ScienceDaily Technology Headlines -- for Tuesday, April 26, 2011 ~ techdeck

ScienceDaily Technology Headlines

for Tuesday, April 26, 2011

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Self-powered, blood-activated sensor detects pancreatitis quickly and cheaply (April 26, 2011) -- A new low cost test for acute pancreatitis that gets results much faster than existing tests has been developed by scientists. The sensor, which could be produced for as little as a dollar, is built with a 12-cent LED light, aluminum foil, gelatin, milk protein and a few other cheap, easily obtainable materials. ... > full story

Increased computer use by adolescents cause for concern, Canadian study finds (April 26, 2011) -- Researchers in Canada have found a strong association between computer and Internet use in adolescents and engagement in multiple-risk behaviors, including illicit drug use, drunkenness and unprotected sex. ... > full story

Large galaxies stopped growing seven billion years ago (April 26, 2011) -- Galaxies are thought to develop by the gravitational attraction between and merger of smaller 'sub-galaxies', a process that standard cosmological ideas suggest should be ongoing. But new data directly challenges this idea, suggesting that the growth of some of the most massive objects stopped 7 billion years ago when the universe was half its present age. ... > full story

Cheaper hydrogen fuel cells: Utility of non-precious-metal catalysts documented (April 25, 2011) -- Scientists have developed a way to avoid the use of expensive platinum in hydrogen fuel cells, the environmentally friendly devices that might replace current power sources in everything from personal data devices to automobiles. Scientists have developed a platinum-free catalyst for use in the cathode of a hydrogen fuel cell. ... > full story

Biophysicist targeting IL-6 to halt breast, prostate cancer (April 25, 2011) -- A biophysicist is using supercomputer resources to search thousands of molecular combinations for the best configuration to block a protein that can cause breast or prostate cancer. ... > full story

Bioengineering students' invention may help diagnose painful eye condition (April 25, 2011) -- Bioengineering students responded to an ophthalmologist's cry for help with a device to diagnose dry eye, the itching and burning sensation that results when a person doesn't produce enough tears or the tears evaporate too quickly. ... > full story

New theory of evolution for spiral galaxy arms (April 25, 2011) -- A study of spiral patterns found in galaxies like our Milky Way could overturn the theory of how the spiral arm features form and evolve. Since 1960s, the most widely accepted explanation has been that the spiral arm features move like a Mexican wave in a crowd, passing through a population of stars that then return to their original position. Computer simulations now suggest that the stars actually rotate with the arms. ... > full story

Zeroing in on the elusive green LED (April 25, 2011) -- Researchers have developed a new method for manufacturing green LEDs with greatly enhanced light output. The research team etched a nanoscale pattern at the interface between the LED's sapphire base and the layer of gallium nitride (GaN) that gives the LED its green color. Overall, the new technique results in green LEDs with significant enhancements in light extraction, internal efficiency, and light output. ... > full story

Radar checks buildings after earthquakes (April 25, 2011) -- Recent advances in ground-penetrating radar could be used to help structural engineers and conservationists assess the stability of historic buildings or buildings affected by earthquakes that otherwise appear sound. ... > full story

Beetle bling: Researchers discover optical secrets of 'metallic' beetles (April 25, 2011) -- Brilliant gold- (and silver-colored beetles have given optics researchers new insights into the way biology can recreate the appearance of some of nature's most precious metals, which in turn may allow researchers to produce new materials based on the natural properties found in the beetles' coloring. ... > full story

Far sighted space technology finds practical uses on Earth (April 25, 2011) -- Technology developed for space missions to study the most distant objects in the Universe is now finding a host of practical applications back on Earth. A new kind of detector could have applications in hospitals, factories and airports. ... > full story

Fractal dimension analysis aids breast cancer prognosis (April 25, 2011) -- Cancer researchers are investigating a new tool to use for the prognosis of breast cancer in patients. The scientists are using fractal dimension analysis to quantitatively assess the degree of abnormality and aggressiveness of breast cancer tumors obtained through biopsy. ... > full story

Anti-helium discovered in Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider experiment (April 25, 2011) -- Antimatter nuclei of helium-4, the heaviest antiparticles ever found, have been created in the STAR experiment of the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider. Eighteen examples of the anti-helium particles were detected in debris from a billion high-energy collisions of gold nuclei. ... > full story

New robot to help people to walk again (April 25, 2011) -- Cognitive skills for a new robot which will help people with damaged limbs to walk again are being developed by researchers in the UK. ... > full story

Clumsy avatars: Perfection versus mortality in games and simulation (April 25, 2011) -- Willy Nilly's Surf Shack offers a cure for the idealized virtual world of Second Life. The online shop endows otherwise flawless avatars with real-world foils like clumsiness. A project allowing avatars to visibly age over time is in the works. ... > full story

Optical microscope without lenses produces high-resolution 3-D images on a chip (April 25, 2011) -- Researchers have redesigned the concept of a microscope, by removing the lens, to create a system small enough to fit in the palm of a hand, but powerful enough to create 3-D tomographic, or sectional, images of miniscule samples. The advance represents the first demonstration of lens-free optical tomographic imaging on a chip, a technique capable of producing high resolution 3-D images of large volumes of microscopic objects. ... > full story

Development in fog harvesting process may make water available to the world’s poor (April 25, 2011) -- An engineer and aspiring entrepreneur works on fog harvesting, the deployment of devices that, like the beetle, attract water droplets and corral the runoff. This way, poor villagers could collect clean water near their homes, instead of spending hours carrying water from distant wells or streams. ... > full story

Data miners dig for corrosion resistance (April 25, 2011) -- A better understanding of corrosion resistance may be possible using a data-mining tool. This tool may also aid research in other areas where massive amounts of information exist. ... > full story

Decoding human genes is goal of new open-source encyclopedia (April 24, 2011) -- A massive database cataloging the functional components of the human genome is being made available as an open resource to scientists, classrooms, science writers, and the public, thanks to an international team of scientists. ... > full story

Supercomputers: 'Data deluge' is changing, expanding supercomputer-based research (April 24, 2011) -- The exponentially increasing amount of digital information, along with new challenges in storing valuable data and massive datasets, are changing the architecture of today's newest supercomputers as well as how researchers will use them to accelerate scientific discovery, experts say. ... > full story

Gravitational tug of war warps spiral shape of galaxy (April 24, 2011) -- A pair of galaxies in a new image display some curious features, demonstrating that each member of the duo is close enough to feel the distorting gravitational influence of the other. The gravitational tug of war has warped the spiral shape of one galaxy, NGC 3169, and fragmented the dust lanes in its companion NGC 3166. Meanwhile, a third galaxy, NGC 3165, has a front-row seat to the gravitational twisting and pulling. ... > full story

Starting a new metabolic path: New technique will help metabolic engineering (April 23, 2011) -- Researchers have demonstrated a new technique that speeds up and improves the identification and quantification of proteins within a cell or micoorganism. Called "targeted proteomics," the new technique is expected to be an important new tool for the fields of metabolic engineering and synthetic biology. ... > full story

Scientists engineer nanoscale vaults to encapsulate 'nanodisks' for drug delivery (April 23, 2011) -- The first steps toward the development of the vault nanoparticle into a versatile and effective DDS are reported in this paper. The ability to encapsulate therapeutic compounds into the vault is a critical and fundamental obstacle in their development for small-molecule drug delivery. Recombinant vaults are engineered to encapsulate the highly insoluble and toxic hydrophobic compound all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) using a vault-binding lipoprotein complex that forms a lipid bilayer nanodisk. ... > full story

Large Hadron Collider sets world record beam intensity (April 23, 2011) -- CERN's Large Hadron Collider (LHC) has set a new world record for beam intensity at a hadron collider, exceeding the previous world record set by the US Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory's Tevatron collider in 2010, and marks an important milestone in LHC commissioning. ... > full story

Functioning synapse created using carbon nanotubes: Devices might be used in brain prostheses or synthetic brains (April 22, 2011) -- Engineering researchers have made a significant breakthrough in the use of nanotechnologies for the construction of a synthetic brain. They have built a carbon nanotube synapse circuit whose behavior in tests reproduces the function of a neuron, the building block of the brain. ... > full story

'Time machine' made to visually explore space and time in videos: Time-lapse GigaPans provide new way to access big data (April 22, 2011) -- Researchers have leveraged the latest browser technology to create GigaPan Time Machine, a system that enables viewers to explore gigapixel-scale, high-resolution videos and image sequences by panning or zooming in and out of the images while simultaneously moving back and forth through time. ... > full story

Huge dry ice deposit on Mars: NASA orbiter reveals big changes in Red Planet's atmosphere (April 22, 2011) -- NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has discovered the total amount of atmosphere on Mars changes dramatically as the tilt of the planet's axis varies. This process can affect the stability of liquid water, if it exists on the Martian surface, and increase the frequency and severity of Martian dust storms. Researchers using the orbiter's ground-penetrating radar identified a large, buried deposit of frozen carbon dioxide, or dry ice, at the Red Planet's south pole. The scientists suspect that much of this carbon dioxide enters the planet's atmosphere and swells the atmosphere's mass when Mars' tilt increases. ... > full story

Limit to nanotechnology mass-production? (April 22, 2011) -- A leading nanotechnology scientist has raised questions over a billion dollar industry by boldly claiming that there is a limit to how small nanotechnology materials can be mass produced. ... > full story

Why biggest stellar explosions often happen in tiniest galaxies: Ultraviolet probe sheds light on mystery (April 21, 2011) -- Astronomers using NASA's Galaxy Evolution Explorer may be closer to knowing why some of the most massive stellar explosions ever observed occur in the tiniest of galaxies. ... > full story

RNA nanoparticles constructed to safely deliver long-lasting therapy to cells (April 21, 2011) -- Though RNA is viewed as a promising tool in nanotherapy, the difficulties of producing stable and long-lasting therapeutic RNA have posed challenges to research. A biomedical engineering professor has detailed the successful production of large RNA nanoparticles from smaller RNA segments. The nanoparticles had a half life of between five and 10 hours in animal models and targeted cancer cells in vivo to release therapeutics. ... > full story

Does video game violence harm teens? New study weighs the evidence (April 21, 2011) -- How much scientific evidence is there for and against the assertion that exposure to video game violence can harm teens? Three researchers have developed a novel method to consider that question: they analyzed the research output of experts who filed a brief in a US Supreme Court case involving violent video games and teens. ... > full story

Material that if scratched, you can quickly and easily fix yourself, with light not heat (April 21, 2011) -- A team of researchers in the United States and Switzerland has developed a polymer-based material that can heal itself with the help of a widely used type of lighting. Called "metallo-supramolecular polymers," the material is capable of becoming a supple liquid that fills crevasses and gaps left by scrapes and scuffs when placed under ultraviolet light for less than a minute and then resolidifying. The paper will publish this week in journal Nature. ... > full story

Kids' 'screen time' linked to early markers for cardiovascular disease (April 21, 2011) -- Children who had the most hours of screen time, particularly in front of the television, had narrower arteries in the eyes -- a possible indicator for future heart disease risk, according to a new study. Children with the highest levels of physical activity had wider retinal arterioles. The magnitude of vessel narrowing for each hour of screen time was similar to a 10 millimeter of mercury rise in systolic blood pressure. ... > full story

Fat turns into soap in sewers, contributes to overflows (April 21, 2011) -- Researchers have discovered how fat, oil and grease can create hardened deposits in sewer lines: it turns into soap! The hardened deposits, which can look like stalactites, contribute to sewer overflows. ... > full story

CAPTCHAs with chaos: Strong protection for weak passwords (April 21, 2011) -- The passwords of the future could become more secure and, at the same time, simpler to use. Researchers have been inspired by the physics of critical phenomena in their attempts to significantly improve password protection. The researchers split a password into two sections. With the first, easy-to-memorize section they encrypt a CAPTCHA -- an image that computer programs have difficulty in deciphering. The researchers also make it more difficult for computers, whose task it is to automatically crack passwords, to read the passwords without authorization. They use images of a simulated physical system, which they additionally make unrecognizable with a chaotic process. ... > full story

Laser sparks revolution in internal combustion engines (April 21, 2011) -- For more than 150 years, spark plugs have powered internal combustion engines. Automakers are now one step closer to being able to replace this long-standing technology with laser igniters, which will enable cleaner, more efficient, and more economical vehicles. Researchers from Japan have developed the first multibeam laser system small enough to screw into an engine's cylinder head. ... > full story

Mega wind turbines of 20 MW (April 21, 2011) -- The present largest wind turbines have a capacity of 5-6 MW. Scientists have now presented the first design basis for developing mega wind turbines of 20 MW. One single wind turbine of this type in the North Sea would provide electricity for 15,000 to 20,000 dwellings. ... > full story

Beams of electrons link Saturn with its moon Enceladus (April 21, 2011) -- Data from NASA's Cassini spacecraft have revealed that Enceladus, one of Saturn's diminutive moons, is linked to Saturn by powerful electrical currents -- beams of electrons that flow back and forth between the planet and moon. ... > full story

Researchers now one step closer to controlled engineering of nanocatalysts (April 21, 2011) -- Experts in material science and engineering have demonstrated a rational approach to producing nanocrystals with predictable shapes. The work could one day lead to the ability to rationally produce nanocatalysts with desired crystal surfaces and hence catalytic properties. ... > full story

A galactic rose highlights Hubble's 21st anniversary (April 21, 2011) -- In celebration of the 21st anniversary of the Hubble Space Telescope's deployment into space, astronomers pointed Hubble at an especially photogenic group of interacting galaxies called Arp 273. ... > full story

Electronic healthcare at the click of a mouse (April 21, 2011) -- Health literacy is a prerequisite for well being in the developed world with five out of five ailments being treatable by patients themselves given access to appropriate information. However, when symptoms appear, it is often difficult for a patient to make the right decision even given access to suitable health information and deciding whether their ailment is the one out of five that requires a health professional becomes a difficult task. ... > full story

Protein-patterned fibers: Researchers combine active proteins with material derived from fruit fly (April 20, 2011) -- Researchers have discovered a way to pattern active proteins into bio-friendly fibers. The "eureka" moment came about because somebody forgot to clean up the lab one night. The new work simplifies the process of making materials with fully functional proteins. Such materials could find extensive use as chemical catalysts and biosensors and in tissue engineering, for starters. ... > full story

Mining data from electronic records: Faster way to get genetic clues to disease (April 20, 2011) -- Recruiting thousands of patients to collect health data for genetic clues to disease is expensive and time consuming. But a study shows that process could be faster and cheaper by mining patient data that already exists in electronic medical records. Researchers were able to cull patient information in electronic medical records from routine doctors' visits at five national sites. This allowed researchers to accurately identify patients with five different diseases and reproduce previous genetic findings. ... > full story

Primordial weirdness: Did the early universe have one dimension? Scientists outline test for theory (April 20, 2011) -- Did the early universe have just one spatial dimension? That's the mind-boggling concept at the heart of a new theory. Researchers now describe a test that could prove or disprove the "vanishing dimensions" hypothesis. ... > full story

Nanomedicine one step closer to reality (April 20, 2011) -- A class of engineered nanoparticles -- gold-centered spheres smaller than viruses -- has been shown safe when administered by two alternative routes in a new mouse study. ... > full story

Ends of chromosomes protected by stacked, coiled DNA caps (April 20, 2011) -- Researchers are delving into the details of the complex structure at the ends of chromosomes. Recent work describes how these structures, called telomeres, can be protected by caps made up of specialized proteins and stacks of DNA called G-quadruplexes, or "G4 DNA." ... > full story

Another universe tugging on ours? Maybe not: Data from exploding stars contradicts earlier study (April 20, 2011) -- In 2008, researchers announced a startling discovery: Clusters of galaxies far apart from one another appeared to be traveling in the same direction. Maybe another universe existed beyond the bounds of ours, dragging our stars ever closer through the pull of gravity. Then again, maybe not. A new study contradicts the dark flow theory, showing that exploding stars in different parts of the universe do not appear to be moving in sync. ... > full story

'3-D towers' of information double data storage areal density (April 20, 2011) -- Using well-known patterned media, a team of researchers in France has figured out a way to double the areal density of information by essentially cutting the magnetic media into small pieces and building a "3-D tower" out of it. ... > full story