The EDGE: ScienceDaily Technology Headlines -- for Thursday, October 20, 2011

ScienceDaily Technology Headlines

for Thursday, October 20, 2011

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Key property of potential 'spintronic' material measured (October 20, 2011) -- An advanced material that could help bring about next-generation "spintronic" computers has revealed one of its fundamental secrets to a team of scientists. ... > full story

Lightning strikes, in the form of bits and bytes (October 20, 2011) -- Scientists are utilizing a superfast computer system for simulating lightning strikes. Their objectives are arriving at better understandings of the effects of lightning strikes on humans and machinery and better predictions of those effects. ... > full story

Using new technique, scientists uncover a delicate magnetic balance for superconductivity (October 20, 2011) -- A new imaging technology is giving scientists unprecedented views of the processes that affect the flow of electrons through materials. By modifying a familiar tool in nanoscience -- the scanning tunneling microscope -- researchers have been able to visualize what happens when they change the electronic structure of a "heavy fermion" compound made of uranium, ruthenium and silicon. What they found sheds light on superconductivity -- the movement of electrons without resistance -- which typically occurs at extremely low temperatures and that researchers hope one day to achieve at something close to room temperature, which would revolutionize electronics. ... > full story

Glowing beacons reveal hidden order in dynamical systems: Experimental confirmation of a fundamental physical theorem (October 20, 2011) -- A dynamical system in which repeated measurements on a single particle yield the same mean result as a single measurement of the whole ensemble is said to be ergodic. The ergodic theorem expresses a fundamental physical principle, and its validity for diffusive processes has now been demonstrated. ... > full story

NASA's Spitzer detects comet storm in nearby solar system (October 19, 2011) -- NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope has detected signs of icy bodies raining down in an alien solar system. The downpour resembles our own solar system several billion years ago during a period known as the "Late Heavy Bombardment," which may have brought water and other life-forming ingredients to Earth. ... > full story

Computer games help people with Parkinson's disease, pilot study shows (October 19, 2011) -- Playing computer-based physical therapy games can help people with Parkinson's disease improve their gait and balance, according to a new pilot study. More than half the subjects in the three-month research project showed small improvements in walking speed, balance and stride length. ... > full story

Computing building blocks created from bacteria and DNA (October 19, 2011) -- Scientists have successfully demonstrated that they can build some of the basic components for digital devices out of bacteria and DNA, which could pave the way for a new generation of biological computing devices. ... > full story

Ammonia air pollution from cars and trucks worse in winter (October 19, 2011) -- Motor vehicles and industry are primary producers of ammonia in Houston's atmosphere, and cars and trucks appear to boost their output during the winter, according to a new study. ... > full story

How the Milky Way killed off nearby galaxies (October 19, 2011) -- Researchers have revealed for the first time the existence of a new signature of the birth of the first stars in our galaxy, the Milky Way. More than 12 billion years ago, the intense ultraviolet light from these stars dispersed the gas of our Galaxy's nearest companions, virtually putting a halt to their ability to form stars and consigning them to a dim future. Now astronomers have explained why some galaxies were killed off, while stars continued to form in more distant objects. ... > full story

Cellphones exceed U.S. FCC exposure limits by as much as double for children, study finds (October 19, 2011) -- New research shows that cell phones used in the shirt or pants pocket exceed the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) exposure guidelines and that children absorb twice as much microwave radiation from phones as do adults. ... > full story

Natural disasters: Networking robots and sensor systems to help first responders react more quickly (October 19, 2011) -- Earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes -- natural disasters always catch us by surprise, no matter how many early warning systems are in place. This makes it all the more important for rescue teams to get a quick overview of the situation at hand. Researchers in Germany are working to network the various robots and sensor systems first responders use so that they can react more quickly and efficiently in the case of an emergency to search for victims and survivors. ... > full story

Nano funnel used to generate extreme ultraviolet light pulses (October 19, 2011) -- Scientists have successfully concentrated the energy of infrared laser pulses using a nano funnel enabling them to generate extreme ultraviolet light pulses, which repeated 75 million times per second. ... > full story

Step toward quantum computers: Using commercial photonic components (October 19, 2011) -- Researchers in Spain have developed a model that provides the basis for the application of commercial photonic components to the field of quantum computers and quantum communications. ... > full story

Industrial by-products upgraded into fuel (October 19, 2011) -- Researchers in Finland have achieved good results in using waste and other excess products from industry to develop new and innovative fuels for transport. The researchers have studied the processing of both biobutanol and biogas into transport fuels. ... > full story

Seeing through walls: New radar technology provides real-time video of what’s going on behind solid walls (October 18, 2011) -- The ability to see through walls is no longer the stuff of science fiction, thanks to new radar technology. Researchers have built a system that can see through walls from some distance away, giving an instantaneous picture of the activity on the other side. ... > full story

Robotic bug gets wings, sheds light on evolution of flight (October 18, 2011) -- When engineers outfitted a six-legged robotic bug with wings in an effort to improve its mobility, they unexpectedly shed some light on the evolution of flight. The wings nearly doubled the running speed of the 25-gram robot, but was that good enough for takeoff? ... > full story

Food without preservatives -- thanks to self-cleaning equipment (October 18, 2011) -- Éclairs and other pastries should taste light and fluffy. If the pastry dough contains too many microorganisms, though, it will not rise in the oven. Now, researchers have devised a system that cleans itself automatically after every batch of dough. This means the dough is sterile -- and for the first time, it can be made in large quantities off-site for delivery to bakeries. ... > full story

Dark matter mystery deepens (October 18, 2011) -- Like all galaxies, our Milky Way is home to a strange substance called dark matter. Dark matter is invisible, betraying its presence only through its gravitational pull. Without dark matter holding them together, our galaxy's speedy stars would fly off in all directions. The nature of dark matter is a mystery -- a mystery that a new study has only deepened. ... > full story

Testing micro-electronic stimulators for spinal cord injuries (October 18, 2011) -- A new wireless device may help victims of spinal cord injury. Researchers are developing micro-electrical stimulators for individuals with spinal cord injuries. ... > full story

Lithium-ion batteries made faster with new process (October 18, 2011) -- Engineers have been inspired by nature. To fill the porous electrodes of lithium-ion batteries more rapidly with liquid electrolyte, they are using a physico-chemical effect that also provides for transport in trees. The new process increases the throughput of battery production and reduces investment costs. ... > full story

Bioengineering to generate healthy skin (October 18, 2011) -- Scientists are participating in research to study how to make use of the potential for auto regeneration of stem skills from skin, in order to create, in the laboratory, a patient's entire cutaneous surface by means of a combination of biological engineering and tissue engineering techniques. ... > full story

Electrically powered maneuverable public transportation with high capacity (October 17, 2011) -- Electric and hybrid vehicles will be conquering the cities: cars, bicycles, buses and trains. This is why new ideas are in demand for individual and public transportation. ... > full story

Impurity atoms introduce waves of disorder in exotic electronic material (October 17, 2011) -- Scientists reveal how substituting just a few atoms can cause widespread disruption of the delicate electron interactions that give a particular "heavy fermion" material its unique properties, including superconductivity. ... > full story

New record voltage for organic solar cells opens the tech to consumer electronics (October 17, 2011) -- Scientists have achieved a significant breakthrough in the performance of solar photovoltaic (PV) cells. They have achieved and demonstrated a record voltage for organic photovoltaic cells that means these highly flexible, low cost solar cells can now be devolved for commercial uses in a wide range of consumer electronics. ... > full story

Plastic fantastic: The future of biodegradables (October 17, 2011) -- Poly-3-hydroxybutyrate (PHB) is a thermoplastic polyester which occurs naturally in bacteria as Ralstonia eutropha and Bacillus megaterium. Even though PHB is biodegradable and is not dependent on fossil resources, this bioplastic has been traditionally too expensive to produce to replace petroleum-based plastics. New research describes an alternative method of producing PHB in microalgae. ... > full story

Self-replication process holds promise for production of new materials (October 17, 2011) -- Scientists have developed artificial structures that can self-replicate, a process that has the potential to yield new types of materials. ... > full story

Twitter data used to track vaccination rates and attitudes (October 17, 2011) -- The first case study in how social-media sites can affect the spread of a disease has been designed and implemented by a scientist studying attitudes toward the H1N1 vaccine. The method is expected to be repeated in the study of other diseases. ... > full story

New mystery on Mars' forgotten plains (October 17, 2011) -- One of the supposedly best understood and least interesting landscapes on Mars is hiding something that could rewrite the planet's history. Or not. In fact, about all that is certain is that decades of assumptions regarding the wide, flat Hesperia Planum are not holding up very well under renewed scrutiny with higher-resolution, more recent spacecraft data. ... > full story

Mobile electrons multiplied in quantum dot films (October 17, 2011) -- Researchers have demonstrated that several mobile electrons can be produced by the absorption of a single light particle in films of coupled quantum dots. These multiple electrons can be harvested in solar cells with increased efficiency. ... > full story

Oranges and mandarins are inspected using artificial vision (October 17, 2011) -- Scientists have created a machine that detects and separates rotten oranges, another that classifies mandarin segments according to their quality and another that helps citrus fruit pickers out in the field. All prototypes use computer vision to automatically inspect the fruits. ... > full story

NASA's Dawn science team presents early science results (October 17, 2011) -- Scientists with NASA's Dawn mission are sharing with other scientists and the public their early information about the southern hemisphere of the giant asteroid Vesta. ... > full story

Reduce cyber attacks by protecting and rewarding secure networks on the Internet (October 17, 2011) -- Researchers have proposed a novel approach to network protection that could reduce the risk of cyber attack by rewarding those organizations that bolster the security on their networks to prevent the spread of malware and other problems. ... > full story

Subtly shaded map of moon reveals titanium treasure troves (October 15, 2011) -- A map of the Moon combining observations in visible and ultraviolet wavelengths shows a treasure trove of areas rich in Titanium ores. Not only is titanium a valuable element, it is key to helping scientists unravel the mysteries of the Moon's interior. ... > full story

Frustration inspires new form of graphene (October 15, 2011) -- Researchers have now developed a new form of graphene that does not stack. The new material -- inspired by a trash can full of crumpled-up papers -- is made by crumpling the graphene sheets into balls. ... > full story

Psychopathic killers: Computerized text analysis uncovers the word patterns of a predator (October 15, 2011) -- As words can be the soul's window, scientists are learning to peer through it: Computerized text analysis shows that psychopathic killers make identifiable word choices -- beyond conscious control -- when talking about their crimes. This research could lead to new tools for diagnosis and treatment, and have implications law enforcement and social media. ... > full story

Uncharted territory: Scientists sequence the first carbohydrate biopolymer (October 15, 2011) -- For the first time ever, a team of researchers has announced the sequence of a complete complex carbohydrate biopolymer. The surprising discovery provides the scientific and medical communities with an important and fundamental new view of these vital biomolecules, which play a role in everything from cell structure and development to disease pathology and blood clotting. ... > full story

The future of airport passport control (October 15, 2011) -- Digital security specialists, major European electronics makers, and experts in biometrics worked together to make passport control at airports faster. The technology also could have broader applications on the way our identity documents are design and on the way we access public services. ... > full story

How the zebra gets its stripes: A simple genetic circuit (October 14, 2011) -- Developmental processes that create stripes and other patterns are complex and difficult to untangle. To sort it out, a team of scientists has designed a simple genetic circuit that creates a striped pattern that they can control by tweaking a single gene. This genetic loop is made two linked modules that sense how crowded a group of cells has become and responds by controlling their movements. ... > full story

Differing structures underlie differing brain rhythms in healthy and ill, virtual modeling reveals (October 14, 2011) -- Virtual brains modeling epilepsy and schizophrenia display less complexity among functional connections, and other differences compared to healthy brain models, researchers report. The researchers worked backward from brain rhythms -- the oscillating patterns of electrical activity in the brain recorded on electroencephalograms -- from both healthy and ill individuals. ... > full story

'Robot biologist' solves complex problem from scratch (October 14, 2011) -- Scientists have taken a major step toward developing robot biologists. They have shown that their system, the Automated Biology Explorer, can solve a complicated biology problem from scratch. ... > full story

Researchers discover material with graphene-like properties (October 14, 2011) -- After the Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to two scientists in 2010 who had studied the material graphene, this substance has received a lot of attention. Scientists have now developed and analyzed a material which possesses physical properties similar to graphene. ... > full story

Redox flow batteries, a promising technology for renewable energies integration (October 14, 2011) -- Today there is a wide variety of energy storage technologies at very different stages of development. Among them, the Redox Flow Battery (RFB) is an innovative solution based on the use of liquid electrolytes stored in tanks and pumped through a reactor to produce energy. Researchers are currently working in the development of high performance RFBs. ... > full story

Carbon nanotube muscles generate giant twist for novel motors (October 14, 2011) -- Artificial muscles, based on carbon nanotubes yarn, that twist like the trunk of an elephant, but provide a thousand times higher rotation per length, have been developed by a team of researchers. ... > full story

Tagging tumors with gold: Scientists use gold nanorods to flag brain tumors (October 14, 2011) -- When removing a brain tumor, even the slightest mistake could have serious health consequences. To help surgeons, researchers have proposed a way to harness the unique optical properties of gold nanoparticles to clearly distinguish a brain tumor from the healthy tissue that surrounds it. ... > full story

Why many cells are better than one: Limited decision-making ability of individual cells is bolstered in masses (October 14, 2011) -- Researchers have quantified the number of possible decisions that an individual cell can make after receiving a cue from its environment, and surprisingly, it's only two. ... > full story

Engineers create touchscreen Braille writer (October 14, 2011) -- In a two-month summer course on high-performance computing, promising undergrads compete to create innovative applications. This summer's winner developed a touchscreen Braille writer that stands to revolutionize how the blind negotiate an unseen world by replacing devices costing up to 10 times more. ... > full story

Better pictures with mobile devices (October 14, 2011) -- The world's smallest autofocus lens for mobile devices is ready, and Apple and Nokia are among the companies interested in introducing it. ... > full story

Nanoparticle assembly is like building with LEGOs (October 14, 2011) -- Scientists report that nanotechnology has entered a new era. Because of developments in nanoparticle self-assembly, designer materials with unique properties are now possible. And that could lead to immediate applications in catalysis, medical sensing and optics. ... > full story