ScienceDaily: Top Technology News

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• Grand swirls from NASA's Hubble: Intermediate spiral galaxy NGC 1566
• Gigantic explosions buried in dust: Probing environment around dark gamma-ray bursts
• Toward 24-7 glucose monitoring to help manage diabetes
• Humans climb like geckos using bio-inspired climbing technology
• Chemical sensor on a chip created to test chemical composition of liquids
• NASA instruments on Rosetta start comet science
• Mercury passes in front of the sun, as seen from Mars
• NASA announces two upcoming undersea missions
• NASA's Orion spacecraft stacks up for first flight
• Map of universe questioned: Dwarf galaxies don't fit standard model
• A fuel cell for home: Tested in private households
• Infection prevention implanted directly into bones
• Telehealth improves forensic examinations for sexual abuse
• Costs and benefits of compliance with renewable portfolio standards estimated
• Up to 6-cent per kilowatt-hour extra value with concentrated solar power
• Real or fake? Research shows brain uses multiple clues for facial recognition
• Technology using microwave heating may impact electronics manufacturing

Grand swirls from NASA's Hubble: Intermediate spiral galaxy NGC 1566 Posted: 11 Jun 2014 10:40 AM PDT A new Hubble image shows NGC 1566, a beautiful galaxy located approximately 40 million light-years away in the constellation of Dorado (The Dolphinfish). NGC 1566 is an intermediate spiral galaxy, meaning that while it does not have a well-defined bar-shaped region of stars at its center -- like barred spirals -- it is not quite an unbarred spiral either.

Gigantic explosions buried in dust: Probing environment around dark gamma-ray bursts Posted: 11 Jun 2014 10:17 AM PDT Astronomers have for the first time directly mapped out the molecular gas and dust in the host galaxies of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) — the biggest explosions in the universe. In a complete surprise, less gas was observed than expected, and correspondingly much more dust, making some GRBs appear as "dark GRBs".

Toward 24-7 glucose monitoring to help manage diabetes Posted: 11 Jun 2014 08:28 AM PDT Nearly half a million people with diabetes end up in emergency rooms around the US every year due to the seizures and other consequences of dropping or spiking blood-sugar levels associated with the disease. To help prevent serious complications, scientists have now developed a new glucose-sensing protein that could one day be part of an implantable, 24-7 monitoring device.

Humans climb like geckos using bio-inspired climbing technology Posted: 11 Jun 2014 08:21 AM PDT DARPA's Z-Man program has demonstrated the first known human climbing of a glass wall using climbing devices inspired by geckos. The historic ascent involved a 218-pound climber ascending and descending 25 feet of glass, while also carrying an additional 50-pound load in one trial, with no climbing equipment other than a pair of hand-held, gecko-inspired paddles. A novel polymer microstructure technology was used in those paddles.

Chemical sensor on a chip created to test chemical composition of liquids Posted: 11 Jun 2014 07:21 AM PDT A tiny laser and a corresponding light detector has been developed in one production process, on a single chip. The light is transported from the laser to the detector on a specially designed waveguide. That way, the chip can measure the chemical composition of the liquid in which it is submerged.

NASA instruments on Rosetta start comet science Posted: 11 Jun 2014 07:07 AM PDT Three NASA science instruments aboard the European Space Agency's (ESA) Rosetta spacecraft, which is set to become the first to orbit a comet and land a probe on its nucleus, are beginning observations and sending science data back to Earth.

Mercury passes in front of the sun, as seen from Mars Posted: 11 Jun 2014 07:00 AM PDT NASA's Curiosity Mars rover has imaged the planet Mercury passing in front of the sun, visible as a faint darkening that moves across the face of the sun.

NASA announces two upcoming undersea missions Posted: 11 Jun 2014 06:59 AM PDT NASA is returning to the bottom of the ocean. Twice this summer, aquanauts participating in the NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations (NEEMO) will conduct activities on the ocean floor that will inform future International Space Station and exploration activities. These studies provide information that correlates directly to life aboard the space station, where crew members must frequently perform critical tasks that present constraining factors similar to those experienced in an undersea environment.

NASA's Orion spacecraft stacks up for first flight Posted: 11 Jun 2014 06:57 AM PDT With just six months until its first trip to space, NASA's Orion spacecraft continues taking shape at the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Engineers began stacking the crew module on top of the completed service module Monday, the first step in moving the three primary Orion elements -crew module, service module and launch abort system -- into the correct configuration for launch.

Map of universe questioned: Dwarf galaxies don't fit standard model Posted: 11 Jun 2014 06:36 AM PDT Dwarf galaxies that orbit the Milky Way and the Andromeda galaxies defy the accepted model of galaxy formation, and recent attempts to wedge them into the model are flawed, reports an international team of astrophysicists. A new study pokes holes in the current understanding of galaxy formation and questions the accepted model of the origin and evolution of the universe.

A fuel cell for home: Tested in private households Posted: 11 Jun 2014 06:33 AM PDT It converts chemical energy directly into electrical energy. Still, there hadn't been a market breakthrough for the fuel cell. The systems were too complex. Now scientists have developed a simple device for home use.

Infection prevention implanted directly into bones Posted: 11 Jun 2014 06:33 AM PDT Hospital germs can be fatal, since they are resistant to antibiotics. As a result, alternative methods of defense against bacteria are in demand. A research team has been able to develop bone implants that keep the germs at bay. At first glance, the fine-grained implant looks like flour. Only under the microscope can one see what is inside: The individual grains of the granules consist of apatite crystals.

Telehealth improves forensic examinations for sexual abuse Posted: 10 Jun 2014 05:55 PM PDT Telehealth consultations for clinicians at rural hospitals improve their ability to provide forensic examinations for sexual abuse, researchers demonstrate. In addition to improving quality, they ease the burden on families, who no longer need to travel many hours for expert care, and clinicians, who have access to trained mentors when conducting these delicate exams.

Costs and benefits of compliance with renewable portfolio standards estimated Posted: 10 Jun 2014 05:55 PM PDT A new report reviews estimates of the costs and benefits of compliance with Renewable Portfolio Standards in the United States and explores how costs and benefits may evolve over time. Based on a review and analysis of data from state compliance filings and other sources, the report finds that the estimated incremental RPS cost over the 2010-2012 period -- the cost above and beyond what would have been incurred absent the RPS -- was less than 1 percent of retail electricity rates on average.

Up to 6-cent per kilowatt-hour extra value with concentrated solar power Posted: 10 Jun 2014 05:55 PM PDT Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) projects would add additional value of 5 or 6 cents per kilowatt hour to utility-scale solar energy in California where 33 percent renewables will be mandated in six years, a new report has found.

Real or fake? Research shows brain uses multiple clues for facial recognition Posted: 10 Jun 2014 12:27 PM PDT Faces fascinate. We look for familiar or friendly ones in a crowd. And video game developers and movie animators strive to create faces that look real rather than fake. Determining how our brains decide what makes a face "human" and not artificial is a question researchers have been studying. New research shows that it takes more than eyes to make a face look human.

Technology using microwave heating may impact electronics manufacturing Posted: 10 Jun 2014 11:47 AM PDT A continuous flow reactor can produce high-quality nanoparticles by using microwave-assisted heating -- essentially the same forces that heat up leftover food with such efficiency. This may finally make it possible for this technology to move into large scale manufacturing and usher in an electronics revolution.

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