ScienceDaily: Top Technology News

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• Optical microscopes lend a hand to graphene research
• Pushing boundaries of electron microscopy to unlock the potential of graphene
• NASA Innovator of Year hunts for extraterrestrial amino acids
• Robotic explorers may usher in lunar 'water rush'
• New injectable gels toughen up after entering the body
• Technology harvests energy from railroad train vibrations
• Scientists discover ways to optimize light sources for vision: Tuning lighting devices could save billions
• Using skills gleaned from video games, high school and college students outmatch medical residents in surgical simulations
• Searching for elusive dark matter material
• Controlling heat flow through a nanostructure
• Physicists skirt thermal vibration, transfer optical signal via mechanical oscillator
• 'Space gems': Rare meteorites created in violent celestial collision
• Bioprinting has promising future: Scientists building structures for cells to grow on, in order to regenerate tissue
• Key to super-sensory hearing? Newly identified hearing organ in bushcrickets' ears may inspire acoustic sensors
• Wax-filled nanotech yarn behaves like powerful, super-strong muscle
• Candidate for most distant galaxy discovered
• Carbon nanotubes may protect DNA from oxidation
• 'Cloning' could make structurally pure nanotubes for nanoelectronics
• These mini-bots were made for walking: Cells power biological machines
• Meteorites reveal warm water existed on Mars
• Born-again star foreshadows fate of Solar System
• Electrical engineer turns brain implant research into products

Optical microscopes lend a hand to graphene research Posted: 15 Nov 2012 06:05 PM PST The remarkable properties and subsequent applications of graphene have been well-documented since it was first isolated in 2004; however, researchers are still trying to find a quick, cheap and efficient way of measuring its thickness. A group of researchers from China appear to have solved this problem by devising a universal method using just a standard optical microscope.

Pushing boundaries of electron microscopy to unlock the potential of graphene Posted: 15 Nov 2012 02:20 PM PST Electron microscopy is providing unprecedented views of the individual atoms in graphene, offering scientists a chance to unlock the material's full potential for uses from engine combustion to consumer electronics.

NASA Innovator of Year hunts for extraterrestrial amino acids Posted: 15 Nov 2012 01:52 PM PST The hunt for the organic molecules that create proteins and enzymes critical for life here on Earth has largely happened in sophisticated terrestrial laboratories equipped with high-tech gadgetry needed to tease out their presence in space rocks and other extraterrestrial samples.

Robotic explorers may usher in lunar 'water rush' Posted: 15 Nov 2012 01:50 PM PST The American space program stands at the cusp of a "water rush" to the moon by several companies developing robotic prospectors for launch in the near future, according to a NASA scientist considering how to acquire and use water ice believed to be at the poles of the moon.

New injectable gels toughen up after entering the body Posted: 15 Nov 2012 01:28 PM PST Chemical engineers have now designed an injectable gel that responds to the body's high temperature by forming a reinforcing network that makes the gel much more durable, allowing it to function over a longer period of time.

Technology harvests energy from railroad train vibrations Posted: 15 Nov 2012 01:21 PM PST Engineers have won a national award for an innovative energy harvester that has the potential to save millions of dollars in energy costs for railroads while reducing carbon dioxide emissions. The team developed a new type of energy harvester that converts the irregular, oscillatory motion of train-induced rail track vibrations into regular, unidirectional motion, in the same way that an electric voltage rectifier converts AC voltage into DC.

Scientists discover ways to optimize light sources for vision: Tuning lighting devices could save billions Posted: 15 Nov 2012 12:26 PM PST Vision researchers have made a groundbreaking discovery into the optimization of light sources to human vision. By tuning lighting devices to work more efficiently with the human brain, the researchers believe billions of dollars in energy costs could be saved.

Using skills gleaned from video games, high school and college students outmatch medical residents in surgical simulations Posted: 15 Nov 2012 11:16 AM PST What can high school and college-age video game enthusiasts teach young surgeons-in-training? According to a new study the superior hand-eye coordination and hand skills gained from hours of repetitive joystick maneuvers mimic the abilities needed to perform today's most technologically advanced robotic surgeries.

Searching for elusive dark matter material Posted: 15 Nov 2012 11:16 AM PST Researchers are making key contributions to a physics experiment that will look for one of nature's most elusive particles, "dark matter," using a tank nearly a mile underground beneath the Black Hills of South Dakota.

Controlling heat flow through a nanostructure Posted: 15 Nov 2012 11:15 AM PST Researchers found that heat moving in materials called superlattices behaves like waves; finding could enable better thermoelectrics.

Physicists skirt thermal vibration, transfer optical signal via mechanical oscillator Posted: 15 Nov 2012 11:15 AM PST Using tiny radiation pressure forces, physicists converted an optical field, or signal, from one color to another, aided by a "dark mode." The conversion occurs through the coupling between light and a mechanical oscillator, without interruption by thermal mechanical vibrations.

'Space gems': Rare meteorites created in violent celestial collision Posted: 15 Nov 2012 11:15 AM PST A tiny fraction of meteorites on Earth contain strikingly beautiful, translucent, olive-green crystals embedded in an iron-nickel matrix. Called pallasites, these "space gems" have fascinated scientists since they were first identified as originating from outer space more than 200 years ago. Now a new study shows that their origins were more dramatic than first thought.

Bioprinting has promising future: Scientists building structures for cells to grow on, in order to regenerate tissue Posted: 15 Nov 2012 11:15 AM PST The pioneering concept of bioprinting is delivering promising results according to one of the early champions of the process.

Key to super-sensory hearing? Newly identified hearing organ in bushcrickets' ears may inspire acoustic sensors Posted: 15 Nov 2012 11:15 AM PST Researchers have identified a new hearing organ which provides the missing link to understanding how sound is transmitted within the ears of bushcrickets. This discovery will make a valuable contribution to creating bio-inspired acoustic sensors of the future, from medical imaging equipment in hospitals to developing improved hearing aid devices.

Wax-filled nanotech yarn behaves like powerful, super-strong muscle Posted: 15 Nov 2012 11:15 AM PST New artificial muscles made from nanotech yarns and infused with paraffin wax can lift more than 100,000 times their own weight and generate 85 times more mechanical power during contraction than the same size natural muscle, according to scientists. The artificial muscles are yarns constructed from carbon nanotubes.

Candidate for most distant galaxy discovered Posted: 15 Nov 2012 11:14 AM PST By combining the power of NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, Spitzer Space Telescope, and one of nature's own natural "zoom lenses" in space, astronomers have set a new distance record for finding the farthest galaxy yet seen in the universe.

Carbon nanotubes may protect DNA from oxidation Posted: 15 Nov 2012 10:38 AM PST NIST researchers have provided evidence that single-wall carbon nanotubes may help protect DNA molecules from damage by oxidation, which can lead to mutations. More studies are needed to see if the in vitro protective effect of nanotubes reported in the laboratory also occurs in vivo, that is, within a living organism.

'Cloning' could make structurally pure nanotubes for nanoelectronics Posted: 15 Nov 2012 10:38 AM PST Researchers have demonstrated a technique for growing virtually pure samples of single-wall carbon nanotubes with identical structures, a process they liken to "cloning" the nanotubes. If it can be suitably scaled up, their approach could solve an important materials problem in nanoelectronics: producing carbon nanotubes of a specific structure to order.

These mini-bots were made for walking: Cells power biological machines Posted: 15 Nov 2012 10:37 AM PST They're soft, biocompatible, about 7 millimeters long -- and, incredibly, able to walk by themselves. Miniature "bio-bots" are making tracks in synthetic biology. The walking bio-bots demonstrate forward-engineering functional machines using only hydrogel, heart cells and a 3-D printer. The bio-bots could be customized for specific applications in medicine, energy or the environment.

Meteorites reveal warm water existed on Mars Posted: 15 Nov 2012 10:30 AM PST Hydrothermal fractures around Martian impact craters may have been a habitable environment for microbial life. New research into evidence of water on Mars determined that water temperatures on the Red Planet ranged from 50°C to 150°C. Microbes on Earth can live in similar waters, for example in the volcanic thermal springs at Yellowstone Park, the scientists behind the research point out.

Born-again star foreshadows fate of Solar System Posted: 15 Nov 2012 10:23 AM PST Astronomers have found evidence for a dying Sun-like star coming briefly back to life after casting its gassy shells out into space, mimicking the possible fate our own Solar System faces in a few billion years.

Electrical engineer turns brain implant research into products Posted: 15 Nov 2012 10:23 AM PST An electrical engineering professor is developing products from technologies that assist in finding new approaches for treating nervous system disorders such as blindness, deafness, Parkinson's and epilepsy, while another set of clients is using them to control prosthetic limbs.

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