ScienceDaily: Top Technology News |
Did an 8th century gamma ray burst irradiate Earth?
Posted: 21 Jan 2013 05:32 AM PST
A nearby short duration gamma-ray burst may be the cause of an intense blast of high-energy radiation that hit the Earth in the 8th century, according to new research.
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New evidence indicates auroras occur outside our solar system
Posted: 21 Jan 2013 05:32 AM PST
Planetary scientists have found new evidence suggesting auroras – similar to Earth's Aurora Borealis - occur on bodies outside our solar system.
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Cotton with special coating collects water from fogs in desert
Posted: 21 Jan 2013 05:30 AM PST
Researchers have developed a special treatment for cotton fabric that allows the cotton to absorb exceptional amounts of water from misty air: 340% of its own weight. What makes this 'coated cotton' so interesting is that the cotton releases the collected water by itself, as it gets warmer. This property makes of the coated cotton materials a potential solution to provide water to the desert regions, for example for agricultural purposes.
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Ultra-small devices for energy-efficient electronics
Posted: 21 Jan 2013 05:30 AM PST
Scientists have designed and fabricated ultra-small devices for energy-efficient electronics. By finding out how molecules behave in these devices, a ten-fold increase in switching efficiency was obtained by changing just one carbon atom. These devices could provide new ways to combat overheating in mobile phones and laptops, and could also aid in electrical stimulation of tissue repair for wound healing.
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Sustainable reinforcement for concrete has newly discovered benefits
Posted: 16 Jan 2013 09:37 AM PST
Fashionable people may turn up their noses at jute -- the cheap fiber used to make burlap, gunny sacks, twine and other common products -- but new research is enhancing jute's appeal as an inexpensive, sustainable reinforcement for mortar and concrete.
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Integrated dual-mode active and passive infrared camera
Posted: 16 Jan 2013 08:17 AM PST
Researchers have found a way to integrate active and passive infrared imaging capability into a single chip, opening the way to lighter and simpler dual-mode cameras.
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High plutonium breeding of light water cooled reactors
Posted: 16 Jan 2013 05:48 AM PST
Scientists have developed the world's first conceptual nuclear reactor design of high plutonium breeding by light water cooling.
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High-voltage vacuum power switch for smart power grids: World's first successful power switch using diamond semiconductor
Posted: 16 Jan 2013 05:48 AM PST
New technology may contribute to a new energy strategy for offshore wind energy, efficient power transmission across the Japanese archipelago, and more.
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Landsat senses a disturbance in the forest
Posted: 15 Jan 2013 07:15 AM PST
A new way of studying and visualizing Earth science data from a NASA and US Geological Survey satellite program is resulting in, for the first time, the ability to tease out the small events that can cause big changes in an ecosystem.
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Separating substances with a 100-year-old idea
Posted: 15 Jan 2013 07:14 AM PST
Researchers have built an electronic variant of a Brownian ratchet that allows microscopic particles to be separated by size.
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