ScienceDaily: Top Technology News

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• New device traps particulates, kills airborne pathogens
• NASA's Cassini watches Saturn storm choke on its own tail
• Nanoparticles that look and act like cells
• Physicists shine a light on particle assembly
• Mystery surrounding the harnessing of fusion energy unlocked
• Novel materials shake ship scum
• 'Hungry twin' stars gobble their first meals
• Giant carbon molecules for sustainable technologies

New device traps particulates, kills airborne pathogens Posted: 31 Jan 2013 12:44 PM PST A new device called a soft X-ray electrostatic precipitator protected immunocompromised mice from airborne pathogenic bacteria, viruses, ultrafine particles, and allergens, according to a new article.

NASA's Cassini watches Saturn storm choke on its own tail Posted: 31 Jan 2013 11:54 AM PST Call it a Saturnian version of the Ouroboros, the mythical serpent that bites its own tail. In a new paper that provides the most detail yet about the life and death of a monstrous thunder-and-lightning storm on Saturn, scientists from NASA's Cassini mission describe how the massive storm churned around the planet until it encountered its own tail and sputtered out. It is the first time scientists have observed a storm consume itself in this way anywhere in the solar system.

Nanoparticles that look and act like cells Posted: 31 Jan 2013 11:41 AM PST By cloaking nanoparticles in the membranes of white blood cells, scientists may have found a way to prevent the body from recognizing and destroying them before they deliver their drug payloads.

Physicists shine a light on particle assembly Posted: 31 Jan 2013 11:41 AM PST Physicists have developed a method for moving microscopic particles with the flick of a light switch. Their work relies on a blue light to prompt colloids to move and then assemble—much like birds flock and move together in flight.

Mystery surrounding the harnessing of fusion energy unlocked Posted: 31 Jan 2013 06:53 AM PST Scientists have answered the question of how the behavior of plasma -- the extremely hot gases of nuclear fusion -- can be controlled with ultra-thin lithium films on graphite walls lining thermonuclear magnetic fusion devices.

Novel materials shake ship scum Posted: 31 Jan 2013 06:52 AM PST Just as horses shake off pesky flies by twitching their skin, ships may soon be able to shed the unwanted accumulation of bacteria and other marine growth with the flick of a switch.

'Hungry twin' stars gobble their first meals Posted: 31 Jan 2013 06:52 AM PST Years of monitoring its infrared with the Spitzer instrument reveal that it becomes 10 times brighter every 25.34 days, astronomers say. This periodicity suggests that a companion to the central forming star is likely inhibiting the infall of gas and dust until its closest orbital approach, when matter eventually comes crashing down onto the protostellar "twins."

Giant carbon molecules for sustainable technologies Posted: 31 Jan 2013 06:51 AM PST Scientists in the joint research project "FUNgraphen" are pinning their hopes for new technologies on a particular form of carbon: They have developed new carbon macromolecules and molecular carbon composite materials with special properties. The molecules are derived from graphene, a substance that consists of individual layers of carbon atoms arranged in a honeycomb-like pattern. The process previously necessary to make use of this substance was complex and expensive and thus of little value for most plastics applications.

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