ScienceDaily Technology Headlines
for Wednesday, August 20, 2008
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Discovery Of Plant Protein Holds Promise For Biofuel Production (August 20, 2008) -- Scientists have identified a new protein necessary for chloroplast development. The discovery could ultimately lead to plant varieties tailored specifically for biofuel production. ... > full story
Federally Managed Dams Need Better Security, Report Finds (August 20, 2008) -- Since the terrorist attacks of 2001, the Bureau of Reclamation, which operates and manages dams that provide water and power to millions of people, has invested significant resources in security and is better able to protect its facilities and personnel, says a new report from the National Research Council. ... > full story
Chemists Make Beds With Soft Landings: Researchers Create Stable, Highly Pure Helical Peptide Arrays (August 20, 2008) -- Bedsprings aren't often found in biology. Now, chemists have secured a layer of tiny protein coils onto a thin surface, much like miniature bedsprings in a frame. This thin film made of stable and very pure helices can help researchers develop molecular electronics or solar cells, or to divine the biology of proteins. The physical chemists pulled off this design trick using a "soft-landing" technique with a specially designed mass-selected ion deposition instrument. ... > full story
Algae: Biofuel Of The Future? (August 19, 2008) -- Researchers have a plan to greatly increase algae oil yields by feeding the algae extra carbon dioxide (the main greenhouse gas) and organic material like sewage, meaning the algae could simultaneously produce biofuel and clean up environmental problems. ... > full story
Experts Urge Industry To Broaden Carbon Footprint Calculations (August 19, 2008) -- Carnegie Mellon University researchers are urging companies to embrace new methods for following trail of dangerous carbon emissions. ... > full story
Urologists Report Success Using Robot-assisted Surgery For Urinary Abnormality (August 19, 2008) -- Urologic surgeon have reported success using robot-assisted laparoscopic surgery to repair abnormal openings between the bladder and vagina known as fistulas. This type of fistula can result in frequent urinary tract infections and the leakage of urine from the vagina and can be mistaken for continence. ... > full story
Computer Users Are Digitizing Books Quickly And Accurately With New Method (August 19, 2008) -- Millions of computer users collectively transcribe the equivalent of 160 books each day with better than 99 percent accuracy, despite the fact that few spend more than a few seconds on the task and that most do not realize they are doing valuable work, Carnegie Mellon University researchers report. ... > full story
Astronomers Find Unusual New Denizen Of The Solar System (August 19, 2008) -- A "minor planet" with the prosaic name 2006 SQ372 is just over two billion miles from Earth, a bit closer than the planet Neptune. But this lump of ice and rock is beginning the return leg of a 22,500-year journey that will take it to a distance of 150 billion miles, nearly 1,600 times the distance from the Earth to the Sun, according to a team of researchers from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS-II). ... > full story
Light Finds A Way -- Even Through White Paint: Specially-prepared Light Moves Through 'Open Channels' (August 19, 2008) -- Materials such as milk, paper, white paint and tissue are opaque because they scatter light, not because they absorb it. But no matter how great the scattering, light is always able to get through the material in question. At least, according to the theory. Researchers have now confirmed this with experiments. By shaping the waveform of light, they have succeeded in finding the predicted 'open channels' in material along which the light is able to move. ... > full story
Self-assembling Polymer Arrays Improve Data Storage Potential (August 19, 2008) -- A new manufacturing approach holds the potential to overcome the technological limitations currently facing the microelectronics and data-storage industries, paving the way to smaller electronic devices and higher-capacity hard drives. ... > full story
Vegetable Scales With A Mind Of Their Own (August 19, 2008) -- What was the number you were supposed to enter for the chili-pepper on the self-service scales? Was it 67 or 76? And the number for the bananas? The latest self-service scales automatically recognize what the customer has placed on them. ... > full story
New 'Electrifying' Theory: Analysis To Improve Superconducting Fault-current Limiters (August 19, 2008) -- A new theory could help build future superconducting alternating-current fault-current limiters for electricity transmission and distribution systems. The work identifies design strategies that can reduce costs and improve efficiency in a bifilar fault-current limiter, a new and promising type of superconducting fault-current limiter. ... > full story
New Robot Scouts Best Locations For Components Of Undersea Lab (August 18, 2008) -- Like a deep-sea bloodhound, Sentry -- the newest in an elite group of unmanned submersibles able to operate on their own in demanding and rugged environments -- has helped scientists pinpoint locations for two observation sites of a pioneering seafloor laboratory being planned off Washington and Oregon. Successful selection of the two sites is a crucial step in developing an extensive sensor network above and below the seafloor on the Juan de Fuca Plate. ... > full story
Light Metals Against Bombs And Grenades (August 18, 2008) -- A cheap and simple structure made of aluminum can mean the difference between life and death the day the bombs go off. ... > full story
Prediction Markets Strong At Forecasting US Presidential Elections, Says New Management Insights (August 18, 2008) -- A case study of the 2004 US Presidential election by researchers at Yale shows that prediction markets are proving to be a strong forecasting tool, one that may have an impact in calling the current presidential contest between Democrat Senator Barack Obama and Republican Senator John McCain, according to the Management Insights feature in the current issue of Management Science. ... > full story
Trees, Forests And The Eiffel Tower Reveal Theory Of Design In Nature (August 18, 2008) -- What do a tree and the Eiffel Tower have in common? According to a Duke University engineer, both are optimized for flow. In the case of trees, the flow is of water from the ground throughout the trunk, branches and leaves, and into the air. The Eiffel Tower's flow carries stresses throughout the structure without collapsing under its own weight or being downed by the wind. ... > full story
Robot Vehicle Surveys Deep Sea Off Pacific Northwest (August 18, 2008) -- The first scientific mission with Sentry, a newly developed robot capable of diving as deep as 5,000 meters (3.1 miles) into the ocean, has been successfully completed. ... > full story
Playing Video Games Offers Learning Across Life Span, Say Studies (August 18, 2008) -- Certain types of video games can have beneficial effects, improving gamers' dexterity as well as their ability to problem-solve -- attributes that have proven useful not only to students but to surgeons, according to new research. Skills transfer to the classroom, surgical procedures, even scientific thinking. ... > full story
Energy Storage For Hybrid Vehicles (August 18, 2008) -- Hybrid technology combines the advantages of combustion engines and electric motors. Scientists are developing high-performance energy storage units, a prerequisite for effective hybrid motors. ... > full story
Water Is No Passive Spectator Of Biological Processes: It Is An Active Participant (August 18, 2008) -- Researchers have been able to detect changes in the protein -- water network during protein folding in real time using kinetic terahertz absorption. ... > full story
Olympic Swimmers Shattering Records In NASA-Tested Suit (August 18, 2008) -- Swimmers from around the world are setting world and Olympic records in Beijing this month and most are doing it wearing a swimsuit made of fabric tested at NASA. Among the Olympic gold medalists wearing Speedo's LZR Racer are Americans Michael Phelps -- who has now won more Olympic gold medals than any athlete in the modern era -- and Natalie Coughlin. Both had a hand in developing the skintight body suit. ... > full story
Virtual Reality Gets Real (August 18, 2008) -- Up to now virtual reality has proved cumbersome as a design tool, but European researchers are finalizing a system that brings ‘virtuality’ to the wider world. ... > full story
Toward Plastic Spin Transistors: Ultrafast Computers And Electronics On The Horizon? (August 18, 2008) -- Physicists successfully controlled an electrical current using the "spin" within electrons -- a step toward building an organic "spin transistor": A plastic semiconductor switch for future ultrafast computers and electronics. The study also suggests it will be more difficult than thought to make highly efficient light-emitting diodes using organic materials. The findings hint such LEDs would convert no more than 25 percent of electricity into light rather than heat. ... > full story
Scientists Overcome Nanotechnology Hurdle (August 18, 2008) -- When you make a new material on a nano scale how can you see what you have made? This research shows a newly developed technique to examine tiny protein molecules on the surface of a gold nanoparticle. This is the first time scientists have been able to build a detailed picture of self-assembled proteins on a nanoparticle and it offers the promise of new ways to design and manufacture novel materials on the tiniest scale. ... > full story
'Virtual Archaeologist' Reconnects Fragments Of An Ancient Civilization (August 17, 2008) -- Computer scientists working with archaeologists in Greece has developed a new technology that has the potential to change the way people do archaeology. ... > full story
Images For 3-D Video Games Without High Price Tags Or Stretch Marks From UC San Diego (August 17, 2008) -- The images of rocks, clouds, marble and other textures that serve as background images and details for 3-D video games are often hand painted and thus costly to generate. A breakthrough from a computer science undergraduate now offers video game developers the possibility of high quality yet lightweight images for 3-D video games that are generated "on the fly," and are free of stretch marks, flickering and other artifacts. ... > full story
Virtual Applications Reach Out To Real World (August 16, 2008) -- Researchers have developed a series of very clever tools to break through the bottlenecks stalling the widespread adoption of virtual reality. But the compelling applications designed for the system are the real stars. ... > full story
Cassini Pinpoints Source Of Jets On Saturn's Moon Enceladus (August 15, 2008) -- In a feat of interplanetary sharpshooting, NASA's Cassini spacecraft has pinpointed precisely where the icy jets erupt from the surface of Saturn's geologically active moon Enceladus. New carefully targeted pictures reveal exquisite details in the prominent south polar "tiger stripe" fractures from which the jets emanate. ... > full story
Slipping Through Cell Walls, Nanotubes Deliver High-potency Punch To Cancer Tumors In Mice (August 15, 2008) -- A big challenge in treating cancer with chemotherapy is how to get the most medication into the cells of a tumor without "spillover" of the medication adversely affecting the healthy cells in a patient's body. Now researchers have addressed that problem using single-walled carbon nanotubes as delivery vehicles. This method gets a higher proportion of a given dose of medication into the tumor cells than is possible with the "free" drug. ... > full story
Chemists Take Gold, Mass-produce Beijing Olympic Logo (August 15, 2008) -- Nanoscientists have mass-produced the 2008 Summer Olympics logo -- 15,000 times. All the logos take up one square centimeter of space. The researchers printed the logos as well as an integrated gold circuit using a new printing technique, called Polymer Pen Lithography, that can write on three different length scales using only one device. It is fast, inexpensive and simple and could find use in computational tools, medical diagnostics and the pharmaceutical industry. ... > full story
New Nanomaterial Makes Plastic Stiffer, Lighter And Stronger (August 15, 2008) -- Scientists have developed a nanomaterial that makes plastic stiffer, lighter and stronger and could result in more fuel-efficient airplanes and cars as well as more durable medical and sports equipment. ... > full story
Partial Lunar Eclipse On 16th August (August 15, 2008) -- People across the world will have the chance to see a partial eclipse of the Moon on the 16th August. ... > full story
Phoenix Microscope Takes First Image Of Martian Dust Particle (August 15, 2008) -- NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander has taken the first-ever image of a single particle of Mars' ubiquitous dust, using its atomic force microscope. The particle -- shown at higher magnification than anything ever seen from another world -- is a rounded particle about one micrometer, or one millionth of a meter, across. It is a speck of the dust that cloaks Mars. Such dust particles color the Martian sky pink, feed storms that regularly envelop the planet and produce Mars' distinctive red soil. ... > full story
Structural Biology Spin-out Tackles Major Diseases (August 15, 2008) -- A spin off company from basic structural biology has led to new technology that provides a way of creating therapeutic proteins to tackle major diseases such as cancer, diabetes and infertility. ... > full story
Towards Zero Training For Brain-computer Interfacing (August 15, 2008) -- While invasive electrode recordings in humans show long-term promise, noninvasive techniques can also provide effective brain-computer interfacing and localization of motor activity in the brain for paralyzed patients with significantly reduced risks and costs as well as novel applications for healthy users. However, two issues hamper the ease of use of BCI systems based on noninvasive recording techniques, such as electroencephalography. ... > full story
To The Moon And Mars: Psychologists Show New Ways To Deal With Health Challenges In Space (August 14, 2008) -- As NASA prepares to send humans back to the moon and then on to Mars, psychologists are exploring the challenges astronauts will face on missions that will be much longer and more demanding than previous space flights. Psychologists outlined these mental health challenges at the American Psychological Association's 116th Annual Convention, and introduced a new interactive computer program that will help address psychosocial challenges in space. ... > full story
Solar Collector Could Change Asphalt Roads Into Renewable Energy Source (August 14, 2008) -- Scientists have found a way to use asphalt's heat-soaking property for an alternative energy source by developing a solar collector that could turn roads and parking lots into ubiquitous -- and inexpensive sources of electricity and hot water. ... > full story
Bouncy Cell Phones And Car Bumpers May Be Workable With Springy Nanotubes (August 14, 2008) -- Electronic devices get smaller and more complex every year. It turns out that fragility is the price for miniaturization, especially when it comes to small devices, such as cell phones, hitting the floor. Wouldn't it be great if they bounced instead of cracked when dropped? ... > full story
Robot With A Biological Brain: New Research Provides Insights Into How The Brain Works (August 14, 2008) -- Researchers in the UK have developed a robot which is controlled by a biological brain formed from cultured neurons -- the first step to examine how memories manifest themselves in the brain, and how a brain stores specific pieces of data. The key aim is that eventually this will lead to a better understanding of development and of diseases and disorders which affect the brain such as Alzheimer's Disease, Parkinson's Disease, stoke and brain injury. ... > full story
Turning Waste Material Into Ethanol (August 14, 2008) -- Researchers have developed a method for converting crop residue, wood pulp, animal waste and garbage into ethanol. The process first turns the waste material into synthesis gas, or syngas, and nanoscale catalysts then convert the syngas into ethanol. ... > full story
New Theory For Latest High-temperature Superconductors (August 14, 2008) -- Physicists have published a new theory that explains some of the complex electronic and magnetic properties of iron "pnictides." In a series of startling discoveries this spring, pnictides were shown to superconduct at high temperatures. The new theory, which appears in Physical Review Letters, explains some of the similarities and differences between pnictides and cuprates, high-temperature superconductors that have been studied for more than 20 years. ... > full story
Genomics Of Plant-based Biofuels (August 14, 2008) -- Genomics is accelerating improvements for converting plant biomass into biofuel -- as an alternative to fossil fuel for the nation's transportation needs. Now researchers lay out a path forward for how emerging genomic technologies will contribute to a substantially different biofuels future as compared to the present corn-based ethanol industry -- and in part mitigate the food-versus-fuel debate. ... > full story
Computer Simulates Thermal Stress (August 13, 2008) -- A new simulation method has made it possible to predict in record time when and where heavily stressed engine components are likely to fail. Car manufacturers can thereby significantly reduce the time for developing new engine components. ... > full story
Nano Vaccine For Hepatitis B Shows Promise For Third World (August 13, 2008) -- A new needle-less vaccine is highly effective and can be stored without refrigeration, studies in animals show. The vaccine should also be safer to administer than existing hepatitis B vaccines and effective with only two immunizations. The technique, a nanoemulsion given in the nose, is a step closer to human trials, possibly within a year. Hepatitis B kills an estimated 1 million people annually. ... > full story
Coated Film As A Bacteria Killer (August 13, 2008) -- A nanoproduct made from silver and calcium phosphate is lethal to bacteria. Its special feature is that the bacteria themselves invoke and dispense this disinfectant effect. ... > full story
Technique Developed To Capture Human Movement In 3D (August 13, 2008) -- Using two video cameras to capture human movement makes it possible to recognize body movements and display them in three dimension on a computer, according to the journal Multimedia Tools & Applications. The method can be applied to the development of interactive video games in which gestures are made with the hands and feet. ... > full story
'Anti-noise' Silences Wind Turbines (August 13, 2008) -- If wind turbines clatter and whistle too loudly, they are only permitted to operate under partial load to protect the local residents -- but this also means a lower electricity output. An active damping system cancels out the noise by producing counter-vibrations. ... > full story
Strange Molecule In The Sky Cleans Acid Rain, Scientists Discover (August 13, 2008) -- Researchers have discovered an unusual molecule that is essential to the atmosphere's ability to break down pollutants, especially the compounds that cause acid rain. It's the unusual chemistry facilitated by this molecule, however, that will attract the most attention from scientists. A technical paper describing the molecule is published this week in a special edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science. ... > full story
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