ScienceDaily: Top Technology News

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• What companies can learn from NASA tragedies
• Lab clocks 'hot' electrons: Plasmon-generated electrons timed moving from nanorods to graphene
• Researcher turns sights on prostate cancer, tissue engineering, blood vessel repair
• Study supports new safety rule for truck drivers
• New computer, Edison, electrifies scientific computing
• To hear without being heard: First nonreciprocal acoustic circulator created
• Faster X-ray technology paves the way for better catalysts: Researchers observe a catalyst surface at work with atomic resolution
• Piezoelectrics and butterflies: Now scientists know more about how the materials actually work
• Researchers develop new tool to identify genetic risk factors
• Storage system for 'big data' dramatically speeds access to information
• 'Bubble CPAP' boosts neonatal survival rates: Helps babies struggling to breathe
• Integration brings quantum computer a step closer
• Thyroid cancer cells become less aggressive in outer space
• Self-aligning DNA wires for application in nanoelectronics
• Robot with a taste for beer? Electronic tongue can identify brands of beer
• Photon recoil provides new insight into matter: New precision spectroscopy allows unprecedented accuracy
• Super-strong graphene oxide: In situ bandgap tuning of graphene oxide achieved by electrochemical bias
• Prediction modeling may lead to more personalized heart care for patients
• Connectedness, human use of buildings shape indoor bacterial communities
• Improved ultrasound imaging provides an alternative way of visualizing tumors
• Anti-soiling coating keeps solar reflectors clean and efficient
• Engineering: A career that pays, new salary survey suggests
• Intuitive number games boost children's math performance
• Are you political on Facebook?
• Lightwaves used by neuroscientists to improve brain tumor surgery
• Decibels and democracy: Voice voting can be skewed by single loud voice
• New theory may lead to more efficient solar cells

What companies can learn from NASA tragedies Posted: 30 Jan 2014 01:44 PM PST Scientists have been researching how NASA recognizes "near-miss" events ever since the Columbia shuttle was destroyed in flight 11 years ago Saturday. A new study finds recognition of near-misses goes up when leaders emphasize project significance and weigh safety over other goals.

Lab clocks 'hot' electrons: Plasmon-generated electrons timed moving from nanorods to graphene Posted: 30 Jan 2014 01:44 PM PST Scientists time "hot" electrons as they transfer from excited plasmons in gold nanorods to graphene. Plasmonic nanoparticles are becoming known for their ability to turn light into heat, but how to use them to generate electricity is not nearly as well understood. Scientists are working on that, too. They suggest that the extraction of electrons generated by surface plasmons in metal nanoparticles may be optimized.

Researcher turns sights on prostate cancer, tissue engineering, blood vessel repair Posted: 30 Jan 2014 01:43 PM PST When biology and materials science converge, the results can be new materials that can be used to deliver targeted drugs, repair damaged arteries or rebuild failing tissues, such as the anterior cruciate ligament, the ACL injury that can end sports careers. One bioengineer is developing polymers designed to target all three.

Study supports new safety rule for truck drivers Posted: 30 Jan 2014 12:29 PM PST The US Department of Transportation's Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration today released the findings of a field study that provides evidence that a revised provision in new hours-of-service regulations for truck drivers is more effective at combating fatigue than the previous version. The new trucking regulations took effect last July.

New computer, Edison, electrifies scientific computing Posted: 30 Jan 2014 11:13 AM PST A new supercomputer, named Edison, electrifies scientific computing. Edison can execute nearly 2.4 quadrillion floating-point operations per second (petaflop/s) at peak theoretical speeds.

To hear without being heard: First nonreciprocal acoustic circulator created Posted: 30 Jan 2014 11:13 AM PST Scientists have built the first-ever nonreciprocal circulator for sound that is able to break sound wave reciprocity. The device is a 'one-way road for sound' that transmits acoustic waves in one direction but blocks them in the other. With this device, you can listen without being heard.

Faster X-ray technology paves the way for better catalysts: Researchers observe a catalyst surface at work with atomic resolution Posted: 30 Jan 2014 11:13 AM PST By using a novel X-ray technique, researchers have observed a catalyst surface at work in real time and were able to resolve its atomic structure in detail. The new technique may pave the way for the design of better catalysts and other materials on the atomic level.

Piezoelectrics and butterflies: Now scientists know more about how the materials actually work Posted: 30 Jan 2014 10:31 AM PST Piezoelectrics, materials that can change mechanical stress to electricity and back again, are everywhere in modern life. Computer hard drives. Loudspeakers. Medical ultrasound. Sonar. But there are major gaps in our understanding of how they work. Now researchers believe they've learned why one of the main classes of these materials, known as relaxors, behaves in distinctly different ways from the rest. The discovery comes in the shape of a butterfly.

Researchers develop new tool to identify genetic risk factors Posted: 30 Jan 2014 09:16 AM PST Researchers developed a new biological pathway-based computational model, called the Pathway-based Human Phenotype Network, to identify underlying genetic connections between different diseases. The Pathway-based Human Phenotype Network mines the data present in large publicly available disease datasets to find shared SNPs, genes, or pathways and expresses them in a visual form.

Storage system for 'big data' dramatically speeds access to information Posted: 30 Jan 2014 08:10 AM PST As computers enter ever more areas of our daily lives, the amount of data they produce has grown enormously. But for this "big data" to be useful it must first be analyzed, meaning it needs to be stored in such a way that it can be accessed quickly when required.

'Bubble CPAP' boosts neonatal survival rates: Helps babies struggling to breathe Posted: 30 Jan 2014 07:21 AM PST The first clinical study of a low-cost neonatal breathing system demonstrated that the device increased the survival rate of newborns with severe respiratory illness from 44 percent to 71 percent. A 10-month study of 87 patients in Blantyre, Malawi, found that treatment with low-cost "bubble CPAP" increased survival for severely ill premature babies as much as fourfold.

Integration brings quantum computer a step closer Posted: 30 Jan 2014 07:20 AM PST Scientists have made an important advance towards a quantum computer by shrinking down key components and integrating them onto a silicon microchip.

Thyroid cancer cells become less aggressive in outer space Posted: 30 Jan 2014 07:20 AM PST For those who think that space exploration offers no tangible benefits, new research involving thyroid cancer may prove otherwise. Researchers show that some tumors which are aggressive on earth are considerably less aggressive in microgravity. By understanding the genetic and cellular processes that occur in space, scientists may be able to develop treatments that accomplish the same thing on Earth.

Self-aligning DNA wires for application in nanoelectronics Posted: 30 Jan 2014 07:20 AM PST Since miniaturization in microelectronics is starting to reach physical limits, researchers seek new methods for device fabrication. One candidate is DNA origami in which strands of the biomolecule self-assemble into arbitrarily shaped nanostructures. The formation of entire circuits, however, requires the controlled positioning of these DNA structures on a surface -- which is only possible using elaborate techniques. Researchers have come up with a simpler strategy which combines DNA origami with self-organized pattern formation.

Robot with a taste for beer? Electronic tongue can identify brands of beer Posted: 30 Jan 2014 06:28 AM PST Researchers have managed to distinguish between different varieties of beer using an electronic tongue. The discovery is accurate in almost 82% of cases. Beer is the oldest and most widely consumed alcoholic drink in the world.

Photon recoil provides new insight into matter: New precision spectroscopy allows unprecedented accuracy Posted: 30 Jan 2014 06:28 AM PST Quantum logic spectroscopy has now been significantly extended: the new method is called "photon-recoil spectroscopy" (PRS). In contrast to the original quantum logic technique, the new method enables the investigation of very fast transitions in atoms or molecules. With this new method, spectroscopic investigations will be possible on nearly any kind of particles.

Super-strong graphene oxide: In situ bandgap tuning of graphene oxide achieved by electrochemical bias Posted: 30 Jan 2014 06:13 AM PST The ability to modulate the physical properties of graphene oxide within electronic components could have numerous applications in technology. Super-strong graphene oxide (GO) sheets are useful for ultrathin, flexible nano-electronic devices, and display unique properties including photoluminescence and room temperature ferromagnetism.

Prediction modeling may lead to more personalized heart care for patients Posted: 30 Jan 2014 01:06 AM PST Detailed prediction models that project long-term patient mortality following PCI and CABG surgery can be useful for the heart team when determining the best treatment strategy for individual patients.

Connectedness, human use of buildings shape indoor bacterial communities Posted: 29 Jan 2014 03:48 PM PST Microbes drawn from the dust in a university building have provided clues that could inspire future architectural designers to encourage a healthy indoor environment.

Improved ultrasound imaging provides an alternative way of visualizing tumors Posted: 29 Jan 2014 03:46 PM PST While ultrasound provides a less expensive and radiation-free alternative to detecting and monitoring cancer compared to technologies such as X-rays, CT scans and MRIs, the lower clarity and resolution of ultrasound has limited its use in cancer treatment. Researchers have overcome this limitation by combining ultrasound with a contrast agent comprised of micro-sized bubbles that pair with an antibody produced at elevated levels by many cancers.

Anti-soiling coating keeps solar reflectors clean and efficient Posted: 29 Jan 2014 01:46 PM PST Scientists are developing a low-cost, transparent, anti-soiling coating for solar reflectors to optimize energy efficiency while lowering operating and maintenance costs and avoiding negative environmental impacts.

Engineering: A career that pays, new salary survey suggests Posted: 29 Jan 2014 10:48 AM PST Salaries for engineers rose in 2013 amid the growing global demand for technology services across industry sectors, according to a survey.

Intuitive number games boost children's math performance Posted: 29 Jan 2014 08:51 AM PST A quick glance at two, unequal groups of paper clips leads most people to immediately intuit which group has more. In a new study, researchers report that practicing this kind of simple, instinctive numerical exercise can improve children's ability to solve math problems.

Are you political on Facebook? Posted: 29 Jan 2014 08:47 AM PST Social media and networks are ripe for politicization, for movement publicity, advocacy group awareness, not-for-profit fund-raising campaigns and perhaps even e-government. However, the majority of users perhaps see these tools as being useful for entertainment, interpersonal connections and sharing rather than politics. A research paper reinforces this notion. The results suggest that the potential for political activism must overcome the intrinsic user perception that online social networks are for enjoyment rather than utility, political or otherwise.

Lightwaves used by neuroscientists to improve brain tumor surgery Posted: 29 Jan 2014 08:46 AM PST First-of-its-kind research shows promise for developing a method of clearly identifying cancerous tissue during surgery on one of the most common and deadliest types of brain tumor.

Decibels and democracy: Voice voting can be skewed by single loud voice Posted: 29 Jan 2014 08:45 AM PST Voice votes, common in civic and political decision making at all levels, can be skewed by a single, loud voice, according to a study. The researchers propose locating everyone within equal distance from the vote recorder or controlling for sound on voters' microphones.

New theory may lead to more efficient solar cells Posted: 29 Jan 2014 04:56 AM PST A new theoretical model may hold the key to methods for developing better materials for solar cells. Researchers say the model could lead to new solar cell materials made from improved blends of semiconducting polymers and fullerenes.

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