ScienceDaily: Top Technology News

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• Quasars illuminate swiftly swirling clouds around galaxies
• Engineers make world's fastest organic transistor, herald new generation of see-through electronics
• Universe measured to one-percent accuracy: Most precise calibration yet of cosmic 'standard ruler'
• Many small exoplanets covered in gas: New measurements of mass expand knowledge of exoplanets' compositions
• Newly discovered celestial object defies categories: Is it a new kind of planet or a rare kind of failed star?
• Chemical imaging brings cancer tissue analysis into digital age
• The play-by-play of energy conversion: Catching catalysts in action
• An improved, cost-effective catalyst for water-splitting devices
• New phone alerts for extreme weather may prevent casualties in India
• Mathematics for safer medicine

Quasars illuminate swiftly swirling clouds around galaxies Posted: 08 Jan 2014 12:45 PM PST A new study of light from quasars has provided astronomers with illuminating insights into the swirling clouds of gas that form stars and galaxies, proving that the clouds can shift and change much more quickly than previously thought.

Engineers make world's fastest organic transistor, herald new generation of see-through electronics Posted: 08 Jan 2014 12:45 PM PST Researchers have produced the world's fastest thin-film organic transistors, proving that this experimental technology could achieve the performance needed for high-resolution television screens and similar electronic devices. For years engineers have been trying to use inexpensive, carbon-rich molecules and plastics to create organic semiconductors that can approximate the performance of costlier technologies based on silicon.

Universe measured to one-percent accuracy: Most precise calibration yet of cosmic 'standard ruler' Posted: 08 Jan 2014 12:44 PM PST The Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS) is the largest component of the third Sloan Digital Sky Survey. BOSS has measured the clustering of nearly 1.3 million galaxies spectroscopically, determining the "standard ruler" of the universe's large-scale structure to within one percent. This is the most precise such measurement ever made and likely to be the standard for years to come.

Many small exoplanets covered in gas: New measurements of mass expand knowledge of exoplanets' compositions Posted: 08 Jan 2014 10:33 AM PST NASA's Kepler space telescope discovered thousands of "planetary candidates," but what are the planets made of? To know this, each planet's mass first must be determined. An astronomer reports having measured the masses of approximately 60 exoplanets larger than Earth and smaller than Neptune. The measurements greatly expand scientists' knowledge of sub-Neptune exoplanets because once the mass and size of a planet are known, the density can be determined and the composition of the planet inferred.

Newly discovered celestial object defies categories: Is it a new kind of planet or a rare kind of failed star? Posted: 08 Jan 2014 08:27 AM PST An object discovered by astrophysicists nearly 500 light years away from the Sun may challenge traditional understandings about how planets and stars form. The object is located near and likely orbiting a very young star about 440 light years away from the Sun, and is leading astrophysicists to believe that there is not an easy-to-define line between what is and is not a planet.

Chemical imaging brings cancer tissue analysis into digital age Posted: 08 Jan 2014 07:24 AM PST A new method for analyzing biological samples based on their chemical makeup is set to transform the way medical scientists examine diseased tissue.

The play-by-play of energy conversion: Catching catalysts in action Posted: 08 Jan 2014 06:30 AM PST Before catalysis unfolds in a laboratory, scientists painstakingly assemble the materials and spark a reaction. But many experimental techniques only capture the static details before and after the reaction. Now researchers have demonstrated an unprecedented ability to peer into the dynamic, real-time reactions blazing along at scales spanning just billionths of a meter, producing a sort of play-by-play view of the chemistry in action.

An improved, cost-effective catalyst for water-splitting devices Posted: 08 Jan 2014 05:12 AM PST Scientists have created a simple and scalable technique for greatly improving water splitting as a source of clean energy.

New phone alerts for extreme weather may prevent casualties in India Posted: 07 Jan 2014 06:29 AM PST When Cyclone Phailin hit India in late 2013, it became the largest storm to batter the subcontinent in over a decade. The storm affected more than 12 million people in India and neighboring countries, and required mass evacuations. These evacuations revealed an urgent need for an effective alert system which could forewarn the majority of the population. A new paper details how computer science undergraduates have created image based mobile phone alerts, connected to the Weather Research and Forecasting system.

Mathematics for safer medicine Posted: 07 Jan 2014 06:29 AM PST A research group analyzes large amounts of data and calculates uncertainties in technical systems. The group of mathematicians and computer scientists especially focuses on increasing the security of technology in operating rooms.

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