Feature Channels: Technology

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Scientists in the United Kingdom are reporting potential new uses for an unusual substance known as “dry water,” which resembles powdered sugar. The powder could provide a convenient and efficient way to absorb and store carbon dioxide, the major greenhouse gas that contributes to global warming, the scientists said. Their study is scheduled for presentation in August at the 240th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS) in Boston.

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Sikorsky Aircraft's X2 is capable of vertical takeoff and landing and can also achieve high-speed flight--a tricky technical feat that stymied generations of helicopter designers.

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With several companies offering telepresence robots to act as people's proxies at the office, IEEE Spectrum sets out to determine if this is the future of work.

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Scientists are reporting development of new soy-based glues that use a substance in soy milk and tofu and could mean a new generation of more eco-friendly furniture, cabinets, flooring and other wood products. Their study is scheduled for presentation in August at the 240th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS) in Boston.

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In a step toward more efficient, smaller and higher-definition display screens, a University of Michigan professor has developed a new type of color filter made of nano-thin sheets of metal with precisely spaced gratings.

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Chinese scientists have shown that magnetic memory, logic and sensor cells can be made faster and more energy efficient by using an electric, not magnetic, field to flip the magnetization of the sensing layer only about halfway, rather than completely to the opposite direction -- as described in the Journal of Applied Physics.

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Crafting a fragrance for detergents that leaves laundry smelling clean and fresh. Developing a room freshener, scented oil, or scented candle that whispers “cool spring air.” Giving toothpaste or mouthwash a refreshing aftertaste that lingers and lingers. The process for putting the smell that sells into thousands consumer products is much like composing a symphony, according to maestro fragrance designer Michael Papas, who spoke here today at the 240th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS).

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Scientists reported progress today in using a common virus to develop improved materials for high-performance, rechargeable lithium-ion batteries that could be woven into clothing to power portable electronic devices. They discussed development of the new materials for the battery’s cathode, or negative electrode, at the 240th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS), being held here this week.

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Professors and a Ph.D. student from UALR --the University of Arkansas at Little Rock -- developed a new model to manage the "vast ocean" of data being generated by users of growing social websites. The model allows Internet sites to automatically adjust privacy needs of consumers or organizations to the context in which the data is accessed.

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Find cleaning those tables and dressers a chore or a bore? Imagine dusting objects spread out over 50 footballs fields. That’s the problem facing companies that deploy large-scale solar power installations, particularly in dust prone areas. One solution — self-dusting solar panels — could improve the efficiency of this emerging technology while making maintenance less costly and less cumbersome. These developments in self-cleaning solar panels were reported by scientists from Massachusetts here today at the 240th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society.

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In September, leading scientists across several disciplines will gather for the next Kavli Futures Symposium to discuss what science needs from computing. In advance of this meeting, four of the participants discuss those needs, how current computing advances are impacting research, and how the future of computing is looking extreme and green -- moving closer to how the brain computes.

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A modified version of the RoboCrane®, a unique floating platform developed by manufacturing research engineers at NIST, will be helping cleanup operations at the destroyed reactor of the former Chernobyl nuclear power plant in northern Ukraine.

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Computers are everywhere these days – even on surfboards. University of California, San Diego mechanical engineering undergraduates outfitted a surfboard with a computer and accompanying sensors -- one step toward a structural engineering Ph.D. student’s quest to develop the science of surfboards.

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Each day, we exchange a mess of content through Facebook, Twitter, blogs, discussion boards and other online forums. How are companies and other organizations using our data? Rohini Srihari understands complicated concerns it raises.

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Scientists in Japan have recorded data at a density of 4 trillion bits per square inch, a world record for the experimental "ferroelectric" data storage method. As described the journal Applied Physics Letters, this density is about eight times the density of today's most advanced magnetic hard-disk drives.

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The basis for solar energy is absorbing light and then effectively disassociating electrical charges. University of Cambridge researchers report in the journal Applied Physics Letters that conjugated polymers are excellent materials for such a system, thanks to their light absorption and conduction properties.

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Researchers can now measure a laser’s power & spatial energy distribution at once by directing the beam onto a reusable glass target board GTRI designed. The new system will accelerate high-energy laser development & reduce the time required to make them operational for national security purposes.

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University of Washington engineers are developing the first device able to transmit American Sign Language over U.S. cellular networks. The tool is just completing its initial field test by participants in a UW summer program for deaf and hard-of-hearing students.

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Adults who have Internet access at home are much more likely to be in romantic relationships than adults without Internet access, according to research to be presented at the 105th Annual Meeting of the American Sociological Association.

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Working with National Science Foundation and Department of Energy grants, UIC earth and environmental sciences professor Katheryn Nagy is studying how mercury bonds with sulfur, how forest fires can affect it, and ultimately how using plants and peat can provide eco-friendly cleanup of mercury contamination.

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Purchasing a laptop computer has become a ritual for many new college students. But using a laptop often leads to posture problems, which can have serious long-term health consequences. UNC expert Dr. Kevin Carneiro explains how students can guard themselves from “laptop-itis” from orientation to final exams.

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Anyone who has used an automated airline reservation system has experienced the promise – and the frustration – inherent in today’s automatic speech recognition technology. When it works, the computer “understands” that you want to book a flight to Austin rather than Boston, for example. Research conducted by Binghamton University’s Stephen Zahorian aims to improve the accuracy of such programs.

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Just as the path of photons of light can be directed by a mirror, atoms possessing a magnetic moment can be controlled using a magnetic mirror. Research reported in the Journal of Applied Physics investigates the feasibility of using magnetic domain walls to direct and ultimately trap individual atoms in a cloud of ultracold atoms.

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A new optical imaging technique described in the journal Review of Scientific Instruments holds the potential to greatly improve angioplasty, a surgery commonly performed to treat patients with a partially or completely blocked coronary artery that restricts blood flow to the heart.

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A physician or nurse making rounds can locate and page through a 200-page handbook listing possible adverse events that may occur to children in a clinical trial, or can instead store all the information in a 4-ounce iPhone.

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Researchers at the University of Cincinnati Nanoelectronics Laboratory are actively pursuing an alternative approach for low-power displays and hope to provide details about what's ahead for display technology. Their assessment appears in the American Institute of Physics' Applied Physics Letters.

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Today’s college students were raised with a digital mouse in their hands. So it should be no surprise that a majority of medical school students surveyed say video games and virtual reality environments could help them become better doctors.

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Researchers have demonstrated the first plastic computer memory device that utilizes the spin of electrons to read and write data. So-called “spintronics” could store more data in less space, process data faster, and consume less power.

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Researchers have taken one more step toward understanding the unique and often unexpected properties of graphene, a two-dimensional carbon material that has attracted interest because of its potential applications in future generations of electronic devices.

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Advances being made to explore outer space using solar sails were discussed by the more than 60 scientists from 12 nations who attended the Second International Symposium on Solar Sailing (ISSS 2010) held recently at New York City College of Technology (City Tech) in Downtown Brooklyn.

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Superconducting materials, which transmit power resistance-free, are found to perform optimally when high- and low-charge density varies on the nanoscale level, according to research performed at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

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Wielding two claws, a motor and a swinging tail, a small robot scrambles up a carpeted, 8-foot wall in just over 15 seconds – the first such robot designed to climb efficiently and move like human rock climbers or apes swinging through trees.

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Biochemists and computer scientists at the University of Washington two years ago launched an ambitious project harnessing the brainpower of computer gamers to solve medical problems. Results published this week in the journal Nature show more than 55,000 players have played protein-folding Tetris, and beat the world's most powerful computers on problems that required radical moves, risks and long-term vision.

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A new draft report from NIST discusses the challenge of maintaining information system security throughout a system's life cycle, and provides an array of practices designed to help mitigate supply chain security risks.

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Green laser pointers have become a popular consumer item, delivering light that's brighter to the eye than red lasers, but stories have circulated on the Web about the potential hazards of inexpensive models. Now, a team at NIST has found that in some cases green laser pointers emit high levels of invisible and potentially dangerous infrared light.

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Researchers at JILA have demonstrated the use of infrared laser light to quickly and precisely heat the water in "nano bathtubs" -- tiny sample containers -- for microscopy studies of the biochemistry of single molecules and nanoparticles.

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For the past four years, NIST has been conducting detailed performance evaluations for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) of two-way, real-time, voice-translation devices designed to improve communications between the U.S. military and non-English speakers in foreign countries.

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A team of scientists, middle-schoolers and software developer have partnered with Wake Forest University to create an educational video game that has gone toe-to-toe with some of the best shoot-‘em-up games out there, winning rave reviews from gamers worldwide.

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Tougher than a bullet-proof vest yet synonymous with beauty, silk is a masterpiece of nature so far unmatched in the lab. In the July 30, 2010, issue of Science, Tufts University biomedical engineers report that success unraveling silk's secrets is taking this material from textiles to high-tech, with advances in medicine, electronics and optics.

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Computer scientists from the University of California, San Diego broke “the terabyte barrier” – and a world record – when they sorted more than one terabyte of data (1,000 gigabytes or 1 million megabytes) in just 60 seconds.

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Imagine building cheaper electronics on a variety of substrates -- materials like plastic, paper, or fabric. Researchers at Taiwan's National Chiao Tung University have made a discovery that opens this door, allowing them to build electronic components like diodes on many different substrates.

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In recent years, the tragic story of mine accidents has been retold many times in international headlines. But thanks to the work of Ryerson University researcher Xavier Fernando, countless miners’ lives could be saved in the future with state-of-the-art technology that makes wireless communication possible deep within the Earth’s crust.

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Weizmann Institute scientists have invented a unique device, based on sniffing, that permits disabled persons to navigate wheelchairs and communicate. Sniffing technology is being investigated for other uses as well, such as a “third hand” for surgeons or pilots.

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Whether you’re heading back to school this September, or busy building a career as a videographer, graphic designer or IT specialist, or already in a top job in the computing field, one thing is clear: fast, robust storage solutions should be on the top of your want list.

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The annual study of the impact of the Internet on Americans by the Center for the Digital Future found that 49 percent of Internet users said they have used free micro-blogs such as Twitter. But when asked if they would be willing to pay for Twitter, zero percent said yes.

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To many big companies, you aren’t just a customer, but are described by multiple “dimensions” of information within a computer database. Now, a University of Utah computer scientist has devised a new method for simpler, faster “data mining,” or extracting and analyzing massive amounts of such data.

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From Star Trek's Romulans, who could cloak their warships, to Harry Potter's magical garment, the power to make someone or something invisible has intrigued mankind. Now a Michigan Technological University scientist is doing it for real, building a working invisibility cloak.

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In the journal Review of Scientific Instruments, researchers report on a new way to accurately synchronize clocks. The new method uses both GPS and the Internet to set clocks within 10 nanoseconds of a reference clock located anywhere on Earth.

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A new image-processing algorithm gives radiologists all of the information they need using as up to 20 times less radiation. The research will be presented at the 52nd Annual Meeting of the American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM) in Philadelphia.

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The loneliness of the long-distance robot: A Cornell University robot named Ranger walked 14.3 miles in about 11 hours, setting an unofficial world record at Cornell’s Barton Hall early on July 6.