The EDGE: ScienceDaily Technology Headlines -- for Friday, October 14, 2011

ScienceDaily Technology Headlines

for Friday, October 14, 2011

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Reaching 99.999999999997 percent safety: Computer scientists present their concept for a wireless bicycle brake (October 14, 2011) -- Computer scientists in Germany have developed a wireless bicycle brake and demonstrated its efficiency on a so-called cruiser bike. Furthermore, they confirmed the brake system’s reliability through mathematical calculations that are also used in control systems for aircraft or chemical factories. ... > full story

Rainwear that repairs itself? (October 14, 2011) -- The first steps have been taken towards rainwear which repairs itself. Not long ago "self-repairing materials" would have been considered science fiction. However, scientists are now working on a textile coating which automatically seals small holes and tears in the surface layer of waterproof work-wear. ... > full story

Warning signs can prevent deer-vehicle collisions, Canadian study shows (October 14, 2011) -- Collisions between wild deer and vehicles not only hinder conservation efforts but pose a serious danger to drivers. In new research, Canadian scientists examined locations and time periods of high rates of deer vehicle collision to assess the effectiveness of warning signs to prevent fatalities. ... > full story

Clearing the 'cosmic fog' of the early universe: Massive stars may be responsible (October 13, 2011) -- The space between the galaxies wasn't always transparent. In the earliest times, it was an opaque, dense fog. How it cleared is an important question in astronomy. New observational evidence shows how high energy light from massive stars could have been responsible. ... > full story

Does converting cow manure to electricity pay off? Successful renewable energy project in Vermont (October 13, 2011) -- Researchers in Vermont confirm that it is technically feasible to convert cow manure to electricity on farms, but the economic returns depend highly on the base electricity price; the premium paid for converted energy; financial supports from government and other agencies; and the ability to sell byproducts of the methane generation. ... > full story

Distant galaxies reveal the clearing of the cosmic fog; New VLT observations chart timeline of reionization (October 13, 2011) -- Scientists have used the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope to probe the early Universe at several different times as it was becoming transparent to ultraviolet light. This brief but dramatic phase in cosmic history occurred around 13 billion years ago. By studying some of the most distant galaxies, the team has been able to establish a timeline for reionization for the first time. They have also demonstrated that this phase must have happened quicker than previously thought. ... > full story

Cheaper yet efficient thin film solar cells created (October 13, 2011) -- Researchers in Singapore have exploited advanced nanostructure technology to make a highly efficient and yet cheaper silicon solar cell. ... > full story

Hubble survey carries out a dark matter census (October 13, 2011) -- The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has been used to make an image of galaxy cluster MACS J1206.2-0847. The apparently distorted shapes of distant galaxies in the background is caused by an invisible substance called dark matter, whose gravity bends and distorts their light rays. MACS 1206 has been observed as part of a new survey of galaxy clusters using Hubble. ... > full story

New scheme for photonic quantum computing (October 13, 2011) -- The concepts of quantum technology promise to achieve more powerful information processing than is possible with even the best possible classical computers. To actually build efficient quantum computers remains a significant challenge in practice. A new scheme, called "coherent photon conversion," could potentially overcome all of the currently unresolved problems for optical implementations of quantum computing. ... > full story

Borrowing from brightly-colored birds: Physicists develop lasers inspired by nature (October 13, 2011) -- Researchers are studying how two types of nanoscale structures on the feathers of birds produce brilliant and distinctive colors. The researchers are hoping that by borrowing these nanoscale tricks from nature they will be able to produce new types of lasers--ones that can assemble themselves by natural processes. ... > full story

Talk to the virtual hands: Body language of both speaker and listener affects success in virtual reality communication game (October 13, 2011) -- New research finds that the lack of gestural information from both speaker and listener limits successful communication in virtual environments. ... > full story

T. rex was bigger and grew faster than previously thought, computational analysis reveals (October 13, 2011) -- A new study reveals that T. rex grew more quickly and reached significantly greater masses than previously estimated. In a departure from earlier methods, the new study uses mounted skeletons to generate body mass estimates. ... > full story

Amateur skywatchers help space hazards team (October 13, 2011) -- For the first time, observations coordinated by the European Space Agency's space hazards team have found an asteroid that comes close enough to Earth to pose an impact threat. The space rock was found by amateur astronomers, highlighting the value of 'crowd-sourcing' to science and planetary defense. ... > full story

New Saudi Arabias of solar energy: Himalaya Mountains, Andes, Antarctica (October 13, 2011) -- Mention prime geography for generation of solar energy, and people tend to think of hot deserts. But a new study concludes that some of the world's coldest landscapes -- including the Himalaya Mountains, the Andes, and even Antarctica -- could become Saudi Arabias of solar. ... > full story

Violent games emotionally desensitizing, research suggests (October 13, 2011) -- After excessively violent events, shoot 'em up games regularly come under scrutiny. In Norway, several first-person shooter games disappeared from the market for a while after the killings. Does intense fighting on a flat screen display also result in aggressive behavior in real life? Researchers have found brain activity patterns in heavy gamers that differed from those of non-gamers. ... > full story

Erasing history? Temporal cloaks adjust light's throttle to hide an event in time (October 13, 2011) -- Researchers have demonstrated for the first time that it's possible to cloak a singular event in time, by sending a beam of light down an optical fiber and through a pair of "time lenses", creating a burst of light. They were able to create a small gap in the flow of light concealing that a burst of light ever occurred. ... > full story

Point defects in super-chilled diamonds may offer stable candidates for quantum computing bits (October 13, 2011) -- Scientists test how the energy levels of electrons trapped in a defect in the diamond matrix shift with changing temperatures. ... > full story

Wet and mild: Researchers take the temperature of Mars' past (October 13, 2011) -- Researchers have directly determined the surface temperature of early Mars for the first time, providing evidence that's consistent with a warmer and wetter Martian past. ... > full story

New mathematical model explains patterns of human movement by considering the costs (October 13, 2011) -- People decide to take trips for a dauntingly complex mix of reasons, but out of the individual chaos of dry-cleaning pick-ups, pizza dinners, and European vacations, a new mathematical model has emerged. It finds hidden patterns in human beings' collective excursions near, not-so-near, and far from home. ... > full story

Scientists demonstrate the power of optical forces in blood cell identification (October 13, 2011) -- Biological analysis systems that rely on labels can be costly, labor intensive, and depend upon prior knowledge of the target in question. Researchers have developed a system that can detect optical pressure differences between populations or classes of cells. ... > full story

New technique offers enhanced security for sensitive data in cloud computing (October 13, 2011) -- Researchers have developed a new, experimental technique to better protect sensitive information in cloud computing -- without significantly affecting the system's overall performance. ... > full story

Delays in video calls may not always hurt communication, study finds (October 12, 2011) -- A new study reveals how the delay computer users sometimes experience when making video calls over the internet can actually help communication in some circumstances, even though it is frustrating in many others. Researchers found that when two strangers first talked about an emotionally charged topic over a video connection with a one-second delay, they actually reported less frustration than did those who talked with no delay. ... > full story

Fuel and plastics production could be made more energy efficient and cost effective (October 12, 2011) -- Researchers have overcome a major hurdle in the quest to design a specialized type of molecular sieve that could make the production of gasoline, plastics and various chemicals more cost effective and energy efficient. ... > full story

Metal shortages alert from leading geologists: Inexorable demand for consumer goods places strain on supply of metals (October 12, 2011) -- Geologists are warning of shortages and bottlenecks of some metals due to an insatiable demand for consumer products. ... > full story

Astrophysicists find evidence of black holes' destruction of stars (October 12, 2011) -- Astrophysicists have found evidence of black holes destroying stars, a long-sought phenomenon that provides a new window into general relativity. The research also opens up a method to search for the possible existence of a large population of presently undetectable "intermediate mass" black holes which are hypothesized to be precursors to the super-massive black holes at the centers of most large galaxies. ... > full story

Computer vision experts develop 'questionable observer detector' (October 12, 2011) -- Biometrics experts are developing a tool that can help law enforcement and military officials identify suspicious individuals at crime scenes. ... > full story

Progress in quantum computing: Researchers control rate of photon emission from luminescent imperfections in diamond (October 12, 2011) -- Engineers and physicists at Harvard have managed to capture light in tiny diamond pillars embedded in silver, releasing a stream of single photons at a controllable rate. The advance represents a milestone on the road to quantum networks in which information can be encoded in spins of electrons and carried through a network via light, one photon at a time. ... > full story

New view of Vesta mountain from NASA's Dawn mission (October 12, 2011) -- A new image from NASA's Dawn spacecraft shows a mountain three times as high as Mt. Everest, amidst the topography in the south polar region of the giant asteroid Vesta. ... > full story

Video documents three-year trek on Mars by NASA rover (October 12, 2011) -- While NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity was traveling from Victoria crater to Endeavour crater, between September 2008 and August 2011, the rover team took an end-of-drive image on each Martian day that included a drive. A new video compiles these 309 images, providing an historic record of the three-year trek that totaled about 13 miles (21 kilometers) across a Martian plain pocked with smaller craters. ... > full story

'Ghostwriting' the Torah? New algorithm distinguishes contributors to the Old Testament with high accuracy (October 12, 2011) -- A professor has developed a new computer algorithm to help unravel the different sources that contributed to the authorship of the scriptures. Sidestepping the problems of content-based analysis, his algorithm searches for patterns in writing style to give deeper insight into ancient writings such as the Bible. ... > full story

Liquid can turn into solid under high electric field, physicists show in simulations (October 12, 2011) -- Physicists have demonstrated in simulations that under the influence of sufficiently high electric fields, liquid droplets of certain materials will undergo solidification, forming crystallites at temperature and pressure conditions that correspond to liquid droplets at field-free conditions. ... > full story

New knowledge about 'flawed' diamonds could speed the development of diamond-based quantum computers (October 12, 2011) -- Scientists have established the presence of a dynamic Jahn-Teller effect in defective diamonds, a finding that will help advance the development of diamond-based systems in applications such as quantum information processing. ... > full story

Cyber threats forecast for 2012 released (October 12, 2011) -- The year ahead will feature new and increasingly sophisticated means to capture and exploit user data, as well as escalating battles over the control of online information that threatens to compromise content and erode public trust and privacy, according to computer security experts. ... > full story

Suspects in the quenching of star formation exonerated (October 11, 2011) -- Some supermassive black holes power luminous, rapidly growing objects called active galactic nuclei (AGN) that gather and condense enormous quantities of matter. Because astronomers had seen these objects primarily in massive, old galaxies with aging stars, many thought AGN might help to end the formation of new stars, though the evidence was always circumstantial. Now, a new survey has found AGN in all kinds of galaxies, including young, star-making factories. ... > full story

Astronomers find bounty of failed stars: One youngster only six times heftier than Jupiter (October 11, 2011) -- A team of astronomers has discovered over two dozen new free-floating brown dwarfs, including a lightweight youngster only about six times heftier than Jupiter, that reside in two young star clusters. What's more, one cluster contains a surprising surplus of them, harboring half as many of these astronomical oddballs as normal stars. ... > full story

New computer program promises to save the whales (October 11, 2011) -- Researchers have developed a computer program that enables regulators to evaluate the ecological and economic trade-offs between marine mammal conservation, whale watching and marine transportation activities in the Saint Lawrence Estuary. ... > full story

New equation predicts molecular forces in hydrophobic interactions (October 11, 2011) -- The physical model to describe the hydrophobic interactions of molecules has been a mystery that has challenged scientists and engineers since the 19th century. Hydrophobic interactions are central to explaining why oil and water don't mix, how proteins are structured, and what holds biological membranes together. Chemical engineering researchers have developed a novel method to study these forces at the atomic level, and have for the first time defined a mathematical equation to measure a substance's hydrophobic character. ... > full story

X-ray camera makes A-grade particle detector (October 11, 2011) -- Combining an off-the-shelf X-ray camera with a thin piece of carbon foil yields a device that can detect high-energy organic atoms and heavy molecules better than the typical devices used for these jobs, with potential benefits ranging from the science of cancer treatment to star chemistry. ... > full story

Fall market jitters a SAD thing: Less daylight in fall may lead to depressed markets (October 11, 2011) -- It's no surprise to researchers that financial market dips and crashes typically happen in the fall. Researchers now show that people who experience seasonal depression shun financial risk-taking during seasons with diminished daylight but are more willing to accept risk in spring and summer. Seasonal depression may be sufficiently powerful to move financial markets. ... > full story

New 'diamond?' New form of superhard carbon is as strong as a diamond (October 11, 2011) -- Carbon is the fourth-most-abundant element in the universe and takes on a wide variety of forms, called allotropes, including diamond and graphite. Scientists have now discovered a new form of carbon, which is capable of withstanding extreme pressure stresses that were previously observed only in diamond. ... > full story

Pendulums and floating film: Two seemingly unrelated phenomena share surprising link (October 11, 2011) -- A coupled line of swinging pendulums apparently has nothing in common with an elastic film that buckles and folds under compression while floating on a liquid, but scientists have discovered a deep connection between the two phenomena. ... > full story

Rangers and Brewers solid favorites for championships, math professor says (October 11, 2011) -- The Major League Baseball Division Series is underway and math professors have once again analyzed the probability of each team advancing to the World Series. ... > full story

How to count nanoparticles (October 11, 2011) -- Nanoparticles of a substance can be counted and the size distribution can be determined by dispersing the nanoparticles into a gas. But some nanoparticles tend to aggregate when the surrounding conditions change. Scientists have now shown that it is possible to sort and count the particles, even when they have formed aggregates. ... > full story

Measuring elusive solar neutrinos flowing through the Earth, physicists learn more about the sun (October 11, 2011) -- Using one of the most sensitive neutrino detectors on the planet, physicists are now measuring the flow of solar neutrinos reaching Earth more precisely than ever before. The detector probes matter at the most fundamental level and provides a powerful tool for directly observing the sun's composition. ... > full story

Critical minerals ignite geopolitical storm (October 11, 2011) -- The clean energy economy of the future hinges on a lot of things, chief among them the availability of the scores of rare earth minerals and other elements used to make everything from photovoltaic panels and cellphone displays to the permanent magnets in cutting edge new wind generators. And right out of the gate trouble is brewing over projected growth in demand for these minerals and the security of their supplies. ... > full story

Almahata Sitta meteorite could come from triple asteroid mash-up (October 11, 2011) -- Analysis of fragments of the Almahata Sitta meteorite, which landed in Sudan in 2008, has shown that the parent asteroid was probably formed through collisions of three different types of asteroids. The meteorites are of particular interest because they contain material both primitive and evolved types of asteroids. ... > full story

Crowdsourcing democracy through social media (October 11, 2011) -- Today the citizens of Liberia will participate in just their second presidential election since the country emerged from a brutal civil war in 2003, and in such an environment the specter of violence or other unrest is never far away. But what if social media, a professor is asking, could identify and even help prevent dangerous situations from occurring? ... > full story

Graphene's 'Big Mac' creates next generation of chips (October 10, 2011) -- Scientists in the UK have come one step closer to creating the next generation of computer chips using wonder material graphene. ... > full story