tailored to latch onto blood platelets rapidly create healthy clots and nearly double the survival rate in the vital first hour after injury lab research shows. ... > full story

Information overload in the era of 'big data' (August 20, 2012) -- The ability of botanists and other scientists to generate data quickly and cheaply is surpassing their ability to access and analyze it. Scientists facing too much information rely on computers to search large data sets for patterns that are beyond the capability of humans to recognize. New tools called ontologies provide the rules computers need to transform information into knowledge, by attaching meaning to data, thereby making those data more retrievable and understandable. ... > full story

Scientists examine effects of manufactured nanoparticles on soybean crops (August 20, 2012) -- Sunscreens, lotions, and cosmetics contain tiny metal nanoparticles that wash down the drain at the end of the day, or are discharged after manufacturing. Those nanoparticles eventually end up in agricultural soil, which is a cause for concern, according to a group of environmental scientists that recently carried out the first major study of soybeans grown in soil contaminated by two manufactured nanomaterials. ... > full story

Toward a portable emergency treatment for stopping life-threatening internal bleeding (August 20, 2012) -- Progress is being made toward a new emergency treatment for internal bleeding - counterpart to the tourniquets, pressure bandages and Quick Clot products that keep people from bleeding to death from external wounds. ... > full story

Boon to fusion: New way to predict heat layer troublemaker (August 20, 2012) -- Researchers at a recent worldwide conference on fusion power have confirmed the surprising accuracy of a new model for predicting the size of a key barrier to fusion. ... > full story

Cleaner fuel for cruise ships and other big vessels from ingredients in detergents, medicines (August 20, 2012) -- Scientists have developed a new fuel mixture to ease the major air pollution and cost problems facing cruise ships, oil tankers and container ships. These vessels tend to burn the cheapest and most highly polluting form of diesel fuel. ... > full story

Electrifying success in raising antioxidant levels in sweet potatoes (August 20, 2012) -- Already ranked by some as number one in nutrition among vegetables, the traditional sweet potato can be nutritionally supercharged with a simple, inexpensive electric current treatment that increases its content of healthful polyphenols or antioxidants by 60 percent, scientists have said. This is believed to be the first electrical enhancement of sweet potatoes, a dietary staple since prehistoric times. ... > full story

Patterning defect-free nanocrystal films with nanometer resolution (August 20, 2012) -- A new process could enable better LED displays, solar cells and biosensors -- and foster basic physics research. ... > full story