ScienceDaily: Top Technology News

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• Near-miss asteroid will return next year, even closer
• Process makes polymers truly plastic, changing textures on demand
• Graphene supercapacitor holds promise for portable electronics
• Researchers create more efficient hydrogen fuel cells
• Inner workings of magnets may lead to faster computers
• Solitary waves induce waveguide that can split light beams
• First atomic hydrogen spectral line images of a nearby galaxy
• Cold atoms simulate graphene
• Hubble finds quasars acting as gravitational lenses
• Gold nanoantennas detect proteins

Near-miss asteroid will return next year, even closer Posted: 15 Mar 2012 07:56 PM PDT An amateur team discovered the unusual asteroid, dubbed 2012 DA14, on 22 February. Its small size and orbit meant that it was spotted only after it had flown past Earth at about seven times the distance of the Moon. However, current predictions indicate that on its next flyby, due on 15 February 2013, it will pass Earth at just 24,000 km – closer than many commercial satellites.

Process makes polymers truly plastic, changing textures on demand Posted: 15 Mar 2012 01:14 PM PDT Just as a chameleon changes its color to blend in with its environment, engineers have demonstrated for the first time that they can alter the texture of plastics on demand, for example, switching back and forth between a rough surface and a smooth one.

Graphene supercapacitor holds promise for portable electronics Posted: 15 Mar 2012 12:25 PM PDT Researchers have used a standard LightScribe DVD optical drive to produce electrodes composed of an expanded network of graphene that shows excellent mechanical and electrical properties as well as exceptionally high surface area. These LSG supercapacitors demonstrate high-performance graphene-based electrochemical capacitors that maintain excellent electrochemical attributes under high mechanical stress and may be ideal energy storage systems for next generation flexible, portable electronics.

Researchers create more efficient hydrogen fuel cells Posted: 15 Mar 2012 08:04 AM PDT Hydrogen fuel cells, like those found in some "green" vehicles, have a lot of promise as an alternative fuel source, but making them practical on a large scale requires them to be more efficient and cost effective. Scientists may have now found a way around both hurdles.

Inner workings of magnets may lead to faster computers Posted: 15 Mar 2012 06:58 AM PDT Using the world's fastest light source -- specialized X-ray lasers -- scientists have revealed the secret inner life of magnets, a finding that could lead to faster and "smarter" computers.

Solitary waves induce waveguide that can split light beams Posted: 15 Mar 2012 06:50 AM PDT Scientists have performed simulations to help understand the occurrence of multiple solitary optical waves that are used to reconfigure optical beams. Researchers have designed the first theoretical model that describes the occurrence of multiple solitary optical waves, referred to as dark photovoltaic spatial solitons.

First atomic hydrogen spectral line images of a nearby galaxy Posted: 15 Mar 2012 06:49 AM PDT Astronomers have now observed the radio emission from the neutral hydrogen gas (HI) in a nearby galaxy. Hydrogen gas emits radio emission in a spectral line at a very specific frequency of 1420 MHz.

Cold atoms simulate graphene Posted: 15 Mar 2012 06:49 AM PDT Physicists Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov from Manchester University were the first to isolate and identify graphene in 2004. Graphene is a single layer of carbon atoms, which form a two-dimensional honeycomb structure. This makes graphene an exceptionally good conductor, of great interest for future electronic devices. Physicists have now simulated graphene in order to better understand its amazing properties. The newly created tool now offers new options in the search for useful materials.

Hubble finds quasars acting as gravitational lenses Posted: 15 Mar 2012 06:44 AM PDT Astronomers have found several examples of galaxies containing quasars, which act as gravitational lenses, amplifying and distorting images of galaxies aligned behind them.

Gold nanoantennas detect proteins Posted: 14 Mar 2012 08:17 AM PDT Scientists have developed a new method of observing individual proteins. Detailed knowledge of the dynamics of proteins is necessary in order to understand the related biological processes that occur on the molecular level. To date, this information has been obtained by means of labeling proteins with fluorescent substances, but unfortunately this changes the proteins under investigation and thus influences the biological processes that are to be observed.

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