ScienceDaily: Top Technology News

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• What caused a giant arrow-shaped cloud on Saturn's moon Titan?
• Hint of elusive Higgs boson: An update from the Large Hadron Collider
• Novel microscopy generates new view of fuel cells
• Measurements reveal extent of leakage from Japan's damaged Fukushima reactor
• Bending light with better precision
• Strain and spin may enable ultra-low-energy computing
• New binding site for N20 discovered: Climate change and ozone destruction hastened with nitrous oxide used in agriculture
• First data from Daya Bay: Closing in on a neutrino mystery
• Acoustic cloaking device echoes advances in optical cloaking
• Forecasting and preventing pipe fractures
• Researchers unravel the magic of flocks of starlings

What caused a giant arrow-shaped cloud on Saturn's moon Titan? Posted: 15 Aug 2011 04:44 PM PDT Why does Titan, Saturn's largest moon, have what looks like an enormous white arrow about the size of Texas on its surface? A research group has answered this question by using a global circulation model of Titan to demonstrate how planetary-scale atmospheric waves affect the moon's weather patterns, leading to a "stenciling" effect that results in sharp and sometimes surprising cloud shapes.

Hint of elusive Higgs boson: An update from the Large Hadron Collider Posted: 15 Aug 2011 04:36 PM PDT The physics world was abuzz with some tantalizing news a couple of weeks ago. At a meeting of the European Physical Society in Grenoble, France, physicists announced that the latest data from the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) might hint at the existence of the ever-elusive Higgs boson.

Novel microscopy generates new view of fuel cells Posted: 15 Aug 2011 01:24 PM PDT A novel microscopy method is helping scientists probe the reactions that limit widespread deployment of fuel cell technologies.

Measurements reveal extent of leakage from Japan's damaged Fukushima reactor Posted: 15 Aug 2011 12:20 PM PDT From distance of 5,800 miles, researchers calculated how much radiation leaked from damaged fuel at the Fukushima nuclear reactor after an earthquake and tsunami disabled normal cooling systems. Nuclear reactions in the seawater used to douse overheating fuel created a pulse of radioactive sulfur dioxide gas and sulfate particles that revealed the magnitude of the leak. This labeled sulfur will also help researchers to trace sulfur in the atmosphere, an important factor for understanding climate change.

Bending light with better precision Posted: 15 Aug 2011 08:36 AM PDT Physicists have demonstrated a new technique to control the speed and direction of light using memory metamaterials whose properties can be repeatedly changed. A metamaterial is a structure engineered from a variety of substances that, when put together, yield optical properties that do not exist in nature.

Strain and spin may enable ultra-low-energy computing Posted: 15 Aug 2011 08:36 AM PDT A new type of integrated circuit may be so energy efficient that it could run simply by harvesting energy from the environment.

New binding site for N20 discovered: Climate change and ozone destruction hastened with nitrous oxide used in agriculture Posted: 15 Aug 2011 08:35 AM PDT Researchers have discovered a new binding site for nitrous oxide (N2O). Nitrous oxide reductase, an enzyme containing copper, plays a key role in the biochemical process by reducing N2O to N2. This enzyme is highly sensitive to oxygen and is often precipitated in the reaction chain, meaning large amounts of N2O are released by fertilized fields in the farming industry.

First data from Daya Bay: Closing in on a neutrino mystery Posted: 15 Aug 2011 08:12 AM PDT The international Daya Bay Reactor Neutrino Experiment in southern China has just begun collecting data on the elusive final measurement needed before the masses of the different kinds of neutrinos can be determined.

Acoustic cloaking device echoes advances in optical cloaking Posted: 15 Aug 2011 08:12 AM PDT Sound waves that would normally bounce and scatter off objects may be coaxed into slipping past them as if they weren't there, according to a new study that suggests the potential of an acoustical cloaking device.

Forecasting and preventing pipe fractures Posted: 15 Aug 2011 06:57 AM PDT A computer model that tests automobile components for crashworthiness could also be of use to the oil and gas industry, according to researchers, who are now using their simulations of material deformation in car crashes to predict how pipes may fracture in offshore drilling accidents.

Researchers unravel the magic of flocks of starlings Posted: 08 Aug 2011 05:36 AM PDT Do fish swimming in schools or birds flying in flocks have a collective spirit that enables them to move as one? Are they animals with highly developed cognition, a complex instinct or a telepathic gift? A recent study conducted researchers in the Netherlands points in another direction. Mathematical models of self-organization show that complicated collective behavior can be the consequence of a few simple behavioral rules.

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