ScienceDaily Technology Headlines -- for Tuesday, March 13, 2012

ScienceDaily Technology Headlines

for Tuesday, March 13, 2012

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Mathematical methods predicts movement of oil and ash following environmental disasters (March 12, 2012) -- For those involved in managing the fallout from environmental disasters like the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, it is essential to have tools that predict how the oil will move, so that they make the best possible use of resources to control the spill. Such tools now appear to be within reach. ... > full story

Touch of gold improves nanoparticle fuel-cell reactions (March 12, 2012) -- Chemists have created a triple-headed metallic nanoparticle that reportedly performs better and lasts longer than any other nanoparticle catalyst studied in fuel-cell reactions. The key is the addition of gold: it yields a more uniform crystal structure while removing carbon monoxide from the reaction. ... > full story

3-D Printer with Nano-Precision (March 12, 2012) -- Printing three-dimensional objects with incredibly fine details is now possible using “two-photon lithography”. With this technology, tiny structures on a nanometer scale can be fabricated. Researchers have now made a major breakthrough in speeding up this printing technique. ... > full story

Thermonuclear behavior of unique neutron star captured (March 10, 2012) -- A neutron star is the closest thing to a black hole that astronomers can observe directly, crushing half a million times more mass than Earth into a sphere no larger than a city. In October 2010, a neutron star near the center of our galaxy erupted with hundreds of X-ray bursts that were powered by a barrage of thermonuclear explosions on the star's surface. NASA captured the month-long fusillade in extreme detail. ... > full story

Nanotube technology leading to new era of fast, lower-cost medical diagnostics (March 9, 2012) -- Researchers have tapped into the extraordinary power of carbon "nanotubes" to increase the speed of biological sensors, a technology that might one day allow a doctor to routinely perform lab tests in minutes, speeding diagnosis and treatment while reducing costs. The new findings have almost tripled the speed of prototype nano-biosensors, and should find applications not only in medicine but in toxicology, environmental monitoring, new drug development and other fields. ... > full story

Meteorites reveal another way to make life's components (March 9, 2012) -- Creating some of life's building blocks in space may be a bit like making a sandwich -- you can make them cold or hot, according to new NASA research. This evidence that there is more than one way to make crucial components of life increases the likelihood that life emerged elsewhere in the Universe, according to the research team, and gives support to the theory that a "kit" of ready-made parts created in space and delivered to Earth by impacts from meteorites and comets assisted the origin of life. ... > full story

Environmentally friendly cleaning and washing (March 9, 2012) -- More and more everyday products are based on renewable resources, with household cleaners now containing active cleaning substances made from plant oils and sugar. These fat and dirt removers are especially environmentally friendly and effective when produced using biotechnology, with the aid of fungi and bacteria. ... > full story

A cheap and fully optical solution for ultra-fast internet (March 9, 2012) -- Blisteringly fast Internet speeds, more robust connections and a big increase in network capacity at little extra cost, even in rural areas? It's the sort of fantasy that keeps telecommunication company executives and bandwidth-hungry Internet users awake at night... until now. Groundbreaking fibre-optic technology promises all those things and more. ... > full story

Mapping the Moho with GOCE (March 9, 2012) -- The first global high-resolution map of the boundary between Earth’s crust and mantle – the Moho – has been produced based on data from ESA’s GOCE gravity satellite. Understanding the Moho will offer new clues into the dynamics of Earth’s interior. Earth’s crust is the outermost solid shell of our planet. Even though it makes up less than 1% of the volume of the planet, the crust is exceptionally important not just because we live on it, but because is the place where all our geological resources like natural gas, oil and minerals come from. ... > full story

Strong Grip: Unexpected interaction between organic semiconductors (March 9, 2012) -- Physicists have discovered an unexpectedly strong bond between organic layers. Such structures are still puzzling scientists throughout the world. These structures form the basis for novel electronic components made from organic semiconductors that are now increasingly used in smart phones and television sets. ... > full story

Tracking pedestrians indoors using their smart phones (March 9, 2012) -- The next generation of smart phone could combine the data from its gyroscopes with a built-in compass to allow you to track your movements when indoors even without GPS. Such a system could be useful for shopping mall managers, factory bosses for worker safety and security and office workers hoping to manage the flow of people through buildings. It could also be used to enable location based services and to help users navigate to specific meeting points or shops. ... > full story

Partnerships in the brain: Mathematical model describes the collaboration of individual neurons (March 8, 2012) -- How do neurons in the brain communicate with each other? One common theory suggests that individual cells do not exchange signals among each other, but rather that exchange takes place between groups of cells. Researchers have now developed a mathematical model that can be used to test this assumption. ... > full story

Nanoparticles affect nutrient absorption, study suggests (March 8, 2012) -- Nanoparticles are everywhere. From cosmetics and clothes, to soda and snacks. But as versatile as they are, nanoparticles also have a downside, say researchers. These tiny particles, even in low doses, could have a big impact on our long-term health. ... > full story

Teach your robot well (March 8, 2012) -- A new study identifies the types of questions a robot can ask during a learning interaction that are most likely to characterize a smooth and productive human-robot relationship. ... > full story

Magnetic moon: Magnetic anomalies on moon are result of asteroid collision (March 8, 2012) -- Astronomers have proposed a surprisingly simple explanation for magnetic anomalies that have baffled scientists since the mid-1960s -- they are remnants of a massive asteroid. The researchers believe an asteroid slammed into the moon approximately four billion years ago, leaving behind an enormous crater and iron-rich, highly magnetic rock. ... > full story

Catalysts for less: Slashing costs of metal alloys needed to jump-start crucial chemical processes (March 8, 2012) -- Scientists have discovered that individual atoms can catalyze industrially important chemical reactions such as the hydrogenation of acetylene, offering potentially significant economic and environmental benefits. ... > full story

Polymer scientists and physicists, inspired by curly leaves, develop new technique for shaping thin gel sheets (March 8, 2012) -- Inspired by nature's ability to shape a petal, and building on simple techniques used in photolithography and printing, researchers have developed a new tool for manufacturing three-dimensional shapes easily and cheaply, to aid advances in biomedicine, robotics and tunable micro-optics. Researchers have just described their new method of halftone gel lithography for photo-patterning polymer gel sheets. ... > full story

Ultrafast sonograms shed new light on rapid phase transitions (March 8, 2012) -- A method for taking ultrafast "sonograms" of materials undergoing phase transitions sheds new light on the dynamics of this important phenomenon in the world's fastest phase-change material. ... > full story

Share and share alike: How marketers can exploit infectious sharing behavior (March 8, 2012) -- In the world of marketing, people who are thinking about sharing product information they find in online advertising are likely to first consider whether the information is relevant to friends and family in their social networks. ... > full story

Nintendo Wii™ game controllers help diagnose eye disorder (March 8, 2012) -- Wii remotes are not all about fun and games. Scientists can use them to assess and diagnose children with an abnormal head position caused by eye diseases. Researchers have now developed a low-cost digital head posture measuring device with Nintendo Wiimotes to help diagnose this condition, medically called ocular torticollis. ... > full story

Optimizing routes for underwater vehicles: Sometimes the quickest path is not a straight line (March 8, 2012) -- Scientists have developed a mathematical procedure that can optimize path planning for automated underwater vehicles, even in regions with complex shorelines and strong shifting currents. The system can provide paths optimized either for the shortest travel time or for the minimum use of energy, or to maximize the collection of data that is considered most important. ... > full story

Origami-inspired paper sensor could test for malaria and HIV for less than 10 cents, report chemists (March 8, 2012) -- Inspired by the paper-folding art of origami, chemists have developed a 3-D paper sensor that may be able to test for diseases such as malaria and HIV for less than 10 cents a pop. The sensors can be printed out on an office printer, and take less than a minute to assemble. ... > full story

When prejudices become a disadvantage (March 8, 2012) -- Researchers have been exploring the question of whether prejudices might be rational under certain conditions. Using game theory, they created various scenarios and played them fifteen million times. The researchers have now reached a conclusion: those who are prejudiced are soon at a disadvantage, as they learn nothing new and miss many opportunities. ... > full story

Metamaterials may advance with new femtosecond laser technique (March 8, 2012) -- "Lucky" combination of chemicals and laser pulses enables high-resolution, 3D patterning for futuristic optical materials ... > full story

Computer processors: Saving power, saving money (March 8, 2012) -- Engineers have proposed a method of cutting power use and costs in computer processors. Called fine-grained power gating, the method would shut off energy to unused portions of datapath and memory blocks. Current processors fully power all components but rarely are all fully engaged. ... > full story

Proposed nuclear clock may keep time with the universe (March 8, 2012) -- A proposed new time-keeping system tied to the orbiting of a neutron around an atomic nucleus could have such unprecedented accuracy that it neither gains nor loses 1/20th of a second in 14 billion years -- the age of the universe. ... > full story

Large solar flares generate geomagnetic storm (March 8, 2012) -- A pair of unusually large solar flares early March 7, 2012 generated a Coronal Mass Ejection that was expected to reach Earth around mid-day March 8. It will likely cause at least a strong geomagnetic storm that could affect satellites in space and trigger auroral displays. The effects at ground level are expected to be limited, but there is a good chance for some excellent auroral displays in the north. ... > full story

Daya Bay: Discovery of new kind of neutrino transformation (March 8, 2012) -- The Daya Bay Reactor Neutrino Experiment collaboration has announced a precise measurement of the last of the unsolved neutrino "mixing angles," which determine how neutrinos oscillate among different types. The ground-breaking collaboration is the most sensitive reactor neutrino experiment in the world. The results promise new insight into why enough ordinary matter survived after the big bang to form everything visible in the universe. ... > full story

Wash your mouth out with silver, to treat hard-to-treat mouth infections? (March 8, 2012) -- Yeasts which cause hard-to-treat mouth infections are killed using silver nanoparticles in the laboratory, scientists have found. These yeast infections, caused by Candida albicans and Candida glabrata target the young, old and immuno-compromised. Scientists hope to test silver nanoparticles in mouthwash and dentures as a potential preventative measure against these infections. ... > full story

Reducing the urban heat island effect: Bright is the new black as New York roofs go cool (March 7, 2012) -- On the hottest day of the New York City summer in 2011, a white roof covering was measured at 42 degrees Fahrenheit cooler than the traditional black roof it was being compared to, according to a new study that details the first scientific results from the city's unprecedented effort to brighten rooftops and reduce its "urban heat island" effect. ... > full story

NASA sees second biggest flare of the solar cycle (March 7, 2012) -- The leading edge of the first of two major coronal mass ejections will reach Earth at about 1:25 AM EST on the morning of March 8 (plus or minus 7 hours). Such a CME could result in a severe geomagnetic storm, causing aurora at low latitudes, with possible disruption to high frequency radio communication, global positioning systems (GPS), and power grids. ... > full story

Communication technologies including smartphones and laptops could now be 1,000 times faster, new study suggests (March 7, 2012) -- Many of the communication tools of today rely on the function of light or, more specifically, on applying information to a light wave. Thanks to research, a physical basis for terahertz bandwidth (THz, or 1 trillion cycles per second) -- the portion of the electromagnetic spectrum between infrared and microwave light -- has now been demonstrated. ... > full story

That caffeine in your drink -- is it really 'natural?' (March 7, 2012) -- That caffeine in your tea, energy drink or other beverage -- is it really natural? Scientists are reporting successful use for the first time of a simpler and faster method for answering that question. ... > full story

First spectroscopic measurement of an anti-atom (March 7, 2012) -- Scientists have captured and held atoms of antihydrogen, a single antiproton orbited by a single positron. Now, by measuring antihydrogen's hyperfine structure, they have achieved another first in antimatter science with the very first measurements of the energy spectrum of an anti-atom. ... > full story

Researchers capture first-ever image of two atoms forming a molecule (March 7, 2012) -- Using a new ultrafast camera, researchers have recorded the first real-time image of two atoms vibrating in a molecule. Key to the experiment is the researchers' use of the energy of a molecule's own electron as a kind of "flash bulb" to illuminate the molecular motion. ... > full story

Players get more pleasure from motion-based video games (March 7, 2012) -- The newest motion-based video games — which are more interactive than standard video game systems with gamepads — are more realistic, give a greater sense of “being there” and are more enjoyable, according to findings by communications studies researchers. ... > full story

Nanomanufacturing using DNA origami (March 7, 2012) -- In recent years, scientists have begun to harness DNA's powerful molecular machinery to build artificial structures at the nanoscale using the natural ability of pairs of DNA molecules to assemble into complex structures. While most researchers of "DNA origami" are working to demonstrate what's possible, scientists are now seeking to determine what's practical. ... > full story

'Star comb' to aid quest for Earth-like planets (March 7, 2012) -- If there is life on other planets, a laser frequency comb may help find it. Such a comb -- a tool for precisely measuring frequencies, or colors, of light -- has for the first time been used to calibrate measurements of starlight from stars other than the Sun. The good results suggest combs will eventually fulfill their potential to boost the search for Earth-like planets to a new level. ... > full story

Market exchange rules responsible for wealth concentration, physicists say (March 7, 2012) -- Physicists have shown that wealth concentration invariably stems from a particular type of market exchange rules -- where agents cannot receive more income than their own capital. The authors concluded that maximum inequalities ensue from free markets, which are governed by such seemingly fair rules. ... > full story

New immune-system sensor may speed up, slash cost of detecting disease (March 7, 2012) -- An inexpensive new medical sensor has the potential to simplify the diagnosis of diseases ranging from life-threatening immune deficiencies to the common cold, according to its inventors. ... > full story

Oxide thin films to create new field of oxide electronics (March 7, 2012) -- Researchers have developed the first functional oxide thin films that can be used efficiently in electronics, making new high-power devices and sensors possible. This is the first time researchers have been able to produce positively-charged and negatively-charged conduction in a single oxide material, launching a new era in oxide electronics. ... > full story

Nanotrees harvest the sun's energy to turn water into hydrogen fuel (March 7, 2012) -- Electrical engineers are building a forest of tiny nanowire trees in order to cleanly capture solar energy without using fossil fuels and harvest it for hydrogen fuel generation. The team said nanowires, which are made from abundant natural materials like silicon and zinc oxide, also offer a cheap way to deliver hydrogen fuel on a mass scale. ... > full story

NASA Mars Orbiter catches twister in action (March 7, 2012) -- An afternoon whirlwind on Mars lofts a twisting column of dust more than half a mile (800 meters) high in an image from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. ... > full story

Citizen scientists reveal a bubbly Milky Way (March 7, 2012) -- A team of volunteers has pored over observations from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope and discovered more than 5,000 "bubbles" in the disk of our Milky Way galaxy. Young, hot stars blow these bubbles into surrounding gas and dust, indicating areas of brand new star formation. ... > full story

NASA's twin GRAIL spacecraft begin collecting lunar data (March 7, 2012) -- NASA's Gravity Recovery And Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) spacecraft orbiting the moon officially have begun their science collection phase. During the next 84 days, scientists will obtain a high-resolution map of the lunar gravitational field to learn about the moon's internal structure and composition in unprecedented detail. The data also will provide a better understanding of how Earth and other rocky planets in the solar system formed and evolved. ... > full story

Galaxies get up close and personal: Collisions in young galaxy cluster (March 7, 2012) -- The VLT Survey Telescope (VST) at the European Southern Observatory's Paranal Observatory in Chile has imaged a fascinating collection of interacting galaxies in the Hercules galaxy cluster. The sharpness of the new picture, and the hundreds of galaxies captured in great detail in less than three hours of observations, attest to the great power of the VST and its huge camera OmegaCAM to explore the nearby Universe. ... > full story

Sperm can do 'calculus' to calculate calcium dynamics and react accordingly (March 7, 2012) -- Sperm have only one aim: to find the egg. The egg supports the sperm in their quest by emitting attractants. Calcium ions determine the beating pattern of the sperm tail which enables the sperm to move. Scientists have discovered that sperm only react to changes in calcium concentration but not to the calcium concentration itself. Probably sperm make this calculation so that they remain capable of maneuvering even in the presence of high calcium concentrations. ... > full story

Cloud computing: The trustworthy cloud (March 7, 2012) -- Not a week goes by without reports on security gaps, data theft or hacker attacks. Both businesses and private users are becoming increasingly uneasy. However, when it comes to technologies like cloud computing, trust and security are essential if we intend to use data and applications that are flexible, cost-effective and above all, mobile. ... > full story