ScienceDaily: Top Technology News

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• Responding to potential asteroid redirect mission targets
• Mars rover heads uphill after solving 'doughnut' riddle
• Superbright, fast X-rays image single layer of proteins
• Geographical passwords easier to remember
• Citizenship goes digital: Online gaming effective in teaching civics
• Optimizing donor kidney distribution in the United States
• Screening wastewater biosolids for environmental contaminants: Antimicrobial products cause for concern
• Carbon nanotube fibers outperform copper in carrying electrical current
• Future industry: No chance for industrial pirates with highly secure networks
• Potentially revolutionary material: Scientists produce a novel form of artificial graphene
• Revolutionary portable lab for rapid and low-cost diagnosis
• Hospitals not always prepared for full costs of implementing electronic patient records
• Advanced techniques yield new insights into ribosome self-assembly
• Male Pinterest users more interested in art than cars
• Waste from age-old paper industry becomes new source of solid fuel
• Robots add precision, accuracy to angioplasty, offer radiation protection

Responding to potential asteroid redirect mission targets Posted: 15 Feb 2014 07:57 AM PST One year ago, on Feb. 15, 2013, the world witnessed the dangers presented by near-Earth Objects (NEOs) when a relatively small asteroid entered Earth's atmosphere, exploding over Chelyabinsk, Russia, and releasing more energy than a large atomic bomb. Tracking near-Earth asteroids has been a significant endeavor for NASA and the broader astronomical community, which has discovered 10,713 known near-Earth objects to date. NASA is now pursuing new partnerships and collaborations in an Asteroid Grand Challenge to accelerate NASA's existing planetary defense work, which will help find all asteroid threats to human population and know what to do about them. In parallel, NASA is developing an Asteroid Redirect Mission (ARM) -- a first-ever mission to identify, capture and redirect an asteroid to a safe orbit of Earth's moon for future exploration by astronauts in the 2020s.

Mars rover heads uphill after solving 'doughnut' riddle Posted: 14 Feb 2014 11:40 AM PST Researchers have determined the now-infamous Martian rock resembling a jelly doughnut, dubbed Pinnacle Island, is a piece of a larger rock broken and moved by the wheel of NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity in early January.

Superbright, fast X-rays image single layer of proteins Posted: 14 Feb 2014 10:09 AM PST In biology, a protein's shape is key to understanding how it causes disease or toxicity. Researchers who use X-rays to takes snapshots of proteins need a billion copies of the same protein stacked and packed into a neat crystal. Now, scientists using exceptionally bright and fast X-rays can take a picture that rivals conventional methods with a sheet of proteins just one protein molecule thick.

Geographical passwords easier to remember Posted: 14 Feb 2014 10:09 AM PST It's much easier to remember a place you have visited than a long, complicated password, which is why s computer scientist is developing a system he calls geographical passwords.

Citizenship goes digital: Online gaming effective in teaching civics Posted: 14 Feb 2014 10:07 AM PST Can playing online video games help students learn civics education? According to researchers, the answer is yes. They studied the effectiveness of iCivics, a free online website founded by retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor that teaches civics concepts using 19 educational games.

Optimizing donor kidney distribution in the United States Posted: 14 Feb 2014 08:11 AM PST Nearly 5,000 people die each year in the US waiting for a kidney transplant. A researcher has now developed a mathematical model that simulates and optimizes donor kidney distribution. The model identifies areas for policy changes, including encouraging more sharing within states. The innovative model could help ease inequities among regions in the US and ultimately help save hundreds of lives.

Screening wastewater biosolids for environmental contaminants: Antimicrobial products cause for concern Posted: 14 Feb 2014 07:15 AM PST Researchers describe a cost-effective method for screening chemicals found in wastewater biosolids used in fertilizer for potential environmental impact. They have used the test to show that triclosan, an antimicrobial agent currently under fire from environmentalists, has troubling concentrations in the environment, and they raise suspicions about three other commonly used antimicrobial products.

Carbon nanotube fibers outperform copper in carrying electrical current Posted: 14 Feb 2014 07:15 AM PST Carbon nanotube-based fibers have greater capacity to carry electrical current than copper cables of the same mass, scientists show.

Future industry: No chance for industrial pirates with highly secure networks Posted: 14 Feb 2014 06:21 AM PST In the future, production facilities will be able to communicate and interact with one another, and machinery will often be remote-serviced. But no company boss wants to run the risk of opening the door to industrial espionage and sabotage with unsecure networks. A new development offers a particularly high level of security.

Potentially revolutionary material: Scientists produce a novel form of artificial graphene Posted: 14 Feb 2014 04:54 AM PST A new breed of ultra thin super-material has the potential to cause a technological revolution. "Artificial graphene" should lead to faster, smaller and lighter electronic and optical devices of all kinds, including higher performance photovoltaic cells, lasers or LED lighting.

Revolutionary portable lab for rapid and low-cost diagnosis Posted: 14 Feb 2014 04:54 AM PST Do you remember James Bond film Casino Royale? After being poisoned, the agent uses a portable diagnostic kit to identify the toxic substance and alert his HQ in London. Such type of technology is not fiction anymore. Researchers have developed a ground-breaking diagnostic system based on smart cards and skin patches combined with a portable reader. Test results can directly be sent to a remote computer, a tablet or a smartphone through a wireless connection. This small lab can already detect cocaine consumption, monitor colon cancer, identify bacteria in food and analyze environmental contamination. Many other useful applications can be foreseen.

Hospitals not always prepared for full costs of implementing electronic patient records Posted: 12 Feb 2014 06:23 PM PST Hospitals don't always take into account the full costs of implementing new electronic health record systems and should be better prepared if they are to maximize the benefits, finds research.

Advanced techniques yield new insights into ribosome self-assembly Posted: 12 Feb 2014 10:27 AM PST Ribosomes, the cellular machines that build proteins, are themselves made up of dozens of proteins and a few looping strands of RNA. A new study offers new clues about how the ribosome, the master assembler of proteins, also assembles itself.

Male Pinterest users more interested in art than cars Posted: 12 Feb 2014 08:28 AM PST Male users of Pinterest pin more content about photography, art, design, and home decor than sports, technology and cars, says a new study by researchers.

Waste from age-old paper industry becomes new source of solid fuel Posted: 12 Feb 2014 08:27 AM PST In today's search for renewable energy sources, researchers are turning to the hi-tech, from solar and hydrogen fuel cells, and the very low-tech. The latest example of a low-tech alternative comes from an age-old industry: paper. A new study reveals a sustainable way to turn the huge amounts of waste from paper production into solid fuel with the added bonus of diverting the sludge from overflowing landfills.

Robots add precision, accuracy to angioplasty, offer radiation protection Posted: 12 Feb 2014 08:21 AM PST Robotic-assisted technology is designed to add precision and accuracy, with less radiation exposure, during angioplasty — as interventional cardiologists place balloons and stents inside arteries to restore blood flow to the heart.

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