ScienceDaily: Top Technology News

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• Analysis supports use of risk equations to guide statin therapy
• Astronauts' hearts become more spherical in space
• Fabricating nanostructures with silk could make clean rooms green rooms
• Information processing demonstrated using a light-based chip inspired by our brain
• Technique measures quantity, risks of engineered nanomaterials delivered to cells
• Rainbow-catching waveguide could revolutionize energy technologies
• Long-standing theory disproved: Fingerprint of dissolved glycine in the Terahertz range explained
• 15-minute cancer treatment: New targeted radiosurgery technology
• Smartphone app helps support recovery after treatment for alcoholism

Analysis supports use of risk equations to guide statin therapy Posted: 29 Mar 2014 02:51 PM PDT In an analysis of almost 11,000 patients, an assessment of equations that help guide whether a patient should begin taking a statin (cholesterol lowering medication) found that observed and predicted five-year atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease risks were similar, suggesting that these equations are helpful for clinical decision making.

Astronauts' hearts become more spherical in space Posted: 29 Mar 2014 02:51 PM PDT New findings from a study of 12 astronauts show the heart becomes more spherical when exposed to long periods of microgravity in space, a change that could lead to cardiac problems, according to research. With implications for an eventual manned mission to Mars, the findings represent an important step toward understanding how a spaceflight of 18 months or more could affect astronauts' heart health.

Fabricating nanostructures with silk could make clean rooms green rooms Posted: 28 Mar 2014 02:52 PM PDT Engineers have demonstrated that it is possible to generate nanostructures from silk in an environmentally friendly process that uses water as a developing agent and standard fabrication techniques. This approach provides a green alternative to the toxic materials commonly used in nanofabrication while delivering fabrication quality comparable to conventional synthetic polymers. Nanofabrication is at the heart of manufacture of semi-conductors and other electronic and photonic devices.

Information processing demonstrated using a light-based chip inspired by our brain Posted: 28 Mar 2014 02:51 PM PDT Researchers report on a novel paradigm to do optical information processing on a chip, using techniques inspired by the way our brain works. Neural networks have been employed in the past to solve pattern recognition problems like speech recognition or image recognition, but so far, these bio-inspired techniques have been implemented mostly in software on a traditional computer. What researchers have now done is implement a small (16 nodes) neural network directly in hardware, using a silicon photonics chip.

Technique measures quantity, risks of engineered nanomaterials delivered to cells Posted: 28 Mar 2014 02:50 PM PDT Scientists have discovered a way to measure the effective density of engineered nanoparticles in physiological fluids, making it possible to determine the amount of nanomaterials that come into contact with cells and tissue in culture.

Rainbow-catching waveguide could revolutionize energy technologies Posted: 28 Mar 2014 09:10 AM PDT By slowing and absorbing certain wavelengths of light, engineers open new possibilities in solar power, thermal energy recycling and stealth technology More efficient photovoltaic cells. Improved radar and stealth technology. A new way to recycle waste heat generated by machines into energy. All may be possible due to breakthrough photonics research.

Long-standing theory disproved: Fingerprint of dissolved glycine in the Terahertz range explained Posted: 28 Mar 2014 04:58 AM PDT Chemists have, for the first time, completely analyzed the fingerprint region of the Terahertz spectrum of a biologically relevant molecule in water, in this case, an amino acid. By combining spectroscopy and molecular-dynamics simulations, they rendered the motion of the most basic amino acid, glycine, visible in an aqueous solution. Their results have disproved the long-standing theory that frequencies in the Terahertz range provide no information regarding the amino acid's motion.

15-minute cancer treatment: New targeted radiosurgery technology Posted: 27 Mar 2014 08:15 AM PDT A new cancer treatment is now available in North America that offers an alternative cancer surgery, without the incision or hospital stay, treating patients in 15 minutes or less and returning them to their everyday lives.

Smartphone app helps support recovery after treatment for alcoholism Posted: 26 Mar 2014 03:22 PM PDT A smartphone application appears to help patients with alcohol use disorder (AUD) reduce risky drinking days compared to patients who received usual care after leaving treatment in a residential program. Alcohol dependence is a lifetime psychiatric diagnosis with relapse rates similar to other chronic illnesses. Continuing care for AUDs has been associated with better outcomes, but patients leaving treatment for AUDs typically are not offered aftercare.

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