ScienceDaily: Top Technology News

---

• Breakthrough development of flexible 1D-1R memory cell array
• Artificial leaf jumps developmental hurdle
• Caps not the culprit in nanotube chirality: New study narrows possibilities for gaining control of nanotube type
• Ion beams pave way to new kinds of valves for use in spintronics
• Bats inspire 'micro air vehicle' designs: Small flying vehicles, complete with flapping wings, may now be designed
• World's most powerful terahertz laser chip
• Stretchable, bendable electronics: A stretchable highway for light
• Blu-ray player detects microorganisms and toxins on discs
• Crowdsourced testers prefer new cyber search method: Faster searches on computers and hand-held devices
• Computer arranges pictures based on artistic features
• Single chip device to provide real-time 3-D images from inside the heart, blood vessels
• Solar-induced hybrid fuel cell produces electricity directly from biomass
• Global warming: Warning against abrupt stop to geoengineering method (if started)
• It’s alive! Bacteria-filled liquid crystals could improve biosensing
• How evolution shapes the geometries of life
• Better batters from brain-training research: Baseball player study significantly improves vision, reduces strikeouts
• Ultra-small and ultra–fast electro-optic modulator
• Einstein's conversion from a belief in a static to an expanding universe
• Urgent need to recycle rare metals
• Space station SPHERES run circles around ordinary satellites
• K-Glass: Extremely low-powered, high-performance head-mounted display embedding an augmented reality chip
• Massachusetts' fire-safe cigarette law appears to decrease likelihood of residential fires
• Amidst bitter cold, rising energy costs, new concerns about energy insecurity
• Understanding everything from family structure to trauma: New technology is yielding bigger data
• Interactive map of human genetic history revealed

Breakthrough development of flexible 1D-1R memory cell array Posted: 18 Feb 2014 09:45 AM PST With the introduction of curved smartphones, flexible electronic goods are gradually moving to the center stages of various markets. Flexible display technology is the culmination of the latest, cutting-edge electric cell device technology. Developing such products, however, requires not only a curved display, but also operational precision of other parts, including the memory, in a flexible state. Scientists have now developed a bendable organic carbon nano compound-based 64bit memory. It shows improved data performance by limiting the direction of electric currents.

Artificial leaf jumps developmental hurdle Posted: 18 Feb 2014 09:44 AM PST Scientists report advances toward perfecting a functional artificial leaf. Designing an artificial leaf that uses solar energy to convert water cheaply and efficiently into hydrogen and oxygen is an important goal. Hydrogen is an important fuel in itself and serves as an indispensible reagent for the production of light hydrocarbon fuels from heavy petroleum feed stocks. Society requires a renewable source of fuel that is widely distributed, abundant, inexpensive and environmentally clean. Society needs cheap hydrogen.

Caps not the culprit in nanotube chirality: New study narrows possibilities for gaining control of nanotube type Posted: 18 Feb 2014 08:43 AM PST The energy involved in carbon cap formation does not dictate the chirality of a single-walled nanotube, according to theoretical research. The work contributes to the continuing search for a way to grow nanotubes of the same selected chirality.

Ion beams pave way to new kinds of valves for use in spintronics Posted: 18 Feb 2014 08:42 AM PST Researchers have tested a new approach to fabricating spin valves. Using ion beams, they structured an iron aluminum alloy in such a way as to subdivide the material into individually magnetizable regions at the nanometer scale. The alloy functions as a spin valve, which is of interest for use in spintronics. Not only does this technology use electron charge for purposes of information storage and processing, it also draws on its inherent magnetic properties (that is, its spin).

Bats inspire 'micro air vehicle' designs: Small flying vehicles, complete with flapping wings, may now be designed Posted: 18 Feb 2014 08:42 AM PST By exploring how creatures in nature are able to fly by flapping their wings, researchers hope to apply that knowledge toward designing small flying vehicles known as "micro air vehicles" with flapping wings.

World's most powerful terahertz laser chip Posted: 18 Feb 2014 08:07 AM PST Researchers have built the world's most powerful terahertz laser chip. The new laser chip has exceeded a 1 Watt output power from a quantum cascade terahertz laser. The new record more than doubles landmarks set last year. Terahertz waves, which lie in the part of the electromagnetic spectrum between infrared and microwaves, can penetrate materials that block visible light and have a wide range of possible uses including chemical analysis, security scanning, medical imaging, and telecommunications. Widely publicised potential applications include monitoring pharmaceutical products, the remote sensing of chemical signatures of explosives in unopened envelopes, and the non-invasive detection of cancers in the human body.

Stretchable, bendable electronics: A stretchable highway for light Posted: 18 Feb 2014 08:07 AM PST Electronics that bend and stretch have been demonstrated, but similar work in optics has lagged behind. Particularly difficult to engineer have been optics that stretch, lengthening when someone wearing body sensors bends to tie their shoe, or when a robotic arm twists through a full range of motion. Now scientists report the first optical circuit that uses interconnections that are not only bendable, but also stretchable.

Blu-ray player detects microorganisms and toxins on discs Posted: 18 Feb 2014 08:05 AM PST In addition to storing films, optical discs can be used to detect microorganisms, toxins, allergens and tumoral biomarkers. Blu-ray technology has allowed researchers to develop a way to find out if a sample contains Salmonella or toxic substances. This simple and cheap analytical system may be applied to clinical diagnosis and environmental monitoring.

Crowdsourced testers prefer new cyber search method: Faster searches on computers and hand-held devices Posted: 18 Feb 2014 07:10 AM PST Computer scientists have developed a new tool to search and fetch electronic files that saves users time by more quickly identifying and retrieving the most relevant information on their computers and hand-held devices.

Computer arranges pictures based on artistic features Posted: 18 Feb 2014 07:07 AM PST Until now, if a nature photographer wanted to arrange pictures of various butterflies systematically based on color or size to create an illustrated book, a lot of time was needed: The artist would have to arrange the individual pictures of the animals on the computer by hand to bring them into the requested order. Suitable software that would have been able to arrange pictures automatically based on certain characteristics did not exist. Researchers have now developed a method that makes it possible to arrange numerous pictures very fast.

Single chip device to provide real-time 3-D images from inside the heart, blood vessels Posted: 18 Feb 2014 07:00 AM PST Researchers have developed the technology for a catheter-based device that would provide forward-looking, real-time, three-dimensional imaging from inside the heart, coronary arteries and peripheral blood vessels.

Solar-induced hybrid fuel cell produces electricity directly from biomass Posted: 18 Feb 2014 07:00 AM PST Researchers have developed a new type of low-temperature fuel cell that directly converts biomass to electricity with assistance from a catalyst activated by solar or thermal energy.

Global warming: Warning against abrupt stop to geoengineering method (if started) Posted: 17 Feb 2014 05:08 PM PST As a range of climate change mitigation scenarios are discussed, researchers have found that the injection of sulfate particles into the atmosphere to reflect sunlight and curb the effects of global warming could pose a severe threat if not maintained indefinitely and supported by strict reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.

It’s alive! Bacteria-filled liquid crystals could improve biosensing Posted: 17 Feb 2014 05:07 PM PST Plop living, swimming bacteria into a novel water-based, nontoxic liquid crystal and a new physics takes over. The dynamic interaction of the bacteria with the liquid crystal creates a novel form of soft matter: living liquid crystal. This new type of active material holds promise for improving the early detection of diseases.

How evolution shapes the geometries of life Posted: 17 Feb 2014 01:11 PM PST An interdisciplinary team re-examined Kleiber's Law, a famous 80-year-old equation that accurately describes many biological phenomena, although scientists don't agree on why it works. The team shows that Kleiber's Law captures the physics and mathematics underlying the evolution of plants' and animals' different, but equally efficient forms.

Better batters from brain-training research: Baseball player study significantly improves vision, reduces strikeouts Posted: 17 Feb 2014 09:16 AM PST UC Riverside baseball players who participated in novel brain-training research saw significant improvement in vision, resulting in fewer strikeouts and more hits. The experiment demonstrated that improvements from a multiple perceptual-learning approach transfer to real-world tasks.

Ultra-small and ultra–fast electro-optic modulator Posted: 17 Feb 2014 07:25 AM PST Thanks to optical signals, mails and data can be transmitted rapidly around the globe. But also exchange of digital information between electronic chips may be accelerated and energy efficiency might be increased by using optical signals. However, this would require simple methods to switch from electrical to optical signals. Researchers have now developed a device of 29 microns in length, which converts signals at a rate of about 40 gigabits per second. It is the most compact high-speed phase modulator in the world.

Einstein's conversion from a belief in a static to an expanding universe Posted: 17 Feb 2014 07:25 AM PST Albert Einstein accepted the modern cosmological view that the universe is expanding long after many of his contemporaries. Until 1931, physicist Albert Einstein believed that the universe was static. An urban legend attributes this change of perspective to when American astronomer Edwin Hubble showed Einstein his observations of redshift in the light emitted by far away nebulae -- today known as galaxies. But the reality is more complex. The change in Einstein's viewpoint, in fact, resulted from a tortuous thought process. Now researchers explain how Einstein changed his mind following many encounters with some of the most influential astrophysicists of his generation.

Urgent need to recycle rare metals Posted: 17 Feb 2014 07:25 AM PST Rare earth metals are important components in green energy products such as wind turbines and eco-cars. But the scarcity of these metals is worrying the European Union.

Space station SPHERES run circles around ordinary satellites Posted: 17 Feb 2014 07:15 AM PST Inspired by a floating droid battling Luke Skywalker in the film Star Wars, the free-flying satellites known as Synchronized Position Hold, Engage, Reorient, Experimental Satellites (SPHERES) have been flying aboard the International Space Station since Expedition 8 in 2003. Although there have been numerous SPHERES investigations held on the orbiting laboratory, four current and upcoming SPHERES projects are of particular significance to robotics engineers, rocket launch companies, NASA exploration and anyone who uses communications systems on Earth.

K-Glass: Extremely low-powered, high-performance head-mounted display embedding an augmented reality chip Posted: 17 Feb 2014 05:44 AM PST Researchers in South Korea have developed K-Glass, a wearable, hands-free HMD that enables users to find restaurants while checking out their menus.

Massachusetts' fire-safe cigarette law appears to decrease likelihood of residential fires Posted: 13 Feb 2014 03:49 PM PST A six-year-old Massachusetts law requiring that only "fire-safe" cigarettes be sold in the state appears to decrease the likelihood of unintentional residential fires caused by cigarettes by 28 percent, according to a new study.

Amidst bitter cold, rising energy costs, new concerns about energy insecurity Posted: 13 Feb 2014 12:35 PM PST With many regions of the country braced by an unrelenting cold snap, the problem of energy insecurity continues to go unreported despite its toll on the most vulnerable. In a new brief, researchers paint a picture of the families most impacted by this problem and suggest recommendations to alleviate its chokehold on millions of struggling Americans.

Understanding everything from family structure to trauma: New technology is yielding bigger data Posted: 13 Feb 2014 11:23 AM PST Social media can do more than just entertain us and keep us connected. It also can help scientists better understand human behavior and social dynamics. The volume of data created through new technology and social media such as Facebook and Twitter is lending insight into everything from mapping modern family dynamics to predicting postpartum depression.

Interactive map of human genetic history revealed Posted: 13 Feb 2014 11:22 AM PST A global map detailing the genetic histories of 95 different populations across the world, showing likely genetic impacts of European colonialism, the Arab slave trade, the Mongol Empire and European traders near the Silk Road mixing with people in China, has been revealed for the first time.

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