ScienceDaily: Top Technology News

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• Metal nanoparticles shine with customizable color
• A rainbow for the palm of your hand
• Replacing electricity with light: First physical 'metatronic' circuit created
• More powerful electric cars: Mechanism behind capacitor's high-speed energy storage discovered
• MRIs on a nanoscale?
• Aircraft of the future could capture and re-use some of their own power
• Less is more: Study of tiny droplets could have big impact on industrial applications
• Chemical clues on formation of planetary systems: Earth 'siblings' can be different
• Making droplets drop faster: New nanopatterned surfaces could improve the efficiency of powerplants and desalination systems
• First ultraluminous source in Andromeda galaxy unmasked as 'normal' stellar mass black hole
• OPERA experiment reports anomaly in flight time of neutrinos from CERN to Gran Sasso
• Controlling protein function with nanotechnology
• Disappearing and reappearing superconductivity surprises scientists
• Energy harvesting: Wringing more energy out of everyday motions

Metal nanoparticles shine with customizable color Posted: 23 Feb 2012 07:19 PM PST Engineers have demonstrated a new kind of tunable color filter that uses optical nanoantennas to obtain precise control of color output.

A rainbow for the palm of your hand Posted: 23 Feb 2012 03:38 PM PST Engineers have developed a one-step, low-cost method to fabricate a polymer that is rainbow-colored, reflecting many different wavelengths of light when viewed from a single perspective. The colors won't fade with time because they are produced by surface geometry, and not pigment -- the same principle that gives color to the wings of butterflies and feather of peacocks.

Replacing electricity with light: First physical 'metatronic' circuit created Posted: 23 Feb 2012 03:38 PM PST The technological world of the 21st century owes a tremendous amount to advances in electrical engineering, specifically, the ability to finely control the flow of electrical charges using increasingly small and complicated circuits. And while those electrical advances continue to race ahead, researchers are pushing circuitry forward in a different way, by replacing electricity with light.

More powerful electric cars: Mechanism behind capacitor's high-speed energy storage discovered Posted: 23 Feb 2012 03:26 PM PST Researchers have discovered the means by which a polymer known as PVDF enables capacitors to store and release large amounts of energy quickly. Their findings could lead to much more powerful and efficient electric cars.

MRIs on a nanoscale? Posted: 23 Feb 2012 03:26 PM PST Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) on the nanoscale and the ever-elusive quantum computer are among the advancements edging closer toward the realm of possibility, and a new study may give both an extra nudge.

Aircraft of the future could capture and re-use some of their own power Posted: 23 Feb 2012 10:33 AM PST Tomorrow's aircraft could contribute to their power needs by harnessing energy from the wheel rotation of their landing gear to generate electricity. They could use this to power their taxiing to and from airport buildings, reducing the need to use their jet engines. This would save on aviation fuel, cut emissions and reduce noise pollution at airports.

Less is more: Study of tiny droplets could have big impact on industrial applications Posted: 23 Feb 2012 10:32 AM PST Researchers have discovered rules that govern how liquid spreads along flexible fibers and have found that when it comes to the size of liquid droplets, sometimes less is more.

Chemical clues on formation of planetary systems: Earth 'siblings' can be different Posted: 23 Feb 2012 10:29 AM PST Astronomers have discovered that the chemical structure of Earth-like planets can be very different from the bulk composition of Earth. This may have a dramatic effect on the existence and formation of the biospheres and life on Earth-like planets.

Making droplets drop faster: New nanopatterned surfaces could improve the efficiency of powerplants and desalination systems Posted: 23 Feb 2012 07:41 AM PST New research offers important new insights into how water droplets form, and ways to pattern the collecting surfaces at the nanoscale to encourage droplets to form more rapidly. These insights could enable a new generation of significantly more efficient power plants and desalination plants, the researchers say.

First ultraluminous source in Andromeda galaxy unmasked as 'normal' stellar mass black hole Posted: 23 Feb 2012 07:36 AM PST Detailed observations show that the first ultraluminous X-ray source detected in our neighboring Andromeda galaxy is due to a stellar mass black hole swallowing material at very high rates. The emission of the ultraluminous source probably originates from a system similar to X-ray binaries in our galaxy with matter accreting onto a black hole, which is at least 13 times more massive than our Sun. Unlike X-ray binaries in our own Milky Way, however, this source is much less obscured by interstellar gas and dust, allowing detailed investigations also at low X-ray energies.

OPERA experiment reports anomaly in flight time of neutrinos from CERN to Gran Sasso Posted: 23 Feb 2012 05:12 AM PST The OPERA collaboration has informed its funding agencies and host laboratories that it has identified two possible effects that could have an influence on its neutrino timing measurement. These both require further tests with a short pulsed beam. If confirmed, one would increase the size of the measured effect, the other would diminish it.

Controlling protein function with nanotechnology Posted: 22 Feb 2012 12:46 PM PST A new study is providing important details on how proteins in our bodies interact with nanomaterials. Researchers have developed a new tool to determine the orientation of proteins on different nanostructures. The discovery is a key step in the effort to control the orientation, structure, and function of proteins in the body using nanomaterials.

Disappearing and reappearing superconductivity surprises scientists Posted: 22 Feb 2012 10:26 AM PST Superconductivity is a rare physical state in which matter is able to conduct electricity -- maintain a flow of electrons -- without any resistance. This phenomenon can only be found in certain materials at low temperatures, or can be induced under chemical and high external pressure conditions. Research to create superconductors at higher temperatures has been ongoing for two decades with the promise of significant impact on electrical transmission. New work demonstrates unexpected superconductivity in a type of compounds called iron selenium chalcogenides.

Energy harvesting: Wringing more energy out of everyday motions Posted: 21 Feb 2012 12:14 PM PST Randomness and chaos in nature, as it turns out, can be a good thing -- especially when trying to harvest energy from the movements of everyday activities. Engineers believe they have come up with the theoretical underpinning that could lead to the development of energy harvesting devices that are not only more versatile than those in use today, but should be able to wring out more electricity from the motions of life.

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