ScienceDaily Technology Headlines -- for Saturday, June 25, 2011 ~ techdeck

Sabtu, 25 Juni 2011

ScienceDaily Technology Headlines -- for Saturday, June 25, 2011

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ScienceDaily Technology Headlines

for Saturday, June 25, 2011

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Mantis shrimp eye could improve high-definition CDs, DVDs (June 24, 2011) -- The eye of the peacock mantis shrimp has led an international team of researchers to develop a two-part waveplate that could improve CD, DVD, blu-ray and holographic technology, creating even higher definition and larger storage density. ... > full story

High technology, not low taxes, may drive US states' economic growth (June 24, 2011) -- High-tech training may trump tax breaks for creating more jobs and improving a state's economy, according to a new study by economists. ... > full story

Optical circuit enables new approach to quantum technologies (June 24, 2011) -- Scientists have demonstrated a fundamental building block for quantum computing that could soon be employed in a range of quantum technologies. ... > full story

Genes at the flick of a light switch: Human cells fitted with synthetic signaling cascade (June 24, 2011) -- Researchers from Switzerland have fitted human cells with a synthetic signaling cascade that can be used to switch on and regulate genes via blue light. This "gene light switch" makes interesting therapies possible, which could be used to treat type 2 diabetes, for instance. ... > full story

Sun and planets constructed differently than thought, NASA mission suggests (June 24, 2011) -- Researchers analyzing samples returned by NASA's 2004 Genesis mission have discovered that our sun and its inner planets may have formed differently than previously thought. ... > full story

Next-generation gene sequencing brings personal genomics closer, IDs mutation in new syndrome (June 24, 2011) -- Harnessing the new generation of rapid, highly accurate gene-sequencing techniques, a research team has identified the disease-causing mutation in a newly characterized rare genetic disease, by analyzing DNA from just a few individuals. The power and speed of the innovative bioinformatics tool marks a step toward personalized genomics -- discovering causative mutations in individual patients. The previously unknown lethal syndrome has affected infant boys in two unrelated families. ... > full story

Physicist's discovery alters conventional understanding of sight (June 24, 2011) -- Physicists shed new light on how the visual process is initiated. For almost 50 years, scientists have believed that light signals could not be initiated unless special light-receptor molecules in the retinal cells first changed their shape in a process called isomerization. However, researchers have now demonstrated that visual signals can be initiated in the absence of isomerization. ... > full story

Brain-like computing a step closer to reality (June 24, 2011) -- The development of 'brain-like' computers has taken a major step forward. A new study involved the first ever demonstration of simultaneous information processing and storage using phase-change materials. This new technique could revolutionize computing by making computers faster and more energy-efficient, as well as making them more closely resemble biological systems. ... > full story

Building a better math teacher (June 24, 2011) -- For years, it has been assumed that teachers -- specifically math teachers -- need to master the content they intend to teach. And the best way to do this is to take courses beyond that content. Yet new research does not support this common belief. There is little evidence that advanced courses in mathematics contribute to more effective teaching. ... > full story

Physicists observe 'campfire effect' in blinking nanorod semiconductors (June 24, 2011) -- When semiconductor nanorods are exposed to light, they blink in a seemingly random pattern. By clustering nanorods together, physicists at the University of Pennsylvania have shown that their combined "on" time is increased dramatically providing new insight into this mysterious blinking behavior. ... > full story

Smaller companies hit hardest during emerging market crises (June 24, 2011) -- A study of the reaction by the United States stock market to international financial crises shows that small companies are often hit hardest, and the impact is above and beyond what would be expected given their exposure to global market factors. ... > full story

When matter melts: Scientists map phase changes in quark-gluon plasma (June 24, 2011) -- For a few millionths of a second after the big bang, quarks could move freely, but soon normal matter "froze out" of this quark-matter soup. For the first time scientists have compared quantum theory calculations and data from the STAR experiment at Brookhaven's Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider to map out the energies and temperatures where ordinary matter melts and the quark-gluon plasma freezes. ... > full story