ScienceDaily: Top Technology News

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• Palladium-gold nanoparticles clean TCE a billion times faster than iron filings
• New planet-weighing technique found
• New way of probing exoplanet atmospheres
• Easier way to make new drug compounds
• ALMA reveals constituent of a galaxy at 12.4 billion light-years away
• A step toward minute factories that produce medicine inside the body
• New technique controls crystalline structure of titanium dioxide
• First 3-D nanoscale optical cavities from metamaterials: Hold promise for nanolasers, LEDs, optical sensors
• Plasma fingers point to the taming of the edge localized modes
• Self-healing dynamic membrane
• Marine energy doubled by predicting wave power

Palladium-gold nanoparticles clean TCE a billion times faster than iron filings Posted: 27 Jun 2012 12:42 PM PDT In the first side-by-side tests of a half-dozen palladium- and iron-based catalysts for cleaning up the carcinogen TCE, scientists have found that palladium destroys TCE far faster than iron -- up to a billion times faster in some cases.

New planet-weighing technique found Posted: 27 Jun 2012 11:25 AM PDT Although there have been about 800 extra-solar planets discovered so far in our galaxy, the precise masses of the majority of them are still unknown, as the most-common planet-finding technique provides only a general idea of an object's mass. Previously, the only way to determine a planet's exact mass was if it transits. Astronomers have, for the first time, determined the mass of a non-transiting planet.

New way of probing exoplanet atmospheres Posted: 27 Jun 2012 10:20 AM PDT For the first time a new technique has allowed astronomers to study the atmosphere of an exoplanet in detail -- even though it does not pass in front of its parent star. Astronomers have used ESO's Very Large Telescope to directly catch the faint glow from the planet Tau Boötis b, solving a 15-year-old problem. The team also finds that the planet's atmosphere seems to be cooler higher up, differently from the expected.

Easier way to make new drug compounds Posted: 27 Jun 2012 10:19 AM PDT Scientists have developed a powerful new technique for manipulating the building-block molecules of organic chemistry. The technique enables chemists to add new functional molecules to previously hard-to-reach positions on existing compounds—making it easier for them to generate new drugs and other organic chemicals.

ALMA reveals constituent of a galaxy at 12.4 billion light-years away Posted: 27 Jun 2012 09:21 AM PDT How and when did galaxies with hundreds of billions of stars form and evolve? The sun, which is the center of the solar system in which we live, is also only one of the countless stars contained within a galaxy. In brief, it can be said that we need to understand the evolution of galaxies to understand the world we live in.

A step toward minute factories that produce medicine inside the body Posted: 27 Jun 2012 07:33 AM PDT Scientists are reporting an advance toward treating disease with minute capsules containing not drugs -- but the DNA and other biological machinery for making the drug. They describe engineering micro- and nano-sized capsules that contain the genetically coded instructions, plus the read-out gear and assembly line for protein synthesis that can be switched on with an external signal.

New technique controls crystalline structure of titanium dioxide Posted: 27 Jun 2012 07:33 AM PDT Researchers have developed a new technique for controlling the crystalline structure of titanium dioxide at room temperature. The development should make titanium dioxide more efficient in a range of applications, including photovoltaic cells, hydrogen production, antimicrobial coatings, smart sensors and optical communication technologies.

First 3-D nanoscale optical cavities from metamaterials: Hold promise for nanolasers, LEDs, optical sensors Posted: 27 Jun 2012 06:29 AM PDT Researchers have created the world's smallest three-dimensional optical cavities with the potential to generate the world's most intense nanolaser beams. In addition to nanolasers, these unique optical cavities should be applicable to a broad range of other technologies, including LEDs, optical sensing, nonlinear optics, quantum optics and photonic integrated circuits.

Plasma fingers point to the taming of the edge localized modes Posted: 27 Jun 2012 06:20 AM PDT New images from the MAST device at Culham Centre for Fusion Energy could find a solution to one of the biggest plasma physics problems standing in the way of the development of fusion power.

Self-healing dynamic membrane Posted: 27 Jun 2012 06:20 AM PDT The market for membranes, porous materials used mainly to filter liquids, is booming. However, their design leaves room for improvement. Taking their inspiration from cellular membranes, researchers have developed the first dynamic membrane for water filtration which, depending on the water pressure, can adjust the size of its pores in an autonomous manner.

Marine energy doubled by predicting wave power Posted: 26 Jun 2012 02:27 PM PDT The energy generated from our oceans could be doubled using new methods for predicting wave power. New research could pave the way for significant advancements in marine renewable energy, making it a more viable source of power. The researchers devised a means of accurately predicting the power of the next wave in order to make the technology far more efficient, extracting twice as much energy as is currently possible.

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