ScienceDaily Technology Headlines -- for Saturday, September 3, 2011

ScienceDaily Technology Headlines

for Saturday, September 3, 2011

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Engineers test effects of fire on steel structures, nuclear plant design (September 2, 2011) -- Ten years after Sept. 11, researchers are continuing work that could lead to safer steel structures such as buildings and bridges and also an emerging type of nuclear power plant design. ... > full story

Hiding objects with a terahertz invisibility cloak (September 2, 2011) -- Researchers have created a new kind of cloaking material that can render objects invisible in the terahertz range. Though this design can't translate into an invisibility cloak for the visible spectrum, it could have implications in diagnostics, security, and communication. ... > full story

NASA's Mars rover Opportunity begins study of Martian crater (September 2, 2011) -- The initial work of NASA's Mars rover Opportunity at its new location on Mars shows surface compositional differences from anything the robot has studied in its first 7.5 years of exploration. ... > full story

Physicists capture microscopic origins of thinning and thickening fluids (September 2, 2011) -- In things thick and thin: Physicists now explain how fluids -- such as paint or paste -- behave by observing how micron-sized suspended particles dance in real time. Using high-speed microscopy, the scientists unveil how these particles are responding to fluid flows from shear -- a specific way of stirring. ... > full story

New microscope might see beneath skin in 4-D (September 2, 2011) -- Other devices can take 3-D pictures of tissue below the surface of skin, but a new microscope adds an extra dimension: a spectroscopic "fingerprint" that measures the wavelength (or color) of light reflected off each point within a sample in a single snapshot. Researchers hope this innovation may one day be used for early detection of skin cancer. ... > full story

Biological 'computer' destroys cancer cells: Diagnostic network incorporated into human cells (September 2, 2011) -- Researchers have successfully incorporated a diagnostic biological "computer" network into human cells. This network recognizes certain cancer cells using logic combinations of five cancer-specific molecular factors, triggering cancer cells destruction. ... > full story

Digital quantum simulator developed (September 2, 2011) -- Physicists in Austria have come considerably closer to their goal to investigate complex phenomena in a model system: They have developed a digital, and therefore, universal quantum simulator in their laboratory, which can, in principle, simulate any physical system efficiently. ... > full story

To clear digital waste in computers, 'think green,' researchers say (September 2, 2011) -- A digital dumping ground lies inside most computers, a wasteland where old, rarely used and unneeded files pile up. Such data can deplete precious storage space, bog down the system's efficiency and sap its energy. Computer scientists now propose adapting a real-world approach to the cleanup effort. ... > full story

Hubble movies reveal solar-system-sized traffic jams: Giant jets spewing from newborn stars revealed in telescope's images (September 2, 2011) -- Using Hubble Space Telescope images, astronomers have created time-lapse movies that offer astronomers their first glimpse of the dynamic behavior of stellar jets, huge torrents of gas and particles that spew from the poles of newborn stars. The movies are forcing astronomers to rethink the late stages of star birth. The researchers are also using lasers to recreate small-scale versions of the jets. ... > full story

Hydrogen powered prototype vessel for inland waterways: Canal boat runs on fuel cell drive (September 2, 2011) -- Researchers have been operating a canal boat with a fuel cell drive for three years now. In the world of shipbuilding, however, different rules apply than those in the automobile manufacturing industries. Weight is of practically no significance, but the propulsion plant must have an operating lifetime as long as that of the boat itself. The hydride storage system -- the hydrogen tank -- must meet this challenging requirement. ... > full story

Physicists demonstrate quantum integrated circuit that implements quantum von Neumann architecture (September 2, 2011) -- A new paradigm in quantum information processing has been demonstrated. Physicists have developed a quantum integrated circuit that implements the quantum von Neumann architecture. In this architecture, a long-lived quantum random access memory can be programmed using a quantum central processing unit, all constructed on a single chip, providing the key components for a quantum version of a classical computer. ... > full story

New salts for chemical 'soups' (September 2, 2011) -- Organozinc reagents are an important class of organometallic compounds with a wide range of applications. Chemists have now developed a novel route for the synthesis of so-called organozinc pivalates in a stable powdered form. They promise to be extremely useful in many industrial contexts. ... > full story