ScienceDaily: Top Technology News

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• 'No-sleep energy bugs' drain smartphone batteries
• Increased use of hand held devices may call for new photo guidelines
• Got mass? Scientists observe electrons become both heavy and speedy
• Self-assembling nanocubes for next generation antennas and lenses
• 'Extremely little' telescope discovers pair of odd planets
• Small planets don't need 'heavy metal' stars to form
• Scientists synthesize first genetically evolved semiconductor material
• Alien Earths could form earlier than expected
• Ancient effect harnessed to produce electricity from waste heat
• NASA's NuSTAR mission lifts off
• New energy source for future medical implants: Sugar
• Green fuel from carbon dioxide
• Nanoparticles found in moon glass bubbles explain weird lunar soil behavior
• Robotic assistants may adapt to humans in the factory
• No evidence for 'knots' in space: Theories of primordial universe predict existence of knots in space
• Little mighty creature of the ocean inspires strong new material for medical implants and armour
• Nonlinear optics: Now in the terahertz range
• GPS technology improves weather forecasting
• Robbing banks: Crime doesn't always pay, econometrics study shows

'No-sleep energy bugs' drain smartphone batteries Posted: 13 Jun 2012 03:40 PM PDT Researchers have proposed a method to automatically detect a new class of software glitches in smartphones called "no-sleep energy bugs," which can entirely drain batteries while the phones are not in use.

Increased use of hand held devices may call for new photo guidelines Posted: 13 Jun 2012 11:54 AM PDT Viewing Facebook and Flickr photos on a smart phone are becoming common practice. But according to a recently published study, pictures on the small screen often appear distorted. Vision scientists found that perceptual distortions occur because picture takers do not take their viewing distance into account.

Got mass? Scientists observe electrons become both heavy and speedy Posted: 13 Jun 2012 11:54 AM PDT Scientists have shown how electrons moving in certain solids can behave as though they are a thousand times more massive than free electrons, yet at the same time act as speedy superconductors.

Self-assembling nanocubes for next generation antennas and lenses Posted: 13 Jun 2012 11:54 AM PDT Researchers have developed a technique that enables metallic nanocrystals to self-assemble into larger, complex materials for next-generation antennas and lenses. The metal nanocrystals are cube-shaped and, like bricks or Tetris blocks, spontaneously organize themselves into larger-scale structures with precise orientations relative to one another.

'Extremely little' telescope discovers pair of odd planets Posted: 13 Jun 2012 11:53 AM PDT Though the KELT North telescope in southern Arizona carries a lens no more powerful than a high-end digital camera, it's just revealed the existence of two very unusual faraway planets.

Small planets don't need 'heavy metal' stars to form Posted: 13 Jun 2012 11:16 AM PDT The formation of small worlds like Earth previously was thought to occur mostly around stars rich in heavy elements such as iron and silicon. However, new ground-based observations, combined with data collected by NASA's Kepler space telescope, show small planets form around stars with a wide range of heavy element content and suggest they may be widespread in our galaxy.

Scientists synthesize first genetically evolved semiconductor material Posted: 13 Jun 2012 10:33 AM PDT In the not-too-distant future, scientists may be able to use DNA to grow their own specialized materials, thanks to the concept of directed evolution. Scientists have, for the first time, used genetic engineering and molecular evolution to develop the enzymatic synthesis of a semiconductor.

Alien Earths could form earlier than expected Posted: 13 Jun 2012 10:32 AM PDT Previous studies have shown that Jupiter-sized gas giants tend to form around stars containing more heavy elements than the sun. However, new research found that planets smaller than Neptune are located around a wide variety of stars, including those with fewer heavy elements than the sun. As a result, rocky worlds like Earth could have formed earlier than expected in the universe's history.

Ancient effect harnessed to produce electricity from waste heat Posted: 13 Jun 2012 10:32 AM PDT A phenomenon first observed by an ancient Greek philosopher 2,300 years ago has become the basis for a new device designed to harvest the enormous amounts of energy wasted as heat each year to produce electricity. It is the first-of-its-kind "pyroelectric nanogenerator."

NASA's NuSTAR mission lifts off Posted: 13 Jun 2012 10:32 AM PDT NASA's Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR) launched into the morning skies over the central Pacific Ocean at 9 a.m. PDT (noon EDT) Wednesday, beginning its mission to unveil secrets of buried black holes and other exotic objects.

New energy source for future medical implants: Sugar Posted: 13 Jun 2012 10:31 AM PDT An implantable fuel cell could power neural prosthetics that help patients regain control of limbs. Engineers have developed a fuel cell that runs on the same sugar that powers human cells: glucose. This glucose fuel cell could be used to drive highly efficient brain implants of the future, which could help paralyzed patients move their arms and legs again.

Green fuel from carbon dioxide Posted: 13 Jun 2012 10:29 AM PDT Scientists agree that carbon dioxide has an effect on global warming as a greenhouse gas, but we still pump tons and tons of it into the atmosphere every day. Scientists have now developed a new system for producing methanol that uses CO2 and hydrogen. Methanol can, for example, be used as an environmentally friendly alternative for gasoline. The goal of the scientists is to harness the power of CO2 on a large scale and integrate it into the utilization cycle as a sustainable form of energy production.

Nanoparticles found in moon glass bubbles explain weird lunar soil behavior Posted: 13 Jun 2012 07:24 AM PDT Using synchrotron-based nano tomography, scientists have found a highly porous network of alien-looking glassy particles inside unbroken bubbles of glass in a sample of lunar soil.

Robotic assistants may adapt to humans in the factory Posted: 13 Jun 2012 07:24 AM PDT In today's manufacturing plants, the division of labor between humans and robots is quite clear, but according experts, the factory floor of the future may host humans and robots working side by side, each helping the other in common tasks.

No evidence for 'knots' in space: Theories of primordial universe predict existence of knots in space Posted: 13 Jun 2012 07:22 AM PDT Theories of the primordial universe predict the existence of knots in the fabric of space -- known as cosmic textures -- which could be identified by looking at light from the cosmic microwave background, the relic radiation left over from the Big Bang. Astronomers have performed the first search for textures on the full sky, finding no evidence for such knots in space.

Little mighty creature of the ocean inspires strong new material for medical implants and armour Posted: 13 Jun 2012 07:21 AM PDT A scientist may be onto an ocean of discovery because of his research into a little sea creature called the mantis shrimp. The research is likely to lead to making ceramics -- today's preferred material for medical implants and military body armour -- many times stronger. The mantis shrimp's can shatter aquarium glass and crab shells alike.

Nonlinear optics: Now in the terahertz range Posted: 13 Jun 2012 07:21 AM PDT Researchers have recently reported on the direct observation of a nonlinear-optical effect, occurring in the regime of single-cycle pulse of light at terahertz (THz) frequencies. They used a doped semiconductor as an efficient nonlinear medium, where the THz-range optical nonlinearity arises from the response of free-electron plasma to THz electric fields.

GPS technology improves weather forecasting Posted: 13 Jun 2012 04:31 AM PDT The satellite-based Global Positioning System (GPS) technology that guides modern in-car navigation systems is now being used to improve weather forecasts.

Robbing banks: Crime doesn't always pay, econometrics study shows Posted: 11 Jun 2012 04:34 PM PDT Contrary to images of unimaginable wealth in the movies, the takings from the average bank robbery are small, according to a new report. Indeed, they often appear to be lower than the cost of installing some security devices designed to deter them.

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