ScienceDaily: Top Technology News

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• 3-D map of the adolescent universe
• Novel software application can stratify early-stage non-small cell lung cancer patients
• Designer 'barrel' proteins created
• Molecular structure of water at gold electrodes revealed
• Understanding and predicting solar flares
• First protein microfiber engineered: New material advances tissue engineering and drug delivery
• Lucky star escapes black hole with minor damage: Closest near-miss event to be spotted near the Milky Way
• New window of opportunity to prevent cardiovascular, diseases
• Sea turtles' first days of life: Sprint and ride towards safety
• Precise, programmable biological circuits
• RF heating of magnetic nanoparticles improves thawing of cryopreserved biomaterials
• Acousto-optic tunable filter technology for balloon-borne platforms
• Intelligent materials that work in space
• Recent space debris threat warded off
• Moving in the quantum world
• The perfume of the comet
• Waste, an alternative source of energy to petroleum
• World's fastest manufacture of battery electrodes
• Polymer hybrid thin-film composites for food packaging and membrane filters
• Hard drives: Seed first, heat later for better writing
• Quantum effects bridge the gap
• Should the Japanese give nuclear power another chance?
• Online dermatologic follow-up for atopic dermatitis earns equivalent results
• Unexpected benefits of adjustable rate mortgages
• Adaptive zoom riflescope prototype has push-button magnification
• Cyber protection developed for supply chains

3-D map of the adolescent universe Posted: 23 Oct 2014 12:41 PM PDT Using extremely faint light from galaxies 10.8-billion light years away, scientists have created one of the most complete, three-dimensional maps of a slice of the adolescent universe. The map shows a web of hydrogen gas that varies from low to high density at a time when the universe was made of a fraction of the dark matter we see.

Novel software application can stratify early-stage non-small cell lung cancer patients Posted: 23 Oct 2014 11:23 AM PDT Computer-Aided Nodule Assessment and Risk Yield, is a novel software tool that can automatically quantitate adenocarcinoma pulmonary nodule characteristics from non-invasive high resolution computed tomography images and stratify non-small cell lung cancer patients into risk groups that have significantly different disease-free survival outcome.

Designer 'barrel' proteins created Posted: 23 Oct 2014 11:23 AM PDT Designer proteins that expand on nature's own repertoire, created by a team of chemists and biochemists, are described in a new paper. Proteins are long linear molecules that fold up to form well-defined 3D shapes. These 3D molecular architectures are essential for biological functions such as the elasticity of skin, the digestion of food, and the transport of oxygen in blood.

Molecular structure of water at gold electrodes revealed Posted: 23 Oct 2014 11:23 AM PDT Researchers have recorded the first observations of the molecular structure of liquid water at a gold electrode under different battery charging conditions.

Understanding and predicting solar flares Posted: 23 Oct 2014 10:16 AM PDT Scientists have identified a key phenomenon in the triggering of solar flares. Using satellite data and models, the scientists were able to monitor the evolution of the solar magnetic field in a region with eruptive behavior. Their calculations reveal the formation of a magnetic rope1 that emerges from the interior of the Sun and is associated with the appearance of a sunspot. They show that this structure plays an important role in triggering the flare.

First protein microfiber engineered: New material advances tissue engineering and drug delivery Posted: 23 Oct 2014 08:10 AM PDT Researchers have broken new ground in the development of proteins that form specialized fibers used in medicine and nanotechnology. For as long as scientists have been able to create new proteins that are capable of self-assembling into fibers, their work has taken place on the nanoscale. For the first time, this achievement has been realized on the microscale -- a leap of magnitude in size that presents significant new opportunities for using engineered protein fibers.

Lucky star escapes black hole with minor damage: Closest near-miss event to be spotted near the Milky Way Posted: 23 Oct 2014 08:08 AM PDT Astronomers have gotten the closest look yet at what happens when a black hole takes a bite out of a star—and the star lives to tell the tale.

New window of opportunity to prevent cardiovascular, diseases Posted: 23 Oct 2014 07:09 AM PDT Future prevention and treatment strategies for vascular diseases may lie in the evaluation of early brain imaging tests long before heart attacks or strokes occur, according to a systematic review conducted by a team of cardiologists, neuroscientists, and psychiatrists.

Sea turtles' first days of life: Sprint and ride towards safety Posted: 23 Oct 2014 07:07 AM PDT With new nano-sized acoustic transmitters, scientists followed the pathways of loggerhead turtle hatchlings. According to the study, local oceanic conditions are believed to drive the evolution of some unique swimming behaviors.

Precise, programmable biological circuits Posted: 23 Oct 2014 07:07 AM PDT Several new components for biological circuits have been developed by researchers. These components are key building blocks for constructing precisely functioning and programmable bio-computers. "The ability to combine biological components at will in a modular, plug-and-play fashion means that we now approach the stage when the concept of programming as we know it from software engineering can be applied to biological computers. Bio-engineers will literally be able to program in future."

RF heating of magnetic nanoparticles improves thawing of cryopreserved biomaterials Posted: 23 Oct 2014 07:07 AM PDT Successful techniques for cryopreserving bulk biomaterials and organ systems would transform current approaches to transplantation and regenerative medicine. However, while vitrified cryopreservation holds great promise, practical application has been limited to smaller systems (cells and thin tissues) due to diffusive heat and mass transfer limitations, which are typically manifested as devitrification and cracking failures during thaw. Reserachers leverage a clinically proven technology platform, in magnetically heated nanoparticles, to overcome this major hurdle limiting further advancement in the field of cryopreservation.

Acousto-optic tunable filter technology for balloon-borne platforms Posted: 23 Oct 2014 07:07 AM PDT A balloon-borne acousto-optic tunable filter hyperspectral imager is ideally suited to address numerous outstanding questions in planetary science. Their spectral agility, narrowband wavelength selection, tolerance to the near-space environment, and spectral coverage would enable investigations not feasible from the ground. Example use cases include synoptic observations of clouds on Venus and the giant planets, studies of molecular emissions from cometary comae, the mapping of surface ices on small bodies, and polarimetry.

Intelligent materials that work in space Posted: 23 Oct 2014 07:06 AM PDT Scientists will be testing technology developed in the International Space Station. The technology is based on intelligent materials that allow objects to be sent into orbit without the use of explosives.

Recent space debris threat warded off Posted: 23 Oct 2014 06:20 AM PDT Space debris, also known as 'space junk,' is an ongoing real-life concern for teams managing satellites orbiting Earth, including NOAA-NASA's Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership satellite. It is not unusual for satellites that have the capability of maneuvering to be repositioned to avoid debris or to maintain the proper orbit.

Moving in the quantum world Posted: 23 Oct 2014 06:18 AM PDT Simulating the behavior of a single particle can be quite a challenging task in physics; after all, it is microscopic and we usually cannot watch in real time. It becomes even more complicated when you realize that the particle has to follow the laws of quantum physics, which allow it be in two or more places at the same time through a phenomenon called superposition. Understanding how a quantum particle behaves is necessary to enhance our fundamental understanding of the laws of physics.

The perfume of the comet Posted: 23 Oct 2014 06:18 AM PDT How does a comet smell? Since early August the Rosetta Orbiter Sensor for Ion and Neutral Analysis (ROSINA) is sniffing the fumes of the comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko with its two mass spectrometers. The detected chemistry in the coma of the comet is surprisingly rich already at more than 400 million kilometers from the Sun.

Waste, an alternative source of energy to petroleum Posted: 23 Oct 2014 06:10 AM PDT The development of sustainable refineries is the focus of recent research, where it is possible to produce fuels and raw materials providing an alternative to petroleum by using biomass and other waste materials like plastics, tires, etc. Conical spouted beds are the key to the high energy efficiency of these refineries.

World's fastest manufacture of battery electrodes Posted: 23 Oct 2014 06:10 AM PDT New world record: Scientists have increased the manufacturing speed of electrode foils coated batch-wise by a factor of three – to 100 meters per minute. This was achieved by a flexible slot die process that enables production of any pattern with high precision and at high speeds. Thanks to the patented new technology, electrode foil production speed is increased by a factor of 3. As a result, lithium-ion batteries can be manufactured at much lower costs.

Polymer hybrid thin-film composites for food packaging and membrane filters Posted: 23 Oct 2014 06:10 AM PDT Researchers have developed new hybrid materials for use in the manufacture and modification of thin-film composites. The project resulted in new materials suitable for instance for food packaging with enhanced diffusion barrier and for membrane filters with improved anti-fouling properties used in water purification. In the future, similar materials may find use in flexible OLED displays and in wall and ceiling panels.

Hard drives: Seed first, heat later for better writing Posted: 23 Oct 2014 06:07 AM PDT A new technique for heat-assisted magnetic recording media promises improved writeability for next-generation hard drives.

Quantum effects bridge the gap Posted: 23 Oct 2014 06:07 AM PDT Quantum effects in nanometer-scale metallic structures provide a platform for combining molecular electronics and plasmonics.

Should the Japanese give nuclear power another chance? Posted: 23 Oct 2014 06:07 AM PDT On September 9, 2014, the Japan Times reported an increasing number of suicides coming from the survivors of the March 2011 disaster. In Minami Soma Hospital, which is located 23 km away from the power plant, the number of patients experiencing stress has also increased since the disaster. What's more, many of the survivors are now jobless and therefore facing an uncertain future.

Online dermatologic follow-up for atopic dermatitis earns equivalent results Posted: 22 Oct 2014 01:39 PM PDT An online model for follow-up care of atopic dermatitis, better known as eczema, that gave patients direct access to dermatologists resulted in equivalent clinical improvement compared to patients who received traditional in-person care, a study finds.

Unexpected benefits of adjustable rate mortgages Posted: 22 Oct 2014 09:35 AM PDT As would be expected during a time of consumer deleveraging, households applied more than 70 percent of their mortgage savings to reducing outstanding credit card debts. Not only did the lower payments reduce mortgage defaults but credit card delinquencies fell. 'These choices had significant impact on foreclosures, house prices and employment in regions that were more exposed to interest rate declines,' the researchers concluded.

Adaptive zoom riflescope prototype has push-button magnification Posted: 22 Oct 2014 09:30 AM PDT A prototype Rapid Adaptive Zoom for Assault Rifles (RAZAR) has been developed. At the push of a button, RAZAR can toggle between high and low magnifications, enabling users to zoom in without having to remove their eyes from their targets or their hands from their rifles. The RAZAR prototype uses a patented active optical zoom system, called "adaptive zoom."

Cyber protection developed for supply chains Posted: 21 Oct 2014 06:07 PM PDT The supply chain is ground zero for several recent cyber breaches. Hackers, for example, prey on vendors that have remote access to a larger company's global information technology systems, software and networks. A counter-measure, via a user-ready online portal, has now been developed by researchers.

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