The EDGE: ScienceDaily Technology Headlines -- for Monday, June 18, 2012

ScienceDaily Technology Headlines

for Monday, June 18, 2012

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Sustainability index that looks beyond GDP launched (June 17, 2012) -- The world's fixation on economic growth ignores a rapid and largely irreversible depletion of natural resources that will seriously harm future generations, according to a report which unveils a new indicator aimed at encouraging sustainability -- the Inclusive Wealth Index (IWI). The IWI looks beyond the traditional economic and development yardsticks of GDP and HDI to include a full range of assets such as manufactured, human and natural capital. ... > full story

Ionic liquid improves speed and efficiency of hydrogen-producing catalyst (June 16, 2012) -- The design of a nature-inspired material that can make energy-storing hydrogen gas has gone holistic. Usually, tweaking the design of this particular catalyst -- a work in progress for cheaper, better fuel cells -- results in either faster or more energy efficient production but not both. Now, researchers have found a condition that creates hydrogen faster without a loss in efficiency. ... > full story

Nanoparticles hold promise to improve blood cancer treatment (June 15, 2012) -- Researchers have engineered nanoparticles that show great promise for the treatment of multiple myeloma (MM), an incurable cancer of the plasma cells in bone marrow. ... > full story

No Earth impact in 2040: NASA releases workshop data and findings on asteroid 2011 AG5 (June 15, 2012) -- Researchers anticipate that asteroid 2011 AG5, discovered in January 2011, will fly safely past and not impact Earth in 2040. Observations to date indicate there is a slight chance that AG5 could impact Earth in 2040. Experts are now confident that in the next four years, analysis of space and ground-based observations will show the likelihood of 2011 AG5 missing Earth to be greater than 99 percent. ... > full story

Data from NASA's Voyager 1 point to interstellar future (June 15, 2012) -- Data from NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft indicate that the venerable deep-space explorer has encountered a region in space where the intensity of charged particles from beyond our solar system has markedly increased. Voyager scientists looking at this rapid rise draw closer to an inevitable but historic conclusion -- that humanity's first emissary to interstellar space is on the edge of our solar system. ... > full story

Test of spare wheel puts NASA's Mars Odysse orbiter on path to recovery (June 15, 2012) -- In a step toward returning NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter to full service, mission controllers have tested a spare reaction wheel on the spacecraft for potential use with two other reaction wheels in adjusting and maintaining the spacecraft's orientation. ... > full story

Dawn easing into its final science orbit (June 15, 2012) -- After successfully completing nearly five months scrutinizing the giant asteroid Vesta at its lowest orbit altitude, NASA's Dawn spacecraft will begin its final major science data-gathering phase at Vesta on June 15, at an average altitude of 420 miles (680 kilometers) above the surface. ... > full story

First flight instrument delivered for James Webb Space Telescope (June 15, 2012) -- The first of four instruments to fly aboard NASA's James Webb Space Telescope (Webb) has been delivered to NASA. The Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) will allow scientists to study cold and distant objects in greater detail than ever before. ... > full story

Knowledge of fractions and long division predicts long-term math success (June 15, 2012) -- From factory workers to Wall Street bankers, a reasonable proficiency in math is a crucial requirement for most well-paying jobs in a modern economy. Yet, over the past 30 years, mathematics achievement of US high school students has remained stagnant -- and significantly behind many other countries, including China, Japan, Finland, the Netherlands and Canada. A research team led by Carnegie Mellon University's Robert Siegler has identified a major source of the gap -- US students' inadequate knowledge of fractions and division. ... > full story

Neutrons escaping to a parallel world? (June 15, 2012) -- In a new paper, researchers hypothesize the existence of mirror particles to explain the anomalous loss of neutrons observed experimentally. The existence of such mirror matter had been suggested in various scientific contexts some time ago, including the search for suitable dark matter candidates. ... > full story

Quantum computing? Quantum bar magnets in a transparent salt (June 15, 2012) -- Scientists have managed to switch on and off the magnetism of a new material using quantum mechanics, making the material a test bed for future quantum devices. ... > full story

Physicists predict success of movies at the box office based solely on advertising costs (June 15, 2012) -- A group of Japanese scientists have surprised themselves by being able to predict the success or failure of blockbuster movies at the box office using a set of mathematical models. The researchers used the effects of advertising and word-of-mouth communication to create a model that turned out to be successful in predicting how each movie fared once it hit the silver screen. The only data the researchers needed to put into the model were the daily advertisement costs of 25 movies that appeared in Japanese cinemas. ... > full story

New solar active region spitting out flares (June 14, 2012) -- An active region on the sun, numbered AR 1504, rotated into view over the left side of the sun on June 10, 2012. The region fired off two M-class flares and two coronal mass ejections (CMEs) on June 13 and June 14, 2012. ... > full story

Catching some rays: Organic solar cells make a leap forward (June 14, 2012) -- Organic solar cells are becoming more efficient thanks to a new set of discoveries that alter their behaviors at the electronic level. ... > full story

Engineers perfecting carbon nanotubes for highly energy-efficient computing (June 14, 2012) -- Carbon nanotubes represent a significant departure from traditional silicon technologies and offer a promising path to solving the challenge of energy efficiency in computer circuits, but they aren't without challenges. Now, engineers have found ways around the challenges to produce the first full-wafer digital logic structures based on carbon nanotubes. ... > full story

Switchable nano magnets may revolutionize data storage: Magnetism of individual molecules switched (June 14, 2012) -- Using individual molecules instead of electronic or magnetic memory cells would revolutionize data storage technology, as molecular memories could be thousand-fold smaller. Scientists have now taken a big step toward developing such molecular data storage. ... > full story

Optical displays from water and air (June 14, 2012) -- For many years, scientists have been pursuing ways to mimic the perplexing capability of the lotus leaf to repel water. Lotus leaves hate water so much that droplets effortlessly roll off the surface, keeping it clean from dirt. Now an international team of researchers have come up with an entirely new concept of writing and displaying information on surfaces using simply water. They exploit the unique way a trapped layer of air behaves on a lotus-inspired dual-structured water-repelling surface immersed under water. ... > full story

Theory on metastasis goes beyond metaphor to mathematics (June 14, 2012) -- A unifying theory on the causes of cancer metastases has been proposed. Using the metaphorical hypothesis of "seed" and "soil" -- that cancer is the seed and the soil is the site of metastasis -- researchers fault the metaphor's utility by saying that just how the seeds are "sown" in the soil is still a big question to which there have been no metaphorical or practical answers. ... > full story

A trick of perspective: Chance alignment mimics a cosmic collision (June 14, 2012) -- The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has produced a highly detailed image of a pair of overlapping galaxies called NGC 3314. While the two galaxies look as if they are in the midst of a collision, this is in fact a trick of perspective: the two just happen to appear in the same direction from our vantage point. ... > full story

Cassini sees tropical lakes on Saturn's moon Titan (June 14, 2012) -- NASA's Cassini spacecraft has spied long-standing methane lakes, or puddles, in the "tropics" of Saturn's moon Titan. One of the tropical lakes appears to be about half the size of Utah's Great Salt Lake, with a depth of at least 3 feet (1 meter). The result, which is a new analysis of Cassini data, is unexpected because models had assumed the long-standing bodies of liquid would only exist at the poles. ... > full story

Virtual sailing gives competitors the edge (June 14, 2012) -- Scientists have shown how virtual simulation can be used to accurately predict how a yacht will behave during a race. ... > full story

Elemental and magnetic imaging using X-rays and a microscope (June 14, 2012) -- A team of researchers has developed a new microscope that can image the elemental and magnetic properties of a wide range of energy-important materials that are used in devices such as solar cells and solid-state lighting. ... > full story

Relocating LEDs from silicon to copper enhances efficiency (June 14, 2012) -- Chinese researchers have succeeded in transferring gallium nitride (GaN) light-emitting diodes (LEDs) grown on a layer of silicon to a layer of copper. In comparison with LEDs on silicon substrates, the light output of LEDs on copper was enhanced by 122 percent. ... > full story

Researchers 'heal' plasma-damaged semiconductor with treatment of hydrogen radicals (June 14, 2012) -- Researchers have developed and tested a new way to heal defects in gallium nitride (GaN), a highly promising material for a wide range of optical and high-power electronic devices. ... > full story

New discoveries with language learning robots (June 14, 2012) -- Robots can develop basic language skills through interaction with a human, according to new results. ... > full story

Scientists define the healthy human microbiome (June 13, 2012) -- Scientists have for first time mapped the normal microbial make-up of humans. Berkeley Lab's role in mapping the human microbiome revolves around big data, both analyzing it and making it available for scientists to use worldwide. The research will help scientists understand how our microbiome keeps us healthy. It'll also shed light on our microbiome's role in many diseases. ... > full story

'No-sleep energy bugs' drain smartphone batteries (June 13, 2012) -- Researchers have proposed a method to automatically detect a new class of software glitches in smartphones called "no-sleep energy bugs," which can entirely drain batteries while the phones are not in use. ... > full story

Improving high-tech medical scanners (June 13, 2012) -- A powerful color-based imaging technique is making the jump from remote sensing to the operating room. Scientists are working to ensure it performs as well when spotting cancer cells in the body as it does with oil spills in the ocean. ... > full story

Increased use of hand held devices may call for new photo guidelines (June 13, 2012) -- Viewing Facebook and Flickr photos on a smart phone are becoming common practice. But according to a recently published study, pictures on the small screen often appear distorted. Vision scientists found that perceptual distortions occur because picture takers do not take their viewing distance into account. ... > full story

Got mass? Scientists observe electrons become both heavy and speedy (June 13, 2012) -- Scientists have shown how electrons moving in certain solids can behave as though they are a thousand times more massive than free electrons, yet at the same time act as speedy superconductors. ... > full story

Self-assembling nanocubes for next generation antennas and lenses (June 13, 2012) -- Researchers have developed a technique that enables metallic nanocrystals to self-assemble into larger, complex materials for next-generation antennas and lenses. The metal nanocrystals are cube-shaped and, like bricks or Tetris blocks, spontaneously organize themselves into larger-scale structures with precise orientations relative to one another. ... > full story

'Extremely little' telescope discovers pair of odd planets (June 13, 2012) -- Though the KELT North telescope in southern Arizona carries a lens no more powerful than a high-end digital camera, it's just revealed the existence of two very unusual faraway planets. ... > full story

Clarity begins at exome: Sequencing protein-making part of genome can change diagnosis and patient care (June 13, 2012) -- The new technology of exome sequencing is not only a promising method for identifying disease-causing genes, but may also improve diagnoses and guide individual patient care. ... > full story

Small planets don't need 'heavy metal' stars to form (June 13, 2012) -- The formation of small worlds like Earth previously was thought to occur mostly around stars rich in heavy elements such as iron and silicon. However, new ground-based observations, combined with data collected by NASA's Kepler space telescope, show small planets form around stars with a wide range of heavy element content and suggest they may be widespread in our galaxy. ... > full story

Scientists synthesize first genetically evolved semiconductor material (June 13, 2012) -- In the not-too-distant future, scientists may be able to use DNA to grow their own specialized materials, thanks to the concept of directed evolution. Scientists have, for the first time, used genetic engineering and molecular evolution to develop the enzymatic synthesis of a semiconductor. ... > full story

Alien Earths could form earlier than expected (June 13, 2012) -- Previous studies have shown that Jupiter-sized gas giants tend to form around stars containing more heavy elements than the sun. However, new research found that planets smaller than Neptune are located around a wide variety of stars, including those with fewer heavy elements than the sun. As a result, rocky worlds like Earth could have formed earlier than expected in the universe's history. ... > full story

Ancient effect harnessed to produce electricity from waste heat (June 13, 2012) -- A phenomenon first observed by an ancient Greek philosopher 2,300 years ago has become the basis for a new device designed to harvest the enormous amounts of energy wasted as heat each year to produce electricity. It is the first-of-its-kind "pyroelectric nanogenerator." ... > full story

NASA's NuSTAR mission lifts off (June 13, 2012) -- NASA's Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR) launched into the morning skies over the central Pacific Ocean at 9 a.m. PDT (noon EDT) Wednesday, beginning its mission to unveil secrets of buried black holes and other exotic objects. ... > full story

Northeast Passage soon free from ice again? (June 13, 2012) -- The Northeast Passage, the sea route along the North coast of Russia, is expected to be free of ice early again this summer. The forecast was made by sea ice physicists based on a series of measurement flights over the Laptev Sea, a marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean. ... > full story

New energy source for future medical implants: Sugar (June 13, 2012) -- An implantable fuel cell could power neural prosthetics that help patients regain control of limbs. Engineers have developed a fuel cell that runs on the same sugar that powers human cells: glucose. This glucose fuel cell could be used to drive highly efficient brain implants of the future, which could help paralyzed patients move their arms and legs again. ... > full story

Green fuel from carbon dioxide (June 13, 2012) -- Scientists agree that carbon dioxide has an effect on global warming as a greenhouse gas, but we still pump tons and tons of it into the atmosphere every day. Scientists have now developed a new system for producing methanol that uses CO2 and hydrogen. Methanol can, for example, be used as an environmentally friendly alternative for gasoline. The goal of the scientists is to harness the power of CO2 on a large scale and integrate it into the utilization cycle as a sustainable form of energy production. ... > full story

Nanoparticles found in moon glass bubbles explain weird lunar soil behavior (June 13, 2012) -- Using synchrotron-based nano tomography, scientists have found a highly porous network of alien-looking glassy particles inside unbroken bubbles of glass in a sample of lunar soil. ... > full story

Robotic assistants may adapt to humans in the factory (June 13, 2012) -- In today's manufacturing plants, the division of labor between humans and robots is quite clear, but according experts, the factory floor of the future may host humans and robots working side by side, each helping the other in common tasks. ... > full story

Videogamers no better at talking while driving (June 13, 2012) -- No matter how much time you've spent training your brain to multitask by playing "Call of Duty," you're probably no better at talking on the phone while driving than anybody else, according to a new study. ... > full story

No evidence for 'knots' in space: Theories of primordial universe predict existence of knots in space (June 13, 2012) -- Theories of the primordial universe predict the existence of knots in the fabric of space -- known as cosmic textures -- which could be identified by looking at light from the cosmic microwave background, the relic radiation left over from the Big Bang. Astronomers have performed the first search for textures on the full sky, finding no evidence for such knots in space. ... > full story

Little mighty creature of the ocean inspires strong new material for medical implants and armour (June 13, 2012) -- A scientist may be onto an ocean of discovery because of his research into a little sea creature called the mantis shrimp. The research is likely to lead to making ceramics -- today's preferred material for medical implants and military body armour -- many times stronger. The mantis shrimp's can shatter aquarium glass and crab shells alike. ... > full story

Nonlinear optics: Now in the terahertz range (June 13, 2012) -- Researchers have recently reported on the direct observation of a nonlinear-optical effect, occurring in the regime of single-cycle pulse of light at terahertz (THz) frequencies. They used a doped semiconductor as an efficient nonlinear medium, where the THz-range optical nonlinearity arises from the response of free-electron plasma to THz electric fields. ... > full story

Toddler spatial knowledge boosts understanding of numbers (June 13, 2012) -- Children who are skilled in understanding how shapes fit together to make recognizable objects also have an advantage when it comes to learning the number line and solving math problems. The work is further evidence of the value of providing young children with early opportunities in spatial learning, which helps them mentally manipulate objects. ... > full story