ScienceDaily: Top Technology News

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• Reduce traffic congestion: Wirelessly route drivers around congested roadways
• Nature's designs inspire research into new light-based technologies
• Engineers develop algorithms to switch out and recharge battery modules in electric cars
• Math model designed to replace invasive kidney biopsy for lupus patients
• Physicists heat freestanding graphene to control curvature of ripples
• Smallest known galaxy with a supermassive black hole
• Magnetic resonance helps detect, quantify fat in liver
• Nanoscience makes your wine better
• NASA chooses American companies to transport U.S. astronauts to International Space Station
• Global shift away from cars would save US$100 trillion, eliminate 1,700 megatons of carbon dioxide pollution
• Sharks' skin has teeth in the fight against hospital superbugs
• 'Smart material' chin strap harvests energy from chewing
• Recruiting bacteria as technology innovation partners: New self-healing materials and bioprocessing technologies
• Violent origins of disc galaxies: Why Milky Way-like galaxies are so common in the universe
• Flying robots will go where humans can't
• New radiosurgery technology provides highly accurate treatment, greater patient comfort
• Network measures predict neuropsychological outcome after brain injury

Reduce traffic congestion: Wirelessly route drivers around congested roadways Posted: 17 Sep 2014 12:54 PM PDT A new system, dubbed RoadRunner, uses GPS-style turn-by-turn directions to route drivers around congested roadways.

Nature's designs inspire research into new light-based technologies Posted: 17 Sep 2014 12:19 PM PDT Solutions required for progress on the frontiers of photonics technology are close at hand: in nature, when viewed through the perspective of engineer, says an optics researcher.

Engineers develop algorithms to switch out and recharge battery modules in electric cars Posted: 17 Sep 2014 10:18 AM PDT Imagine being able to switch out the batteries in electric cars just like you switch out batteries in a photo camera or flashlight. A team of engineers are trying to accomplish just that, in partnership with an engineering company. They have developed smaller units within the battery, called modules, and a battery management system that will allow them to swap out and recharge the modules.

Math model designed to replace invasive kidney biopsy for lupus patients Posted: 17 Sep 2014 10:16 AM PDT Mathematics might be able to reduce the need for invasive biopsies in patients suffering kidney damage related to the autoimmune disease lupus. The model could also be used to monitor the effectiveness of experimental treatments for inflammation and fibrosis, researchers say.

Physicists heat freestanding graphene to control curvature of ripples Posted: 17 Sep 2014 10:16 AM PDT Physicists have discovered that heating can be used to control the curvature of ripples in freestanding graphene. The finding provides fundamental insight into understanding the influence temperature exerts on the dynamics of freestanding graphene. This may drive future applications of the flexible circuits of consumer devices such as cell phones and digital cameras.

Smallest known galaxy with a supermassive black hole Posted: 17 Sep 2014 10:16 AM PDT Astronomers have discovered that an ultracompact dwarf galaxy harbors a supermassive black hole – the smallest galaxy known to contain such a massive light-sucking object. The finding suggests huge black holes may be more common than previously believed.

Magnetic resonance helps detect, quantify fat in liver Posted: 17 Sep 2014 09:05 AM PDT Excess weight causes important alterations in an organism, one of which affects liver function. Fat accumulates in the liver producing hepatic steatosis which can cause inflammation, fibrosis and cirrhosis. To date, the most reliable method for determining hepatic fat has been hepatic biopsy. Imaging techniques such as abdominal ecography detect, but are less precise for determining the quantity of fat. Now a study has shown that magnetic resonance is a good method -- better still than hepatic biopsy -- for detecting fats in the liver and for quantifying them.

Nanoscience makes your wine better Posted: 17 Sep 2014 06:29 AM PDT One sip of a perfectly poured glass of wine leads to an explosion of flavors in your mouth. Researchers have now developed a nanosensor that can mimic what happens in your mouth when you drink wine. The sensor measures how you experience the sensation of dryness in the wine.

NASA chooses American companies to transport U.S. astronauts to International Space Station Posted: 17 Sep 2014 05:46 AM PDT U.S. astronauts once again will travel to and from the International Space Station from the United States on American spacecraft under groundbreaking contracts NASA announced Tuesday. The agency unveiled its selection of Boeing and SpaceX to transport U.S. crews to and from the space station using their CST-100 and Crew Dragon spacecraft, respectively, with a goal of ending the nation's sole reliance on Russia in 2017.

Global shift away from cars would save US$100 trillion, eliminate 1,700 megatons of carbon dioxide pollution Posted: 17 Sep 2014 04:33 AM PDT More than $100 trillion in cumulative public and private spending, and 1,700 megatons of annual carbon dioxide -- a 40 percent reduction of urban passenger transport emissions -- could be eliminated by 2050 if the world expands public transportation, walking and cycling in cities, according to a new report.

Sharks' skin has teeth in the fight against hospital superbugs Posted: 17 Sep 2014 04:32 AM PDT Transmission of bacterial infections, including Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and Methicillin-sensitive Staphylococcus aureus could be curbed by coating hospital surfaces with microscopic bumps that mimic the scaly surface of shark skin, according to research.

'Smart material' chin strap harvests energy from chewing Posted: 17 Sep 2014 04:32 AM PDT A chin strap that can harvest energy from jaw movements has been created by a group of researchers in Canada. It is hoped that the device can generate electricity from eating, chewing and talking, and power a number of small-scale implantable or wearable electronic devices, such as hearing aids, cochlear implants, electronic hearing protectors and communication devices.

Recruiting bacteria as technology innovation partners: New self-healing materials and bioprocessing technologies Posted: 17 Sep 2014 04:32 AM PDT For most people biofilms conjure up images of slippery stones in a streambed and dirty drains. While there are plenty of 'bad' biofilms around, a team of scientists see biofilms as a robust new platform for designer nanomaterials that could clean up polluted rivers, manufacture pharmaceutical products, fabricate new textiles, and more.

Violent origins of disc galaxies: Why Milky Way-like galaxies are so common in the universe Posted: 17 Sep 2014 04:31 AM PDT For decades scientists have believed that galaxy mergers usually result in the formation of elliptical galaxies. Now, for the the first time, researchers have found direct evidence that merging galaxies can instead form disc galaxies, and that this outcome is in fact quite common. This surprising result could explain why there are so many spiral galaxies like the Milky Way in the Universe.

Flying robots will go where humans can't Posted: 17 Sep 2014 04:31 AM PDT There are many situations where it's impossible, complicated or too time-consuming for humans to enter and carry out operations. Think of contaminated areas following a nuclear accident, or the need to erect structures such as antennae on mountain tops. These are examples of where flying robots could be used.

New radiosurgery technology provides highly accurate treatment, greater patient comfort Posted: 16 Sep 2014 01:25 PM PDT A new stereotactic radiosurgery system provides the same or a higher level of accuracy in targeting cancer tumors -- but offers greater comfort to patients and the ability to treat multiple tumors at once -- when compared to other radiation therapy stereotactic systems, according to researchers.

Network measures predict neuropsychological outcome after brain injury Posted: 15 Sep 2014 12:39 PM PDT Scientists have studied neurological patients with focal brain damage, and found that damage to six hub locations -- identified in a model using resting state fMRI, functional connectivity analyses, and graph theory -- produced much greater cognitive impairment than damage to other locations.

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