ScienceDaily: Top Technology News

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• Solar energy that doesn't block the view
• Nuclear magnetic resonance experiments using Earth's magnetic field
• Engineering bone growth: Coated tissue scaffolds help body grow new bone to repair injuries or congenital defects
• Asian inventions dominate energy storage systems
• Bubbling down: Discovery suggests surprising uses for common bubbles
• Exporting US coal to Asia could drop emissions 21 percent
• Determining stellar compositions made easier with new catalog
• Economists: Shale oil 'dividend' could pay for smaller carbon footprint
• Graphene rubber bands could stretch limits of current healthcare, new research finds
• Cloud computing: The last step towards technological globalization?
• Hybrid laminate material with magnetic and photoactive properties
• Scientists unveil new technology to better understand small clusters of atoms
• Electronic 'noses' to detect chemical warfare gases
• A new wireless energy transfer device can charge any device without using cables
• Most complete Antarctic map for climate research made public
• New 'invisibility cloak': Octopus-inspired camouflage systems automatically read surroundings and mimic them
• Device monitors key step in development of tumor metastases
• Targeted brain stimulation aids stroke recovery in mice, scientists find
• Success in intracellular imaging of cesium distribution in plants used for cesium absorption

Solar energy that doesn't block the view Posted: 19 Aug 2014 05:02 PM PDT Researchers have developed a new type of solar concentrator that when placed over a window creates solar energy while allowing people to actually see through the window. It is called a transparent luminescent solar concentrator and can be used on buildings, cell phones and any other device that has a flat, clear surface.

Nuclear magnetic resonance experiments using Earth's magnetic field Posted: 19 Aug 2014 05:02 PM PDT Earth's magnetic field, a familiar directional indicator over long distances, is routinely probed in applications ranging from geology to archaeology. Now it has provided the basis for a technique which might, one day, be used to characterize the chemical composition of fluid mixtures in their native environments. Researchers have carried out nuclear magnetic resonance experiments using an ultra-low magnetic field comparable to Earth's magnetic field.

Engineering bone growth: Coated tissue scaffolds help body grow new bone to repair injuries or congenital defects Posted: 19 Aug 2014 12:53 PM PDT Chemical engineers have devised a new implantable tissue scaffold coated with bone growth factors that are released slowly over a few weeks. When applied to bone injuries or defects, this coated scaffold induces the body to rapidly form new bone that looks and behaves just like the original tissue. This type of coated scaffold could offer a dramatic improvement over the current standard for treating bone injuries, which involves transplanting bone from another part of the patient's body -- a painful process that does not always supply enough bone.

Asian inventions dominate energy storage systems Posted: 19 Aug 2014 12:53 PM PDT In recent years, the number of patent applications for electrochemical energy storage technologies has soared. According to a study, the largest volume of applications is submitted by developers of lithium batteries. The study offers a first differentiated analysis of which technologies will be viable in the exit from fossil-fuel energy. European and US companies are falling behind economically, as Asian companies apply for a substantially higher number of patents.

Bubbling down: Discovery suggests surprising uses for common bubbles Posted: 19 Aug 2014 09:59 AM PDT In a finding with scientific and industrial applications, researchers find that bursting bubbles can push tiny particles down into a liquid as well as up into the air.

Exporting US coal to Asia could drop emissions 21 percent Posted: 19 Aug 2014 08:30 AM PDT Under the right scenario, exporting US coal to power plants in South Korea could lead to a 21 percent drop in greenhouse gas emissions compared to burning it at less energy-efficient US plants. Other emissions, including sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide and particulate matter, could also drop. But this success, researchers say, depends on which fuel source the coal replaces in South Korea, and which fuel is used to replace it in the US.

Determining stellar compositions made easier with new catalog Posted: 19 Aug 2014 06:41 AM PDT An astronomer has devised the largest catalog ever produced for stellar compositions. The work is critical to understanding the properties of stars, how they form, and possible connections with orbiting planets. And what she found from her work is that the compositions of nearby stars aren't as uniform as once thought.

Economists: Shale oil 'dividend' could pay for smaller carbon footprint Posted: 19 Aug 2014 06:40 AM PDT Unanticipated economic benefits from the shale oil and gas boom could help offset the costs of substantially reducing the US's carbon footprint, agricultural economists say. Using an economic model, they found that "spending" part of this dividend on slashing the nation's carbon emissions by about 27 percent -- about the same amount set forth in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's recently proposed Clean Power Plan -- would reduce the shale dividend by about half.

Graphene rubber bands could stretch limits of current healthcare, new research finds Posted: 19 Aug 2014 05:34 AM PDT A new type of sensor that can monitor body movements and could help revolutionize healthcare is described in a new study. "These sensors are extraordinarily cheap compared to existing technologies. Each device would probably cost pennies, making it ideal technology for use in developing countries where there are not enough medically trained staff to effectively monitor and treat patients quickly," researchers said.

Cloud computing: The last step towards technological globalization? Posted: 19 Aug 2014 05:32 AM PDT Cloud computing is not only the latest revolution in the ICT world, but a key enhancer of innovation and economic development. Within the framework of the project CLOUDS, Madrid-based researchers have made crucial scientific advances in the state-of-the-art of cloud computing.

Hybrid laminate material with magnetic and photoactive properties Posted: 19 Aug 2014 05:32 AM PDT Researchers confirm for the first time the possibility of modulating the magnetic properties of an inorganic material through organic photoactive molecules activated by light.

Scientists unveil new technology to better understand small clusters of atoms Posted: 19 Aug 2014 05:32 AM PDT Physicists have developed new technology to study atomic vibration in small particles, revealing a more accurate picture of the structure of atomic clusters where surface atoms vibrate more intensively than internal atoms. Using new computer technology based on gaming machines, scientists were able to use a combination of molecular dynamics and quantum mechanics calculations to simulate the electron microscopy of gold particles.

Electronic 'noses' to detect chemical warfare gases Posted: 19 Aug 2014 05:32 AM PDT Researchers have developed a prototype of electronic "nose" for the detection of chemical warfare gases, fundamentally nerve gases (Sarin, Soman and Tabun).

A new wireless energy transfer device can charge any device without using cables Posted: 19 Aug 2014 05:32 AM PDT Researchers have designed a new device for wireless energy transfer that will, for example, charge mobile phones or laptops without needing cables.

Most complete Antarctic map for climate research made public Posted: 18 Aug 2014 05:41 PM PDT A new satellite image of Antarctica has been made available to the public, and the imagery will help scientists all over the world gain new insight into the effects of climate change. Using Synthetic Aperture Radar with multiple polarization modes aboard the RADARSAT-2 satellite, the CSA collected more than 3,150 images of the continent in the autumn of 2008, comprising a single pole-to-coast map covering all of Antarctica. This is the first such map of the area since RADARSAT-1 created one in 1997.

New 'invisibility cloak': Octopus-inspired camouflage systems automatically read surroundings and mimic them Posted: 18 Aug 2014 05:41 PM PDT Researchers have developed a technology that allows a material to automatically read its environment and adapt to mimic its surroundings. Cunjiang Yu, assistant professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Houston and lead author of the paper, said the system was inspired by the skins of cephalopods, a class of marine animals which can change coloration quickly, both for camouflage and as a form of warning.

Device monitors key step in development of tumor metastases Posted: 18 Aug 2014 12:36 PM PDT A microfluidic device may help study key steps in the process by which cancer cells break off from a primary tumor to invade other tissues and form metastases. "This device gives us a platform to be used in testing and comparing compounds to block or delay the epithelial-mesenchymal transition, potentially slowing the progression of cancer," says one researcher.

Targeted brain stimulation aids stroke recovery in mice, scientists find Posted: 18 Aug 2014 12:25 PM PDT When investigators applied light-driven stimulation to nerve cells in the brains of mice that had suffered strokes several days earlier, the mice showed significantly greater recovery in motor ability than mice that had experienced strokes but whose brains weren't stimulated.

Success in intracellular imaging of cesium distribution in plants used for cesium absorption Posted: 18 Aug 2014 06:48 AM PDT Since the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, the discharge of radioactive cesium into the environment has become a serious environmental problem. While various decontamination methods are currently being studied, methods involving cesium absorption from soil and water by plants has drawn attention since they can be used to concentrate cesium, produce little waste, are inexpensive, and environmentally benign. The method developed in new research can be used to detect cesium carbonate particles at high resolution (micrometer-level) by using a fluorescent probe called "Cesium Green," which also enables intracellular imaging of cesium distribution.

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