ScienceDaily: Top Technology News

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• Space sunflower may help snap pictures of planets
• NASA's Spitzer Telescope brings 360-degree view of galaxy to our fingertips
• NASA orbiter finds new gully channel on Mars
• Lightweight construction materials of highest stability
• Making synthetic diamond crystals in plasma reactor

Space sunflower may help snap pictures of planets Posted: 22 Mar 2014 06:49 AM PDT A spacecraft that looks like a giant sunflower might one day be used to acquire images of Earth-like rocky planets around nearby stars. The prototype deployable structure, called a starshade, is being developed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.

NASA's Spitzer Telescope brings 360-degree view of galaxy to our fingertips Posted: 22 Mar 2014 06:45 AM PDT Touring the Milky Way now is as easy as clicking a button with NASA's new zoomable, 360-degree mosaic. The star-studded panorama of our galaxy is constructed from more than 2 million infrared snapshots taken over the past 10 years by NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope.

NASA orbiter finds new gully channel on Mars Posted: 22 Mar 2014 06:44 AM PDT A comparison of images taken by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter in November 2010 and May 2013 reveal the formation of a new gully channel on a crater-wall slope in the southern highlands of Mars.

Lightweight construction materials of highest stability Posted: 21 Mar 2014 06:49 AM PDT Researchers have developed microstructured lightweight construction materials of highest stability. Although their density is below that of water, their stability relative to their weight exceeds that of massive materials, such as high-performance steel or aluminum. The lightweight construction materials are inspired by the framework structure of bones and the shell structure of the bees' honeycombs.

Making synthetic diamond crystals in plasma reactor Posted: 21 Mar 2014 06:48 AM PDT Synthetic diamond crystals are of interest to many industrial sectors. Their unique properties make them a suitable material for numerous applications including lenses for high-energy laser optics, X-ray radiation detectors and ophthalmological scalpels. Scientists produce artificial diamonds in all shapes and sizes ranging from discs to three-dimensional shapes and even hollow spheres.

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