ScienceDaily: Top Technology News

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• The true raw material footprint of nations
• Prehistoric climate shift linked to cosmic impact
• Modular battery concept for short-distance traffic
• Astronomy: World's first interferometric image at 500 GHz with ALMA Band 8 receivers
• New superheavy elements can be uniquely identified

The true raw material footprint of nations Posted: 02 Sep 2013 01:27 PM PDT Using a new modelling tool and more comprehensive indicators, researchers were able to map the flow of raw materials across the world economy with unprecedented accuracy to determine the true "material footprint" of 186 countries over a two-decade period (from 1990 to 2008). The results confirm that pressures on raw materials do not necessarily decline as affluence grows and demonstrates the need for policy-makers to consider new accounting methods that more accurately track resource consumption.

Prehistoric climate shift linked to cosmic impact Posted: 02 Sep 2013 01:27 PM PDT For the first time, a dramatic global climate shift has been linked to the impact in Quebec of an asteroid or comet, Dartmouth researchers and their colleagues report in a new study. The cataclysmic event wiped out many of the planet's large mammals and may have prompted humans to start gathering and growing some of their food rather than solely hunting big game.

Modular battery concept for short-distance traffic Posted: 02 Sep 2013 07:15 AM PDT Electric mobility may be economically efficient today. Battery-based electric drives can be applied efficiently in urban buses, for instance. Frequent acceleration and slow-down processes as well as a high utilization rate in short-distance traffic make their use profitable even when considering current battery costs.

Astronomy: World's first interferometric image at 500 GHz with ALMA Band 8 receivers Posted: 02 Sep 2013 07:15 AM PDT ALMA opens another window to the universe in the 500 GHz frequency band. Astronomers successfully synthesized the distribution of atomic carbon around a planetary nebula NGC 6302 in test observations with the ALMA Band 8 receiver.

New superheavy elements can be uniquely identified Posted: 30 Aug 2013 10:11 AM PDT Researchers presents fresh evidence that confirms the existence of the superheavy chemical element 115. The experiment provided a way to directly identify new superheavy elements. Elements beyond atomic number 104 are referred to as superheavy elements. They are produced at accelerator laboratories and generally decay after a short time. Initial reports about the discovery of an element with atomic number 115 were released from a research center in Russia in 2004. The then presented indirect evidence for the new element, however, was insufficient for an official discovery.

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