ScienceDaily: Top Technology News

---

• Scientists map all possible drug-like chemical compounds: Library of millions of small, carbon-based molecules chemists might synthesize
• Sporting events: Clear your memory to pick a winner
• Special E. coli bacteria produce diesel on demand
• Physicists find right (and left) solution for on-chip optics: Nanoscale router converts and directs optical signals efficiently
• Using black holes to measure the universe's rate of expansion
• Near-field behavior of semiconductor plasmonic microparticles measured
• NASA successfully launches three smartphone satellites
• Grains of sand from ancient supernova found in meteorites: Supernova may have been the one that triggered the formation of the solar system
• Germanium is now laser compatible

Scientists map all possible drug-like chemical compounds: Library of millions of small, carbon-based molecules chemists might synthesize Posted: 22 Apr 2013 12:49 PM PDT Drug developers may have a new tool to search for more effective medications and new materials. It's a computer algorithm that can model and catalog the entire set of lightweight, carbon-containing molecules that chemists could feasibly create in a lab.

Sporting events: Clear your memory to pick a winner Posted: 22 Apr 2013 12:49 PM PDT Predicting the winner of a sporting event with accuracy close to that of a statistical computer program could be possible with proper training, according to researchers.

Special E. coli bacteria produce diesel on demand Posted: 22 Apr 2013 12:49 PM PDT It sounds like science fiction but scientists have developed a method to make bacteria produce diesel on demand. While the technology still faces many significant commercialization challenges, the diesel, produced by special strains of E. coli bacteria, is almost identical to conventional diesel fuel and so does not need to be blended with petroleum products as is often required by biodiesels derived from plant oils.

Physicists find right (and left) solution for on-chip optics: Nanoscale router converts and directs optical signals efficiently Posted: 22 Apr 2013 11:33 AM PDT Scientists have created a new type of nanoscale device that converts an optical signal into waves that travel along a metal surface. Significantly, the device can recognize specific kinds of polarized light and accordingly send the signal in one direction or another.

Using black holes to measure the universe's rate of expansion Posted: 22 Apr 2013 09:30 AM PDT Scientists have developed a method that uses black holes to measure distances of billions of light years with a high degree of accuracy. The ability to measure these distances will allow scientists to see further into the past of the universe than ever before.

Near-field behavior of semiconductor plasmonic microparticles measured Posted: 22 Apr 2013 09:30 AM PDT For the first time, researchers have measured nanometer-scale infrared absorption in semiconductor plasmonic microparticles using a technique that combines atomic force microscopy with infrared spectroscopy.

NASA successfully launches three smartphone satellites Posted: 22 Apr 2013 08:29 AM PDT Three smartphones destined to become low-cost satellites rode to space April 21, 2013 aboard the maiden flight of Orbital Science Corp.'s Antares rocket from NASA's Wallops Island Flight Facility in Virginia. The trio of "PhoneSats" is operating in orbit, and may prove to be the lowest-cost satellites ever flown in space. The goal of NASA's PhoneSat mission is to determine whether a consumer-grade smartphone can be used as the main flight avionics of a capable, yet very inexpensive, satellite.

Grains of sand from ancient supernova found in meteorites: Supernova may have been the one that triggered the formation of the solar system Posted: 22 Apr 2013 08:12 AM PDT Scientists have discovered two tiny grains of silica (SiO2; the most common constituent of sand) in meteorites that fell to earth in Antarctica. Because of their isotopic composition these two grains are thought to be pure samples from a massive star that exploded before the birth of the solar system, perhaps the supernova whose explosion is thought to have triggered the collapse of a giant molecular cloud, giving birth to the Sun.

Germanium is now laser compatible Posted: 22 Apr 2013 07:11 AM PDT Good news for the computer industry: a team of researchers has managed to make germanium suitable for lasers. This could enable microprocessor components to communicate using light in future, which will make the computers of the future faster and more efficient.

You are subscribed to email updates from ScienceDaily: Top Technology News To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now.	Email delivery powered by Google
Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610