ScienceDaily: Top Technology News |
- Matter-matter entanglement at a distance: Quantum mechanical entanglement of two remote quantum systems
- Testing material hardness and strength: Butter up the old 'scratch test' to make it tough
- Spitzer sees crystal 'rain' in outer clouds of infant star
- The quantum computer is growing up: Repetitive error correction in a quantum processor
- Scientists detect Earth-equivalent amount of water within the moon
- Honing household helpers: Computer scientists work toward improving robots’ ability to plan and perform complex actions, domestically and elsewhere
- Physicists explain the long, useful lifetime of carbon-14
- Improving DNA sequencing: Sponge-like biosensor crams enormous power into tiny space
- Making complex composite materials to order
- Nanoengineers invent new biomaterial that more closely mimics human tissue
- Rendezvous with an asteroid: NASA to launch new science mission to near-Earth asteroid in 2016
| Posted: 26 May 2011 05:49 PM PDT Because of its strange consequences, the quantum mechanical phenomenon of entanglement has been called "spooky action at a distance" by Albert Einstein. For several years, physicists have been developing concepts of how to use this phenomenon for practical applications such as absolutely safe data transmission. For this purpose, the entanglement which is generated in a local process has to be distributed among remote quantum systems. A team of scientists in Germany has now demonstrated that two remote atomic quantum systems can be prepared in a shared "entangled" state: one system is a single atom trapped in an optical resonator, the other one a Bose-Einstein condensate consisting of hundreds of thousands of ultracold atoms. With the hybrid system thus generated, the researchers have realized a fundamental building block of a quantum network.  |
| Testing material hardness and strength: Butter up the old 'scratch test' to make it tough Posted: 26 May 2011 12:25 PM PDT It might not seem like scraping the top of a cold stick of butter with a knife could be a scientific test, but engineers say the process is very similar to the "scratch test," which is perhaps the oldest known way to assess a material's hardness and strength. Using butter as a launching point, they found that the scratch test is actually measuring a material's toughness rather than its strength.  |
| Spitzer sees crystal 'rain' in outer clouds of infant star Posted: 26 May 2011 11:29 AM PDT Tiny crystals of a green mineral called olivine are falling down like rain on a burgeoning star, according to observations from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. This is the first time such crystals have been observed in the dusty clouds of gas that collapse around forming stars. Astronomers are still debating how the crystals got there, but the most likely culprits are jets of gas blasting away from the embryonic star.  |
| The quantum computer is growing up: Repetitive error correction in a quantum processor Posted: 26 May 2011 11:15 AM PDT Physicists have demonstrated a crucial element for a future functioning quantum computer: repetitive error correction. This allows scientists to correct errors occurring in a quantum computer efficiently.  |
| Scientists detect Earth-equivalent amount of water within the moon Posted: 26 May 2011 11:14 AM PDT The moon has much more water than previously thought, a scientific team has discovered. First-time measurements of lunar melt inclusions show that some parts of the lunar mantle have as much water as the Earth's upper mantle. The results may change the prevailing theory about the Moon's origin as well as shed new light on the origin of water at the lunar poles. Results appear in Science Express.  |
| Posted: 26 May 2011 09:33 AM PDT Imagine a robot able to retrieve a pile of laundry from the back of a cluttered closet, deliver it to a washing machine, start the cycle and then zip off to the kitchen to start preparing dinner. This may have been a domestic dream a half-century ago, when the fields of robotics and artificial intelligence first captured public imagination. However, it quickly became clear that even "simple" human actions are extremely difficult to replicate in robots. Now, computer scientists are tackling the problem with a hierarchical, progressive algorithm that has the potential to greatly reduce the computational cost associated with performing complex actions.  |
| Physicists explain the long, useful lifetime of carbon-14 Posted: 26 May 2011 09:29 AM PDT Physicists have discovered the reasons behind the unexpectedly slow decay of carbon-14. That slow decay makes it possible for scientists to use carbon dating techniques to accurately date the relics of history. Understanding the decay of carbon-14 could also help researchers unravel other mysteries of matter.  |
| Improving DNA sequencing: Sponge-like biosensor crams enormous power into tiny space Posted: 26 May 2011 07:30 AM PDT Engineers have created a "spongy" silicon biosensor that shows promise not only for medical diagnostics, but also for the detection of dangerous toxins and other tiny molecules in the environment. This innovation was originally designed to detect the presence of particular DNA sequences, which can be extremely helpful in identifying a person's predisposition to heart disease or cancer.  |
| Making complex composite materials to order Posted: 26 May 2011 07:30 AM PDT Scientists have found a way to make complex composite materials whose attributes can be fine-tuned to give various desirable combinations of properties such as stiffness, strength, resistance to impacts and energy dissipation.  |
| Nanoengineers invent new biomaterial that more closely mimics human tissue Posted: 26 May 2011 06:18 AM PDT A new biomaterial designed for repairing damaged human tissue doesn't wrinkle up when it is stretched. The invention from nanoengineers marks a significant breakthrough in tissue engineering because it more closely mimics the properties of native human tissue.  |
| Rendezvous with an asteroid: NASA to launch new science mission to near-Earth asteroid in 2016 Posted: 25 May 2011 10:39 PM PDT NASA will launch a spacecraft to an asteroid in 2016 and use a robotic arm to pluck samples that could better explain our solar system's formation and how life began. The mission, called Origins-Spectral Interpretation-Resource Identification-Security-Regolith Explorer, or OSIRIS-REx, will be the first U.S. mission to carry samples from an asteroid back to Earth.  |
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