ScienceDaily: Top Technology News

---

• Barnacles: Marine 'pest' provides advances in maritime anti-fouling and biomedicine
• Tidal forces gave moon its shape, according to new analysis
• Double Star with Weird and Wild Planet-forming Discs
• Dissolvable fabric loaded with medicine might offer faster protection against HIV
• Finding quantum lines of desire
• Money talks when it comes to acceptability of 'sin' companies, study reveals
• Nature inspires a greener way to make colorful plastics
• Exploring 3-D printing to make organs for transplants
• Mercury's bizzare magnetic field tells scientists how its interior is different from Earth's
• Spin-based electronics: New material successfully tested
• New catalyst converts carbon dioxide to fuel
• Numerical learning disability: Dyscalculia linked to difficulties in reading and spelling
• Superman's solar-powered feats break a fundamental law of physics
• Good news for couch potatoes: 3-D TV may be the victim of negative preconceptions
• Short sellers not to blame for 2008 financial crisis
• Vaccine website could increase uptake

Barnacles: Marine 'pest' provides advances in maritime anti-fouling and biomedicine Posted: 30 Jul 2014 10:31 AM PDT Biologists performed cutting-edge research on a marine pest that will pave the way for novel anti-fouling paint for ships and boats and also improve bio-adhesives for medical and industrial applications.

Tidal forces gave moon its shape, according to new analysis Posted: 30 Jul 2014 10:31 AM PDT The shape of the moon deviates from a simple sphere in ways that scientists have struggled to explain. A new study shows that most of the moon's overall shape can be explained by taking into account tidal effects acting early in the moon's history.

Double Star with Weird and Wild Planet-forming Discs Posted: 30 Jul 2014 10:29 AM PDT Astronomers have found wildly misaligned planet-forming gas discs around the two young stars in the binary system HK Tauri. These new observations provide the clearest picture ever of protoplanetary discs in a double star. The new result also helps to explain why so many exoplanets — unlike the planets in the Solar System — came to have strange, eccentric or inclined orbits.

Dissolvable fabric loaded with medicine might offer faster protection against HIV Posted: 30 Jul 2014 10:24 AM PDT Bioengineers have discovered a potentially faster way to deliver a topical drug that protects women from contracting HIV. Their method spins the drug into silk-like fibers that quickly dissolve when in contact with moisture, releasing higher doses of the drug than possible with other topical materials.

Finding quantum lines of desire Posted: 30 Jul 2014 10:24 AM PDT What paths do quantum particles, such as atoms or photons, follow through quantum state space? Scientists have used an "artificial atom" to continuously and repeatedly record the paths through quantum state space. From the cobweb of a million paths, a most likely path between two quantum states emerged, much as social trails emerge as people round off corners or cut across lawns between buildings.

Money talks when it comes to acceptability of 'sin' companies, study reveals Posted: 30 Jul 2014 09:02 AM PDT Companies who make their money in the 'sin' industries such as the tobacco, alcohol and gaming industries typically receive less attention from institutional investors and financial analysts. But new research shows social norms and attitudes towards these types of businesses are subject to compromise when their share price looks to be on the rise.

Nature inspires a greener way to make colorful plastics Posted: 30 Jul 2014 07:41 AM PDT Long before humans figured out how to create colors, nature had already perfected the process -- think stunning, bright butterfly wings of many different hues, for example. Now scientists are tapping into those secrets to develop a more environmentally friendly way to make colored plastics. Their method uses structure -- or the shapes and architectures of materials -- rather than dyes, to produce colors.

Exploring 3-D printing to make organs for transplants Posted: 30 Jul 2014 07:41 AM PDT Printing whole new organs for transplants sounds like something out of a sci-fi movie, but the real-life budding technology could one day make actual kidneys, livers, hearts and other organs for patients who desperately need them. Scientists are reporting new understanding about the dynamics of 3-D bioprinting that takes them a step closer to realizing their goal of making working tissues and organs on-demand.

Mercury's bizzare magnetic field tells scientists how its interior is different from Earth's Posted: 30 Jul 2014 06:43 AM PDT Mercury's interior is different from the Earth's interior in a way that explains Mercury's bizarre magnetic field, planetary physicists report. Measurements from NASA's Messenger spacecraft have revealed that Mercury's magnetic field is approximately three times stronger at its northern hemisphere than its southern one.

Spin-based electronics: New material successfully tested Posted: 30 Jul 2014 06:40 AM PDT Spintronics is a new field of electronics, using electron spin rather than motion. This technology requires insulating components that can control this quantum property. Scientists have shown experimentally that a novel material shows all the required properties.

New catalyst converts carbon dioxide to fuel Posted: 30 Jul 2014 06:40 AM PDT Scientists have synthesized a catalyst that improves their system for converting waste carbon dioxide into syngas, a precursor of gasoline and other energy-rich products, bringing the process closer to commercial viability.

Numerical learning disability: Dyscalculia linked to difficulties in reading and spelling Posted: 30 Jul 2014 06:38 AM PDT Between three and six percent of schoolchildren suffer from an arithmetic-related learning disability. Researchers now show that these children are also more likely to exhibit deficits in reading and spelling than had been previously suspected.

Superman's solar-powered feats break a fundamental law of physics Posted: 30 Jul 2014 06:38 AM PDT It goes without saying that Superman can accomplish some pretty spectacular feats. But according to students, the Man of Steel actually achieves the impossible – by breaking the fundamental physics law of conservation of energy.

Good news for couch potatoes: 3-D TV may be the victim of negative preconceptions Posted: 30 Jul 2014 06:38 AM PDT An academic led a lab-based research, involving 433 viewers of ages from 4 to 82 years, in which participants were asked to watch Toy Story in either 2-D or 3-D (S3D) and report on their viewing experience. The objective of the study was to investigate visual discomfort in relation to 3-D display technologies, as well as to determine the impact of people's preconceptions on their experience of 3D TV. It's no secret that the format hasn't taken off in the way many had anticipated.

Short sellers not to blame for 2008 financial crisis Posted: 29 Jul 2014 01:47 PM PDT Contrary to widespread media reports, the collapse of several financial firms during the 2008 economic crisis was not triggered by unsettled stock trades, according to new research.

Vaccine website could increase uptake Posted: 29 Jul 2014 06:32 AM PDT Giving parents access to a dedicated website on the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine is the most cost-effective way to increase uptake, say experts. "A website is a simple solution but one that could make a real difference to vaccination uptake. This is a much more convenient way for parents to get information they need about the safety of the MMR vaccine for their children," one expert said.

You are subscribed to email updates from Top Technology News -- ScienceDaily To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now.	Email delivery powered by Google
Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610