Scientists trace nanoparticles from plants to caterpillars
Houston TX (SPX) Dec 23, 2014 -
In one of the most comprehensive laboratory studies of its kind, Rice University scientists traced the uptake and accumulation of quantum dot nanoparticles from water to plant roots, plant leaves and leaf-eating caterpillars.
The study, one of the first to examine how nanoparticles move through human-relevant food chains, found that nanoparticle accumulation in both plants and animals vari ...
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Theory details how 'hot' monomers affect thin-film formation
Houston TX (SPX) Dec 23, 2014 -
Like a baseball player sliding into third, a hot monomer skids in a straight line along a cold surface until it's safely among its fellow molecules. This is not what usually happens when scientists assemble monomers to make thin films for next-generation electronics, but the details remained a puzzle until a team led by Rice University got involved.
Monomers are organic molecules that, in ...
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Dartmouth researchers create 'green' process to reduce molecular switching waste
Hanover NH (SPX) Dec 23, 2014 -
Dartmouth researchers have found a solution using visible light to reduce waste produced in chemically activated molecular switches, opening the way for industrial applications of nanotechnology ranging from anti-cancer drug delivery to LCD displays and molecular motors. The study appears in the Journal of the American Chemical Society. A PDF is available on request.
Chemically activated m ...
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Penn Researchers Show Commonalities in How Different Glassy Materials Fail
University Park PA (SPX) Dec 23, 2014 -
Glass is mysterious. It is a broad class of materials that extends well beyond the everyday window pane, but one thing that these disparate glasses seem to have in common is that they have nothing in common when it comes to their internal structures, especially in contrast with highly ordered and patterned crystals. Glassy systems can also range in scale: from things like metallic glasses, compo ...
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Pitt team publishes new findings from mind-controlled robot arm project
Pittsburgh PA (SPX) Dec 23, 2014 -
In another demonstration that brain-computer interface technology has the potential to improve the function and quality of life of those unable to use their own arms, a woman with quadriplegia shaped the almost human hand of a robot arm with just her thoughts to pick up big and small boxes, a ball, an oddly shaped rock, and fat and skinny tubes.
The findings by researchers at the Universit ...
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Computational clues into the structure of a promising energy conversion catalyst
Princeton NJ (SPX) Dec 23, 2014 -
Hydrogen fuel is a promising source of clean energy that can be produced by splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen gas. The reaction is difficult but achievable with the help of a catalyst, a material that can speed up the process.
However, current catalysts lack the efficiency required for water splitting to be commercially competitive. Recently scientists have identified one such catal ...
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Does the peer review process stifle scientific innovation?
Toronto (UPI) Dec 23, 2014 -
Peer review is the quality control process designed to ensure scientific journals publish only the most sound research. Each review board is tasked with protecting a journal's integrity and reputation, and with confirming each submitted paper's scientific bonafides.
But does it work? And at what cost?
A new study suggests the current model may succeed in keeping out the scientifi ...
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Scientists create human primordial cells in the lab
Cambridge, England (UPI) Dec 25, 2014 -
The first time in history, researchers have successfully used human embryonic stem cells to create primordial germ cells, cells that divide and mature into egg and sperm. Previously, the feat had been accomplished using rodent stem cells - not those from a human embryo.
"Researchers have been attempting to create human primordial germ cells (PGCs) in the petri dish for years," leader a ...
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Lead islands in a sea of graphene magnetize the material of the future
Madrid, Spain (SPX) Dec 23, 2014 -
Researchers in Spain have discovered that if lead atoms are intercalated on a graphene sheet, a powerful magnetic field is generated by the interaction of the electrons' spin with their orbital movement. This property could have implications in spintronics, an emerging technology promoted by the European Union to create advanced computational systems.
Graphene is considered the material of ...
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US Ballistic Missile Defense Needs More Testing
Washington DC (Sputnik) Dec 18, 2014 -
The proposed placement of ballistic missile interceptors on the US East Coast has the advantage of providing more time and distance to shoot down an enemy missile, but still has a lot of shortfalls and needs to be tested further, missile experts have told Sputnik.
"The argument for East Coast sites is that it opens up the battle space, meaning it provides more time and distance during whic ...
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QinetiQ North America refurbishing, modernizing Talon robots used by the military
Waltham, Mass. (UPI) Dec 19, 2014 -
Robots used by U.S. military forces in Iraq and Afghanistan are being refurbished and modernized by QinetiQ North America under U.S. Army and Navy contracts.
The lightweight, tracked Talon robots by QinetiQ were used extensively in the wars in ordnance disposal operations.
"QinetiQ North America is very proud of the role our robots play in providing lifesaving standoff for our wa ...
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Russia Not to Deploy Units of Strategic Missile Forces in Crimea
Moscow (Sputnik) Dec 18, 2014 -
Russia has no plans to deploy units of its Strategic Missile Forces on the Crimean Peninsula, Strategic Missile Forces Commander Col.Gen. Sergei Karakayev said.
"There are no plans to deploy military SMF units in the Crimean Federal District as there is no need. Today's long-range ballistic missiles can strike any target anywhere in the world without bringing them to the borders of Russia, ...
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UK Politicians Keeping 'Options Open' Over Trident Renewal
Edinburgh, UK (Sputnik) Dec 18, 2014 -
UK politicians are keeping their options open on whether to renew the UK's nuclear weapons system known as Trident, Peter Burt, Research Manager with the Nuclear Information Service has told Sputnik.
"No party has yet formally committed to say how many new submarines they would build after the 2016 'Main Gate' decision and the main factor driving this decision will be economic, not politic ...
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FFD signs Space Act Agreement with NASA for Space Suit Development
Brooklyn, NY (SPX) Dec 26, 2014 -
Final Frontier Design (FFD) is proud to announce the signing of a Space Act Agreement (SAA) with NASA to collaborate on the development, design review, and testing of its launch and re-entry space suit for orbital space flight.
NASA's Collaborations for Commercial Space Capabilities (CCSC) initiative is designed to advance private sector development of integrated space capabilities, for em ...
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LATAM Telco Selects Gilat's High-Throughput Satellite Platform
Petah Tikva, Israel (SPX) Dec 26, 2014 -
Gilat Satellite Networks reports that a Telecommunications Service Provider (TSP) in Latin America selected Gilat's High-Throughput Satellite (HTS) Multi-Spot Beam solution to provide Ka-band broadband services.
The TSP, which recently acquired five spot beams totaling 2.3 GHz of capacity, intends to use its new HTS network to provide high-speed Internet service for multiple applications s ...
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Russia's Glonass to Provide Brazil With Alternative to GPS
Moscow, Russia (Sputnik) Dec 26, 2014 -
The Russian Global Navigation Satellite System (Glonass) will provide Brazilians with an alternative to the American Global Positioning System (GPS), giving them more localized data and stability, the Glonass project coordinator in Brazil told Sputnik.
"Brazil will have an alternative to GPS as a civil-use localization system. So all Brazilians will be able to access this system, and this ...
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Hubble Sees the Beautiful side of IC 335
Baltimore MD (SPX) Dec 26, 2014 -
This new NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image shows the galaxy IC 335 in front of a backdrop of distant galaxies. IC 335 is part of a galaxy group containing three other galaxies, and located in the Fornax Galaxy Cluster 60 million light-years away.
As seen in this image, the disk of IC 335 appears edge-on from the vantage point of Earth. This makes it harder for astronomers to classify i ...
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Small CubeSat Provides Big Space Experience
Pasadena CA (JPL) Dec 26, 2014 -
Any way you slice it, space exploration - done right - requires an inordinate range of technical expertise. From designing the spacecraft, the mission proposal and the circuit boards to testing the flight software and putting together budgets, sending something, anything, into the cosmos depends on good people who know their job.
"Although significantly smaller in size, CubeSats contain ...
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Preparing NASA's Gigantic Space Simulation Chamber for Massive Test
Greenbelt MD (SPX) Dec 26, 2014 -
"This is what space science is all about," said NASA photographer Chris Gunn, who captured a photo from outside the enormous mouth of NASA's giant thermal vacuum chamber called Chamber A at Johnson Space Center in Houston. Previously used for manned spaceflight missions, this historic chamber is now filled with engineers and technicians preparing for one of NASA's biggest missions, the James Web ...
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Sun Sizzles in High-Energy X-Rays
Pasadena CA (JPL) Dec 26, 2014 -
For the first time, a mission designed to set its eyes on black holes and other objects far from our solar system has turned its gaze back closer to home, capturing images of our sun. NASA's Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array, or NuSTAR, has taken its first picture of the sun, producing the most sensitive solar portrait ever taken in high-energy X-rays.
"NuSTAR will give us a unique loo ...
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Tales from a Martian Rock
San Diego CA (SPX) Dec 26, 2014 -
A new analysis of a Martian rock that meteorite hunters plucked from an Antarctic ice field 30 years ago this month reveals a record of the planet's climate billions of years ago, back when water likely washed across its surface and any life that ever formed there might have emerged.
Scientists from the University of California, San Diego, NASA and the Smithsonian Institution report detail ...
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Algeria kills jihadist chief behind Frenchman's murder
Algiers (AFP) Dec 23, 2014 -
The Algerian army said on Tuesday it had killed the head of a militant group that beheaded a French tourist after it had pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group.
The body of Abdelmalek Gouri, who claimed responsibility for the beheading of Frenchman Herve Gourdel in September, was identified after an operation in the town of Isser "that allowed us to eliminate three terrorists", the ar ...
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N. Korea's Internet collapses after Sony hack
Washington (AFP) Dec 23, 2014 -
North Korea's Internet went dark for several hours amid rumors of US retaliation over its alleged hacking of a Hollywood studio, just as the pariah state came under attack at the UN over its rights record.
It was not clear who or what had shut down Pyongyang's web connections, but cyber experts said the country's already limited Internet went completely offline overnight from Monday to Tuesd ...
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Four Afghan Guantanamo detainees repatriated: Pentagon
Washington (AFP) Dec 20, 2014 -
Four Afghans held for more than a decade at Guantanamo Bay have been sent home, the Pentagon said Saturday, edging President Barack Obama closer toward his goal of closing the controversial US military jail.
The Department of Defense said the men - Shawali Khan, Khi Ali Gul, Abdul Ghani and Mohammed Zahir - had been moved from the prison after a comprehensive review of their case.
"As ...
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Obama blasts Guantanamo provisions as he signs defense bill
Washington (AFP) Dec 20, 2014 -
President Barack Obama on Friday signed into law America's annual defense policy bill, but he blasted provisions that ensure the Guantanamo Bay prison will stay open for now.
One of Obama's first actions as president was to order the closure of the prison facility in Cuba, set up 13 years ago under president George W. Bush, but he has been thwarted by domestic and international obstacles. ...
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