Current Event Articles
ScienceDaily Technology Headlines
for Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Welcome to another edition of ScienceDaily's. YGeometry affects drift and diffusion across entropic barriers (June 29, 2010) -- Understanding particle diffusion in the presence of constrictions is essential in fields as diverse as drug delivery, cellular biology, nanotechnology, materials engineering, and spread of pollutants in the soil. When a driving force is applied, displacement of particles occurs as well as diffusion. A new paper quantifies the effects of periodic constrictions on drift and diffusion in systems experiencing a driving force. ... > full story
Public transit systems contribute to weight loss and improved health, study finds (June 29, 2010) -- Increasing the availability of public transit systems is one among a number of modifications to the built environment that offers opportunities for increasing physical activity and reducing the prevalence of obesity and its associated problems. In a new study, researchers found that construction of a light-rail system (LRT) resulted in increased physical activity (walking) and subsequent weight loss by people served by the LRT. These findings suggest that improving neighborhood environments and increasing the public's use of LRT systems could improve health outcomes and potentially impact millions of individuals. ... > full story
New radio telescope will listen to the universe on the FM-band (June 29, 2010) -- The first major radio telescope to be built in Britain for many decades will 'listen' to the sky at FM frequencies, providing vast quantities of data to a supercomputer in Holland, paving the way for unexpected new discoveries. ... > full story
Physics of the 'bends': New study helps explain decompression sickness (June 28, 2010) -- As you go about your day-to-day activities, tiny bubbles of nitrogen come and go inside your tissues. This is not a problem unless you happen to experience large changes in pressure, as scuba divers and astronauts may. During large, fast pressure drops, bubbles can grow, causing "the bends." A new study may provide a physical basis for the existence of these bubbles and help explain decompression sickness. ... > full story
Turning off the air conditioning helps save fuel, Swiss study finds (June 28, 2010) -- Automobile air conditioning systems do not run “free of charge”. In fact in the hot parts of the world they can account for up to thirty per cent of fuel consumption. Even in Switzerland, with its temperate climate, the use of air conditioning systems is responsible for about five per cent of total fuel usage, rising to around ten per cent in urban traffic, as shown by a new study. Furthermore, two thirds of the additional fuel usage could be saved if air conditioning systems were simply turned off when the air temperature falls below 18 degrees Celsius. ... > full storyBursting bubbles with sound offers new treatments for cancer (June 28, 2010) -- A new way to deliver cancer drugs using gas bubbles and sound waves is being developed. The project will enable highly toxic drugs to be delivered in small doses directly to tumors, where their toxicity can safely be put to good use. If successful, the technique could easily be adapted for other diseases. ... > full story
Enterprise PCs work while they sleep – saving energy and money – with new software (June 28, 2010) -- Personal computers in enterprise environments save energy and money by "sleep-working," thanks to new software called SleepServer. Sleep-working enterprise PCs are accessible via remote connections and maintain their presence on voice over IP, instant messaging, and peer-to-peer networks even though the PCs are in low-power sleep mode. SleepServer can reduce energy consumption on enterprise PCs previously running 24/7 by an average of 60 percent. ... > full story
Rocky mounds and a plateau on Mars (June 28, 2010) -- When Mars Express set sail for the crater named after Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan, it found a windblown plateau and mysterious rocky mounds nearby. ... > full story
Depth charge: Using atomic force microscopy to study subsurface structures (June 28, 2010) -- Researchers have shown that under the right circumstances, surface science instruments such as the atomic force microscope can deliver valuable data about sub-surface conditions. ... > full story
Hop, jump and stick; Robots designed with insect instincts (June 28, 2010) -- A swarm of flying robots soars into a blazing forest fire. With insect-like precision and agility, the machines land on tree trunks and bound over rough terrain before deploying crucial sensors and tools to track the inferno and its effects. This is a scenario one researcher thinks may not be so far off. ... > full story
Test of quantum field theory and Bose-Einstein statistics of photons: Bosons aren't fermions, not even a little bit (June 28, 2010) -- Scientists have tested one of the major theoretical pillars of quantum field theory, the spin-statistics theorem. With a confidence level of 100 billion to one, they found that photons really are perfect bosons. ... > full story
Most efficient quantum memory for light developed (June 28, 2010) -- An Australian-led team has developed the most efficient quantum memory for light in the world, taking us closer to a future of super-fast computers and communication secured by the laws of physics. ... > full storyPhysicists explain why superconductors fail to produce super currents (June 28, 2010) -- When high-temperature superconductors were first announced in the late 1980s, it was thought that they would lead to ultra-efficient magnetic trains and other paradigm-shifting technologies. That didn't happen. Now, physicists are helping explain why. ... > full story
Scientists grow new lungs using 'skeletons' of old ones (June 28, 2010) -- Tissue engineers' progress toward growing new lungs for transplantation or research has long been frustrated by the problem of coaxing stem cells to develop into the varied cell types that populate different locations in the lung. Now, researchers have found a possible solution by seeding mouse embryonic stem cells into "acellular" rat lungs -- organs whose original cells have been destroyed, leaving behind empty, lung-shaped scaffolds of structural proteins. ... > full storySame types of cell respond differently to stimulus, study shows (June 28, 2010) -- Using new technology that allows scientists to monitor how individual cells react in the complex system of cell signaling, researchers have uncovered a much larger spectrum of differences between each cell than ever seen before. ... > full story
Carbon sequestration: Boon or burden? (June 28, 2010) -- The idea to sequester carbon is gaining support as a way to avoid global warming. For example, the European Union plans to invest billions of Euros to develop carbon capture and storage whereby carbon dioxide will be extracted and stored underground. But how effective is this procedure and what are the long-term consequences of leakage for the climate? Research has now cast light on these issues. ... > full story
Improved telescope sees through atmosphere with pinpoint sharpness (June 28, 2010) -- A sharp view of the starry sky is difficult, because the atmosphere constantly distorts the image. A Dutch researcher has developed a new type of telescope mirror, which quickly corrects the image. His prototypes are required for future large telescopes, but also gives old telescopes a sharper view. ... > full story
Nanowires for future electronics: Process for manufacturing nanoelectronic 'mini-circuits' developed (June 28, 2010) -- The tale begins with a feasibility study on the manufacture of colored fluorescing thin films for optical safety applications. A project on the development of novel gas sensors followed. In the meantime, researchers have successfully synthesized complex organic nanowires and managed to attach them together with electrically conducting links -- the first step towards the future production of electronic and optoelectronic components. ... > full story
New clues suggest wet era on early Mars was global (June 26, 2010) -- Minerals in northern Mars craters seen by two orbiters suggest that a phase in Mars' early history with conditions favorable to life occurred globally, not just in the south. ... > full story
Chemists find an easier way to synthesize new drug candidates; New method could have a big impact on pharmaceutical business (June 26, 2010) -- Chemists have designed a new way to attach a trifluoromethyl group to certain compounds, which they believe could allow pharmaceutical companies to create and test new drugs much faster and potentially reduce the cost of drug discovery. The new synthesis could have an immediate impact. ... > full story
Scientists create 3-D models of whole mouse organs (June 26, 2010) -- Engineers have for the first time created 3-D models of whole intact mouse organs, a feat they accomplished using fluorescence microscopy. ... > full story
Galaxy encounter fires up quasar (June 25, 2010) -- Using two of the world's largest telescopes, astronomers have found evidence of a collision between galaxies driving intense activity in a highly luminous quasar. The scientists used the Very Large Telescope in Chile and the Gran Telescopio Canarias on La Palma in the Canary Islands, to study activity from the quasar SDSS J0123+00. ... > full story
New 'fix' for cosmic clocks could help uncover ripples in space-time (June 25, 2010) -- Scientists have developed a promising new technique which could turn pulsars -- superb natural cosmic clocks -- into even more accurate time-keepers. This important advance could improve the search for gravitational waves and help studies into the origins of the universe. ... > full storyConsumer-grade camera detects cancer cells in real time (June 25, 2010) -- Using an off-the-shelf digital camera, biomedical engineers have created an inexpensive device that is powerful enough to let doctors easily distinguish cancerous cells from healthy cells simply by viewing the LCD monitor on the back of the camera. ... > full story
Researchers develop living, breathing human lung-on-a-chip (June 25, 2010) -- Researchers have combined microfabrication techniques from the computer industry with modern tissue engineering techniques, human cells and a plain old vacuum pump to create a living, breathing human lung-on-a-chip. The device mimics the most active part of the lung, the boundary between the air sac and the bloodstream. ... > full story
Earth-like planets may be ready for their close-up (June 25, 2010) -- Many scientists speculate that our galaxy could be full of places like Pandora from the movie "Avatar" -- Earth-like worlds in solar systems besides our own. ... > full story
Behavior breakthrough: Like animals, plants demonstrate complex ability to integrate information (June 25, 2010) -- Scientists have discovered that a plant's strategy to capture nutrients in the soil is the result of integration of different types of information. They found plants also have the ability to integrate information about the location of both food and competitors. As a result, plants demonstrate unique behavioral strategies to capture soil resources. ... > full story
Seventh graders find a cave on Mars (June 25, 2010) -- Using the camera on NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter, 16 seventh-graders at Evergreen Middle School in Cottonwood, Calif., found lava tubes with one pit that appears to be a skylight to a cave. Mars Odyssey has been orbiting the Red Planet since 2001, returning data and images of the Martian surface and providing relay communications service for Mars Rovers Spirit and Opportunity. ... > full storyLife of plastic solar cell jumps from hours to 8 months (June 25, 2010) -- A team of researchers has extended the operating life of an unsealed plastic solar cell, from mere hours to eight months. The team developed a longer lasting, polymer coating for the electrode. Prior to the new coating the team's plastic solar cell could only operate at high capacity for about 10 hours. ... > full story
Researcher develops green, bio-based process for producing fuel additive (June 25, 2010) -- A new green, bio-based method for producing a much-used fuel additive and industrial chemical that is currently made from petroleum products has been developed. ... > full storyCrack in the case for supersolids: Reports of supersolid helium may have been premature (June 25, 2010) -- New experiments are casting doubt on previously reported observations of supersolid helium. New research suggests that prior experiments that seemed to show signs of supersolidity were in fact the result of the plastic deformation of normal helium. ... > full story
Was Venus once a habitable planet? (June 24, 2010) -- The European Space Agency's Venus Express is helping planetary scientists investigate whether Venus once had oceans. If it did, it may even have begun its existence as a habitable planet similar to Earth. ... > full story
Widespread glacial meltwater valleys found on Mars (June 24, 2010) -- Scientists have documented dozens of channels carved by melted water from glaciers located in the midlatitude region of Mars. The glaciofluvial valleys were carved in Mars' most recent epoch, the team reports, supporting the idea that the Red Planet was home to diverse watery environments in its recent past. ... > full story
Left or right? Early clues to soccer penalty kicks revealed (June 24, 2010) -- In the split second before foot meets ball, a soccer player's body betrays whether a penalty kick will go left or right, according to recent research in cognitive science. The findings could explain how some top goalkeepers are able to head off a penalty kick, diving in the correct direction in advance of the kick. It could also point the way to changes in how players kick, and goalies react. ... > full story
Blast resistance standards keep the boom from the room (June 24, 2010) -- Standards for blast resistance among trash receptacles have now been published by the standards development organization ASTM International. ... > full story
Analyzing food and beverages with magnetic levitation (June 24, 2010) -- Scientists are reporting development of a new use for magnetic levitation, or "maglev," the futuristic technology best known for enabling high-speed passenger trains to float above the tracks. They describe putting maglev to use in an inexpensive sensor for analyzing food, water, and other beverages. ... > full storyDrug mitigates toxic effects of radiation in mice (June 24, 2010) -- Medical researchers have provided one of the first examples of successful radiomitigation in mammals. The investigators found that oral treatment of mice with a drug that inhibits enzymes involved in cell division caused certain groups of bone marrow cells to temporarily stop dividing (which they termed "pharmacological quiescence" or PQ). ... > full story
Liquid crystals light way to better data storage (June 24, 2010) -- Currently, most liquid crystal technologies rely on physical or chemical manipulation, such as rubbing in one direction, to align molecules in a preferred direction. In an important advance, scientists in Japan have created a stable, rewritable memory device that exploits a liquid crystal property called the "anchoring transition." ... > full story
'Ghost particle' sized up by cosmologists (June 24, 2010) -- Cosmologists are a step closer to determining the mass of the elusive neutrino particle, not by using a giant particle detector, but by gazing up into space. ... > full story
New method of peptide synthesis makes it easier to create drugs based on natural compounds (June 24, 2010) -- A team of chemists has developed a novel method for chemically synthesizing peptides that promises to lower the cost and increase the availability of drugs based on natural compounds. ... > full story'BC5' material shows superhard, superconducting potential (June 24, 2010) -- What could be better than diamond when it comes to a superhard material for electronics under extreme thermal and pressure conditions? Quite possibly BC5, a diamond-like material with an extremely high boron content that offers exceptional hardness and resistance to fracture, but unlike diamond, it is a superconductor rather than an insulator. ... > full story
Asymetric nanostructures for early and more accurate prediction of cancer (June 24, 2010) -- Nanotechnology Researchers in Belgium have demonstrated biosensors based on novel nanostructure geometries that increase the sensitivity and allow to detect extremely low concentrations of specific disease markers. This paves the way to early diagnostics of for example cancer by detecting low densities of cancer markers in human blood samples. ... > full story
Early results from the world's brightest X-ray source (June 23, 2010) -- The first published research to emerge from the SLAC linear collider since it was reconfigured as an ultra-bright, high-energy free electron laser offers a high speed closeup of ionizing nitrogen gas. ... > full story
'Quantum computer' a stage closer with silicon breakthrough (June 23, 2010) -- The remarkable ability of an electron to exist in two places at once has been controlled in the most common electronic material -- silicon -- for the first time. The research findings marks a significant step towards the making of an affordable "quantum computer." ... > full story
Underwater gliders may change how scientists track fish (June 23, 2010) -- Tracking fish across Alaska's vast continental shelves can present a challenge to any scientist studying Alaska's seas. Researchers have successfully tested a possible solution in the form of underwater gliders. ... > full storyComputer program detects depression in bloggers' texts (June 23, 2010) -- Researchers have developed a computer program capable of identifying language that can indicate a writer's psychological state, which could serve as a screening tool. The software was used to scan more than 300,000 English language blogs that were posted to mental health Web sites. The program identified what it perceived to be the 100 "most depressed" and 100 "least depressed" bloggers. ... > full story
First superstorm on exoplanet detected (June 23, 2010) -- Astronomers have measured a superstorm for the first time in the atmosphere of an exoplanet, the well-studied "hot Jupiter" HD209458b. The very high-precision observations of carbon monoxide gas show that it is streaming at enormous speed from the extremely hot day side to the cooler night side of the planet. The observations also allow another exciting "first" -- measuring the orbital speed of the exoplanet itself, providing a direct determination of its mass. ... > full story
Separation between Neanderthal and Homo sapiens might have occurred 500,000 years earlier, DNA from teeth suggests (June 23, 2010) -- The separation of Neanderthal and Homo sapiens might have occurred at least one million years ago, more than 500,000 years earlier than previously believed, according to recent research in Spain using DNA-based analyses of teeth and computer modeling. ... > full storyCopyright 1995-2010 © ScienceDaily LLC. All rights reserved. Terms of use.
