ScienceDaily: Top Technology News

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• Power outage? Robots to the rescue
• Mechanized human hands: System designed to improve hand function lost to nerve damage
• On the road to artificial photosynthesis
• Longstanding bottleneck in crystal structure prediction solved
• New discovery could pave way for spin-based computing: Novel oxide-based magnetism follows electrical commands
• How to make stronger, 'greener' cement: New formula could cut greenhouse-gas emissions
• Efficiently harvesting hydrogen fuel from Sun using Earth-abundant materials
• Earth's water is older than the sun: Likely originated as ices that formed in interstellar space
• Amino acids? Interstellar molecules are branching out
• World's smallest reference material is big plus for nanotechnology
• Putting the squeeze on quantum information
• Solar cell compound probed under pressure
• Structure of enzyme that makes plant cellulose uncovered
• Yoga, meditation may help train brain to help people control computers with their mind
• New organic semiconductor material: Organic tin in polymers increases their light absorption
• A galaxy of deception: Hubble snaps what looks like a young galaxy in the local Universe
• Live long and phosphor: Blue LED breakthrough for efficient electronics
• Magnetic field opens and closes nanovesicle
• Airway muscle-on-a-chip mimics asthma
• Direct Vision trucks would save hundreds of lives, says study

Power outage? Robots to the rescue Posted: 25 Sep 2014 03:25 PM PDT Big disasters almost always result in big power failures. Not only do they take down the TV and fridge, they also wreak havoc with key infrastructure like cell towers. That can delay search and rescue operations at a time when minutes count. Engineers have now developed a tabletop model of robotic first responders that can bring power to places that need it the most —- like communications towers.

Mechanized human hands: System designed to improve hand function lost to nerve damage Posted: 25 Sep 2014 02:26 PM PDT Engineers have developed and successfully demonstrated the value of a simple pulley mechanism to improve hand function after surgery. The device, tested in cadaver hands, is one of the first instruments ever created that could improve the transmission of mechanical forces and movement while implanted inside the body.

On the road to artificial photosynthesis Posted: 25 Sep 2014 12:08 PM PDT The excessive atmospheric carbon dioxide that is driving global climate change could be harnessed into a renewable energy technology that would be a win for both the environment and the economy. That is the lure of artificial photosynthesis in which the electrochemical reduction of carbon dioxide is used to produce clean, green and sustainable fuels. However, finding a catalyst for reducing carbon dioxide that is highly selective and efficient has proven to be a huge scientific challenge. New experimental results have revealed the critical influence of the electronic and geometric effects in the carbon dioxide reduction reaction and might help make the problem easier to tackle.

Longstanding bottleneck in crystal structure prediction solved Posted: 25 Sep 2014 12:08 PM PDT The various patterns that atoms of a solid material can adopt, called crystal structures, can have a huge impact on its properties. Being able to accurately predict the most stable crystal structure for a material has been a longstanding challenge for scientists. Researchers calculated the lattice energy of benzene, a simple yet important molecule in pharmaceutical and energy research, to sub-kilojoule per mole accuracy -- a level of certainty that allows polymorphism to be resolved.

New discovery could pave way for spin-based computing: Novel oxide-based magnetism follows electrical commands Posted: 25 Sep 2014 12:08 PM PDT Electricity and magnetism rule our digital world. Semiconductors process electrical information, while magnetic materials enable long-term data storage. A research team has now discovered a way to fuse these two distinct properties in a single material, paving the way for new ultrahigh density storage and computing architectures.

How to make stronger, 'greener' cement: New formula could cut greenhouse-gas emissions Posted: 25 Sep 2014 11:12 AM PDT Concrete is the world's most-used construction material, and a leading contributor to global warming, producing as much as one-tenth of industry-generated greenhouse-gas emissions. Now a new study suggests a way in which those emissions could be reduced by more than half -- and the result would be a stronger, more durable material.

Efficiently harvesting hydrogen fuel from Sun using Earth-abundant materials Posted: 25 Sep 2014 11:12 AM PDT Scientists have a new efficient way of producing hydrogen fuel from sunlight and water. By combining a pair of solar cells made with a mineral called perovskite and low cost electrodes, scientists have obtained a 12.3 percent conversion efficiency from solar energy to hydrogen, a record using Earth-abundant materials as opposed to rare metals.

Earth's water is older than the sun: Likely originated as ices that formed in interstellar space Posted: 25 Sep 2014 11:12 AM PDT Water was crucial to the rise of life on Earth and is also important to evaluating the possibility of life on other planets. Identifying the original source of Earth's water is key to understanding how life-fostering environments come into being and how likely they are to be found elsewhere. New work found that much of our solar system's water likely originated as ices that formed in interstellar space.

Amino acids? Interstellar molecules are branching out Posted: 25 Sep 2014 11:12 AM PDT Scientists have for the first time detected a carbon-bearing molecule with a 'branched' structure in interstellar space. The discovery of iso-propyl cyanide opens a new frontier in the complexity of molecules found in regions of star formation, and bodes well for the presence of amino acids, for which this branched structure is a key characteristic.

World's smallest reference material is big plus for nanotechnology Posted: 25 Sep 2014 10:28 AM PDT The National Institute of Standards and Technology recently issued Reference Material 8027, the smallest known reference material ever created for validating measurements of these human-made, ultrafine particles between 1 and 100 nanometers -- billionths of a meter -- in size.

Putting the squeeze on quantum information Posted: 25 Sep 2014 10:28 AM PDT Researchers have shown that information stored in quantum bits can be exponentially compressed without losing information. The achievement is an important proof of principle, and could be useful for efficient quantum communications and information storage.

Solar cell compound probed under pressure Posted: 25 Sep 2014 10:27 AM PDT Gallium arsenide a semiconductor composed of gallium and arsenic is well known to have properties that promise practical applications. In the form of nanowires it has particular potential for use in solar cell manufacture and optoelectronics in many of the same applications that silicon is commonly used. But its natural semiconducting ability requires tuning to make it more desirable for use in manufacturing. New work offers a novel approach to such tuning.

Structure of enzyme that makes plant cellulose uncovered Posted: 25 Sep 2014 10:26 AM PDT The structure of the enzyme that makes cellulose has been uncovered by researchers, a finding that could lead to easier ways of breaking down plant materials to make biofuels and other products and materials. The research also provides the most detailed glimpse to date of the complicated process by which cellulose -- the foundation of the plant cell wall and the most abundant organic compound on the planet -- is produced.

Yoga, meditation may help train brain to help people control computers with their mind Posted: 25 Sep 2014 10:25 AM PDT People who practice yoga and meditation long term can learn to control a computer with their minds faster and better than people with little or no yoga or meditation experience, new research by biomedical engineers shows. The research could have major implications for treatments of people who are paralyzed or have neurodegenerative diseases.

New organic semiconductor material: Organic tin in polymers increases their light absorption Posted: 25 Sep 2014 10:13 AM PDT Researchers have integrated organic tin into semiconducting polymers (plastics) for the first time. Semiconducting polymers can be used, for example, for the absorption of sun light in solar cells. By incorporating organic tin into the plastic, light can be absorbed over a wide range of the solar spectrum.

A galaxy of deception: Hubble snaps what looks like a young galaxy in the local Universe Posted: 25 Sep 2014 07:21 AM PDT Astronomers usually have to peer very far into the distance to see back in time, and view the Universe as it was when it was young. This new image of galaxy DDO 68, otherwise known as UGC 5340, was thought to offer an exception. This ragged collection of stars and gas clouds looks at first glance like a recently-formed galaxy in our own cosmic neighborhood. But, is it really as young as it looks?

Live long and phosphor: Blue LED breakthrough for efficient electronics Posted: 25 Sep 2014 05:14 AM PDT In a step that could lead to longer battery life in smartphones and lower power consumption for large-screen televisions, researchers have extended the lifetime of blue organic light emitting diodes by a factor of 10.

Magnetic field opens and closes nanovesicle Posted: 24 Sep 2014 05:48 AM PDT Chemists and physicists have managed to open and close nanovesicles using a magnet. This process is repeatable and can be controlled remotely, allowing targeted drug transport in the body, for example.

Airway muscle-on-a-chip mimics asthma Posted: 23 Sep 2014 08:07 AM PDT New drugs are urgently needed to treat asthma. Hope may be on the horizon thanks to a team that has developed a human airway muscle-on-a-chip that accurately mimics the way smooth muscle contracts in the human airway, under normal circumstances and when exposed to asthma triggers. It also offers a window into the cellular and even subcellular responses within the tissue during an asthmatic event, researchers say.

Direct Vision trucks would save hundreds of lives, says study Posted: 23 Sep 2014 07:15 AM PDT A longer, more aerodynamic cab with better vision for truck drivers could save the lives of hundreds of cyclists and pedestrians, according to a new study. The proposed new cab, 80cm longer with a rounded nose, smaller dashboard, expanded glazed areas, and a slightly lower driver position, could drastically reduce blind spots around the truck.

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