ScienceDaily: Top Technology News

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• Evidence mounts for quantum criticality theory
• Meteorite may represent 'bulk background' of Mars' battered crust
• Radar Images of Near-Earth Asteroid
• New method allows for greater variation in band gap tunability
• Renewable energy policies drive production of Southern wood pellets for bioenergy
• Research uncovers connection between Craigslist personals, HIV trends
• Computing: Common 'data structure' revamped to work with multicore chips
• DNA nanoswitches reveal how life's molecules connect
• Fluorescent dyes 'light up' brain cancer cells
• Mobile and interactive media use by young children: The good, the bad and the unknown
• Understanding the reinforcing ability of carbon nanotubes
• Biomaterial coating raises prospect of more successful medical implants
• Tweeting about sexism could improve a woman's wellbeing
• Updating satellite data on seas could dramatically reduce search and rescue times for lost planes, ships
• HiSIM-SOTB, compact transistor model, selected as international industry standard
• New technologies to help patients with Parkinson's disease
• Water purification: Running fuel cells on bacteria
• Pinholes are pitfalls for high performance solar cells
• Crystal light: New family of light-converting materials points to cheaper, more efficient solar power and LEDs
• Future of oil and gas development in the Western Amazon

Evidence mounts for quantum criticality theory Posted: 30 Jan 2015 06:14 PM PST A new study adds to the growing evidence supporting a theory that strange electronic behaviors -- including high-temperature superconductivity and heavy fermion physics -- arise from quantum fluctuations of strongly correlated electrons.

Meteorite may represent 'bulk background' of Mars' battered crust Posted: 30 Jan 2015 11:23 AM PST NWA 7034, a meteorite found a few years ago in the Moroccan desert, is like no other rock ever found on Earth. It's been shown to be a 4.4 billion-year-old chunk of the Martian crust, and according to a new analysis, rocks just like it may cover vast swaths of Mars.

Radar Images of Near-Earth Asteroid Posted: 30 Jan 2015 11:23 AM PST A team of astronomers has made the most detailed radar images yet of asteroid 2004 BL86. The images, which were taken early in the morning on Jan. 27, 2014, reveal the asteroid's surface features in unprecedented clarity.

New method allows for greater variation in band gap tunability Posted: 30 Jan 2015 10:28 AM PST If you can't find the ideal material, then design a new one. By manipulating the ordered arrangement of atoms in layered complex oxide materials, scientists have found a way to control their electronic band gaps, which determines the electrical behavior of the material and how it interacts with light.

Renewable energy policies drive production of Southern wood pellets for bioenergy Posted: 30 Jan 2015 10:28 AM PST Policies in the European Union and elsewhere requiring the use of renewable and low greenhouse gas-emitting energy are driving demand for wood pellets used to generate bioenergy. This demand could provide new markets for US timber exports, increase wood prices, and lead to increases in forestland area.

Research uncovers connection between Craigslist personals, HIV trends Posted: 30 Jan 2015 10:28 AM PST Craigslist's entry into a market results in a 15.9 percent increase in reported HIV cases, according to research. When mapped at the national level, more than 6,000 HIV cases annually and treatment costs estimated between $62 million and $65.3 million can be linked to the popular website, the authors state.

Computing: Common 'data structure' revamped to work with multicore chips Posted: 30 Jan 2015 09:18 AM PST Every undergraduate computer-science major takes a course on data structures, which describes different ways of organizing data in a computer's memory. Every data structure has its own advantages: Some are good for fast retrieval, some for efficient search, some for quick insertions and deletions, and so on. Scientists have now developed a new way of implementing priority queues that lets them keep pace with the addition of new cores. In simulations, algorithms using their data structure continued to demonstrate performance improvement with the addition of new cores, up to a total of 80 cores.

DNA nanoswitches reveal how life's molecules connect Posted: 30 Jan 2015 09:18 AM PST 'Bio-molecular interaction analysis, a cornerstone of biomedical research, is traditionally accomplished using equipment that can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars,' said the senior author of a new study. 'Rather than develop a new instrument, we've created a nanoscale tool made from strands of DNA that can detect and report how molecules behave, enabling biological measurements to be made by almost anyone, using only common and inexpensive laboratory reagents.'

Fluorescent dyes 'light up' brain cancer cells Posted: 30 Jan 2015 09:16 AM PST Two new fluorescent dyes attracted to cancer cells may help neurosurgeons more accurately localize and completely resect brain tumors, suggests a new study. Removing all visible areas of cancer (gross total resection) significantly improves survival after brain cancer surgery.

Mobile and interactive media use by young children: The good, the bad and the unknown Posted: 30 Jan 2015 07:26 AM PST Mobile devices are everywhere and children are using them more frequently at young ages. The impact these mobile devices are having on the development and behavior of children is still relatively unknown. Researchers review the many types of interactive media available today and raise important questions regarding their use as educational tools, as well as their potential detrimental role in stunting the development of important tools for self-regulation.

Understanding the reinforcing ability of carbon nanotubes Posted: 30 Jan 2015 07:25 AM PST A new article explores what is preventing the reinforcing ability of carbon nanotubes from being used in a ceramic matrix. Ever since their discovery, carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have been considered the ultimate additive to improve the mechanical properties of structural ceramics, such as aluminum oxide, silicon nitride and zirconium dioxide. Yet despite the remarkable strength and stiffness of CNTs, many studies have reported only marginal improvements or even the degradation of mechanical properties after these super-materials were added.

Biomaterial coating raises prospect of more successful medical implants Posted: 30 Jan 2015 07:25 AM PST A novel, bacteria-repelling coating material that could increase the success of medical implants has been created. The material helps healthy cells 'win the race' to the medical implant, beating off competition from bacterial cells and thus reducing the likelihood of the implant being rejected by the body.

Tweeting about sexism could improve a woman's wellbeing Posted: 30 Jan 2015 05:18 AM PST Publically tweeting about sexism could improve a woman's wellbeing as it has the potential to let them to express themselves in ways that feel like they can make a difference, a new report suggests.

Updating satellite data on seas could dramatically reduce search and rescue times for lost planes, ships Posted: 30 Jan 2015 05:15 AM PST A new satellite imaging concept could significantly reduce search areas for missing boats and planes. Researchers have been trialling a concept for using satellite imagery to significantly improve the chances of locating ships and planes, such as the missing Malaysian flight MH370, lost at sea. A preliminary study identified 54 satellites with 85 sensors, currently only taking images of land, which could be used to take images of Earth's oceans and inland waters. The research team believe regularly updated images of the seas via these satellites could enable the reduction of search areas for missing ships to just a few hundred square miles. This offers the possibility of dramatically reducing search and rescue times and significantly improving chances of survival for missing ships.

HiSIM-SOTB, compact transistor model, selected as international industry standard Posted: 30 Jan 2015 05:15 AM PST A new compact transistor model was developed and the framework for realizing a faster design support process and product development for integrated circuits in the ultra-low voltage category was established. The new compact model, HiSIM-SOTB (Hiroshima University STARC IGFET Model Silicon-on-Thin BOX), was developed by Hiroshima University's HiSIM Research Center in collaboration with its partners in the industry and government institutions, including the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) of Japan.

New technologies to help patients with Parkinson's disease Posted: 30 Jan 2015 05:15 AM PST New wearable sensor networks and mobile phone applications are being tested for their potential to monitor and manage patients with Parkinson's disease. The research aim is the usage of low-cost wearable sensors that can continuously collect and process the accelerometry signals to automatically detect and quantify the symptoms of the patient. Once we this is done, the information is sent to hospital to generate a daily report that will alert the doctor in case of any outlier.

Water purification: Running fuel cells on bacteria Posted: 30 Jan 2015 05:15 AM PST Researchers in Norway have succeeded in getting bacteria to power a fuel cell. The "fuel" used is wastewater, and the products of the process are purified water droplets and electricity. This is an environmentally-friendly process for the purification of water derived from industrial processes and suchlike. It also generates small amounts of electricity – in practice enough to drive a small fan, a sensor or a light-emitting diode. In the future, the researchers hope to scale up this energy generation to enable the same energy to be used to power the water purification process, which commonly consists of many stages, often involving mechanical and energy-demanding decontamination steps at its outset.

Pinholes are pitfalls for high performance solar cells Posted: 30 Jan 2015 05:15 AM PST The most popular next-generation solar cells under development may have a problem – the top layer is full of tiny pinholes, researchers have found.

Crystal light: New family of light-converting materials points to cheaper, more efficient solar power and LEDs Posted: 29 Jan 2015 02:03 PM PST Engineers have shone new light on an emerging family of solar-absorbing materials that could clear the way for cheaper and more efficient solar panels and LEDs. The materials, called perovskites, are particularly good at absorbing visible light, but had never been thoroughly studied in their purest form: as perfect single crystals. Using a new technique, researchers grew large, pure perovskite crystals and studied how electrons move through the material as light is converted to electricity.

Future of oil and gas development in the Western Amazon Posted: 29 Jan 2015 07:43 AM PST The western Amazon -- a vast region encompassing the Amazonian portions of Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and western Brazil -- is one of the world's last high-biodiversity wilderness landscapes. It is also home to an active hydrocarbon (oil and gas) sector, characterized by operations in extremely remote areas that require new access routes.

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