ScienceDaily: Top Technology News

Saturn hasn't always had rings

Posted: 17 Jan 2019 11:21 AM PST

In its last days, the Cassini spacecraft looped between Saturn and its rings so that Earth-based radio telescopes could track the gravitational tug of each. Scientists have now used these measurements to determine the mass of the rings and estimate its age, which is young: 10-100 million years. This supports the hypothesis that the rings are rubble from a comet or Kuiper Belt object captured late in Saturn's history.

New thermoelectric material delivers record performance

Posted: 17 Jan 2019 11:21 AM PST

Taking advantage of recent advances in using theoretical calculations to predict the properties of new materials, researchers have discovered a new class of half-Heusler thermoelectric compounds, including one with a record high figure of merit -- a metric used to determine how efficiently a thermoelectric material can convert heat to electricity.

Stress fracture? Your foot hitting pavement wasn't the main problem

Posted: 17 Jan 2019 11:20 AM PST

It starts as a persistent and irritating pain in the foot or lower leg, then it gets more intense, maybe with swelling, and soon a runner knows she's being sidelined by one of the most common running injuries: a stress fracture. These tiny cracks in the bone can halt training for months or even end a sports season. A segment of the multibillion-dollar wearables industry aims to save potential victims from this fate, but an engineering professor found a major problem: the devices are measuring the wrong thing.

Scientists find increase in asteroid impacts on ancient Earth by studying the Moon

Posted: 17 Jan 2019 11:20 AM PST

A team of scientists has determined the number of asteroid impacts on the Moon and Earth increased by two to three times starting around 290 million years ago. Previous theories held that there were fewer craters on both objects dating back to before that time because they had disappeared due to erosion. The new findings claim that there were simply fewer asteroid impacts during that earlier period.

Reinforcement learning expedites 'tuning' of robotic prosthetics

Posted: 17 Jan 2019 11:20 AM PST

Researchers have developed an intelligent system for 'tuning' powered prosthetic knees, allowing patients to walk comfortably with the prosthetic device in minutes, rather than the hours necessary if the device is tuned by a trained clinical practitioner. The system is the first to rely solely on reinforcement learning to tune the robotic prosthesis.

How molecules teeter in a laser field

Posted: 17 Jan 2019 08:33 AM PST

When molecules interact with the oscillating field of a laser, an instantaneous, time-dependent dipole is induced. This very general effect underlies diverse physical phenomena. Now scientists report on an experiment where the dependence of the driven-dipole response on the bound state of an electron in a methyl iodine molecule is revealed.

Blister fluid could help diagnose burn severity

Posted: 17 Jan 2019 08:33 AM PST

Severe burns can leave physical and psychological scars, especially in children. When a burn patient enters the clinic, doctors use factors such as the depth and size of the burn, as well as the time required for skin healing -- or re-epithelialization -- to determine the best course of treatment. Now, researchers have found another, possibly more accurate way to classify burn severity: analyzing proteins in blister fluid.

Complex molecules emerge without evolution or design

Posted: 17 Jan 2019 08:08 AM PST

In biology, folded proteins are responsible for most advanced functions. These complex proteins are the result of evolution or design by scientists. Now scientists have discovered a new class of complex folding molecules that emerge spontaneously from simple building blocks.

Additive manufacturing reflects fundamental metallurgical principles to create materials

Posted: 17 Jan 2019 08:08 AM PST

Engineers have been taking a novel approach to the development of engineering components produced using additive manufacturing.

Cultivating 4D tissues: The self-curving cornea

Posted: 17 Jan 2019 08:08 AM PST

Scientists have developed a biological system which lets cells form a desired shape by molding their surrounding material -- in the first instance creating a self-curving cornea. The astonishing video shows the cornea molding itself into a bowl-like structure over the course of 5 days.

New test to detect disease and infection

Posted: 17 Jan 2019 08:08 AM PST

Researchers have developed a highly innovative new enzyme biomarker test that has the potential to indicate diseases and bacterial contamination saving time, money and possibly lives.

This computer program makes pharma patents airtight

Posted: 17 Jan 2019 08:08 AM PST

Routes to making life-saving medications and other pharmaceutical compounds are among the most carefully protected trade secrets in global industry. Building on recent work programming computers to identify synthetic pathways leading to pharmaceutically complex molecules, researchers have unveiled computerized methods to suggest only synthetic strategies that bypass patent-protected aspects of essential drugs.

Puzzling phenomenon in a quantum gas: Insulators with conducting edges

Posted: 17 Jan 2019 07:24 AM PST

Insulators that are conducting at their edges hold promise for interesting technological applications. However, until now their characteristics have not been fully understood. Physicists have now modeled what are known as topological insulators with the help of ultracold quantum gases. They now demonstrate how the edge states could be experimentally detected.

Proposed engineering method could help make buildings and bridges safer

Posted: 17 Jan 2019 07:23 AM PST

Researchers discovered that the distance between dislocations in nanolayer interfaces of pearlite can determine how much the material can stretch or contract without breaking (ductility). The dislocations are disruptions in the regular arrangements of atoms in nanolayers. This discovery opens the possibility of engineering materials with higher ductility by simply manipulating the spacing between their dislocations and may improve the safety of structures such as buildings and bridges in earthquakes.

Measuring ability of artificial intelligence to learn is difficult

Posted: 17 Jan 2019 06:26 AM PST

Organizations looking to benefit from the artificial intelligence (AI) revolution should be cautious about putting all their eggs in one basket, a study has found.

New light shed on intensely studied material

Posted: 17 Jan 2019 06:26 AM PST

The organic polymer PEDOT is probably one of the world's most intensely studied materials. Despite this, researchers have now demonstrated that the material functions in a completely different manner than previously believed. The result has huge significance in many fields of application.

Nanoparticle breakthrough in the fight against cancer

Posted: 17 Jan 2019 06:25 AM PST

A recent study has introduced a novel targeted drug delivery system in the fight against cancer.

New scale for electronegativity rewrites the chemistry textbook

Posted: 17 Jan 2019 06:04 AM PST

Electronegativity is one of the most well-known models for explaining why chemical reactions occur. Now scientists have redefined the concept with a new, more comprehensive scale.

Researchers create 'shortcut' to terpene biosynthesis in E. coli

Posted: 16 Jan 2019 12:55 PM PST

Researchers have developed an artificial enzymatic pathway for synthesizing isoprenoids, or terpenes, in E.coli. This shorter, more efficient, cost-effective and customizable pathway transforms E. coli into a factory that can produce terpenes for use in everything from cancer drugs to biofuels.

Molecules 'spin flip' from magnetic to non-magnetic forms dynamically

Posted: 16 Jan 2019 12:55 PM PST

Solar cells, quantum computing and photodynamic cancer therapy. These all involve molecules switching between magnetic and nonmagnetic forms. Previously this process, called a "spin flip," was thought to occur slowly in most cases. Now, researchers have discovered spin flips happen in one half of one trillionth of a second, or half a picosecond in the course of a chemical reaction. To understand how fast it is -- watches count in seconds, sporting games are timed in 10ths of a second, and light travels just under 12 inches in one-billionth of a second. Spin flips are faster.

Proteins use a lock and key system to bind to DNA

Posted: 16 Jan 2019 10:08 AM PST

Scientists have traditionally thought that DNA binding proteins use patterns in the genome's code of As, Cs, Ts, and Gs to guide them to the right location, with a given protein only binding to a specific sequence of letters. In a new study, scientists discovered that proteins must rely on another clue to know where to bind: the DNA's three-dimensional shape.

Army researchers explore benefits of immersive technology for soldiers

Posted: 16 Jan 2019 08:55 AM PST

Army researchers are exploring the benefits of immersive technology for warfighters. They have developed a platform to assess this technology called AURORA-MR.

Pushing the boundaries of 3D microscopy

Posted: 16 Jan 2019 08:10 AM PST

Two newly developed methods will help researchers to study the 3D structure of complex surfaces and of individual neurons better than ever before. Technologists report new imaging protocols that will advance neuroscience and (bio)imaging in general.