ScienceDaily: Top Technology News

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• Scientists confirm original tetrahedral model of molecular structure of water
• Making homemade guns on a 3-D printer becomes real, so engineering expert suggests stronger laws on gunpowder
• NASA's Landsat Data Continuity Mission: New Earth observation satellite launched
• Security risks of extreme weather and climate change
• Visualizing biological networks in 4-D: Unique microscope captures motion of DNA structures
• Researchers strain to improve electrical material and it's worth it
• Cell circuits remember their history: Engineers design new synthetic biology circuits that combine memory and logic

Scientists confirm original tetrahedral model of molecular structure of water Posted: 11 Feb 2013 05:20 PM PST Researchers have confirmed the original model of the molecular structure of water and have thus made it possible to resolve a long-standing scientific controversy about the structure of liquid water. The tetrahedral model was first postulated nearly 100 years ago and it assumes that every water molecule forms a so-called hydrogen bond with four adjacent molecules. This concept was almost toppled in 2004 when an international research group announced that it had experimentally established that water molecules form bonds only with two other molecules.

Making homemade guns on a 3-D printer becomes real, so engineering expert suggests stronger laws on gunpowder Posted: 11 Feb 2013 01:21 PM PST Making homemade guns on a 3-D printer becomes real, so engineering expert suggests stronger laws on gunpowder.

NASA's Landsat Data Continuity Mission: New Earth observation satellite launched Posted: 11 Feb 2013 01:08 PM PST NASA's Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM) roared into space at 1:02 p.m. EST (10:02 a.m. PST) Monday aboard an Atlas V rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The spacecraft carries two instruments, the Operational Land Imager (OLI) and Thermal Infrared Sensor (TIRS). The measurements will be compatible with data from past Landsat satellites, but the LDCM instruments use advanced technology to improve reliability, sensitivity, and data quality.

Security risks of extreme weather and climate change Posted: 11 Feb 2013 10:50 AM PST A new study, conducted specifically to explore the forces driving extreme weather events and their implications for national security planning over the next decade, finds that the early ramifications of climate extremes resulting from climate change are already upon us and will continue to be felt over the next decade, directly impacting US national security interests.

Visualizing biological networks in 4-D: Unique microscope captures motion of DNA structures Posted: 11 Feb 2013 10:50 AM PST Every great structure depends on specific mechanical properties to remain strong and reliable. Rigidity is of particular importance for maintaining the robust functionality of everything from colossal edifices to the tiniest of nanoscale structures. In biological nanostructures, like DNA networks, it has been difficult to measure this stiffness, which is essential to their properties and functions. But scientists now have developed techniques for visualizing the behavior of biological nanostructures in both space and time.

Researchers strain to improve electrical material and it's worth it Posted: 11 Feb 2013 10:49 AM PST Like turning coal to diamond, adding pressure to an electrical material enhances its properties. Now researchers have devised a method of making ferroelectric thin films with twice the strain, resulting in exceptional performance. The researchers created graded films by gradually shifting the composition of PZT. The large strain gives the films a built-in electric field, opening the door for new applications.

Cell circuits remember their history: Engineers design new synthetic biology circuits that combine memory and logic Posted: 11 Feb 2013 07:40 AM PST Engineers have created genetic circuits in bacterial cells that not only perform logic functions, but also remember the results, which are encoded in the cell's DNA and passed on for dozens of generations.

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