ScienceDaily Technology Headlines -- for Friday, May 27, 2011 ~ techdeck

ScienceDaily Technology Headlines

for Friday, May 27, 2011

Welcome to another edition of ScienceDaily's email newsletter. You can change your subscription options or unsubscribe at any time.

NASA's Hubble finds rare 'blue straggler' stars in the Milky Way's hub (May 27, 2011) -- NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has found a rare class of oddball stars called blue stragglers in the hub of our Milky Way, the first detected within our galaxy's bulge. ... > full story

Superior sound for telephones, mobile and related devices (May 27, 2011) -- Telephone calls and video conferences with a sound quality that approaches that of direct communication are now possible with a new audio coding technology - it is almost as if the discussion participants are sitting across from one another. ... > full story

NASA's WISE mission offers a taste of galaxies to come (May 26, 2011) -- An assorted mix of colorful galaxies is being released by NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer mission, or WISE. The nine galaxies are a taste of what's to come. The mission plans to release similar images for the 1,000 largest galaxies that appear in our sky, and possibly more. ... > full story

Testing material hardness and strength: Butter up the old 'scratch test' to make it tough (May 26, 2011) -- It might not seem like scraping the top of a cold stick of butter with a knife could be a scientific test, but engineers say the process is very similar to the "scratch test," which is perhaps the oldest known way to assess a material's hardness and strength. Using butter as a launching point, they found that the scratch test is actually measuring a material's toughness rather than its strength. ... > full story

The quantum computer is growing up: Repetitive error correction in a quantum processor (May 26, 2011) -- Physicists have demonstrated a crucial element for a future functioning quantum computer: repetitive error correction. This allows scientists to correct errors occurring in a quantum computer efficiently. ... > full story

Scientists detect Earth-equivalent amount of water within the moon (May 26, 2011) -- The moon has much more water than previously thought, a scientific team has discovered. First-time measurements of lunar melt inclusions show that some parts of the lunar mantle have as much water as the Earth's upper mantle. The results may change the prevailing theory about the Moon's origin as well as shed new light on the origin of water at the lunar poles. Results appear in Science Express. ... > full story

Children experience wrist and finger pain when using gaming devices and mobile phones over time, study suggests (May 26, 2011) -- For the first time, results on the impact of gaming devices on finger and wrist pain in children were presented. Data comparing two schools in the USA demonstrate that young children experience high levels of pain following long term use of gaming devices and mobile phones indicating that excessive gaming may negatively impact on joint health. ... > full story

'Guide vests': Robotic navigation aids for the visually impaired (May 26, 2011) -- Researchers are developing a robot vision-based mobility aid for the visually impaired that uses head-carried cameras linked to Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM) software to build maps of the environment and identify a safe path through obstacles. The information is conveyed to the user through a guide vest that includes four micro motors located on an individual's shoulder and waist that vibrate like cell phones. ... > full story

Feuding helium dwarf stars exposed by eclipse (May 26, 2011) -- Researchers have found a unique feuding double white dwarf star system where each star appears to have been stripped down to just its helium. ... > full story

Quantum sensor tracked in human cells could aid drug discovery (May 26, 2011) -- Groundbreaking research has shown a quantum atom has been tracked inside a living human cell and may lead to improvements in the testing and development of new drugs. ... > full story

Teaching algae to make fuel: New process could lead to production of hydrogen using bioengineered microorganisms (May 26, 2011) -- Many kinds of algae and cyanobacteria, common water-dwelling microorganisms, are capable of using energy from sunlight to split water molecules and release hydrogen, which holds promise as a clean and carbon-free fuel for the future. One reason this approach hasn't yet been harnessed for fuel production is that under ordinary circumstances, hydrogen production takes a back seat to the production of compounds that the organisms use to support their own growth. ... > full story

Intuitions regarding geometry are universal, study suggests (May 26, 2011) -- All human beings may have the ability to understand elementary geometry, independently of their culture or their level of education. In a spherical universe, researchers found that Amazonian Indians gave better answers than French or North American participants who, by virtue of learning geometry at school, acquire greater familiarity with planar geometry than with spherical geometry. ... > full story

Biomedical imaging: Ultrasound guide star and time-reversal mirror can focus light deep under the skin (May 26, 2011) -- Focusing light into a scattering medium such as tissue has been a dream since the beginning of biomedical optics. Previous techniques allowed light to be focused only within a millimeter of the skin. Now a scientist has invented a technique called TRUE that uses an ultrasound guide star to allow scattered optical light be focused deep within tissue. ... > full story

Carrying humans into deep space: NASA announces key decision for next deep space transportation system (May 26, 2011) -- NASA has reached an important milestone for the next U.S. transportation system that will carry humans into deep space. NASA Administrator Charles Bolden announced May 25, 2011 that the system will be based on designs originally planned for the Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle. Those plans now will be used to develop a new spacecraft known as the Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV). ... > full story

Violent video games reduce brain response to violence and increase aggressive behavior, study suggests (May 26, 2011) -- Scientists have known for years that playing violent video games causes players to become more aggressive. The findings of a new study provide one explanation for why this occurs: the brains of violent video game players become less responsive to violence, and this diminished brain response predicts an increase in aggression. ... > full story

Using the hand as a joystick (May 26, 2011) -- Up until recently, users needed a mouse and a keyboard, a touch-screen or a joystick to control a computer system. Researchers in Germany have now developed a new kind of gesture command system that makes it possible to use just the fingers of a hand. ... > full story

Music game for autistic children unveiled (May 26, 2011) -- A musical computer game to help children with autism learn and relax has been unveiled by graduate students in the UK. ... > full story

Electron is surprisingly spherical, say scientists following 10-year study (May 25, 2011) -- Scientists have made the most accurate measurement yet of the shape of the humble electron, finding that it is almost a perfect sphere. The experiment suggests that if the electron were magnified to the size of the solar system, it would still appear spherical to within the width of a human hair. ... > full story

Trash to treasure: Turning steel-mill waste into bricks (May 25, 2011) -- Scientists are reporting development and successful testing of a promising new way of using a troublesome byproduct of the global steel industry as raw materials for bricks that can be used in construction projects. ... > full story

Cosmic explosion is new candidate for most distant object in the universe (May 25, 2011) -- A gamma-ray burst detected by NASA's Swift satellite in April 2009 has been newly unveiled as a candidate for the most distant object in the universe. At an estimated distance of 13.14 billion light years, the burst lies far beyond any known quasar and could be more distant than any previously known galaxy or gamma-ray burst. ... > full story

Sustainable 'bio-derived' jet fuel industry is achievable (May 25, 2011) -- Establishing an economically and environmentally beneficial, "bio-derived" Australian and New Zealand aviation fuels industry is a viable proposition, according to a new report. ... > full story

Using microbes to generate electricity? (May 25, 2011) -- Using bacteria to generate energy is a significant step closer following a breakthrough discovery. Researchers now demonstrate for the first time the exact molecular structure of the proteins which enable bacterial cells to transfer electrical charge. ... > full story

NASA's Spirit Rover completes mission on Mars (May 25, 2011) -- NASA has ended operational planning activities for the Mars rover Spirit and transitioned the Mars Exploration Rover Project to a single-rover operation focused on Spirit's still-active twin, Opportunity. ... > full story

New bandwidth management techniques boost operating efficiency in multi-core chips (May 25, 2011) -- Researchers have developed two new techniques to help maximize the performance of multi-core computer chips by allowing them to retrieve data more efficiently, which boosts chip performance by 10 to 40 percent. ... > full story

Brilliant but solitary superstar discovered in nearby galaxy (May 25, 2011) -- An extraordinarily bright isolated star has been found in a nearby galaxy -- the star is three million times brighter than the Sun. All previous similar "superstars" were found in star clusters, but this brilliant beacon shines in solitary splendor. The origin of this star is mysterious: did it form in isolation or was it ejected from a cluster? Either option challenges astronomers' understanding of star formation. ... > full story

Improving health assessments with a single cell: Portable microchip for immune monitoring and clinical applications (May 25, 2011) -- There's a wealth of health information hiding in the human immune system. Accessing it, however, can be very challenging, as the many and complex roles that the immune system plays can mask the critical information that is relevant to addressing specific health issues. Now, research has shown that a new generation of microchips can quickly and inexpensively assess immune function. ... > full story

Kepler's astounding haul of multiple-planet systems (May 25, 2011) -- NASA's Kepler spacecraft is proving itself to be a prolific planet hunter. Within just the first four months of data, astronomers have found evidence for more than 1,200 planetary candidates. Of those, 408 reside in systems containing two or more planets, and most of those look very different than our solar system. ... > full story

Hips take walking in stride, ankles put best foot forward in run (May 25, 2011) -- In a first-of-its-kind study comparing human walking and running motions -- and whether the hips, knees or ankles are the most important power sources for these motions -- researchers show that the hips generate more of the power when people walk, but the ankles generate more of the power when humans run. Knees provide approximately one-fifth or less of walking or running power. ... > full story

Simple method of dealing with harmful radioactive iodine discovered (May 25, 2011) -- A novel way to immobilize radioactive forms of iodine using a microwave has been discovered. Iodine radioisotopes are produced by fission of uranium fuel in a nuclear reactor. Radioactive iodine is of concern because it is highly mobile in the environment and selective uptake by the thyroid gland can pose a significant cancer risk following long term exposure. ... > full story

Seeing an atomic thickness (May 25, 2011) -- Scientists in the UK and Sweden have shown that regions of graphene of different thickness can be easily identified in ambient conditions using electrostatic force microscopy. ... > full story

Once thought a rival phase, antiferromagnetism coexists with superconductivity (May 25, 2011) -- Using neutron scattering and scanning tunneling microscopy, an international team of researchers found that antiantiferromagnetism co-exists -- rather than exclusively competing -- with superconductivity, according to a new study. The findings add further evidence to the team's earlier discovery that spin excitations play a crucial role in superconductivity. ... > full story

Expanded Very Large Array (VLA) radio telescope flexing new scientific muscle (May 25, 2011) -- The famous Very Large Array (VLA) radio telescope has become the Expanded VLA -- a completely new scientific instrument with dramatically improved capabilities. Results from early users show these new capabilities can impact nearly the entire breadth of astronomical research. ... > full story

A new system increases network communication security and anonymity (May 25, 2011) -- Researchers have developed an anonymous system with automatic routing management. The system sets up a data transmission communication environment whose users are unidentifiable. This safeguards user privacy, as well as improving information exchange security, making both data sending and receiving more effective. To do this, it uses multipoint software based on client-server applications. ... > full story

How to learn a star's true age (May 24, 2011) -- For many movie stars, their age is a well-kept secret. In space, the same is true of the actual stars. Like our sun, most stars look almost the same for most of their lives. So how can we tell if a star is one billion or 10 billion years old? Astronomers may have found a solution -- measuring the star's spin. ... > full story

Biomedical engineering students fight hypothermia on the battlefield (May 24, 2011) -- A team of biomedical engineering students is developing a new device to combat hypothermia among wounded soldiers. ... > full story

Too easy to steal cargo from transport networks: Research points to solutions (May 24, 2011) -- Each year, billions of euros worth of goods are being stolen from European transport networks. A discouraged transport and logistics sector has more or less chosen to tolerate the problem. But there are solutions, according to one researcher. ... > full story

Universe's not-so-missing mass (May 24, 2011) -- An Australian student has made a breakthrough in the field of astrophysics, discovering what has until now been described as the universe's "missing mass." Amelia Fraser-McKelvie, working within a team of physicists, conducted a targeted X-ray search for the matter and within just three months found it – or at least some of it. ... > full story

Mathematically ranking ranking methods (May 24, 2011) -- In a world where everything from placement in a Google search result to World Cup eligibility depends on ranking and numerical ratings of some kind, it is becoming increasingly important to analyze the algorithms and techniques that underlie such ranking methods in order to ensure fairness, eliminate bias and tailor them to specific applications. A new paper three commonly used ranking methods. ... > full story

Nearby supernova factory ramps up (May 24, 2011) -- A local supernova factory has recently started production, according to a wealth of new data from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory on the Carina Nebula. This discovery may help astronomers better understand how some of the Galaxy's heaviest and youngest stars race through their lives and release newly-forged elements into their surroundings. ... > full story

New way to analyze a bloody crime scene: Chicken wing sauce and trigonometry brought to bear on CSI enigma (May 24, 2011) -- Physicists have worked out a system that can often determine exactly where blood spatters originate, a critical piece of evidence in not only solving a crime but securing a conviction. ... > full story

Common fire retardant harmful to aquatic life (May 24, 2011) -- Environmental health researchers found that zebra fish exposed to several different technical mixtures of polybrominated diphenyl ethers -- a common fire retardant -- during early development can have developmental malformations, changes in behavior and death. ... > full story

Violence doesn't add to children's enjoyment of TV shows, movies (May 24, 2011) -- Despite growing concern about the effects of media violence on children, violent television shows and movies continue to be produced and marketed to them. A new research study concludes that violence doesn't add anything to their enjoyment of such programs and their characters. ... > full story

Novel artificial material could facilitate wireless power (May 24, 2011) -- Electrical engineers have determined that unique artificial materials should theoretically make it possible to improve the power transfer to small devices, such as laptops or cell phones, or ultimately to larger ones, such as cars or elevators, without wires. ... > full story

Hubble views the star that changed the universe (May 24, 2011) -- Though the universe is filled with billions upon billions of stars, the discovery of a single variable star in 1923 altered the course of modern astronomy. And, at least one famous astronomer of the time lamented that the discovery had shattered his world view. The star goes by the inauspicious name of Hubble variable number one, or V1, and resides in the outer regions of the neighboring Andromeda galaxy, or M31. ... > full story

Particle trap paves way for personalized medicine (May 24, 2011) -- Researchers have trapped individual charged particles in an aqueous solution using a method called "Paul trapping," which uses oscillating electric fields to confine the particles to a space only nanometers in size. The technique paves the way for DNA trapping and sequencing, which would allow for diagnostic testing, therapies and treatments based on each patient's individual genetic makeup. ... > full story

Supercapacitors: Cheaper, greener, alternative energy storage (May 24, 2011) -- Students are working on a supercapacitor that will allow us to harness more solar energy through biochar electrodes for supercapacitors, resulting in a cleaner, greener planet. ... > full story

New device could reduce surgical scarring (May 24, 2011) -- Researchers have developed a special wound dressing that they report was able to significantly reduced scar tissue caused by incisions. ... > full story

Ants give new evidence for interaction networks (May 24, 2011) -- Social networks may function differently than previously thought, researchers have discovered by taking clues from ant colonies. ... > full story