ScienceDaily Technology Headlines
Rocket Launching To Investigate The Northern Lights (November 12, 2008) -- Airplanes that fly over the northern polar region can risk losing radio contact for several hours when the northern lights are at their most active in the skies. In the near future a professor from the University of Oslo will launch a Norwegian rocket to find the explanation for this. The aim is to set up reliable warning routines. ... > full story
Intelligent Airlines Meet Passenger Needs (November 12, 2008) -- As airports become stretched to capacity and calls mount for new runways and terminals, a computer scientist in Greece has designed a system that could ensure as many seats as possible are filled on each flight and no one is left stranded at check-in. ... > full story
Femtosecond, Chirped Laser Pulse Trains Could Reduce Decoherence (November 12, 2008) -- A physics professor is proposing to use femtosecond, chirped laser pulse trains to reduce decoherence. Controlling coherence can overcome current barriers in a variety of fields, from quantum computing to molecular selective bio-imaging. ... > full story
Telescope Views Glowing Stellar Nurseries (November 11, 2008) -- An APEX telescope image reveals how an expanding bubble of ionized gas about ten light-years across is causing the surrounding material to collapse into dense clumps that are the birthplaces of new stars. Sub-millimeter light is the key to revealing some of the coldest material in the universe, such as these cold, dense clouds. ... > full story
Cancer Risk From Cardiac CT Overstated, Researchers Say (November 11, 2008) -- Radiology and cardiovascular researchers have presented new data that shows the risk of cancer from exposure to radiation during computed tomography for cardiovascular disease has been overstated and that new estimates are several times lower than previously published conclusions. ... > full story
Forced Evolution: Can We Mutate Viruses To Death? (November 11, 2008) -- Can scientists create a designer drug that forces viruses to mutate themselves out of existence? A new study by bioengineers could help make it happen. The study offers the most comprehensive mathematical analysis to date of the mechanisms that drive evolution in viruses and bacteria, and it could help scientists who are looking to add "lethal mutagenesis" to medicine's disease-fighting arsenal. ... > full story
New Approach In Tsunami-early Warning System (November 11, 2008) -- The newly implemented Tsunami Early Warning System for the Indian Ocean, German Indonesian Tsunami Early Warning System, goes into operation November 10 and with this, the system enters its final phase of optimization. ... > full story
Mass Production Method For Nanomaterial Graphene Devised (November 11, 2008) -- Graphene sheets have an array of attractive benefits in electronics but research on them has been restricted due to the difficulty of creating single layer samples. An article in the journal Nature Nanotechnology proposes a solution to this problem. The solution involves placing graphite-oxide paper in a solution of pure hydrazine which reduces the graphite-oxide paper into single-layer graphene. ... > full story
Web-spinning Spiders And 'Wannabe Butterflies' Head To Space Shuttle (November 11, 2008) -- A NASA space shuttle mission carrying a payload of web-spinning spiders and wannabe butterflies will be closely monitored by hundreds of K-12 students from Colorado's Front Range after Endeavour launches from Florida for the International Space Station Nov. 14. ... > full story
Protein 'Tubules' Free Avian Flu Virus From Immune Recognition (November 11, 2008) -- A protein found in the virulent avian influenza virus strain called H5N1 forms tiny tubules in which it "hides" the pieces of double-stranded RNA formed during viral infection, which otherwise would prompt an antiviral immune response from infected cells, researchers report. ... > full story
New Laser Technique Seals And Heals Wounds (November 11, 2008) -- Not much has changed in the last 2,000 years when it comes to suturing together cuts and wounds. Even with microsurgery techniques, infection and permanent scarring remain major concerns. Now a new laser technique has been developed that seals and heals wounds. ... > full story
Almost Frictionless Gears With Liquid Crystal Lubricants (November 11, 2008) -- Lubricants in bearings and gear units ensure that not too much energy is lost through friction. Yet it still takes a certain percentage of the energy to compensate for friction losses. Lubricants made of liquid crystals could reduce friction to almost zero. ... > full story
