ScienceDaily: Top Technology News

---

• SOFIA spots recent starbursts in the Milky Way galaxy's center
• Hubble reveals rogue planetary orbit for Fomalhaut b
• NASA telescopes see weather patterns in brown dwarf
• NASA, ESA telescopes find evidence for asteroid belt around Vega
• First 'bone' of the Milky Way identified
• Bottom-up approach provides first characterization of pyroelectric nanomaterials
• New approach for simulating supernovas
• Testing Einstein's famous equation E=mc2 in outer space
• Oscillating gel gives synthetic materials the ability to 'speak': Material rebuilds itself through chemical communication
• Cluster mission indicates turbulent eddies may warm the solar wind
• New telescopes to give researchers glimpse of the beginning of time
• Counting the twists in a helical light beam: New device could help advance future optical communications
• 'Tricorder' closer to reality: Portable X-ray source could put medical diagnosis and terrorism prevention in the palm of the hand
• Earth-size planets common in galaxy: Perhaps 17 percent of sun-like stars have Earth-size planets within the orbit of Mercury
• Researchers work to counter spear phishing attacks
• Icing on a lake: Blocks of hydrocarbon ice might decorate surface of lakes and seas on Saturn's moon Titan
• New biochip technology uses tiny whirlpools to corral microbes
• Graphene oxide soaks up radioactive waste: U.S., Russian researchers collaborate on solution to toxic groundwater woes
• Scientists mimic fireflies to make brighter LEDs: New bio-inspired coating that increases LED efficiency by 55 percent
• Researchers develop acrobatic space rovers to explore moons and asteroids
• Computer, electrical engineers working to help biologists cope with big data
• Space sailing soon: A one-kilometer-long electric sail tether produced
• Physics students disprove children's author Roald Dahl's peach calculation

SOFIA spots recent starbursts in the Milky Way galaxy's center Posted: 08 Jan 2013 03:58 PM PST Researchers using the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) have captured new images of a ring of gas and dust seven light-years in diameter surrounding the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way, and of a neighboring cluster of extremely luminous young stars embedded in dust cocoons.

Hubble reveals rogue planetary orbit for Fomalhaut b Posted: 08 Jan 2013 03:36 PM PST Newly released Hubble Space Telescope images of a vast debris disk encircling the nearby star Fomalhaut and a mysterious planet circling it may provide forensic evidence of a titanic planetary disruption in the system.

NASA telescopes see weather patterns in brown dwarf Posted: 08 Jan 2013 03:26 PM PST Astronomers have discovered what appears to be a large asteroid belt around the star Vega, the second brightest star in northern night skies. The scientists used data from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope and the European Space Agency's Herschel Space Observatory. The discovery of an asteroid belt-like band of debris around Vega makes the star similar to another observed star called Fomalhaut. The data are consistent with both stars having inner, warm belts and outer, cool belts separated by a gap. This architecture is similar to the asteroid and Kuiper belts in our own solar system.

NASA, ESA telescopes find evidence for asteroid belt around Vega Posted: 08 Jan 2013 03:22 PM PST Astronomers have discovered what appears to be a large asteroid belt around the star Vega, the second brightest star in northern night skies. The scientists used data from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope and the European Space Agency's Herschel Space Observatory. The discovery of an asteroid belt-like band of debris around Vega makes the star similar to another observed star called Fomalhaut. The data are consistent with both stars having inner, warm belts and outer, cool belts separated by a gap. This architecture is similar to the asteroid and Kuiper belts in our own solar system.

First 'bone' of the Milky Way identified Posted: 08 Jan 2013 01:22 PM PST Our Milky Way is a spiral galaxy -- a pinwheel-shaped collection of stars, gas and dust. It has a central bar and two major spiral arms that wrap around its disk. Since we view the Milky Way from the inside, its exact structure is difficult to determine. Astronomers have identified a new structure in the Milky Way: a long tendril of dust and gas that they are calling a "bone."

Bottom-up approach provides first characterization of pyroelectric nanomaterials Posted: 08 Jan 2013 01:22 PM PST By taking a "bottom-up" approach, researchers have observed for the first time that "size does matter," in regards "pyroelectricity," -- the current/voltage developed in response to temperature fluctuations that enables technologies such as infrared sensors, night-vision, and energy conversion units, to name a few.

New approach for simulating supernovas Posted: 08 Jan 2013 01:22 PM PST Researchers are trying to bridge the gap between studies of supernova blasts and the remnants they leave behind. They hope to use a relatively new computer code to show more of the evolution from blast to remnant.

Testing Einstein's famous equation E=mc2 in outer space Posted: 08 Jan 2013 01:22 PM PST A team of physicists have stirred the physics community with an intriguing idea yet to be tested experimentally: The world's most iconic equation, Albert Einstein's E=mc2, may be correct or not depending on where you are in space.

Oscillating gel gives synthetic materials the ability to 'speak': Material rebuilds itself through chemical communication Posted: 08 Jan 2013 01:16 PM PST Self-moving gels can give synthetic materials the ability to "act alive" and mimic primitive biological communication, scientists have found. In a new paper, researchers demonstrate that a synthetic system can reconfigure itself through a combination of chemical communication and interaction with light.

Cluster mission indicates turbulent eddies may warm the solar wind Posted: 08 Jan 2013 11:52 AM PST The sun ejects a continuous flow of electrically charged particles and magnetic fields in the form of the solar wind -- and this wind is hotter than it should be. A new study of data obtained by European Space Agency's Cluster spacecraft may help explain the mystery.

New telescopes to give researchers glimpse of the beginning of time Posted: 08 Jan 2013 11:19 AM PST Where do we come from? What is the universe made of? Will the universe exist only for a finite time or will it last forever? These are just some of the questions that physicists are working to answer in the high desert of northern Chile.

Counting the twists in a helical light beam: New device could help advance future optical communications Posted: 08 Jan 2013 10:20 AM PST At a time when communication networks are scrambling for ways to transmit more data over limited bandwidth, a type of twisted light wave is gaining new attention. Called an optical vortex or vortex beam, this complex beam resembles a corkscrew, with waves that rotate as they travel. Now, applied physicists have created a new device that enables a conventional optical detector (which would normally only measure the light's intensity) to pick up on that rotation.

'Tricorder' closer to reality: Portable X-ray source could put medical diagnosis and terrorism prevention in the palm of the hand Posted: 08 Jan 2013 10:20 AM PST The hand-held scanners, or tricorders, of the Star Trek movies and television series are one step closer to reality now that an engineering team has invented a compact source of X-rays and other forms of radiation. The radiation source, which is the size of a stick of gum, could be used to create inexpensive and portable X-ray scanners for use by doctors, as well as to fight terrorism and aid exploration on this planet and others.

Earth-size planets common in galaxy: Perhaps 17 percent of sun-like stars have Earth-size planets within the orbit of Mercury Posted: 08 Jan 2013 10:20 AM PST Last year, astronomers were excited to discover that the number of exoplanets increases towards smaller sizes, which suggests that there are many Earth-size planets in the galaxy. A new analysis of three years of Kepler data shows that this increase stops around twice Earth size and holds for planets one to two times the diameter of Earth. Nevertheless, Earth-size planets occur around at least 17 percent of sun-like stars, they conclude.

Researchers work to counter spear phishing attacks Posted: 08 Jan 2013 10:18 AM PST Researchers are working to counter threats from spear phishing. The attacks use knowledge of computer users to gain their trust to break into corporate networks.

Icing on a lake: Blocks of hydrocarbon ice might decorate surface of lakes and seas on Saturn's moon Titan Posted: 08 Jan 2013 09:36 AM PST It's not exactly icing on a cake, but it could be icing on a lake. A new paper by scientists on NASA's Cassini mission finds that blocks of hydrocarbon ice might decorate the surface of existing lakes and seas of liquid hydrocarbon on Saturn's moon Titan. The presence of ice floes might explain some of the mixed readings Cassini has seen in the reflectivity of the surfaces of lakes on Titan.

New biochip technology uses tiny whirlpools to corral microbes Posted: 08 Jan 2013 09:29 AM PST Researchers have demonstrated a new technology that combines a laser and electric fields to create tiny centrifuge-like whirlpools to separate particles and microbes by size, a potential lab-on-a-chip system for medicine and research.

Graphene oxide soaks up radioactive waste: U.S., Russian researchers collaborate on solution to toxic groundwater woes Posted: 08 Jan 2013 08:24 AM PST Graphene oxide has a remarkable ability to quickly remove radioactive material from contaminated water, researchers in the United States and Russia have found. The discovery could be a boon in the cleanup of contaminated sites like the Fukushima nuclear plants damaged by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami. It could also cut the cost of hydraulic fracturing ("fracking") for oil and gas recovery and help reboot American mining of rare earth metals.

Scientists mimic fireflies to make brighter LEDs: New bio-inspired coating that increases LED efficiency by 55 percent Posted: 08 Jan 2013 08:24 AM PST The nighttime twinkling of fireflies has inspired scientists to modify a light-emitting diode (LED) so it is more than one and a half times as efficient as the original. Researchers studied the internal structure of firefly lanterns, the organs on the bioluminescent insects' abdomens that flash to attract mates. The scientists identified an unexpected pattern of jagged scales that enhanced the lanterns' glow, and applied that knowledge to LED design.

Researchers develop acrobatic space rovers to explore moons and asteroids Posted: 08 Jan 2013 06:49 AM PST Researchers have designed a robotic platform that could take space exploration to new heights. The mission proposed for the platform involves a mother spacecraft deploying one or several spiked, roughly spherical rovers to the Martian moon Phobos. Measuring about half a meter wide, each rover would hop, tumble and bound across the cratered, lopsided moon, relaying information about its origins, as well as its soil and other surface materials.

Computer, electrical engineers working to help biologists cope with big data Posted: 08 Jan 2013 06:17 AM PST Computer and electrical engineers are developing computing tools to help biologists analyze all the data produced by today's research instruments.

Space sailing soon: A one-kilometer-long electric sail tether produced Posted: 08 Jan 2013 05:41 AM PST An electric sail (ESAIL) produces propulsion power for a spacecraft by utilizing the solar wind. The sail features electrically charged long and thin metal tethers that interact with the solar wind. Using ultrasonic welding,engineers successfully produced a 1 km long ESAIL tether.

Physics students disprove children's author Roald Dahl's peach calculation Posted: 08 Jan 2013 05:41 AM PST Four students have calculated that it would take 2,425,907 seagulls, rather than the 501 described in Roald Dahl's James and the Giant Peach, to airlift the giant peach across the Atlantic Ocean.

You are subscribed to email updates from ScienceDaily: Top Technology News To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now.	Email delivery powered by Google
Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610