ScienceDaily: Top Technology News

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• Researchers grow liquid crystal 'flowers' that can be used as lenses
• Starless cloud cores reveal why some stars are bigger than others
• Early detection of blinding eye disease could be as easy as scanning barcode
• Birth of black hole kills the radio star
• Opposing phenomena possible key to high-efficiency electricity delivery
• Advances in nanotechnology's fight against cancer
• Supercomputers help researchers identify key molecular switch that controls cell behavior

Researchers grow liquid crystal 'flowers' that can be used as lenses Posted: 20 Dec 2013 12:45 PM PST A team of material scientists, chemical engineers and physicists has made another advance in their effort to use liquid crystals as a medium for assembling structures. Their earlier studies produced patterns of "defects," useful disruptions in the repeating patterns found in liquid crystals, in nanoscale grids and rings. The new study adds a more complex pattern out of an even simpler template: a three-dimensional array shaped like a flower.

Starless cloud cores reveal why some stars are bigger than others Posted: 20 Dec 2013 11:35 AM PST Massive stars -- those at least 8 times the mass of our Sun -- present an intriguing mystery: how do they grow so large when the vast majority of stars in the Milky Way are considerably smaller? Massive stars -- those at least 8 times the mass of our Sun -- present an intriguing mystery: how do they grow so large when the vast majority of stars in the Milky Way are considerably smaller? To find the answer, astronomers used the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array telescope to survey the cores of some of the darkest, coldest, and densest clouds in our Galaxy to search for the telltale signs of star formation.

Early detection of blinding eye disease could be as easy as scanning barcode Posted: 20 Dec 2013 09:08 AM PST A new optical device puts the power to detect eye disease in the palm of a hand. The tool -- about the size of a hand-held video camera -- scans a patient's entire retina in seconds and could aid primary care physicians in the early detection of a host of retinal diseases including diabetic retinopathy, glaucoma and macular degeneration.

Birth of black hole kills the radio star Posted: 20 Dec 2013 08:40 AM PST Astronomers have discovered a new population of exploding stars that "switch off" their radio transmissions before collapsing into a Black Hole. These exploding stars use all of their energy to emit one last strong beam of highly energetic radiation -- known as a gamma-ray burst -- before they die.

Opposing phenomena possible key to high-efficiency electricity delivery Posted: 19 Dec 2013 11:23 AM PST Researchers report that the coexistence of two opposing phenomena might be the secret to understanding how materials known as high-temperature superconductors -- heralded as the future of powering our homes and communities -- actually work. Such insight could help spur the further development of high-efficiency electric-power delivery.

Advances in nanotechnology's fight against cancer Posted: 19 Dec 2013 10:12 AM PST Among the most promising advances in the fight against cancer has been the rise of nanomedicine, the application of tiny materials and devices to detect, diagnose and treat disease. Researchers provide one of the most comprehensive assessments to date of research on nanomedicine-based approaches to treating cancer, and offers insight into how researchers can best position nanomedicine-based cancer treatments for FDA approval.

Supercomputers help researchers identify key molecular switch that controls cell behavior Posted: 17 Dec 2013 12:52 PM PST If scientists can control cellular functions such as movement and development, they can cripple cells and pathogens that are causing disease in the body.

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