ScienceDaily: Top Technology News

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• NASA Cassini images may reveal birth of a Saturn moon
• 'Problem wells' source of greenhouse gas at unexpected stage of natural gas production
• Cosmic slurp: Supercomputers help astronomers understand and predict how black holes swallow stars
• Cybersecurity researchers roll out a new heartbleed solution: Red Herring creates decoy servers, entraps, monitors hackers
• Beam on target! Cebaf accelerator delivered high-energy electron beams
• House windows that double as solar panels? Shiny quantum dots brighten future of solar cells
• Patients with kidney failure to get a new lease on life
• Let the sun shine in: Redirecting sunlight to dark urban alleyways
• Device turns flat surface into spherical antenna
• SpaceX’s Dragon headed to space station to create astronaut farmers
• International Space Station to beam video via laser back to Earth
• New 'tunable' semiconductors will allow better detectors, solar cells
• Surgeons develop personalized 3-D printed kidney to simulate surgery prior to cancer operation
• Singlet oxygen: Stable research model for an unstable target
• Genetically modified tobacco plants as an alternative for producing bioethanol
• Novel technique opens door to better solar cells, superconductors and hard drives
• Combs of light accelerate communication
• Look who's evolving now: Using robots to study evolution
• Protein crystal experiment set to fly to International Space Station
• Tiny particles could help verify goods
• Glasses strong as steel: A fast way to find the best
• How a Silly Putty ingredient could advance stem cell therapies
• Sustainable ways to keep us flying: New technologies to improve safety and efficiency in the aviation industry

NASA Cassini images may reveal birth of a Saturn moon Posted: 14 Apr 2014 03:03 PM PDT NASA's Cassini spacecraft has documented the formation of a small icy object within the rings of Saturn that may be a new moon, and may also provide clues to the formation of the planet's known moons.

'Problem wells' source of greenhouse gas at unexpected stage of natural gas production Posted: 14 Apr 2014 12:44 PM PDT High levels of the greenhouse gas methane were found above shale gas wells at a production point not thought to be an important emissions source. The findings could have implications for the evaluation of the environmental impacts from natural gas production. The study, which is one of only a few to use a so-called "top down" approach that measures methane gas levels in the air above wells, identified seven individual well pads with high emission levels during the drilling stage.

Cosmic slurp: Supercomputers help astronomers understand and predict how black holes swallow stars Posted: 14 Apr 2014 12:08 PM PDT A 'tidal disruption' occurs when a star orbits too close to a black hole and gets usurped. Researchers are using supercomputers to simulate tidal disruptions to better understand the dynamics of the process. Doing so will help astronomers find many more possible candidates of tidal disruptions in sky surveys and reveal details of how stars and black holes interact.

Cybersecurity researchers roll out a new heartbleed solution: Red Herring creates decoy servers, entraps, monitors hackers Posted: 14 Apr 2014 12:06 PM PDT As companies scrambled in recent days to address the latest cybersecurity bug known as Heartbleed, researchers demonstrate a solution that fixes the vulnerability, and also detects and entraps hackers who might be using it to steal sensitive data.

Beam on target! Cebaf accelerator delivered high-energy electron beams Posted: 14 Apr 2014 11:08 AM PDT Late on April 1, the crown jewel of the Department of Energy's Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility sparkled its way into a new era. Following an upgrade of the Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility, the CEBAF accelerator delivered the highest-energy electron beams it has ever produced into a target in an experimental hall, recording the first data of the 12 GeV era.

House windows that double as solar panels? Shiny quantum dots brighten future of solar cells Posted: 14 Apr 2014 09:38 AM PDT A house window that doubles as a solar panel could be on the horizon, thanks to recent quantum-dot work. Scientists have demonstrated that superior light-emitting properties of quantum dots can be applied in solar energy by helping more efficiently harvest sunlight.

Patients with kidney failure to get a new lease on life Posted: 14 Apr 2014 09:36 AM PDT A European research consortium has been developing a wearable artificial kidney that would make it possible for dialysis patients to lead a more full and active life while adding another 10 to 16 years to their life expectancy.

Let the sun shine in: Redirecting sunlight to dark urban alleyways Posted: 14 Apr 2014 08:24 AM PDT In response to ever-crowded urban conditions in developing countries, researchers in Egypt have developed an inexpensive way of re-directing natural sunlight into dimly lit streets and alleys, where lack of sun is linked to health problems. The new optical device can increase brightness in alleyways by up to 400 percent.

Device turns flat surface into spherical antenna Posted: 14 Apr 2014 08:20 AM PDT By depositing an array of tiny, metallic, U-shaped structures onto a dielectric material, scientists have created a new artificial surface that can bend and focus electromagnetic waves the same way an antenna does.

SpaceX’s Dragon headed to space station to create astronaut farmers Posted: 14 Apr 2014 07:33 AM PDT "Enter the Dragon" takes on a whole new meaning this month as SpaceX's Dragon capsule heads to the International Space Station for its third commercial resupply mission on April 14. During the SpaceX-3 mission, the Dragon capsule not only will deliver cargo to the orbiting laboratory, but it also will return science samples and hardware to Earth.

International Space Station to beam video via laser back to Earth Posted: 14 Apr 2014 07:30 AM PDT A team of about 20 working at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., through the lab's Phaeton early-career-hire program, led the development of the Optical Payload for Lasercomm Science (OPALS) investigation, which is preparing for an April 14 launch to the International Space Station aboard the SpaceX-3 mission. The goal? NASA's first optical communication experiment on the orbital laboratory.

New 'tunable' semiconductors will allow better detectors, solar cells Posted: 14 Apr 2014 07:12 AM PDT Researchers have discovered a way to use existing semiconductors to detect a far wider range of light than is now possible, well into the infrared range. The team hopes to use the technology in detectors, obviously, but also in improved solar cells that could absorb infrared light as well as the sun's visible rays.

Surgeons develop personalized 3-D printed kidney to simulate surgery prior to cancer operation Posted: 14 Apr 2014 07:08 AM PDT For the first time, surgeons have used 3-D printing to produce exact models of tumor-containing kidneys, allowing them to simulate surgery prior to the real operation. These models can be personalized to each patient, giving doctors a 3-D model of each individual's tumor. The ability to produce exact 3-dimensional models of objects means that 3D printing is set to revolutionize many fields.

Singlet oxygen: Stable research model for an unstable target Posted: 14 Apr 2014 06:21 AM PDT Researchers provide new insights about singlet oxygen and set the stage for better understanding of this highly reactive and challenging substance. Singlet oxygen is an electronically excited state of oxygen that is less stable than normal oxygen. Its high reactivity has enabled its use in photodynamic therapy, in which light is used in combination with a photosensitizing drug to generate large amounts of singlet oxygen to kill cancer cells or various pathogens.

Genetically modified tobacco plants as an alternative for producing bioethanol Posted: 14 Apr 2014 06:20 AM PDT Tobacco, a high-density crop which is mown several times throughout its cycle, can produce as much as 160 tonnes of fresh matter per hectare and become a source of biomass suitable for producing bioethanol. As one researcher explained, "tobacco plants as a source of biomass for producing bioethanol could be an alternative to traditional tobacco growing which is in decline in the USA and in Europe because it cannot compete with emerging countries like China".

Novel technique opens door to better solar cells, superconductors and hard drives Posted: 14 Apr 2014 06:19 AM PDT A new invention solves long-standing mystery in the physics of condensed matter and enhances our understanding of interfaces between materials.

Combs of light accelerate communication Posted: 14 Apr 2014 06:19 AM PDT Miniaturized optical frequency comb sources allow for transmission of data streams of several terabits per second over hundreds of kilometers. The results may contribute to accelerating data transmission in large computing centers and worldwide communication networks.

Look who's evolving now: Using robots to study evolution Posted: 14 Apr 2014 06:19 AM PDT Scientists have demonstrated the usefulness of robots in studying evolution.  They successfully used a colony of rodent-like robots to watch different mating strategies evolve.  The work not only generated interesting and unexpected results, but it has also helped validate the use of robots in the study of evolution.

Protein crystal experiment set to fly to International Space Station Posted: 14 Apr 2014 06:17 AM PDT A biology professor's experiment that is set to fly to the International Space Station (ISS) could shed new light on the roles enzymes play in biological processes. The experiment, Protein Crystals for Neutron Crystallography (PC4NC), studies an enzyme inorganic pyrophosphatase (IPPase).

Tiny particles could help verify goods Posted: 13 Apr 2014 11:00 AM PDT Chemical engineers hope smartphone-readable microparticles could crack down on counterfeiting. Some 2 to 5 percent of all international trade involves counterfeit goods, according to a 2013 United Nations report. These illicit products -- which include electronics, automotive and aircraft parts, pharmaceuticals, and food -- can pose safety risks and cost governments and private companies hundreds of billions of dollars annually. Many strategies have been developed to try to label legitimate products and prevent illegal trade -- but these tags are often too easy to fake, are unreliable, or cost too much to implement, according to researchers who have developed a new alternative.

Glasses strong as steel: A fast way to find the best Posted: 13 Apr 2014 10:59 AM PDT Scientists have devised a dramatically faster way of identifying and characterizing complex alloys known as bulk metallic glasses, a versatile type of pliable glass that's stronger than steel. The new method allows researchers to screen about 3,000 alloys per day and simultaneously ascertain certain properties, such as melting temperature and malleability.

How a Silly Putty ingredient could advance stem cell therapies Posted: 13 Apr 2014 10:59 AM PDT The sponginess of the environment where human embryonic stem cells are growing affects the type of specialized cells they eventually become, a study shows. The researchers coaxed human embryonic stem cells to turn into working spinal cord cells more efficiently by growing the cells on a soft, utrafine carpet made of a key ingredient in Silly Putty.

Sustainable ways to keep us flying: New technologies to improve safety and efficiency in the aviation industry Posted: 13 Apr 2014 06:40 AM PDT Multidisciplinary research is producing new technologies to improve safety and efficiency in the aviation industry. Aircraft will always experience wear and tear, and researchers are developing fast, cost-effective methods to identify parts in need of repair. Crucially, these methods aim to be non-destructive, which means that fewer parts need to be removed or replaced during inspection, saving both time and money.

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