ScienceDaily: Top Technology News

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• How does the brain react to virtual reality? Completely different pattern of activity in brain
• Physicists and chemists work to improve digital memory technology
• Ultra-short X-ray pulses explore the nano world
• Artist and scientist team up to explore stunning whisky art
• Asteroid impacts on Earth make structurally bizarre diamonds
• Cell's skeleton is never still
• Enabling biocircuits: New device could make large biological circuits practical
• Magnetic fields and lasers elicit graphene secret
• Underwater robot sheds new light on thick, deformed, Antarctic sea ice
• An inside job: Designer nanoparticles infiltrate, kill cancer cells from within
• Cooling with the coldest matter in the world
• Full speed ahead: The physical art of sailing
• End to end 5G for super, superfast mobile
• Football players found to have brain damage from mild 'unreported' concussions
• Ultrafast, low-cost DNA sequencing technology a step closer to reality
• Study supports free 'Super WiFi'
• Scientists do glass a solid, with new theory on how it transitions from a liquid
• Mimics do not substitute for the 'real thing' for bomb-sniffing dogs
• Gas cloud in the galactic center is part of a larger gas streamer
• Remotely controlled magnetic nanoparticles stimulate stem cells to regenerate bones
• Molecules that came in handy for first life on Earth
• The physics of fizziness
• Tropical inspiration for an icy problem
• The secret of dragonflies' flight

How does the brain react to virtual reality? Completely different pattern of activity in brain Posted: 24 Nov 2014 01:29 PM PST Neurophysicists studying a key brain region where Alzheimer's disease begins have discovered how the brain processes virtual reality. 'The pattern of activity in a brain region involved in spatial learning in the virtual world is completely different than in the real world,' said the professor of physics, neurology, and neurobiology.

Physicists and chemists work to improve digital memory technology Posted: 24 Nov 2014 11:36 AM PST Researchers are studying graphene and ammonia to develop high-speed, high-capacity random access memory. The team engineered and tested improvements in the performance of a memory structure known as a ferroelectric tunnel junction.

Ultra-short X-ray pulses explore the nano world Posted: 24 Nov 2014 11:36 AM PST Ultra-short and extremely strong X-ray flashes, as produced by free-electron lasers, are opening the door to a hitherto unknown world. Scientists are using these flashes to take 'snapshots' of the geometry of tiniest structures, for example the arrangement of atoms in molecules. To improve not only spatial but also temporal resolution further requires knowledge about the precise duration and intensity of the X-ray flashes. An international team of scientists has now tackled this challenge.

Artist and scientist team up to explore stunning whisky art Posted: 24 Nov 2014 11:33 AM PST If you've ever looked closely at the dried rings whisky leaves behind in a glass, you may be among the few who've noticed just how stunningly beautiful they can be. But what's behind whisky's "particle patterning"?

Asteroid impacts on Earth make structurally bizarre diamonds Posted: 24 Nov 2014 09:56 AM PST Scientists have settled a longstanding controversy over a purported rare form of diamond called lonsdaleite -- a type of diamond formed by impact shock, but which lacks the three-dimensional regularity of ordinary diamond.

Cell's skeleton is never still Posted: 24 Nov 2014 09:55 AM PST Computer models show how microtubules age. The models reported by researchers help explain the dynamic instability seen in microtubules, essential elements in cells' cytoskeletons.

Enabling biocircuits: New device could make large biological circuits practical Posted: 24 Nov 2014 09:53 AM PST Researchers have made great progress in recent years in the design and creation of biological circuits -- systems that, like electronic circuits, can take a number of different inputs and deliver a particular kind of output. But while individual components of such biological circuits can have precise and predictable responses, those outcomes become less predictable as more such elements are combined. Scientists have now come up with a way of greatly reducing that unpredictability, introducing a device that could ultimately allow such circuits to behave nearly as predictably as their electronic counterparts.

Magnetic fields and lasers elicit graphene secret Posted: 24 Nov 2014 09:53 AM PST Scientists have studied the dynamics of electrons from the 'wonder material' graphene in a magnetic field for the first time. This led to the discovery of a seemingly paradoxical phenomenon in the material. Its understanding could make a new type of laser possible in the future.

Underwater robot sheds new light on thick, deformed, Antarctic sea ice Posted: 24 Nov 2014 09:53 AM PST The first detailed, high-resolution 3-D maps of Antarctic sea ice have been developed using an underwater robot. Scientists say the new technology provides accurate ice thickness measurements from areas that were previously too difficult to access.

An inside job: Designer nanoparticles infiltrate, kill cancer cells from within Posted: 24 Nov 2014 08:18 AM PST Nanoparticle designs target and treat early stage cancer cells by killing those cells with heat, delivered from inside the cell itself. Normal cells are thus left unaffected by the treatment regimen.

Cooling with the coldest matter in the world Posted: 24 Nov 2014 08:18 AM PST Physicists have developed a new cooling technique for mechanical quantum systems. Using an ultracold atomic gas, the vibrations of a membrane were cooled down to less than 1 degree above absolute zero. This technique may enable novel studies of quantum physics and precision measurement devices.

Full speed ahead: The physical art of sailing Posted: 24 Nov 2014 08:11 AM PST Olympic sailors tip their masts precariously close to the water's surface while turning, right their vessels at what looks like the last possible moment, and bounce up and down over the edge of their boats on the straightaways. Every aspiring Olympic sailor must master these unsteady sail propulsion techniques, but there is no scientific literature that explains exactly how the moves increase a boat's speed. Scientists are working to change that.

End to end 5G for super, superfast mobile Posted: 24 Nov 2014 07:32 AM PST Computer scientists are investigating how software-defined cellular networking might be used to give smart phone users the next generation of super-superfast broadband, 5G.

Football players found to have brain damage from mild 'unreported' concussions Posted: 24 Nov 2014 07:32 AM PST There wasn't a diagnostic capability to identify mild brain injury early after the trauma until recently. In the NFL, other professional sports and especially school sports, concern has grown about the long-term neuropsychiatric consequences of repeated mild Traumatic Brain Injury (mTBI) and specifically sports-related concussive and sub-concussive head impacts.'

Ultrafast, low-cost DNA sequencing technology a step closer to reality Posted: 24 Nov 2014 07:32 AM PST A prototype DNA reader that could make whole genome profiling an everyday practice in medicine has been developed by researchers. "Our goal is to put cheap, simple and powerful DNA and protein diagnostic devices into every single doctor's office," said one researcher. Such technology could help usher in the age of personalized medicine.

Study supports free 'Super WiFi' Posted: 24 Nov 2014 06:24 AM PST The need for the wireless transfer of data will increase significantly in the coming years. Scientists therefore propose to turn some of the TV frequencies that will become free into common property and to use it to extend existing wireless networks (WiFi) instead of using the frequencies for mobile communications. Their study recommends that the additional frequencies not be marketed but made available to the population and companies at no cost.

Scientists do glass a solid, with new theory on how it transitions from a liquid Posted: 24 Nov 2014 06:23 AM PST How does glass transition from a liquid to its familiar solid state? How does this common material transport heat and sound? And what microscopic changes occur when a glass gains rigidity as it cools? A team of researchers offers a theoretical explanation for these processes.

Mimics do not substitute for the 'real thing' for bomb-sniffing dogs Posted: 24 Nov 2014 05:09 AM PST Canines trained on pseudo-explosives could not reliably identify the genuine article (and vice versa). When it comes to teaching dogs how to sniff out explosives, there's nothing quite like the real thing to make sure they're trained right.

Gas cloud in the galactic center is part of a larger gas streamer Posted: 24 Nov 2014 05:09 AM PST Astronomers have presented new observations of the gas cloud G2 in the galactic center originally discovered in 2011. These data are in remarkably good agreement with an on-going tidal disruption. As a complete surprise came the discovery that the orbit of G2 matches that of another gas cloud detected a decade ago, suggesting that G2 might actually be part of a much more extensive gas streamer. This would also match some of the proposed scenarios that try to explain the presence of G2. One such model is that G2 is originating from the wind from a massive star.

Remotely controlled magnetic nanoparticles stimulate stem cells to regenerate bones Posted: 24 Nov 2014 04:48 AM PST Researchers in bone tissue regeneration believe they have made a significant breakthrough for sufferers of bone trauma, disease or defects such as osteoporosis.

Molecules that came in handy for first life on Earth Posted: 24 Nov 2014 04:48 AM PST For the first time, chemists have successfully produced amino acid-like molecules that all have the same 'handedness', from simple building blocks and in a single test tube. Could this be how life started. On Earth? Or in space, as the Philae lander is currently exploring?

The physics of fizziness Posted: 24 Nov 2014 04:47 AM PST If you've ever raised a glass of champagne in celebration, you may have noticed tiny bubbles bursting on its surface. But did you know this little event, which is commonly seen in much greater scale on the ocean's surface, involves a fascinating facet of physics?

Tropical inspiration for an icy problem Posted: 24 Nov 2014 04:47 AM PST Ice poses major impediments to winter travel, accumulating on car windshields and airplane wings and causing countless unsuspecting pedestrians to dramatically lose their balance. Scientists have now developed a new way to prevent ice buildup on surfaces like airplane wings, finding inspiration in an unusual source: the poison dart frog.

The secret of dragonflies' flight Posted: 24 Nov 2014 04:47 AM PST Dragonflies can easily right themselves and maneuver tight turns while flying. Each of their four wings is controlled by separate muscles, giving them exquisite control over their flight. Researchers are investigating the physics behind this ability by recording high-speed video footage of dragonflies in flight and integrating the data into computer models.

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