ScienceDaily Technology Headlines -- for Wednesday, November 9, 2011

ScienceDaily Technology Headlines

for Wednesday, November 9, 2011

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Incredible shrinking material: Engineers reveal how scandium trifluoride contracts with heat (November 8, 2011) -- They shrink when you heat 'em. Most materials expand when heated, but a few contract. Now engineers have figured out how one of these curious materials, scandium trifluoride, does the trick -- a finding, they say, that will lead to a deeper understanding of all kinds of materials. ... > full story

European biofuels are as carbon intensive as petrol, new study suggests (November 8, 2011) -- New research into greenhouse gas emissions from oil palm plantations provides robust measures now being used to inform international policies on greenhouse gas emissions. ... > full story

Secrets of tunneling through energy barriers: How massless electrons tunnel through energy barriers in a carbon sheet called graphene (November 8, 2011) -- Electrons moving in graphene behave in an unusual way, as demonstrated by 2010 Nobel Prize laureates for physics Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov, who performed transport experiments on this one-carbon-atom-thick material. A review article explores the theoretical and experimental results to date of electrons tunneling through energy barriers in graphene. ... > full story

Nanotubes in environment 'rob' green algae of space and light (November 8, 2011) -- Nanoparticles such as carbon nanotubes, which are found in an ever-increasing number of products, are ending up more and more frequently in our surroundings. If and how they affect aquatic ecosystems are questions which are still unanswered. An new study shows that while carbon nanotubes do not have toxic effects on green algae they do inhibit its growth by depriving the plant of light and space. ... > full story

Critical step to opening elusive class of compounds to drug discovery (November 8, 2011) -- Taxanes are a family of compounds that includes one of the most important cancer drugs ever discovered, Taxol, among other cancer treatments. But the difficulty producing these complex molecules in the lab has hampered or blocked exploration of the family for further drug leads. Scientists have now successfully achieved a major step toward the goal of synthetically producing Taxol and other complex taxanes on a quest to harness chemical reactions that could enable research on previously unavailable potential drugs. ... > full story

NASA captures new images of large asteroid passing Earth (November 8, 2011) -- NASA's Deep Space Network antenna in Goldstone, Calif. has captured new radar images of Asteroid 2005 YU55 passing close to Earth. The asteroid safely will safely fly past our planet slightly closer than the moon's orbit on Nov. 8. The last time a space rock this large came as close to Earth was in 1976, although astronomers did not know about the flyby at the time. The next known approach of an asteroid this size will be in 2028. ... > full story

Simulating real-world surfaces for automotive design (November 8, 2011) -- Today, cars are designed on computers, and to assist with this, designers want processes which generate realistic surfaces such as seat covers. Researchers have now developed high-resolution scanners which copy objects and fabric samples in a few minutes, converting them into virtual models. The light effects are startlingly realistic. ... > full story

NASA Proposes Orion Spacecraft Test Flight In 2014; Agency Moves to Implement Deep Space Exploration Plan (November 8, 2011) -- NASA plans to add an unmanned flight test of the Orion spacecraft in early 2014 to its contract with Lockheed Martin Space Systems for the multi-purpose crew vehicle's design, development, test and evaluation. This test supports the new Space Launch System that will take astronauts farther into space than ever before. ... > full story

Millisecond pulsar in spin mode: Gamma radiation of rapidly rotating neutron star casts doubt on origin models (November 7, 2011) -- Astronomers have tracked down the first gamma-ray pulsar in a globular cluster of stars. It is around 27,000 light years away and thus also holds the distance record in this class of objects. Moreover, its high luminosity indicates that J1823-3021A is the youngest millisecond pulsar found to date, and that its magnetic field is much stronger than theoretically predicted. This therefore suggests the existence of a new population of such extreme objects. ... > full story

2-D electron liquid solidifies in a magnetic field (November 7, 2011) -- Physicists have developed a theory that describes, in a unified manner, the coexistence of liquid and pinned solid phases of electrons in two dimensions under the influence of a magnetic field. ... > full story

Why oxygen becomes the undoing of proteins (November 7, 2011) -- Scientists have published a new study explaining why enzymes used for the production of hydrogen are so sensitive to oxygen. They used spectroscopic methods to investigate the time course of the processes that lead to the inactivation of the enzyme's iron center. ... > full story

Hospital tests reveal the secrets of an Egyptian mummy (November 7, 2011) -- An ancient Egyptian mummy has had quite an afterlife, traveling more than 6,000 miles, spending six decades in private hands, and finally, in 1989, finding a home at the World Heritage Museum (now the Spurlock Museum) at the University of Illinois. The mummy's travels did not end there, however. It has made two trips to a local hospital -- once in 1990 and again this year -- for some not-so-routine medical exams. ... > full story

Not one, not two, not three, but four clones: First quantum cloning machine to produce four copies (November 7, 2011) -- Scientists in China have produced a theory for a quantum cloning machine able to produce several copies of the state of a particle at atomic or sub-atomic scale, or quantum state. The advance could have implications for quantum information processing methods used, for example, in message encryption systems. ... > full story

Volunteers end simulated mission to Mars (November 7, 2011) -- The record-breaking simulated mission to Mars has ended with smiling faces after 17 months. Mars500's six brave volunteers stepped out of their 'spacecraft' Nov. 4, 2011 to be welcomed by the waiting scientists -- happy that the venture had worked even better than expected. Mars500, the first full-length, high-fidelity simulation of a human mission to our neighbouring planet, started 520 days earlier, on 3 June 2010, at the Institute of Biomedical Problems in Moscow. ... > full story

Engineers solve energy puzzle: How energy levels align in a critical group of advanced materials (November 7, 2011) -- Materials science and engineering researchers have demonstrated for the first time the key mechanism behind how energy levels align in a critical group of advanced materials. This discovery is a significant breakthrough in the development of sustainable technologies such as dye-sensitized solar cells and organic light-emitting diodes. ... > full story

Carbon-based organic 'carriers' in interstellar dust clouds? Newly discovered diffuse interstellar bands (November 6, 2011) -- The discovery of 13 diffuse interstellar bands with the longest wavelengths to date could someday solve a 90-year-old mystery. Astronomers have now discovered new bands using data collected by the Gemini North telescope of stars in the center of the Milky Way. The new findings support recent ideas about the presence of large, possibly carbon-based organic molecules -— “carriers” —- hidden in interstellar dust clouds. ... > full story

World record in 3-D imaging of porous rocks: Stack of 35 million megapixel-photos (November 6, 2011) -- Physicists have established a world record in the field of three-dimensional imaging of porous materials. The scientists have generated the largest and most precise three-dimensional image of the pore structure of sandstone. The image was generated within a project of the Simulation Technology Cluster of Excellence, and contains more than 35 trillion (a number with thirteen digits) voxels. ... > full story

Cyber war might never happen (November 6, 2011) -- Cyber war, long considered by many experts within the defense establishment to be a significant threat, if not an ongoing one, may never take place according to one expert. He argues that cyber warfare has never taken place, nor is it currently doing so and it is unlikely to take place in the future. ... > full story

Voyager 2 to switch to backup thruster set (November 6, 2011) -- NASA's Deep Space Network personnel sent commands to the Voyager 2 spacecraft Nov. 4 to switch to the backup set of thrusters that controls the roll of the spacecraft. Confirmation was received today that the spacecraft accepted the commands. The change will allow the 34-year-old spacecraft to reduce the amount of power it requires to operate and use previously unused thrusters as it continues its journey toward interstellar space, beyond our solar system. ... > full story

Hubble directly observes the disk around a black hole (November 5, 2011) -- Scientists have observed a quasar accretion disk -- a glowing disk of matter that is slowly being sucked into its galaxy's central black hole. Their study makes use of a novel technique that uses gravitational lensing to give an immense boost to the power of the telescope. The precision of the method has allowed astronomers to directly measure the disk's size and temperature across different parts of the disk. ... > full story

City lights could reveal E.T. civilization (November 4, 2011) -- In the search for extraterrestrial intelligence, astronomers have hunted for radio signals and ultra-short laser pulses. Astronomers suggest a new technique for finding aliens: Look for their city lights. ... > full story

New ways to image and therapeutically target melanoma using nanomedicine? (November 4, 2011) -- Because the incidence of malignant melanoma is rising faster than any other cancer in the US, medical researchers are working overtime to develop new technologies to aid in both malignant melanoma diagnosis and therapy. A tool of great promise comes from the world of nanomedicine. ... > full story

New International Space Station camera reveals the cosmic shore (November 4, 2011) -- Part of human fascination with space is the chance to look back at our own planet from afar. The unique vantage from the International Space Station affords a vista both breathtaking and scientifically illuminating. ... > full story

Hybrid power plants can help industry go green: Affordable solar option for power plants (November 4, 2011) -- Researchers have developed a technology that combines the conventional fuel used in today's power plants with the lower pressures and temperatures of steam produced by solar power. His new "hybrid" power plant is a potentially cost-effective and realistic way to integrate solar technology into existing power plants. ... > full story

Interactive play with blocks found to facilitate development of spatial vocabulary (November 4, 2011) -- Parents and researchers have long speculated that play with construction toys might offer a rich environment that would support later learning in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics disciplines. Researchers have found that when playing with blocks under interactive conditions, children hear the kind of language that helps them think about space, such as "over," "around" and "through." ... > full story

Solar energy: Solar concentrator increases collection with less loss (November 4, 2011) -- Converting sunlight into electricity is not economically attractive because of the high cost of solar cells, but a recent, purely optical approach to improving luminescent solar concentrators may ease the problem, according to researchers. ... > full story

Observations of gamma-ray burst reveal surprising ingredients of early galaxies (November 4, 2011) -- Astronomers have used the brief but brilliant light of a distant gamma-ray burst as a probe to study the make-up of very distant galaxies. Surprisingly the new observations revealed two galaxies in the young Universe that are richer in the heavier chemical elements than the Sun. The two galaxies may be in the process of merging. Such events in the early Universe will drive the formation of many new stars and may be the trigger for gamma-ray bursts. ... > full story

New process for manufacturing nanocellulose: Using nanocellulose to create novel composite materials (November 4, 2011) -- For some time now nanocellulose has been at the focus of a good deal of industrial and scientific interest as a novel biomaterial. Potential applications range from the creation of new kinds of commercially useful materials and uses in medical technology all the way to the food and pharmaceutical industries. Swiss researchers have now developed a manufacturing process for nanocellulose powder, the raw material for creating polymer composites which can be used, for example, in lightweight structures for the car industry or as membrane and filter material for biomedicinal applications. ... > full story

Experts recommend the inclusion of rainwater-collection systems in cities (November 4, 2011) -- Plain, sloping roofs can collect up to 50 percent more rainwater than flat roofs with gravel. This water is also of higher quality. These are the conclusions of a study conducted by researchers in Spain that suggests the incorporation of systems to collect rainwater in urban planning. The water collected can be used to water streets and gardens, wash floors or vehicles and fill cisterns. ... > full story

Scientists study 'galaxy zoo' using Google Maps and thousands of volunteers (November 3, 2011) -- The reddest galaxies with the largest central bulb show the largest bars -- gigantic central columns of stars and dark matter -- according to a scientific study that used Google Maps to observe the sky. A group of volunteers of more than 200,000 participants of the galaxy classification project Galaxy Zoo contributed to this research. ... > full story

Thousand-color sensor reveals contaminants in earth and sea: Technology spots environmental hazards (November 3, 2011) -- A researcher has developed a special camera that can detect more than 1,000 colors -- and can diagnose contaminants and other environmental hazards in real time. ... > full story

Astrobiologists discover 'sweet spots' for the formation of complex organic molecules in the galaxy (November 3, 2011) -- Scientists have compiled years of research to help locate areas in outer space that have extreme potential for complex organic molecule formation. The scientists searched for methanol, a key ingredient in the synthesis of organic molecules that could lead to life. Their results have implications for determining the origins of molecules that spark life in the cosmos. ... > full story

Australian technology aims to make storing radioactive waste safer (November 3, 2011) -- Australian researchers have developed new technology capable of removing radioactive material from contaminated water and aiding clean-up efforts following nuclear disasters. ... > full story

NASA's Fermi finds youngest millisecond pulsar, 100 pulsars to-date (November 3, 2011) -- An international team of scientists using NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope has discovered a surprisingly powerful millisecond pulsar that challenges existing theories about how these objects form. ... > full story

Nine new gamma pulsars brings known gamma-ray pulsars to over 100 (November 3, 2011) -- Pulsars are the lighthouses of the universe. These compact and fast-rotating neutron stars flash many times per second in the radio or gamma-ray band. Pure gamma-ray pulsars are extremely difficult to find despite their high energy because they radiate very few photons per unit of time. Using an improved analysis algorithm, scientists have now discovered a number of previously unknown gamma-ray pulsars with low luminosity in data from the Fermi satellite. These pulsars had been missed using conventional methods. The number of known gamma-ray pulsars has thus grown to over 100. ... > full story

NASA studying ways to make 'tractor beams' a reality (November 3, 2011) -- Tractor beams -- the ability to trap and move objects using laser light -- are the stuff of science fiction, but a team of NASA scientists has won funding to study the concept for remotely capturing planetary or atmospheric particles and delivering them to a robotic rover or orbiting spacecraft for analysis. ... > full story

iPhone turned into spiPhone: Smartphone senses nearby keyboard vibrations and deciphers sentences (November 3, 2011) -- Engineers have discovered how to program a smartphone to sense nearby keyboard vibrations and decipher complete sentences with up to 80 percent accuracy. ... > full story

Physicists identify room temperature quantum bits in widely used semiconductor (November 3, 2011) -- Physicists may have earned silicon carbide –– a semiconductor commonly used by the electronics industry –– a role at the center of a new generation of information technologies designed to exploit quantum physics for tasks such as ultrafast computing and nanoscale sensing. ... > full story

Fast high precision eye-surgery robot developed (November 3, 2011) -- A researcher in The Netherlands has developed a smart eye-surgery robot that allows eye surgeons to operate with increased ease and greater precision on the retina and the vitreous humor of the eye. The system also extends the effective period during which ophthalmologists can carry out these intricate procedures. ... > full story

Solar power could get boost from new light absorption design (November 3, 2011) -- Researchers have developed a new material that absorbs a wide range of wavelengths and could lead to more efficient and less expensive solar technology. ... > full story

Kicking hybrids out of carpool lanes backfires, slowing traffic for all, study finds (November 3, 2011) -- The end of a California program granting free access to carpool lanes by solo drivers of hybrid cars has unintentionally slowed traffic in all lanes, according to a new report. It turns out that when regular-use lanes became more congested with the addition of more hybrids, the carpool lanes slowed down as well. ... > full story

Studying random structures with confetti (November 3, 2011) -- Chance and probability play a natural role in statistical physics. Inspired by confetti, researchers in Sweden are gaining better understanding of random phenomena and refine the tools that can be used to study them. ... > full story

Molecular depth profiling modeled using buckyballs and low-energy argon (November 3, 2011) -- The strengths and weaknesses of a new method of molecular depth profiling -- a technique used to analyze the surface of ultra-thin materials such as human tissue, nanoparticles, and other substances -- have been revealed by a new computer-simulation study, which may help future researchers to choose when to use the new method of probing ultra-thin materials. ... > full story

NASA robotic lander test flight Nov. 4 will aid in future lander designs (November 3, 2011) -- NASA will conduct a 100-foot robotic lander altitude test flight Friday, Nov. 4, to mature the technology needed to develop a new generation of small, smart, versatile robotic landers capable of achieving scientific and exploration goals on the surface of the moon, asteroids or other airless bodies. ... > full story

New components for future computer memories (November 3, 2011) -- The European TRAMS (terascale reliable adaptive memory systems) consortium investigates the impact of statistical NanoCMOS variability on terascale embedded static random-access memories (SRAMs) based on sub-16 nm technology generation using conventional and novel complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) devices. ... > full story

Are global honey bee declines caused by diesel pollution? (November 2, 2011) -- Scientists are investigating a possible link between tiny particles of pollution found in diesel fumes and the global collapse of honey bee colonies. ... > full story

Manufacturing microscale medical devices for faster tissue engineering (November 2, 2011) -- Researchers have modified a manufacturing technique called two-photon polymerization to create finely detailed micro-structures, such as scaffolds for tissue engineering, more quickly and efficiently than was previously possible. The new technique could help pave the way to more widespread clinical use of microscale medical devices. ... > full story

Did life once exist below Red Planet's surface? NASA study of clays suggests watery Mars underground (November 2, 2011) -- A new NASA study suggests if life ever existed on Mars, the longest lasting habitats were most likely below the Red Planet's surface. A new interpretation of years of mineral-mapping data, from more than 350 sites on Mars examined by European and NASA orbiters, suggests Martian environments with abundant liquid water on the surface existed only during short episodes. These episodes occurred toward the end of a period of hundreds of millions of years during which warm water interacted with subsurface rocks. This has implications about whether life existed on Mars and how the Martian atmosphere has changed. ... > full story