ScienceDaily Technology Headlines -- for Saturday, May 14, 2011

ScienceDaily Technology Headlines

for Saturday, May 14, 2011

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Assessing the risks of wireless and mobile phone radiation more accurately (May 13, 2011) -- Electromagnetic fields and radiation produced by radio antennae or mobile phones can influence biological processes -- for instance, electrical brain activity during sleep, as researchers in Switzerland have shown. However, they have not been able to establish any links between everyday exposure to radiation and health problems. ... > full story

Nuclear desalination: Fresh water from waste heat of power plants (May 13, 2011) -- Nuclear desalination uses the excess heat from a nuclear power plant to evaporate sea water and to condense the pure water. A research team from India and Italy argues that despite public concerns, the low energy costs and convenience of this latter process make it the preferred option. ... > full story

Sensors that can stretch (May 13, 2011) -- Is someone sitting in the passenger seat of the car? Did someone enter the safety zone in front of an industrial machine? Stretch and pressure sensors have a wide range of applications. Researchers have now developed sensors capable of expanding, in extreme cases, to twice their original length and so supple as to go virtually unnoticed when sewn into clothing. ... > full story

Strong, tough and now cheap: New way to process metallic glass developed (May 13, 2011) -- Stronger than steel or titanium -- and just as tough -- metallic glass is an ideal material for everything from cell-phone cases to aircraft parts. Now, researchers have developed a new technique that allows them to make metallic-glass parts utilizing the same inexpensive processes used to produce plastic parts. ... > full story

Dwarf planet Haumea shines with crystalline ice (May 13, 2011) -- The fifth dwarf planet of the solar system, Haumea, and at least one of its two satellites, are covered in crystalline water-ice due to the tidal forces between them and the heat of radiogenic elements, according to an international research study using observations from the VLT telescope at the European Southern Observatory in Chile. ... > full story

Exposing ZnO nanorods to visible light removes microbes, researchers in Thailand show (May 13, 2011) -- The practical use of visible light and zinc oxide nanorods for destroying bacterial water contamination has been successfully demonstrated by researchers in Thailand. ZnO has now been tested under solar light, instead of the traditionally used UV light, suggesting a huge potential for commercial applications. ... > full story

Mixing fluids efficiently in confined spaces: Let the fingers do the working (May 13, 2011) -- Researchers have shown that the injection of a thin or low-viscosity fluid into a much more viscous fluid (think of water spurting into molasses) will cause the two fluids to mix very quickly via a physical process known as viscous fingering. For maximum mixing to occur quickly, the ideal ratio of the viscosity of two fluids depends on the speed of injection. This work could have implications for the petroleum industry and microfluidics technology. ... > full story

Diagnosing 'seizures' in the US economy (May 13, 2011) -- Researchers have examined the dynamics of the S&P 500 over the last decade, employing methods originally developed to analyze the brain activity of epilepsy patients. He found surprising results. ... > full story

Super energy storage: Activated graphene makes superior supercapacitors for energy storage (May 13, 2011) -- Scientists have uncovered the nanoscale structure of a novel form of carbon, contributing to an explanation of why this new material acts like a super-absorbent sponge when it comes to soaking up electric charge. The material can be incorporated into "supercapacitor" energy-storage devices with remarkably high storage capacity, superfast energy release, quick recharge time, and a lifetime of at least 10,000 charge/discharge cycles. ... > full story

Galaxy NGC 4214: A star formation laboratory (May 13, 2011) -- Hubble's newest camera has taken an image of galaxy NGC 4214. This galaxy glows brightly with young stars and gas clouds, and is an ideal laboratory to research star formation and evolution. ... > full story

Take control of a wheelchair with a steady jaw and a wink (May 13, 2011) -- For people with severe physical disabilities, such as spinal cord injury, quadriplegia and hemiplegia or amputation, current technology for controlling a wheelchair or mobility scooter is wholly inadequate. A research article now shows how an inexpensive webcam and a bio-signal sensing headband can be used to control the steering and propulsion of an electric wheelchair. ... > full story

New method for engineering human tissue regeneration (May 13, 2011) -- If clinical trials prove successful, a discovery could represent a leap toward human tissue regeneration and engineering. In a new study, scientists provide evidence to support a paradigm shift from the idea that cells added to a graft before implantation are the building blocks of tissue, to a new belief that engineered tissue constructs can induce or augment the body's own reparative mechanisms, including complex tissue regeneration. ... > full story