ScienceDaily Technology Headlines
for Monday, December 5, 2011
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In the dragonfish's mouth: The next generation of superstars to stir up our galaxy (December 4, 2011) -- Astronomers have found the most numerous batch of young, supermassive stars yet observed in our galaxy: hundreds of thousands of stars, including several hundreds of the most massive kind -blue stars dozens of times heavier than our Sun. The light these newborn stars emit is so intense it has pushed out and heated the gas that gave them birth, carving out a glowing hollow shell about a hundred light-years across. ... > full story
Instant nanodots grow on silicon to form sensing array (December 4, 2011) -- Scientists have shown that it is now possible to simultaneously create highly reproductive three-dimensional silicon oxide nanodots on micrometric scale silicon films in only a few seconds. Scientists were able to create a square array of such nanodots, using regularly spaced nanoindents on the deposition layer, that could ultimately find applications as biosensors for genomics or bio-diagnostics. ... > full story
What's that sparkle in Cassini's eye? (December 3, 2011) -- The moon Enceladus, one of the jewels of the Saturn system, sparkles peculiarly bright in new images obtained by NASA's Cassini spacecraft. The images of the moon, the first ever taken of Enceladus with Cassini's synthetic aperture radar, reveal new details of some of the grooves in the moon's south polar region and unexpected textures in the ice. These images, obtained on Nov. 6, 2011, are the highest-resolution images of this region obtained so far. ... > full story
Thinner thermal insulation (December 3, 2011) -- Insulation panels that are both thin and effective are expensive. At present these high-end products are built into energy-saving refrigerators. Innovative components and production techniques are now set to sink the costs – so that private home-builders can also benefit from the new technology. Researchers in Germany are now developing films for a material that will insulate homes without much additional structural alteration: vacuum isolation panels, VIPs for short. The panels are only two centimeters thick and yet perform just as well as a classic 15-centimeter-thick insulation layer made from polyurethane foam. The inner workings of the VIPs are made mostly from pyrogenic silica. A high-tech film holds the material together and makes it air-tight. ... > full story
Astronomers find 18 new planets: Discovery is the largest collection of confirmed planets around stars more massive than the sun (December 2, 2011) -- Discoveries of new planets just keep coming and coming. A team of astronomers has found 18 Jupiter-like planets in orbit around massive stars. The discoveries further constrain theories of planet formation. ... > full story
Sharp decline in pollution from U.S. coal power plants, NASA satellite confirms (December 2, 2011) -- A team of scientists have used the Ozone Monitoring Instrument on NASA's Aura satellite to confirm major reductions in the levels of a key air pollutant generated by coal power plants in the eastern United States. The pollutant, sulfur dioxide, contributes to the formation of acid rain and can cause serious health problems. ... > full story
Swiss scientist prove durability of quantum network (December 2, 2011) -- Scientists and engineers have proven the worth of quantum cryptography in telecommunication networks by demonstrating its long-term effectiveness in a real-time network. Their international network, created in collaboration with ID Quantique and installed in the Geneva metropolitan area and crossing over to the site of CERN in France, ran for more than one-and-a-half years from the end of March 2009 to the beginning of January 2011. ... > full story
Course excellent, adjustment postponed: Mars Science Laboratory mission status report (December 2, 2011) -- Excellent launch precision for NASA's Mars Science Laboratory mission has forestalled the need for an early trajectory correction maneuver, now not required for a month or more. ... > full story
More promising natural gas storage? (December 2, 2011) -- A research team has developed a computational method that can save scientists and engineers valuable time in the discovery process. The new algorithm automatically generates and tests hypothetical metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), zeroing in on the most promising structures. These MOFs then can be synthesized and tested in the lab. The researchers quickly identified more than 300 different MOFs that are predicted to be better than any known material for methane storage. ... > full story
Scientists use laser imaging to assess safety of zinc oxide nanoparticles in sunscreen (December 2, 2011) -- Ultra-tiny zinc oxide (ZnO) particles are among the ingredients list of some commercially available sunscreen products, raising concerns about whether the particles may be absorbed beneath the outer layer of skin. To help answer these questions, a team of scientists from Australia and Switzerland have developed a way to optically test the concentration of ZnO nanoparticles at different skin depths. ... > full story
Astronomers look to neighboring galaxy for star formation insight (December 2, 2011) -- An international team of astronomers has mapped in detail the star-birthing regions of the nearest star-forming galaxy to our own, a step toward understanding the conditions surrounding star creation. They found a large number of relatively low-mass clouds of molecular hydrogen -- material for star forming -- and found a correlation between young massive stars and molecular clouds. ... > full story
'Pacman' nebula gets some teeth (December 2, 2011) -- To visible-light telescopes, this star-forming cloud appears to be chomping through the cosmos, earning it the nickname the "Pacman" nebula, like the famous Pac-Man video game that debuted in 1980. When viewed in infrared light by NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE, the Pacman takes on a new appearance. In place of its typical, triangle-shaped mouth is a new set of lower, sharp-looking teeth. The Pacman is located at the top of the picture, taking a bite in the direction of the upper left corner. ... > full story
New switch could improve electronics (December 2, 2011) -- Researchers have invented a new type of electronic switch that performs electronic logic functions within a single molecule. The incorporation of such single-molecule elements could enable smaller, faster, and more energy-efficient electronics. ... > full story
New magnetic-field-sensitive alloy could find use in novel micromechanical devices (December 2, 2011) -- A multi-institution team of researchers has combined modern materials research and an age-old metallurgy technique to produce an alloy that could be the basis for a new class of sensors and micromechanical devices controlled by magnetism. ... > full story
Bobsled runs -- fast and yet safe (December 2, 2011) -- They should prove a challenge for the athletes, but not put them in danger: bobsled runs have to be simulated before being built. This simulation is based on the friction levels of the runners on the ice. Now it has become possible to measure these levels accurately. These results will help build the run for the 2014 Olympic Winter Games. ... > full story
Violent video games alter brain function in young men (December 1, 2011) -- A functional magnetic resonance imaging analysis of long-term effects of violent video game play on the brain has found changes in brain regions associated with cognitive function and emotional control in young adult men after one week of game play. ... > full story
Controlled disorder: Scientists find way to form random molecular patterns (December 1, 2011) -- Scientists have discovered a way to control how tiny flat molecules fit together in a seemingly random pattern. ... > full story
Strange new 'species' of ultra-red galaxy discovered (December 1, 2011) -- In the distant reaches of the universe, almost 13 billion light-years from Earth, a strange species of galaxy lay hidden. Cloaked in dust and dimmed by the intervening distance, even the Hubble Space Telescope couldn't spy it. It took the revealing power of NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope to uncover not one, but four remarkably red galaxies. And while astronomers can describe the members of this new "species," they can't explain what makes them so ruddy. ... > full story
China's demand for oil will equal US demand by 2040, study predicts (December 1, 2011) -- Despite aggressive demand-management policies announced in recent years, China's oil use could easily reach levels comparable to today's US levels by 2040, according to a new energy study. ... > full story
Researchers' new recipe cooks up better tissue 'phantoms' (December 1, 2011) -- The precise blending of tiny particles and multicolor dyes transforms gelatin into a realistic surrogate for human tissue. These tissue mimics, known as "phantoms," provide an accurate proving ground for new photoacoustic and ultrasonic imaging technologies. ... > full story
A smarter way to make ultraviolet light beams (December 1, 2011) -- Existing coherent ultraviolet light sources are power hungry, bulky and expensive. Researchers have found a better way to build compact ultraviolet sources with low power consumption that could improve information storage, microscopy and chemical analysis. ... > full story
Fully printed carbon nanotube transistor circuits for displays (December 1, 2011) -- Researchers outline the first practical demonstration of carbon nanotube transistor based printed circuits for display backplane applications revealing CNT's viable candidacy as a competing technology alongside amorphous silicon and metal oxide semiconductor solution as a low-cost and scalable backplane option. ... > full story
In a star's final days, astronomers hunt 'signal of impending doom' (December 1, 2011) -- An otherwise nondescript binary star system in the Whirlpool Galaxy has brought astronomers tantalizingly close to their goal of observing a star just before it goes supernova. ... > full story
Gelatin-based nanoparticle treatment may be a more effective clot buster (December 1, 2011) -- A targeted, nanoparticle gelatin-based clot-busting treatment dissolved significantly more blood clots than a currently used drug in an animal study of acute coronary syndrome. ... > full story
Kilobots are leaving the nest: Swarm of tiny, collaborative robots will be made available to researchers, educators, and enthusiasts (December 1, 2011) -- The Kilobots are coming. Computer scientists and engineers have developed and licensed technology that will make it easy to test collective algorithms on hundreds, or even thousands, of tiny robots. ... > full story
Rainfall suspected culprit in leaf disease transmission (December 1, 2011) -- Rainfalls are suspected to trigger the spread of a multitude of foliar (leaf) diseases, which could be devastating for agriculture and forestry. Instead of focusing on the large-scale, ecological impact of this problem, researchers are studying the phenomenon from a novel perspective: that of a single rain droplet. ... > full story
NASA's Swift finds a gamma-ray burst with a dual personality (December 1, 2011) -- A peculiar cosmic explosion first detected by NASA's Swift observatory on Christmas Day 2010 was caused either by a novel type of supernova located billions of light-years away or an unusual collision much closer to home, within our own galaxy. ... > full story
Earthquake friction effect demonstrated at the nanoscale (November 30, 2011) -- Earthquakes are some of the most daunting natural disasters that scientists try to analyze. Though Earth's major fault lines are well known, there is little scientists can do to predict when an earthquake will occur or how strong it will be. And, though earthquakes involve millions of tons of rock, a team of researchers has helped discover an aspect of friction on the nanoscale that may lead to a better understanding of the disasters. ... > full story
The interplay of dancing electrons (November 30, 2011) -- Negative ions play an important role in everything from how our bodies function to the structure of the universe. Scientists have now developed a new method that makes it possible to study how the electrons in negative ions interact in, which is important in, for example, superconductors and in radiocarbon dating. ... > full story
Imperfections may improve graphene sensors (November 30, 2011) -- Although they found that graphene makes very good chemical sensors, researchers have discovered an unexpected "twist" -- that the sensors are better when the graphene is "worse" -- more imperfections improved performance. ... > full story
Astronomers discover new exoplanet similar in size to Earth; Planet Kepler-21b found using space and ground-based observations (November 30, 2011) -- The NASA Kepler Mission is designed to survey a portion of our region of the Milky Way Galaxy to discover Earth-size planets in or near the "habitable zone," the region in a planetary system where liquid water can exist, and determine how many of the billions of stars in our galaxy have such planets. It now has another planet to add to its growing list. Researchers have shown that one of the brightest stars in the Kepler star field has a planet with a radius only 1.6 that of Earth's radius and a mass no greater that 10 earth masses, circling its parent star with a 2.8 day period. ... > full story
Lightning-made waves in Earth's atmosphere leak into space (November 30, 2011) -- NASA's Vector Electric Field Instrument aboard the US Air Force's Communications/Navigation Outage Forecast System satellite has detected Schumann resonance from space. This comes as a surprise, since current models of Schumann resonance predict these waves should be caged at lower altitude, between the ground and a layer of Earth's atmosphere called the ionosphere. ... > full story
At a crossroads: New research predicts which cars are likeliest to run lights at intersections (November 30, 2011) -- Researchers have developed an algorithm that predicts which cars are likeliest to run lights at intersections. ... > full story
Making a light-harvesting antenna from scratch: Biomimetic antenna for gathering sunlight may one day transform solar-powered devices (November 30, 2011) -- Scientists have succeeded in making a light-harvesting antenna from scratch. The new antenna, modeled on the chlorosome found in green bacteria, is a giant assembly of pigment molecules. Perhaps nature's most spectacular light-harvesting antennae, chlorosomes allow green bacteria to photosynthesize even in the dim light in ocean deeps. ... > full story
Gone with the wind: Why the fast jet stream winds cannot contribute much renewable energy after all (November 30, 2011) -- The assumption that high jet steam wind speeds in the upper atmosphere correspond to high wind power has now been challenged by new research. Taking into account that the high wind speeds result from the near absence of friction and not from a strong power source, scientists found that the maximum extractable energy from jet streams is approximately 200 times less than reported previously. ... > full story
Some smartphone models more vulnerable to attack (November 30, 2011) -- Some smartphones specifically designed to support the Android mobile platform have incorporated additional features that can be used by hackers to bypass Android's security features, making them more vulnerable to attack. Android has the largest share of the smartphone market in the US. ... > full story
Marzipan Santas, elves and stollen: Real deal or cheap fakes? (November 30, 2011) -- With the December holidays a peak season for indulging in marzipan, scientists are reporting development of a new test that can tell the difference between the real thing -- a pricey but luscious paste made from ground almonds and sugar -- and cheap fakes made from ground soy, peas and other ingredients. ... > full story
Long-lasting, near infrared-emitting material invented (November 30, 2011) -- Materials that emit visible light after being exposed to sunlight are commonplace and can be found in everything from emergency signage to glow-in-the-dark stickers. But until now, scientists have had little success creating materials that emit light in the near-infrared range, a portion of the spectrum that only can be seen with the aid of night vision devices. ... > full story
3-D printer used to make bone-like material (November 30, 2011) -- It looks like bone. It feels like bone. For the most part, it acts like bone. And it came off an inkjet printer. Researchers have used a 3-D printer to create a bone-like material that can be used in orthopedic procedures, dental work, and to deliver medicine for treating osteoporosis. Paired with actual bone, it acts as a scaffold for new bone to grow on and ultimately dissolves with no apparent ill effects. ... > full story
FLEX-ible insight into flame behavior (November 30, 2011) -- Whether free-burning or smoldering, uncontrolled fire can threaten life and destroy property. On Earth, a little water, maybe some chemicals, and the fire is smothered. In space, where there is no up or down, flames behave in unconventional ways. And when your entire world is the size of a five-bedroom home like the International Space Station, putting out even a small fire quickly is a life-and-death matter. Since March 2009, NASA's Flame Extinguishment Experiment, or FLEX, has conducted more than 200 tests to better understand the fundamentals of flames and how best to suppress fire in space. The investigation is currently ongoing aboard the space station. ... > full story
Growing knowledge in space: Studying what effects microgravity has on plant cell walls, root growth patterns and gene regulation (November 30, 2011) -- Plants are critical in supporting life on Earth, and with help from an experiment that flew onboard space shuttle Discovery's STS-131 mission, they also could transform living in space. NASA's Kennedy Space Center partnered with the University of Florida, Miami University in Ohio and Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation to perform three different experiments in microgravity. The studies concentrated on the effects microgravity has on plant cell walls, root growth patterns and gene regulation within the plant Arabidopsis thaliana. Each of the studies has future applications on Earth and in space exploration. ... > full story
First U.S. large demonstration-scale injection of CO<sub>2</sub> from a biofuel production facility begins (November 30, 2011) -- The Midwest Geological Sequestration Consortium has begun injecting carbon dioxide for the first million-tonne demonstration of carbon sequestration in the United States. The CO2 will be stored permanently in the Mt. Simon Sandstone more than a mile beneath the Illinois surface at Decatur. ... > full story
A revolutionary new 'dry ink' for laser printers and photocopy machines (November 30, 2011) -- Imagine a "super-toner" for copiers and laser printers that produces higher-quality, sharper color images more economically and that reduces emissions of carbon dioxide -- the main greenhouse gas. A research team invented such a toner. ... > full story
Graphene lights up with new possibilities: Two-step technique makes graphene suitable for organic chemistry (November 29, 2011) -- The future brightened for organic chemistry when researchers found a highly controllable way to attach organic molecules to pristine graphene, making the miracle material suitable for a range of new applications. ... > full story
NASA's Nanosail-D 'sails' home -- mission complete (November 29, 2011) -- After spending more than 240 days "sailing" around Earth, NASA's NanoSail-D -- a nanosatellite that deployed NASA's first-ever solar sail in low-Earth orbit -- has successfully completed its Earth orbiting mission. Launched to space Nov. 19, 2010 as a payload on NASA's FASTSAT, a small satellite, NanoSail-D's sail deployed on Jan. 20. The flight phase of the mission successfully demonstrated a deorbit capability that could potentially be used to bring down decommissioned satellites and space debris by re-entering and totally burning up in Earth's atmosphere. The team continues to analyze the orbital data to determine how future satellites can use this new technology. ... > full story
E. coli bacteria engineered to eat switchgrass and make transportation fuels (November 29, 2011) -- Strains of E. coli bacteria were engineered to digest switchgrass biomass and synthesize its sugars into gasoline, diesel and jet fuel. The switchgrass, which is among the most highly touted of the potential feedstocks for advanced biofuels, was pre-treated with ionic liquid, a key to the success of this study. ... > full story
Tiny levers, big moves in piezoelectric sensors (November 29, 2011) -- Scientists have succeeded in integrating a new, highly efficient piezoelectric material into a silicon microelectromechanical system. This development could lead to significant advances in sensing, imaging, and energy harvesting. ... > full story
'Fool's gold' aids discovery of new options for cheap, benign solar energy (November 29, 2011) -- Pyrite, better known as "fool's gold," was familiar to the ancient Romans and has fooled prospectors for centuries -- but has now helped researchers discover related compounds that offer new, cheap and promising options for solar energy. These new compounds, unlike some solar cell materials made from rare, expensive or toxic elements, would be benign and could be processed from some of the most abundant elements on Earth. ... > full story
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