ScienceDaily Technology Headlines -- for Thursday, June 16, 2011

ScienceDaily Technology Headlines

for Thursday, June 16, 2011

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'Glowing hands' in the waiting room improves kids' handwashing (June 16, 2011) -- Hand-hygiene in children was improved with the use of a glowing gel that, when black lit, illustrates bacteria on hands, even after washing. ... > full story

Recalculating the distance to interstellar space (June 15, 2011) -- Scientists analyzing recent data from NASA's Voyager and Cassini spacecraft have calculated that Voyager 1 could cross over into the frontier of interstellar space at any time and much earlier than previously thought. ... > full story

When size matters: Nanotechnology for energy efficiency (June 15, 2011) -- Researchers are using nanotechnology to create new energy efficient materials. With the increasing worldwide demand for energy, there is a pressure to use the finite energy resources wisely while reducing one of the major areas of energy consumption -- transportation, which accounts for more than 20% of the world’s total primary energy and produces much of the world’s pollution. ... > full story

Researchers break light-matter coupling strength limit in nanoscale semiconductors (June 15, 2011) -- New engineering research demonstrates that polaritons have increased coupling strength when confined to nanoscale semiconductors. This represents a promising advance in the field of photonics: smaller and faster circuits that use light rather than electricity. ... > full story

NASA's Chandra finds massive black holes common in early universe (June 15, 2011) -- Using the deepest X-ray image ever taken, astronomers found the first direct evidence that massive black holes were common in the early universe. This discovery from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory shows that very young black holes grew more aggressively than previously thought, in tandem with the growth of their host galaxies. ... > full story

European experts propose method to harmonize nuclear emergency plans (June 15, 2011) -- A team of European radiological protection specialists has developed a method to calculate benchmark values to help establish whether the local population should be required to take shelter or be evacuated or relocated following a nuclear accident. The study shows that these levels are more restrictive in wet environments than in dry ones. ... > full story

Internet could be 10 times faster than it currently is, researchers say (June 15, 2011) -- Could the Internet just stop working one day? With bandwidth requirement increasing annually as the web becomes an ever larger part of the everyday life, keeping up is a challenge for Internet service providers. A European telecommunications cluster CELTIC-Plus project is pushing capacity upwards. ... > full story

What gamers want: Researchers develop tool to predict player behavior (June 15, 2011) -- Researchers have developed a new method that can accurately predict the behavior of players in online role-playing games. The tool could be used by the game industry to develop new game content, or to help steer players to the parts of a game they will enjoy most. ... > full story

Neutrinos change flavors while crossing Japan: Findings shed light on why universe is made of matter instead of anti-matter (June 15, 2011) -- By shooting a beam of neutrinos through a small slice of the Earth under Japan, physicists say they've caught the particles changing their stripes in new ways. These observations may one day help explain why the universe is made of matter rather than anti-matter. ... > full story

Using recycled cardboard in food packaging risks contaminating food with mineral oils, study finds (June 15, 2011) -- Harmful mineral oils from the printing inks used on cardboard can migrate into food if recycled cardboard is used for food packaging. It may contaminate food even if the recycled cardboard is used for the corrugated card transport box that holds individual packs. In tests on experimental packs of fine noodles, researchers in Zurich, Switzerland, found that food rapidly absorbed 10 times the recommended limit for concentration of these contaminating oils from the transport box. ... > full story

Protecting medical implants from attack (June 15, 2011) -- A new system would jam wireless signals sent to medical implants by unauthorized users. ... > full story

Baby stars born to 'napping' parents (June 15, 2011) -- Astronomers believe that a young star's long "napping" could trigger the formation of a second generation of smaller stars and planets orbiting around it. It has long been suspected that the build up of material onto young stars is not continuous but happens in episodic events, resulting in short outbursts of energy from these stars. However, this has been largely ignored in models of star formation. ... > full story

3-D tracking of single molecules inside cells using new multifocal plane microscopy method (June 15, 2011) -- Researchers are using a novel 3-D cell imaging method for studying the complex spatial-temporal dynamics of protein transport, providing a solution to this fundamental problem in cell biology. ... > full story

Rainwater harvest study finds roofing material affects water quality (June 15, 2011) -- Using rainwater from your roof to water plants seems simple enough, right? But a new study finds that the type of roofing material used can make a big difference in water quality. ... > full story

X-ray telescope finds new voracious black holes in early universe (June 15, 2011) -- Using the deepest X-ray image ever taken, astronomers have found the first direct evidence that massive black holes were common in the early universe. This discovery from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory shows that very young black holes grew more aggressively than previously thought, in tandem with the growth of their host galaxies. ... > full story

Researchers discover new type of neutrino oscillation (June 15, 2011) -- The international T2K collaboration has observed an indication of a new type of neutrino transformation or oscillation from a muon neutrino to an electron neutrino. Evidence of this new type of neutrino oscillation may lead the way to new studies of a matter/anti-matter asymmetry called charge-parity violation. ... > full story

X-ray analysis technique helps scientists determine that black holes grew voraciously in young galaxies (June 15, 2011) -- A scientific team has unveiled evidence of black holes being common in the early universe. The discovery shows that these young black holes grew more aggressively than scientists previously thought. The finding has important implications for how astronomers understand the early cosmos. ... > full story

Astronomers discover earliest black holes at dawn of universe (June 15, 2011) -- A team of astronomers has discovered the earliest black holes ever detected, despite the fact that they are hidden from view by their host galaxies. They also measured the average growth rate of the black holes and discovered that they grow and evolve in tandem with their galaxies -- something that astronomers had observed locally but which they knew little about when it came to the early, distant universe. ... > full story

A grid approach to pandemic disease control (June 15, 2011) -- An evaluation of the Public Health Grid (PHGrid) technology during the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic could enhance the capabilities of epidemiologists and disease-control agencies when the next emergent disease appears, according to a new study. ... > full story

UK first use of 3-D imaging derived from post-mortem computed tomography imaging in UK trial (June 15, 2011) -- Scientists have used 3D images derived from post-mortem computed tomography (PMCT) scans as an aid to demonstrate injuries to a jury for the first time in evidence at a UK trial. ... > full story

Two-state dynamics recorded in glassy silicon (June 14, 2011) -- Using high-resolution imaging technology, researchers have answered a question that had confounded semiconductor researchers: Is amorphous silicon a glass? The answer? Yes -- until hydrogen is added. For the first time, researchers directly observed two-state dynamics in a-Si, which disappears after hydrogenation. ... > full story

'Hidden' galaxies of the universe have lower amounts of heavier elements (June 14, 2011) -- A unique example of some of the lowest surface brightness galaxies in the universe have been found by an international team of astronomers. The galaxy has lower amounts of heavier elements than other known galaxies of this type. The discovery means that small low surface brightness galaxies may have more in common with the first galaxies formed shortly after the Big Bang than previously thought. ... > full story

'Catch and release' program could improve nanoparticle safety assessment (June 14, 2011) -- Scientists have found a way to trap and release nanoparticles at will, a research technique useful for studying how the particles behave in biological systems. ... > full story

New insights on how solar minimums affect Earth (June 14, 2011) -- Since 1611, humans have recorded the comings and goings of black spots on the sun. The number of these sunspots waxes and wanes over approximately an 11-year cycle -- more sunspots generally mean more activity and eruptions on the sun and vice versa. Observations have shown, however, that magnetic effects on Earth due to the sun, effects that cause the aurora to appear, did not go down in synch with the cycle of low magnetism on the sun. Now, researchers report that these effects on Earth did in fact reach a minimum -- indeed they attained their lowest levels of the century -- but some eight months later. The scientists believe that factors in the speed of the solar wind, and the strength and direction of the magnetic fields embedded within it, helped produce this anomalous low. ... > full story

Nanotubes could pose health risk to production line staff, study suggests (June 14, 2011) -- Tiny fibers used to strengthen everyday products such as bicycle frames and hockey sticks could pose health hazards to those involved in their manufacture. Certain types of carbon nanotubes -- cylindrical molecules about one-thousandth of the width of a human hair -- could cause cancer in the lining of the lung, researchers have found. ... > full story

First telecommunications wavelength quantum dot laser grown on a silicon substrate (June 14, 2011) -- A new generation of high-speed, silicon-based information technology has been brought a step closer by researchers in the UK. The team's research provides the first demonstration of an electrically driven, quantum dot laser grown directly on a silicon substrate (Si) with a wavelength (1300-nm) suitable for use in telecommunications. ... > full story

New software 'hearing dummies' pave the way for tailor-made hearing aids (June 14, 2011) -- New software "hearing dummies" are part of cutting-edge research that promises to revolutionize the diagnosis and treatment of hearing impairments. The work could also be used in the long-term to develop a radical new type of hearing aid that can be customized using the hearing dummy to meet the different needs of individual patients. If the procedures gain clinical acceptance, a device could reach the market within four years. ... > full story

NASA spacecraft captures video of asteroid approach (June 14, 2011) -- Scientists working with NASA's Dawn spacecraft have created a new video showing the giant asteroid Vesta as the spacecraft approaches this unexplored world in the main asteroid belt. ... > full story

Ten-fold increase in open access scientific publishing during the last decade (June 14, 2011) -- A new study reports on the rapid growth of open access scientific publishing since the start of the World Wide Web. ... > full story

Forecast: Tough times ahead for daily deal sites (June 14, 2011) -- Over the next few years, it is likely that daily deal sites will have to settle for lower shares of revenues from businesses compared with their current levels, and it will be harder and more expensive for them to find viable candidates to fill their pipelines of daily deals, according to new research. ... > full story

Under pressure, sodium, hydrogen could undergo a metamorphosis, emerging as superconductor (June 13, 2011) -- In the search for superconductors, finding ways to compress hydrogen into a metal has been a point of focus ever since scientists predicted many years ago that electricity would flow, uninhibited, through such a material. ... > full story

Entry, descent and surface science for 2016 Mars mission (June 13, 2011) -- The European Space Agency and NASA have announced the scientific investigations selected for their 2016 ExoMars lander demonstrator. They will probe the atmosphere during the descent, and return the first ever data on electrical fields at the surface of Mars. ... > full story

Faster computer graphics: Digitally mimicking photographic blur caused by moving objects (June 13, 2011) -- Researchers have developed new techniques for computing blur much more efficiently. The result could be more convincing video games and frames of digital video that take minutes rather than hours to render. ... > full story

Beam of X-ray laser light with shortest wavelength successfully produced (June 13, 2011) -- Researchers in Japan have successfully produced a beam of X-ray laser light with a wavelength of 1.2 Angstroms, the shortest ever measured. This record-breaking light opens a window into the structure of atoms and molecules at a level of detail never seen before. ... > full story

Single GFP-expressing cell is basis of living laser device (June 13, 2011) -- Researchers have developed a device in which a single cell genetically engineered to express green fluorescent protein is used to amplify the light particles called photons into nanosecond-long pulses of laser light. ... > full story

In very narrow spaces, liquids behave more like gels (June 13, 2011) -- Three molecules thick, or two, or one: how does an extremely thin layer of trapped liquid behave when we make it even thinner? Measurements made using the atomic force microscope show that the forces of friction increase with each step. Liquids begin to behave more like a gel, according to new research. ... > full story

New computer algorithm improves method for finding genetic mistakes that fuel cancer (June 13, 2011) -- A dramatically better computer tool for finding the genetic missteps that fuel cancer has been developed . Researchers are using the new algorithm to help identify the chromosomal rearrangements and DNA insertions or deletions unique to cancer. ... > full story

New 3-D tumor model: Step toward speeding cancer drug research (June 13, 2011) -- A team of scientists has developed a way to coax tumor cells in the lab to grow into 3-D spheres. Their discovery takes advantage of an earlier technique of producing spherical cavities in a common polymer and promises more accurate tests of new cancer therapies. ... > full story

Digital democracy? Study finds elite viewpoints dominate online content (June 13, 2011) -- Anyone with Internet access can generate online content and influence public opinion, according to popular belief. But a new study suggests that the social Web is becoming more of a playground for the affluent than a digital democracy. ... > full story

A molecule that switches on and off (June 13, 2011) -- Researchers in France have developed a single molecule whose charge state and shape can be changed at will. The advance should prove a key advantage in the race for miniaturization. In addition to controlling its charge in a completely reversible way, the researchers have revealed a link between the molecule's charge and its geometrical shape, effectively making it usable as a bit of information or an electromechanical system on a nanometric scale. This perfectly controllable back-and-forth motion at the molecular level holds great promise for the creation of ultra-dense digital memory or nanomotors. ... > full story

What happens in the brain as it loses consciousness: 3-D movie constructed (June 13, 2011) -- For the first time, researchers have been able to watch what happens to the brain as it loses consciousness. Using sophisticated imaging equipment, they have constructed a 3-D movie of the brain as it changes while an anesthetic drug takes effect. ... > full story

Tuning 'metasurface' with fluid in new concept for sensing and chemistry (June 13, 2011) -- Researchers have demonstrated a unique fluid-tuned "metasurface," a concept that may be useful in biomedical sensors and microwave-assisted chemistry. ... > full story

New supernova remnant lights up: SN1987A shines again (June 13, 2011) -- Light from an exploding star in a neighboring galaxy has suddenly begun to glow brighter as the shock wave and X-rays hit surrounding debris. What we are witnessing the the change from an active supernova to a supernova remnant. ... > full story

Raising the International Space Station: ATV Johannes Kepler conducts the 'Big Boost' (June 13, 2011) -- It's the International Space Station's biggest increase in altitude to date, and, thanks to European Space Agency's ATV Johannes Kepler, it will significantly improve the 417-tonne Station's orbital mileage through the next decade of scientific research. During three intensive reboost manoeuvres, ATV Johannes Kepler is raising the ISS altitude from around 345 km to 380 km, where it will use far less fuel to maintain its orbit and cutting the amount of fuel that must be sent up in the coming years by almost half. ... > full story

Walking microdroplets collect viruses and bacteria (June 13, 2011) -- A barely visible, electric field-controlled droplet moves on an appropriately prepared surface, harvesting viruses, bacteria and protein molecules deposited on it. This is how a novel method of collecting bioparticles looks like in real life. The method has been for the first time successfully tested by a team of researchers Poland and France. The results of the tests have implications for the development of microsystems for chemical analyses, especially those dedicated to monitoring bioparticles present in the air. ... > full story

'Networking' turns up flu viruses with close ties to pandemic of 2009 (June 13, 2011) -- Scientists using new mathematical and computational techniques have identified six influenza A viruses that have particularly close genetic relationships to the H1N1 "swine" flu virus that swept through the United States beginning in the spring of 2009. That virus eventually killed almost 18,000 people worldwide. Biological studies focused on these strains of influenza virus could shed light on how the 2009 pandemic strain of influenza emerged, aiding in efforts to forestall another pandemic, the researchers say. ... > full story

Glowing 'Cornell Dots': Potential cancer diagnostic tool set for human trials (June 13, 2011) -- The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the first clinical trial in humans of a new technology: Cornell Dots, brightly glowing nanoparticles that can light up cancer cells in PET-optical imaging. ... > full story

Chemistry with sunlight: Combining electrochemistry and photovoltaics to clean up oxidation reactions (June 12, 2011) -- Researchers can make the oxidation reactions used in the synthesis of organic molecules cleaner by hitching photovoltaics to electrochemistry. The idea is simple and yet it has huge implications. To underscore the simplicity of the idea, researchers used a solar cell sold on the Internet and intended to power toy cars to run a variety of chemical reactions. If their suggestion were widely adopted by the chemical industry, it would eliminate the toxic byproducts currently produced by a class of reactions commonly used in chemical synthesis -- and with them the environmental and economic damage they cause. ... > full story