ScienceDaily: Top Technology News

---

• Solar-cell efficiency improved with new polymer devices
• Better way to track emerging cell therapies using MRIs
• Fingertip sensor gives robot unprecedented dexterity
• A refined approach to proteins at low resolution
• Soft robotics 'toolkit' features everything a robot-maker needs
• Reflected smartphone transmissions enable gesture control
• Graphene sensor tracks down cancer biomarkers
• Computers 1,000 times faster? Quick-change materials break silicon speed limit for computers
• An anomaly in satellites' flybys confounds scientists
• Superabsorbing ring could make light work of snaps, be ultimate camera pixel
• Shrink-wrapping spacesuits: Spacesuits of the future may resemble a streamlined second skin
• Mechanism behind solid-solid phase transitions uncovered
• Toward optical chips: Promising light source for optoelectronic chips can be tuned to different frequencies
• Wireless sensor transmits tumor pressure
• Using underwater robots for a better understanding of the underwater world
• Latest measurements from the AMS experiment unveil new territories in the flux of cosmic rays
• Milestone in chemical studies of superheavy elements: Superheavy element and carbon atom bonded for first time
• Smartgels, like gelatin, are thicker than water
• Monster galaxies gain weight by eating smaller neighbors
• New biomedical implants heal bones faster, focus on personalized medicine
• New non-invasive technique could revolutionize imaging of metastatic cancer

Solar-cell efficiency improved with new polymer devices Posted: 19 Sep 2014 11:28 AM PDT New light has been shed on solar power generation using devices made with polymers. Researchers identified a new polymer -- a type of large molecule that forms plastics and other familiar materials -- which improved the efficiency of solar cells. The group also determined the method by which the polymer improved the cells' efficiency. The polymer allowed electrical charges to move more easily throughout the cell, boosting the production of electricity -- a mechanism never before demonstrated in such devices.

Better way to track emerging cell therapies using MRIs Posted: 19 Sep 2014 11:28 AM PDT The first human tests of using a perfluorocarbon (PFC) tracer in combination with non-invasive magnetic resonance imaging to track therapeutic immune cells injected into patients with colorectal cancer have been reported by scientists.

Fingertip sensor gives robot unprecedented dexterity Posted: 19 Sep 2014 09:22 AM PDT Researchers have equipped a robot with a novel tactile sensor that lets it grasp a USB cable draped freely over a hook and insert it into a USB port.

A refined approach to proteins at low resolution Posted: 19 Sep 2014 09:22 AM PDT Crystals of membrane proteins and protein complexes often diffract to low resolution owing to their intrinsic molecular flexibility, heterogeneity or the mosaic spread of micro-domains. At low resolution, the building and refinement of atomic models is a more challenging task. The deformable elastic network refinement method developed previously has been instrumental in the determination of several structures at low resolution. Now, DEN refinement has been reviewed.

Soft robotics 'toolkit' features everything a robot-maker needs Posted: 19 Sep 2014 09:21 AM PDT A new resource provides both experienced and aspiring researchers with the intellectual raw materials needed to design, build, and operate robots made from soft, flexible materials. With the advent of low-cost 3-D printing, laser cutters, and other advances in manufacturing technology, soft robotics is emerging as an increasingly important field.

Reflected smartphone transmissions enable gesture control Posted: 19 Sep 2014 09:21 AM PDT Engineers have developed a new form of low-power wireless sensing technology that lets users "train" their smartphones to recognize and respond to specific hand gestures near the phone.

Graphene sensor tracks down cancer biomarkers Posted: 19 Sep 2014 08:06 AM PDT An ultrasensitive biosensor made from the wonder material graphene has been used to detect molecules that indicate an increased risk of developing cancer. The biosensor has been shown to be more than five times more sensitive than bioassay tests currently in use, and was able to provide results in a matter of minutes, opening up the possibility of a rapid, point-of-care diagnostic tool for patients.

Computers 1,000 times faster? Quick-change materials break silicon speed limit for computers Posted: 19 Sep 2014 08:06 AM PDT Faster, smaller, greener computers, capable of processing information up to 1,000 times faster than currently available models, could be made possible by replacing silicon with materials that can switch back and forth between different electrical states.

An anomaly in satellites' flybys confounds scientists Posted: 19 Sep 2014 08:05 AM PDT When space probes, such as Rosetta and Cassini, fly over certain planets and moons, in order to gain momentum and travel long distances, their speed changes slightly for an unknown reason. A researcher has now analyzed whether or not a hypothetical gravitomagnetic field could have an influence. However, other factors such as solar radiation, tides, or even relativistic effects or dark matter could be behind this mystery.

Superabsorbing ring could make light work of snaps, be ultimate camera pixel Posted: 19 Sep 2014 07:08 AM PDT A quantum effect in which excited atoms team up to emit an enhanced pulse of light can be turned on its head to create 'superabsorbing' systems that could make the 'ultimate camera pixel'.

Shrink-wrapping spacesuits: Spacesuits of the future may resemble a streamlined second skin Posted: 19 Sep 2014 06:48 AM PDT For future astronauts, the process of suiting up may go something like this: Instead of climbing into a conventional, bulky, gas-pressurized suit, an astronaut may don a lightweight, stretchy garment, lined with tiny, musclelike coils. She would then plug in to a spacecraft's power supply, triggering the coils to contract and essentially shrink-wrap the garment around her body.

Mechanism behind solid-solid phase transitions uncovered Posted: 19 Sep 2014 06:32 AM PDT Two solids made of the same elements but with different geometric arrangements of the atoms, or crystal phases, can produce materials with different properties. Coal and diamond offer a spectacular example of this effect. Researchers have found that some crystals have an easier time of making a solid-solid transition if they take it in two steps. Surprisingly, the first step of the process involves the parent phase producing droplets of liquid. The liquid droplets then evolve into the daughter phase.

Toward optical chips: Promising light source for optoelectronic chips can be tuned to different frequencies Posted: 19 Sep 2014 06:32 AM PDT Chips that use light, rather than electricity, to move data would consume much less power -- and energy efficiency is a growing concern as chips' transistor counts rise. Scientists have developed a new technique for building MoS2 light emitters tuned to different frequencies, an essential requirement for optoelectronic chips. Since thin films of material can also be patterned onto sheets of plastic, the same work could point toward thin, flexible, bright, color displays.

Wireless sensor transmits tumor pressure Posted: 19 Sep 2014 06:27 AM PDT A novel sensor that can wirelessly relay pressure readings from inside a tumor has been developed by researchers. The interstitial pressure inside a tumor is often remarkably high compared to normal tissues and is thought to impede the delivery of chemotherapeutic agents as well as decrease the effectiveness of radiation therapy. While medications exist that temporarily decrease tumor pressure, identifying the optimal window to initiate treatment -- when tumor pressure is lowest -- has remained a challenge.

Using underwater robots for a better understanding of the underwater world Posted: 19 Sep 2014 05:38 AM PDT It is where we all came from and it is vital to our future, but Earth's oceans, seas and waterways remain a mystery to us – a final frontier. A new project is at the forefront of a revolution in communications, creating an underwater 'internet of things', that will mobilize robots to work in groups, interacting together and passing back information to us on life underwater.

Latest measurements from the AMS experiment unveil new territories in the flux of cosmic rays Posted: 19 Sep 2014 05:38 AM PDT The Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer collaboration has just presented its latest results. These are based on the analysis of 41 billion particles detected with the space-based AMS detector aboard the International Space Station. The results provide new insights into the nature of the mysterious excess of positrons observed in the flux of cosmic rays.

Milestone in chemical studies of superheavy elements: Superheavy element and carbon atom bonded for first time Posted: 19 Sep 2014 05:38 AM PDT A chemical bond between a superheavy element and a carbon atom has been established for the first time. This research opens new vistas for studying the effects of Einstein's relativity on the structure of the periodic table.

Smartgels, like gelatin, are thicker than water Posted: 19 Sep 2014 05:38 AM PDT Transforming substances from liquids into gels plays an important role across many industries, including cosmetics, medicine, and energy. But the transformation process, called gelation, where manufacturers add chemical thickeners and either heat or cool the fluids to make them more viscous or elastic, is expensive and energy demanding. Take shampoo, for example. Without gelation, the contents of the shampoo bottle would be thin and watery. Instead of squirting a gooey dollop into the palm of your hand, the shampoo would rush between your fingers and escape down the drain before you could slather it on your head.

Monster galaxies gain weight by eating smaller neighbors Posted: 19 Sep 2014 05:38 AM PDT Massive galaxies in the universe have stopped making their own stars and are instead snacking on nearby galaxies. Astronomers looked at more than 22,000 galaxies and found that while smaller galaxies are very efficient at creating stars from gas, the most massive galaxies are much less efficient at star formation, producing hardly any new stars themselves, and instead grow by 'eating' other galaxies.

New biomedical implants heal bones faster, focus on personalized medicine Posted: 18 Sep 2014 06:34 PM PDT A major success in developing new biomedical implants with the ability to accelerate bone healing has been reported by a group of scientists, which suggests a move toward a future of personalized products. "It is very much like your taste in music and TV shows. People are different and the new trend in biotechnology is to make personalized medicine that matches the patient's needs," he says. "With regard to implants, we have the problem of variations in bone density in patients with osteoporosis and in some cases, even healthy individuals."

New non-invasive technique could revolutionize imaging of metastatic cancer Posted: 17 Sep 2014 02:29 PM PDT A new molecular imaging approach could revolutionize doctors' ability to see tumors that have metastasized to other sites in the body, including the bones. Preclinical animal models of metastatic prostate cancer helped to pave the way for this new development, which uses bioluminescence, nanoparticles, gene manipulation as components of the exciting new approach to imaging local and metastatic tumors.

You are subscribed to email updates from Top Technology News -- ScienceDaily To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now.	Email delivery powered by Google
Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610