ScienceDaily Technology Headlines
for Monday, January 4, 2010
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Carbon nanotubes show promise for high-speed genetic sequencing (January 3, 2010) -- Scientists have demonstrated the potential of a new DNA sequencing method in which a single-stranded ribbon of DNA is threaded through a carbon nanotube. ... > full story
How the Moon gets its exosphere (January 2, 2010) -- Several decades ago scientists discovered that the Moon, long thought to have no atmosphere, actually does have an extremely thin exosphere. Scientists generally believe that the ions that make up the lunar exosphere are generated at the Moon's surface by interaction with solar photons, plasma in the Earth's magnetosphere, or micrometeorites. However, scientists have been uncertain about which processes are the main contributors of lunar exosphere ions. ... > full story
Use of telemedicine for ICU patients not linked with improvement in survival (January 2, 2010) -- Remote monitoring of patients in intensive care units (ICUs) was not associated with an overall improvement in the risk of death or length of stay in the ICU or hospital, according to a new study. ... > full story
Making payments via cell phones (January 2, 2010) -- New security technology allows people to make payments via mobile phones. The technology is designed to work in almost all situations: person to person, in a shop or restaurant, at a vending machine, online, or as part of a telephone conversation. ... > full story
NASA's Mars rover Spirit has uncertain future as sixth anniversary nears (January 2, 2010) -- NASA's Mars rover Spirit will mark six years of unprecedented science exploration and inspiration for the American public on Jan. 3, 2010. However, the upcoming Martian winter could end the roving career of the beloved, scrappy robot. ... > full story
NASA's WISE space telescope jettisons its cover (January 2, 2010) -- NASA's recently launched Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) opened its eyes to the starry sky Dec. 29, after ejecting its protective cover. Engineers and scientists say the maneuver went off without a hitch, and everything is working properly. The mission's "first-light" images of the sky will be released to the public in about a month, after the telescope has been fully calibrated. ... > full story
Explaining plasma motion around Saturn (January 2, 2010) -- Understanding the motion and source of the plasma around Saturn is important for understanding the dynamics of the magnetosphere. Researchers present a theory that describes plasma transport in Saturn's magnetosphere, including processes that add new mass to the plasma and those that remove momentum from the plasma without changing plasma mass. ... > full story
Window opens into Moon's past volcanism (January 1, 2010) -- Lava tubes, underground cave-like channels through which lava once flowed, are commonly found on Earth. Scientists have debated whether these tubes could form on the Moon as well, but no studies have yet conclusively identified features that indicate the presence of lunar lava tubes. ... > full story
Quelling Casimir: Scientists to control quantum mechanical force (January 1, 2010) -- Scientists are developing a way to control the Casimir force, a quantum mechanical force that attracts objects when they are only hundred nanometers apart. ... > full story
Looking back in time 12 billion years with new instruments on Herschel Space Observatory (January 1, 2010) -- Astronomers have made the most detailed views yet of space up to 12 billion years back in time. ... > full story
A facial expression is worth a thousand words (December 31, 2009) -- Moving pictures are more suitable to interpret the mood of a person than a static photograph. Communication is a central aspect of everyday life, a fact that is reflected in the wide variety of ways that people exchange information, not only with words, but also using their face and body. Scientists have now found out that we are able to recognize facial expressions in motion far better than in a static photograph. The video sequence needs to be at least as long as one tenth of a second to gain this dynamic advantage. ... > full story
Moving video to 'captcha' robot hackers (December 31, 2009) -- Researchers have developed a synthesis technique that generates moving pictures of 3-D objects which will allow security developers to generate an infinite number of "emergence" images virtually impossible for any computer algorithm to decode. ... > full story
Lithium-air batteries could displace gasoline in future cars (December 31, 2009) -- In excess of seven million barrels of gasoline are consumed by vehicles in the United States every day. As scientists race to find environmentally sound solutions to fuel the world's ever-growing transportation needs, battery researchers are exploring the promise of lithium-air battery technology. ... > full story
New RNA interference technique can silence up to five genes (December 31, 2009) -- Researchers report that they have successfully used RNA interference to turn off multiple genes in the livers of mice, an advance that could lead to new treatments for diseases of the liver and other organs. ... > full story
How much ice needed to create Martian land formations? (December 31, 2009) -- Some land formations on Mars suggest the presence of water ice. These features could have been created by viscous creep of ice below the surface in Martian permafrost. To determine how much ice would be needed to form the observed topography on Mars, researchers conducted laboratory experiments to simulate the frozen Martian sand. ... > full story
New video reveals secrets of Webb Telescope's MIRI (December 31, 2009) -- It's going to take infrared eyes to see farther back in time than even the Hubble Space Telescope, and that's what the James Webb Space Telescope's MIRI or Mid-Infrared Instrument detectors will do. ... > full story
Saturn's auroral hiss is asymmetrical (December 31, 2009) -- Saturn emits "auroral hiss," a whistler-mode electromagnetic emission observed in the magnetosphere at high latitudes. This emission is similar to auroral hiss emitted by Earth. However, unlike Earth's auroral hiss, researchers have found that Saturn rotates in a beam-like matter around the planet. ... > full story
Researchers demonstrate nanoscale X-ray imaging of bacterial cells (December 30, 2009) -- An ultra-high-resolution imaging technique using X-ray diffraction is a step closer to fulfilling its promise as a window on nanometer-scale structures in biological samples. Researchers report progress in applying an approach to "lensless" X-ray microscopy that they introduced one year ago, with the potential to yield insights for evolutionary biology and biotechnology. They have produced the first images, using this technique, of biological cells -- specifically the intriguing polyextremophile Deinococcus radiourans. ... > full story
Cardiovascular devices often approved by FDA without high-quality studies, study suggests (December 30, 2009) -- Pre-market approval by the FDA of cardiovascular devices is often based on studies that lack adequate strength or may have been prone to bias, according to a new study. Researchers found that of nearly 80 high-risk devices, the majority received approval based on data from a single study. ... > full story
'Spaghetti' Scaffolding Could Help Grow Skin In Labs (December 30, 2009) -- Scientists are developing new scaffolding technology which could be used to grow tissues such as skin, nerves and cartilage using 3D spaghetti-like structures. ... > full story
Born in beauty: Proplyds in the Orion Nebula (December 30, 2009) -- A collection of 30 never-before-released images of embryonic planetary systems in the Orion Nebula are the highlight of the longest single Hubble Space Telescope project ever dedicated to the topic of star and planet formation. Also known as proplyds, or protoplanetary discs, these modest blobs surrounding baby stars are shedding light on the mechanism behind planet formation. ... > full story
Nanoscale changes in collagen are a tipoff to bone health (December 30, 2009) -- Using a technique that provides detailed images of nanoscale structures, researchers have discovered changes in the collagen component of bone that directly relate to bone health. ... > full story
Perfectly Proportioned: Evenly Distributed Powder Density For Manufacturing Parts (December 30, 2009) -- The manufacture of parts by compaction and sintering involves filling a die with metal powder. Research scientists have simulated this process for the first time to achieve an evenly distributed powder density. This improves the cost-efficiency of sintering. ... > full story
Molecular chaperone keeps bacterial proteins from slow-dancing to destruction (December 29, 2009) -- Just like teenagers at a prom, proteins are tended by chaperones whose job it is to prevent unwanted interactions among immature clients. And at the molecular level, just as at the high school gym level, it's a job that usually requires a lot of energy. ... > full story
Superatoms mimic elements: Research gives new perspective on periodic table (December 29, 2009) -- Researchers have shown that certain combinations of elemental atoms have electronic signatures that mimic the electronic signatures of other elements. The findings could lead to much cheaper materials for widespread applications such as new sources of energy, methods of pollution abatement, and catalysts on which industrial nations depend heavily for chemical processing. ... > full story
Divide and conquer: Splitting fluorescent protein helps image clusters in live cells (December 29, 2009) -- Half a protein is better than none, and in this case, it's way better than a whole one. Researchers have discovered that dividing a particular fluorescent protein and using it as a tag is handy for analyzing the workings of live cells, particularly in the way they employ iron-sulfur clusters. ... > full story
Cockroaches offer inspiration for running robots (December 29, 2009) -- The sight of a cockroach scurrying for cover may be nauseating, but the insect is also a biological and engineering marvel, and is providing researchers with what they call "bioinspiration" in a quest to build the world's first legged robot that is capable of running effortlessly over rough terrain. ... > full story
Climate Wizard makes large databases of climate information visual, accessible (December 29, 2009) -- A Web tool that generates color maps of projected temperature and precipitation changes using 16 of the world's most prominent climate-change models is being demonstrated in Copenhagen, Denmark, in conjunction with the climate summit underway there. It also is the subject of a presentation Tuesday, Dec. 15, at the American Geophysical Union meeting in San Francisco. ... > full story
Deep sea anchors for offshore installations (December 29, 2009) -- A 13 meter-long, 80-ton anchor is currently being tested as a new mooring concept for offshore installations. ... > full story
Researchers develop drug information interface to save lives (December 29, 2009) -- A new drug information interface system has been shown to help in dealing with visual and motor impairments, which can make sorting, holding and identifying pills a challenge as we age. ... > full story
Miss whiplash with locking headrest, study suggests (December 28, 2009) -- Whiplash neck injuries among drivers and their passengers who have been shunted from behind are a major cause of long-term health problems and, in extreme cases, death. A new type of vehicle headrest promises to improve both safety and comfort. ... > full story
Of girls and geeks: Environment may be why women don't like computer science (December 28, 2009) -- In real estate, it's location, location, location. And when it comes to why girls and women shy away from careers in computer science, a key reason is environment, environment, environment. ... > full story
Neuroscientists store information in isolated brain tissue; possible basis of short-term memory (December 28, 2009) -- For the first time, neuroscientists have created stimulus-specific sustained activity patterns in brain circuits maintained in vitro. ... > full story
Giant planet set for cataclysmic show (December 28, 2009) -- A team of Chinese astronomers has discovered a giant planet close to the exotic binary star system QS Virginis. Although dormant now, in the future the two stars will one day erupt in a violent nova outburst. ... > full story
Wet Ethanol Production Process Yields More Ethanol And More Co-products (December 28, 2009) -- Using a wet ethanol production method that begins by soaking corn kernels rather than grinding them, results in more gallons of ethanol and more usable co-products, giving ethanol producers a bigger bang for their buck -- by about 20 percent. ... > full story
Microscopic gyroscopes, the key for motion sensing (December 27, 2009) -- Tiny devices made possible by combining the latest advances in mechanical and electronics technology could be at the heart of next-generation personal navigation and vehicle stabilization tools. ... > full story
An easy way to see the world's thinnest material (December 27, 2009) -- Scientists have used the dye fluorescein to create a new imaging technique to view graphene. ... > full story
Structured reporting software creates less complete and accurate radiology reports than free text (December 27, 2009) -- As many software companies work to create programs that will give uniform structure to the way radiological test results are reported, a new study shows that such a system does not improve, but rather decreases the completeness and accuracy of the reports. ... > full story
Vampires and collisions rejuvenate stars (December 26, 2009) -- Using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, astronomers have uncovered two distinct kinds of "rejuvenated" stars in the globular cluster Messier 30. A new study shows that both stellar collisions and a process sometimes called vampirism are behind this cosmic "face lift." The scientists also uncover evidence that both sorts of blue stragglers were produced during a critical dynamical event (known as "core collapse") that occurred in Messier 30 a few billion years ago. ... > full story
Magnetic field measurements of the human heart at room temperature (December 26, 2009) -- A new optical sensor was successfully tested in the "magnetically best shielded room on Earth." The sensor does not need advanced cooling and is very small. Its suitability was proven for biomagnetic measurements in the picotesla range. So, magnetocardiographic measurement devices -- to be used as a supplement or an alternative to the ECG -- could become simpler and less expensive. ... > full story
New warning system warns of driver drowsiness and distraction (December 26, 2009) -- Scientists have developed the latest version of a driving assistance system which controls the driver's attention level and helps to avoid accidents caused by drowsiness or distractions at the wheel. ... > full story
Low-cost temperature sensors: Tennis balls to monitor mountain snowpack (December 26, 2009) -- Dime-sized temperature sensors, first built for the refrigerated food industry, have been adapted to sense mountain microclimates. ... > full story
Weir in space and dimmed sun creates 200-million-mile-long lab bench for turbulence research (December 25, 2009) -- Physicists working in space plasmas have made clever use of the Ulysses spacecraft and the solar minimum to create a massive virtual lab bench to provide a unique test for the science underlying turbulent flows. ... > full story
Do computers understand art? (December 25, 2009) -- Mathematical algorithms can provide clues about the artistic style of a painting. The composition of colors or certain aesthetic measurements can already be quantified by a computer, but machines are still far from being able to interpret art in the way that people do. ... > full story
Method makes refineries more efficient (December 25, 2009) -- Refineries could trim millions of dollars in energy costs annually by using a new method developed to rearrange the distillation sequence needed to separate crude petroleum into products. ... > full story
Keck telescopes gaze into young star's 'life zone' (December 25, 2009) -- The inner regions of young planet-forming disks offer information about how worlds like Earth form, but not a single telescope in the world can see them. Yet, for the first time, astronomers using the W. M. Keck Observatory in Hawaii have measured the properties of a young solar system at distances closer to the star than Venus is from our sun. ... > full story
Wii Fit may not help families get fit (December 25, 2009) -- The Nintendo Wii Fit many people are considering as Christmas gifts may be great entertainment, but a new study indicates the console has little effect on family fitness. ... > full story
Santa’s sleigh: Researcher explains science of Christmas magic (December 24, 2009) -- Santa skeptics have long considered St. Nick's ability to deliver toys to the world's good girls and boys on Christmas Eve a scientific impossibility. But new research shows that Santa is able to make his appointed rounds through the pioneering use of cutting-edge science and technology. ... > full story
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