ScienceDaily Technology Headlines -- for Wednesday, September 7, 2011

ScienceDaily Technology Headlines

for Wednesday, September 7, 2011

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Novel magnetic, superconducting material opens new possibilities in electronics (September 7, 2011) -- Scientists have reached a crucial milestone that could lead to a new class of materials with useful electronic properties. A research team has sandwiched two nonmagnetic insulators together and discovered a startling result: The layer where the two materials meet has both magnetic and superconducting regions -- two properties that normally can't co-exist. ... > full story

'Proton flux hypothesis' offers new explanation for effects of ocean acidification on coral reefs (September 7, 2011) -- A researcher in Hawaii has come up with a new explanation for the effects of ocean acidification on coral reefs: the "proton flux hypothesis" is that calcification of coral skeletons are dependent on the passage of hydrogen ions between the water column and the coral tissue. ... > full story

Breakthrough could double wireless capacity with no new towers (September 7, 2011) -- Engineering researchers have made a breakthrough that could allow wireless phone companies to double throughput on their networks without adding a single cell tower. The new "full-duplex" technology allows wireless devices like cell phones and electronic tablets to both "talk" and "listen" to wireless cell towers on the same frequency -- something that requires two frequencies today. ... > full story

Pretreatment, proper harvest time boost ethanol from switchgrass (September 7, 2011) -- Adding a pretreatment step would allow producers to get more ethanol from switchgrass harvested in the fall, according to a new study. ... > full story

Neutrinos: Ghostly particles with unstable egos (September 6, 2011) -- Neutrinos are known to be able to change their "flavors," or identities. But the rules that these fundamental particles follow when they alter their identity are not completely understood. A new study now suggests a non-zero value for one of the parameters governing the oscillation of neutrinos. Finding this neutrino property could ultimately help explain why matter formed in the early Universe. ... > full story

Researchers pioneer novel technique to make plasmonic nanogap arrays (September 6, 2011) -- In the quest to exploit unique properties at the nanoscale, scientists have developed a novel technique for creating uniform arrays of metallic nanostructures. A team of researchers used methods from holographic lithography to demonstrate a new approach for scaling up the fabrication of plasmonic nanogap arrays while simultaneously reducing costs and infrastructure. ... > full story

Microbes generate electricity while cleaning up nuclear waste (September 6, 2011) -- Researchers have unraveled the mystery of how microbes generate electricity while cleaning up nuclear waste and other toxic metals. The implications could eventually benefit sites forever changed by nuclear contamination. ... > full story

People communicate in bursts: Rhythms of communication revealed in study of 9 billion phone calls (September 6, 2011) -- A new study, which has analyzed around 9 billion phone calls throughout almost a one-year period, is among the first to identify details of features of the communication process and to quantify their impact in the diffusion of information. The study found that people communicate in bursts. ... > full story

Milky Way galaxy might hold thousands of ticking 'time bombs' (September 6, 2011) -- In the Hollywood blockbuster "Speed," a bomb on a bus is rigged to blow up if the bus slows down below 50 miles per hour. The premise -- slow down and you explode -- makes for a great action movie plot, and also happens to have a cosmic equivalent. New research shows that some old stars might be held up by their rapid spins, and when they slow down, they explode as supernovae. Thousands of these "time bombs" could be scattered throughout our Galaxy. ... > full story

Foam that lasts and lasts and lasts, and disappears when you want (September 6, 2011) -- There’s nothing special about foaming soap solutions; however, a soap foam that lasts several months, even at 60°C, is unusual. Especially if the foam is made from a natural substance and can quickly be destroyed or restored only by changing ambient temperature. This research allows for new applications that will be of interest to manufacturers of cosmetics and detergents. ... > full story

Sharper views of Apollo 12, 14, 17 sites in new images from NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (September 6, 2011) -- Researchers overseeing the imaging system on board NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter have released the sharpest images ever taken from space of the Apollo 12, 14 and 17 sites, more clearly showing the paths made when the astronauts explored these areas. ... > full story

Record-low error rate for quantum information processing with one qubit (September 6, 2011) -- Physicists have achieved a record-low probability of error in quantum information processing with a single quantum bit (qubit) -- the first published error rate small enough to meet theoretical requirements for building viable quantum computers. ... > full story

A step toward a saliva test for cancer (September 6, 2011) -- A new saliva test can measure the amount of potential carcinogens stuck to a person's DNA -- interfering with the action of genes involved in health and disease -- and could lead to a commercial test to help determine risks for cancer and other diseases, scientists report. ... > full story

Research gives crystal clear temperature readings from toughest environments (September 6, 2011) -- Researchers in the UK have developed a form of crystal that can deliver highly accurate temperature readings, down to individual milli-kelvins, over a very broad range of temperatures: from -120 to +680 degrees centigrade. ... > full story

Tiny wires change behavior at nanoscale (September 6, 2011) -- Thin gold wires often used in high-end electronic applications are wonderfully flexible as well as conductive. But those qualities don't necessarily apply to the same wires at the nanoscale. A new study finds gold wires less than 20 nanometers wide can become "brittle-like" under stress. ... > full story

Flexible electronics hold promise for consumer applications (September 6, 2011) -- New research has advanced the field of plastic-based flexible electronics by developing, for the first time, an extremely large molecule that is stable, possesses excellent electrical properties, and inexpensive to produce. ... > full story

Innovative organic solar cell architecture sets new performance level, Belgian researchers demonstrate (September 6, 2011) -- Researchers in Belgium have demonstrated an organic polymer-based single junction solar cell with 6.9 percent performance in an innovative inverted device stack. The polymer was also integrated into a module resulting in excellent module level efficiencies of 5 percent for an aperture area of 25 square centimeters. ... > full story

Manufacturing method paves way for commercially viable quantum dot-based LEDs (September 6, 2011) -- Researchers may help resolve the public debate over our future light source of choice: Edison's incandescent bulb or the more energy efficient compact fluorescent lamp. It could be neither. Instead, our future lighting needs may be supplied by a new breed of light emitting diode, or LED, that conjures light from the invisible world of quantum dots. ... > full story

World’s largest fusion experiment back in operation (September 6, 2011) -- After an 18-month shutdown to upgrade the machine and four months of commissioning, the Joint European Torus (JET), the world’s largest magnetic fusion device, is ready to start new experiments. The inside of the vessel now has a completely new wall. JET is the first fusion machine to test the materials that will be used inside the next-generation international experiment, ITER. ... > full story

Photovoltaics among fastest growing industries in the world (September 5, 2011) -- The photovoltaic (PV) industry production more than doubled and reached a world-wide production volume of 23.5 gigawatt (GW) of photovoltaic modules. Since 1990, photovoltaic module production has increased more than 500-fold from 46 megawatts (MW) to 23.5 GW in 2010, which makes photovoltaics one of the fastest-growing industries at present. ... > full story

A whole new light on graphene metamaterials: Tunable graphene device is first tool in a kit for putting terahertz light to work (September 5, 2011) -- Invisible terahertz light can detect explosives, image drug structures, and pinpoint skin cancer, but practical tools for using it are scarce. Scientists have now made a graphene microribbon array that strongly responds to terahertz light by exciting the collective electron oscillations known as plasmons. The device can be tuned with exquisite precision by varying the width of the graphene ribbons and controlling electron density. ... > full story

World's smallest electric motor made from a single molecule (September 5, 2011) -- Chemists have developed the world's first single molecule electric motor, a development that may potentially create a new class of devices that could be used in applications ranging from medicine to engineering. ... > full story

Revolutionary three-dimensional model shows how breast tissue grows (September 5, 2011) -- Researchers have developed a revolutionary three-dimensional model that allows them to visualize how breast tissue grows in its earliest stages, giving them the closest look ever at the very beginnings of breast cancer. ... > full story

Mars Science Laboratory launch preparations (September 5, 2011) -- NASA's Mars Science Laboratory Project continues to press ahead with launch preparation activities, planning to use additional time before encapsulating the rover in the launch vehicle's nose cone. ... > full story

Rock rafts could be 'cradle of life' (September 4, 2011) -- Floating rafts of volcanic pumice could have played a significant role in the origins of life on Earth, scientists from have suggested. ... > full story

Rush hour in a coffee stain: Transition from order to disorder (September 4, 2011) -- A remarkable effect never witnessed before has been discovered in the ring-shaped stains of tiny dissolved particles ('coffee stains') that develop after a liquid has evaporated. While the particles on the outside of the ring are neatly organized, chaos reigns on the inside of the ring where the particles seem to have collected in a great hurry. ... > full story

Adding hydrogen triples transistor performance in graphene (September 4, 2011) -- A technique that uses hydrogen to improve transistor performance on real-world graphene devices has been demonstrated on the wafer-scale. Researchers have demonstrated a 3x improvement in electron mobility of epitaxial graphene grown on the silicon face of a 100 mm silicon carbide wafer, as well as a similar improvement in radio-frequency transistor performance. ... > full story

Robots learn to handle objects, understand new places (September 4, 2011) -- Infants spend their first few months learning to find their way around and manipulating objects, and they are very flexible about it: Cups can come in different shapes and sizes, but they all have handles. So do pitchers, so we pick them up the same way. Now researchers are teaching robots to manipulate objects and find their way around in new environments. ... > full story

Advertising in violent video games results in poor recall, negative brand perception (September 4, 2011) -- Embedding advertisements in violent video games leads to lower brand recall and negative brand attitudes suggesting advertisers should think twice about including such ads in a media campaign, according to new research. ... > full story

Rare Martian lake delta spotted by Mars Express (September 3, 2011) -- The European Space Agency's Mars Express has spotted a rare case of a crater once filled by a lake, revealed by the presence of a delta. The delta is an ancient fan-shaped deposit of dark sediments, laid down in water. It is a reminder of Mars' past, wetter climate. ... > full story

Understanding next-generation electronic devices: Smallest atomic displacements ever (September 3, 2011) -- Scientists have developed a novel X-ray technique for imaging atomic displacements in materials with unprecedented accuracy. They have applied their technique to determine how a recently discovered class of exotic materials -- multiferroics -- can be simultaneously both magnetically and electrically ordered. Multiferroics are also candidate materials for new classes of electronic devices. The discovery is a major breakthrough in understanding multiferroics. ... > full story

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

Zero-gravity experiments (September 2, 2011) -- Researchers will be floating high above the Gulf of Mexico this month to conduct zero-gravity testing of an experimental DNA analysis instrument that could benefit future NASA astronauts. ... > full story

From a flat mirror, designer light: Bizarre optical phenomena defies laws of reflection and refraction (September 1, 2011) -- Exploiting a novel technique called phase discontinuity, researchers have induced light rays to behave in a way that defies the centuries-old laws of reflection and refraction. The discovery has led to a reformulation of the mathematical laws that predict the path of a ray of light bouncing off a surface or traveling from one medium into another -- for example, from air into glass. ... > full story

Insect gut microbe with a molecular iron reservoir: Researchers analyze the structure of an iron storage protein (September 1, 2011) -- Iron plays an important role in almost every life form. Low iron can lead to deficiency symptoms and reduced growth, whereas too much iron may harm biomolecules like DNA. Researchers in Germany have now elucidated the spatial structure of a bacterial enzyme in Microbacterium arborescens which is able to accumulate several hundred iron ions in its center -- depending on the iron supply situation in its environment: for example in the larval gut of the beet armyworm Spodoptera exigua. ... > full story

NASA's Chandra finds nearest pair of supermassive black holes (September 1, 2011) -- Astronomers using NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory discovered the first pair of supermassive black holes in a spiral galaxy similar to the Milky Way. Approximately 160 million light years from Earth, the pair is the nearest known such phenomenon. ... > full story

Faster diagnostics through cheap, ultra-portable blood testing (September 1, 2011) -- Current blood testing procedures are expensive and time-consuming, while sophisticated test equipment is bulky and difficult to transport. A team of researchers has addressed all these drawbacks in a new low-cost, portable blood testing technique using surface plasmon resonance. The technique could help in a wide range of medical sensing applications, including diagnosing diseases like cancer and diabetes long before clinical symptoms arise. ... > full story