ScienceDaily: Top Technology News

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• Computer program assesses quality of Wikipedia entries
• Hubble finds supernova star system linked to potential 'zombie star'
• Ion duet offers tunable module for quantum simulator
• Website to help safeguard the United States borders against alien scale insect pests
• New hand-held device uses lasers, sound waves for deeper melanoma imaging
• Tortoises master touchscreen technology
• Biomotor discovered in many bacteria and viruses
• New material structures bend like microscopic hair
• Correct seat belt use saves children's lives
• Sensors that improve rail transport safety
• Simulation models optimize water power
• New prosthetic arm controlled by neural messages
• Rosetta: 100 kilometres to 'touchdown'
• Triangulum galaxy snapped by VST
• A breath reveals a hidden image in anti-counterfeit drug labels
• Rosetta spacecraft arrives at comet destination
• How Rosetta arrives at a comet
• Rosetta takes comet’s temperature
• Novel process for creation of fuel and chemical compounds
• Physicists eye neural fly data, find formula for Zipf's law
• PET/CT using leucocytes may detect infection in acute pancreatitis patients
• Strawberry monitoring system could add $1. 7 million over 10 years to some farms
• 'I can't figure out how to do this!': Active-learning techniques effective for large scale classes?
• Veterinarians use nanoparticles to deliver cancer treatment in dogs, cats
• Advanced thin-film technique could deliver long-lasting medication

Computer program assesses quality of Wikipedia entries Posted: 06 Aug 2014 11:22 AM PDT Wikipedia the free, online collaborative encyclopedia is an important source of information. However, while the team of volunteer editors endeavors to maintain high standards, there are occasionally problems with the veracity of content, deliberate vandalism and incomplete entries. Computer scientists have now devised a software algorithm that can automatically check a particular entry and rank it according to quality.

Hubble finds supernova star system linked to potential 'zombie star' Posted: 06 Aug 2014 11:21 AM PDT Astronomers have spotted a star system that could have left behind a "zombie star" after an unusually weak supernova explosion. A supernova typically obliterates the exploding white dwarf, or dying star. On this occasion, scientists believe this faint supernova may have left behind a surviving portion of the dwarf star -- a sort of zombie star.

Ion duet offers tunable module for quantum simulator Posted: 06 Aug 2014 10:45 AM PDT Physicists have demonstrated a pas de deux of atomic ions that combines the fine choreography of dance with precise individual control. The ion duet is a component for a flexible quantum simulator that could be scaled up in size and configured to model quantum systems of a complexity that overwhelms traditional computer simulations.

Website to help safeguard the United States borders against alien scale insect pests Posted: 06 Aug 2014 09:51 AM PDT A group of scientists has built an online interactive website to help state and federal identifiers safeguard the US ports-of-entry from alien scale insect pests. The interactive website facilitates pest identifications by gathering, in one place, photos, drawings and current information on 194 species that have the potential to become serious pests to U.S. agriculture.

New hand-held device uses lasers, sound waves for deeper melanoma imaging Posted: 06 Aug 2014 09:51 AM PDT Melanoma is the deadliest form of skin cancer, causing more than 75 percent of skin-cancer deaths. The thicker the melanoma tumor, the more likely it will spread and the deadlier it becomes. Now, a team of researchers has developed a new hand-held device that uses lasers and sound waves that may change the way doctors treat and diagnose melanoma. The tool is ready for commercialization and clinical trials.

Tortoises master touchscreen technology Posted: 06 Aug 2014 09:49 AM PDT Tortoises have learned how to use touchscreens as part of a study which aimed to teach the animals navigational techniques. The brain structure of reptiles is very different to that of mammals, which use the hippocampus for spatial navigation.

Biomotor discovered in many bacteria and viruses Posted: 06 Aug 2014 09:48 AM PDT Nano-biotechnologists have reported the discovery of a new, third class of biomotor, unique in that it uses a "revolution without rotation" mechanism. These revolution biomotors are widespread among many bacteria and viruses.

New material structures bend like microscopic hair Posted: 06 Aug 2014 07:28 AM PDT Engineers have fabricated a new elastic material coated with microscopic, hairlike structures that tilt in response to a magnetic field.

Correct seat belt use saves children's lives Posted: 06 Aug 2014 06:48 AM PDT 9 out of 10 children are seriously or fatally injured in traffic accidents because they are incorrectly restrained or because of loose objects in cars. Correct use of safety equipment will save more lives, according to a new study.

Sensors that improve rail transport safety Posted: 06 Aug 2014 06:48 AM PDT A new kind of human-machine communication is to make it possible to detect damage to rail vehicles before it's too late. The technology also leads to an improvement in the servicing of trains, providing it only when needed. The technology relies on a cloud-supported, wireless network of sensors.

Simulation models optimize water power Posted: 06 Aug 2014 06:47 AM PDT The Columbia River basin in the Pacific Northwest offers great potential for water power; hydroelectric power stations there generate over 20,000 megawatts already. Now a simulation model will help optimize the operation of the extensive dam system.

New prosthetic arm controlled by neural messages Posted: 06 Aug 2014 06:47 AM PDT A new prosthetic system aims to identify the memory of movement in the amputee's brain in order to manipulate the device. Controlling a prosthetic arm by just imagining a motion may now be possible.

Rosetta: 100 kilometres to 'touchdown' Posted: 06 Aug 2014 06:47 AM PDT The Rosetta spacecraft is approaching just 100 kilometres from its target comet, "Chury", today. After a ten-year journey, the Bernese instrument, ROSINA, will soon "smell" the first molecules of the comet's gas tail.

Triangulum galaxy snapped by VST Posted: 06 Aug 2014 06:47 AM PDT The VLT Survey Telescope (VST) at ESO's Paranal Observatory in Chile has captured a beautifully detailed image of the galaxy Messier 33. This nearby spiral, the second closest large galaxy to our own galaxy, the Milky Way, is packed with bright star clusters, and clouds of gas and dust. The new picture is amongst the most detailed wide-field views of this object ever taken and shows the many glowing red gas clouds in the spiral arms with particular clarity.

A breath reveals a hidden image in anti-counterfeit drug labels Posted: 06 Aug 2014 06:39 AM PDT An outline of Marilyn Monroe's iconic face appeared on the clear, plastic film when a researcher fogs it with her breath. Scientists have developed a new high-tech label for fighting drug counterfeiting. While the researchers don't envision movie stars on medicine bottles, but they used Monroe's image to prove their concept.

Rosetta spacecraft arrives at comet destination Posted: 06 Aug 2014 04:12 AM PDT After a decade-long journey chasing its target, ESA's Rosetta has today become the first spacecraft to rendezvous with a comet, opening a new chapter in Solar System exploration. Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko and Rosetta now lie 405 million kilometres from Earth, about half way between the orbits of Jupiter and Mars, rushing towards the inner Solar System at nearly 55,000 kilometres per hour.

How Rosetta arrives at a comet Posted: 01 Aug 2014 08:11 AM PDT After travelling nearly 6.4 billion kilometres through the Solar System, ESA's Rosetta is closing in on its target. But how does a spacecraft actually arrive at a comet?

Rosetta takes comet’s temperature Posted: 01 Aug 2014 08:11 AM PDT ESA's Rosetta spacecraft has made its first temperature measurements of its target comet, finding that it is too hot to be covered in ice and must instead have a dark, dusty crust.

Novel process for creation of fuel and chemical compounds Posted: 05 Aug 2014 07:13 PM PDT Scientists have identified the genes and enzymes that create a promising compound -- the 19 carbon furan-containing fatty acid (19Fu-FA). The compound has a variety of potential uses as a biological alternative for compounds currently derived from fossil fuels.

Physicists eye neural fly data, find formula for Zipf's law Posted: 05 Aug 2014 01:33 PM PDT Physicists have identified a mechanism that may help explain Zipf's law -- a unique pattern of behavior found in disparate systems, including complex biological ones. The mathematical models demonstrate how Zipf's law naturally arises when a sufficient number of units react to a hidden variable in a system.

PET/CT using leucocytes may detect infection in acute pancreatitis patients Posted: 05 Aug 2014 10:20 AM PDT A new study diagnosing infection in patients with pancreatic fluid collections may swiftly and accurately rule out active infection in the body, researchers report. This treatment may assist in bringing nuclear medicine to the forefront of clinical management.

Strawberry monitoring system could add $1. 7 million over 10 years to some farms Posted: 05 Aug 2014 10:18 AM PDT Traditionally, strawberry growers spray weekly to preserve their crop. But a new model can help them save more than $1 million in a decade-span on an average 26-acre farm by telling them optimal times to spray. The Strawberry Advisory System takes data such as temperature and leaf wetness and tells growers when to spray fungicide to ward off diseases.

'I can't figure out how to do this!': Active-learning techniques effective for large scale classes? Posted: 04 Aug 2014 02:16 PM PDT In the past 10 years an active-learning course, called Active Physics, has gradually displaced lecture-based introductory course in physics at an American university. But are active-learning techniques effective when they are scaled up to large classes? A comprehensive three-year evaluation suggests that Active Physics consistently produces more proficient students with better attitudes toward learning than the lecture courses it is replacing.

Veterinarians use nanoparticles to deliver cancer treatment in dogs, cats Posted: 04 Aug 2014 02:11 PM PDT Veterinarians are testing the use of gold nanoparticles and a targeted laser treatment for solid tumors in dogs and cats. The nanoparticles circulate in the bloodstream and become temporarily captured within the incomplete blood vessel walls common in solid tumors. Then, a non-ablative laser is employed against the tumor.

Advanced thin-film technique could deliver long-lasting medication Posted: 04 Aug 2014 02:10 PM PDT About one in four older adults suffers from chronic pain. Many of those people take medication, usually as pills. But this is not an ideal way of treating pain: Patients must take medicine frequently, and can suffer side effects, since the contents of pills spread through the bloodstream to the whole body. Now researchers have refined a technique that could enable pain medication and other drugs to be released directly to specific parts of the body. The nanoscale, biodegradable drug-delivery method could provide a year or more of steady doses, they report.

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