ScienceDaily: Top Technology News

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• New skylight scoops up daylight, save energy
• Study advances iris images as a long-term form of identification
• Quantum algorithm could improve stealth fighter design
• 3-D graphene: Solar cells' new platinum?
• 'Groovy' hologram creates strange state of light
• Stabilizing aircraft during takeoff and landing using math
• Starbirth surprisingly energetic: New insights into protostars
• Möbius strip ties liquid crystal in knots to produce tomorrow's materials and photonic devices
• Building better brain implants: The challenge of longevity
• Free-floating planets may be born free

New skylight scoops up daylight, save energy Posted: 20 Aug 2013 03:53 PM PDT Light scoops provide optimal levels of daylight throughout the changing seasons and daily fluctuations in weather by capturing and strategically redirecting daylight into buildings.

Study advances iris images as a long-term form of identification Posted: 20 Aug 2013 01:13 PM PDT A new report by biometric researchers uses data from thousands of frequent travelers enrolled in an iris recognition program to determine that no consistent change occurs in the distinguishing texture of their irises for at least a decade. These findings inform identity program administrators on how often iris images need to be recaptured to maintain accuracy.

Quantum algorithm could improve stealth fighter design Posted: 20 Aug 2013 01:12 PM PDT Researchers have devised a quantum algorithm for solving big linear systems of equations. Furthermore, they say the algorithm could be used to calculate complex measurements such as radar cross sections, an ability integral to the development of radar stealth technology, among many other applications.

3-D graphene: Solar cells' new platinum? Posted: 20 Aug 2013 10:50 AM PDT Platinum is a key material in dye-sensitized solar cells, where it is used to make counter electrodes. A new, 3-D form of graphene made from carbon monoxide and lithium oxide was used to replace the platinum with virtually no loss in electrical generating capacity.

'Groovy' hologram creates strange state of light Posted: 20 Aug 2013 10:50 AM PDT A new three-in-one optical element can control light's amplitude, phase, and polarization through a wedding of old-fashioned holograms and state-of-the-art nanoscale features. An unusual state of light, a radially polarized beam, which is important for microscopy and particle manipulation, has been created by sending conventional laser light through this holographic plate.

Stabilizing aircraft during takeoff and landing using math Posted: 20 Aug 2013 10:50 AM PDT During ground take-off/landing maneouvres, aircraft landing gear can display unwanted oscillations, which are referred to as shimmy oscillations. Scientist are studying the dynamics of aircraft landing gear using nonlinear models.

Starbirth surprisingly energetic: New insights into protostars Posted: 20 Aug 2013 07:24 AM PDT Astronomers have obtained a vivid close-up view of material streaming away from a newborn star. By looking at the glow coming from carbon monoxide molecules in an object called Herbig-Haro 46/47, they have discovered that its jets are even more energetic than previously thought. The very detailed new images have also revealed a previously unknown jet pointing in a totally different direction.

Möbius strip ties liquid crystal in knots to produce tomorrow's materials and photonic devices Posted: 20 Aug 2013 06:44 AM PDT Scientists have shown how to tie knots in liquid crystals using a miniature Möbius strip made from silica particles.

Building better brain implants: The challenge of longevity Posted: 20 Aug 2013 06:44 AM PDT A new technique accommodates two challenges inherent in brain-implantation technology: gauging the property changes that occur during implantation and measuring them on a micro-scale.

Free-floating planets may be born free Posted: 20 Aug 2013 05:36 AM PDT Tiny, round, cold clouds in space have all the right characteristics to form planets with no parent star. New observations show that not all free-floating planets were thrown out of existing planetary systems. They can also be born free.

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