ScienceDaily: Top Technology News

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• Quantum computer built inside a diamond
• Internet use promotes democracy best in countries that are already partially free
• Free apps drain smartphone energy on 'advertising modules'
• New options for nuclear waste? Crushing pressure surprisingly opens up nanopores in mineral
• New way of lasing: A 'superradiant' laser
• Cannibalistic galaxy with a powerful heart
• Carbon nanotubes can double growth of cell cultures
• Defying conventional wisdom, water can float on oil
• Titanic disaster 'unlikely to happen again'
• Generating first-ever controlled ultrafast radiation using a plasma
• Can mathematics help Usain Bolt run faster?
• Cosmic 'leaf blower' robs galaxy of star-making fuel
• NASA's SOFIA captures image of dying, outflowing star
• Icy moons through Cassini's eyes
• 'Mount sharp' on Mars links geology's past and future

Quantum computer built inside a diamond Posted: 04 Apr 2012 01:19 PM PDT A team of scientists has built a quantum computer in a diamond, the first of its kind to include protection against "decoherence" -- noise that prevents the computer from functioning properly.

Internet use promotes democracy best in countries that are already partially free Posted: 04 Apr 2012 12:20 PM PDT Although use of the internet has been credited with helping spur democratic revolutions in the Arab world and elsewhere, a new multinational study suggests the internet is most likely to play a role only in specific situations.

Free apps drain smartphone energy on 'advertising modules' Posted: 04 Apr 2012 11:43 AM PDT Researchers have shown that popular free smartphone apps spend up to 75 percent of their energy tracking the user's geographical location, sending information about the user to advertisers and downloading ads.

New options for nuclear waste? Crushing pressure surprisingly opens up nanopores in mineral Posted: 04 Apr 2012 11:41 AM PDT By squeezing a porous solid, scientists surprisingly made its cavities open wider, letting in -- and trapping -- europium ions. Given the similarities between europium and uranium ions, the team thinks the innovation could represent a promising new avenue for nuclear waste processing.

New way of lasing: A 'superradiant' laser Posted: 04 Apr 2012 10:36 AM PDT Physicists have demonstrated a novel "superradiant" laser design, which has the potential to be 100 to 1,000 times more stable than the best conventional visible lasers. This type of laser could boost the performance of the most advanced atomic clocks and related technologies, such as communications and navigation systems as well as space-based astronomical instruments.

Cannibalistic galaxy with a powerful heart Posted: 04 Apr 2012 09:53 AM PDT Astronomers have provided a multi-wavelength view of the mysterious galaxy Centaurus A. The new image reveals further hints about its cannibalistic past and energetic processes going on in its core.

Carbon nanotubes can double growth of cell cultures Posted: 04 Apr 2012 09:53 AM PDT A dose of carbon nanotubes more than doubles the growth rate of plant cell cultures -- workhorses in the production of everything from lifesaving medications to sweeteners to dyes and perfumes -- researchers are reporting. Their study is perhaps the first to show that carbon nanotubes boost plant cell division and growth.

Defying conventional wisdom, water can float on oil Posted: 04 Apr 2012 09:52 AM PDT Defying thousands of years of conventional wisdom, scientists are reporting that it is possible for water to float on oil, a discovery they say has important potential applications in cleaning up oil spills that threaten seashores and fisheries.

Titanic disaster 'unlikely to happen again' Posted: 04 Apr 2012 09:51 AM PDT A ship science expert says that a seafaring tragedy on the scale of the Titanic disaster is unlikely to happen again. He believes this is due to the many lessons that have been learned as a result of the tragedy 100 years ago.

Generating first-ever controlled ultrafast radiation using a plasma Posted: 04 Apr 2012 09:51 AM PDT To observe ultrarapid phenomena such as the motion of electrons within matter, researchers need sources capable of producing extremely fast and energetic light radiation. Although devices capable of emitting pulses with attosecond (10-18 seconds) precision already exist, many research teams are striving to stretch the boundaries of these pulses' duration and intensity.Scientists have now succeeded for the first time in accelerating and guiding electrons in a plasma in a reproducible manner, using a laser.

Can mathematics help Usain Bolt run faster? Posted: 04 Apr 2012 07:25 AM PDT Usain Bolt can achieve faster running times with no extra effort on his part or improvement to his fitness, according to a new study. A mathematician illustrates how, based on concrete mathematical evidence, Bolt can cut his world record from 9.58 seconds to 9.45. Usain Bolt holds the current 100m world record, at 9.58s, and has been described as the best sprinter there has ever been, dramatically reducing his running times since he first won the world record in 2008.

Cosmic 'leaf blower' robs galaxy of star-making fuel Posted: 04 Apr 2012 05:34 AM PDT Supernova explosions and the jets of a monstrous black hole are scattering a galaxy's star-making gas like a cosmic leaf blower, a new study finds. The findings, which relied on ultraviolet observations from NASA's Galaxy Evolution Explorer and a host of other instruments, fill an important gap in the current understanding of galactic evolution.

NASA's SOFIA captures image of dying, outflowing star Posted: 04 Apr 2012 05:33 AM PDT Researchers using NASA's Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) have captured an infrared image of the last exhalations of a dying sun-like star. The object observed by SOFIA, planetary nebula Minkowski 2-9, or M2-9 for short, is seen in a new three-color composite image.

Icy moons through Cassini's eyes Posted: 28 Mar 2012 08:11 AM PDT New raw, unprocessed images of Saturn's moons Enceladus, Janus and Dione were taken on March 27 and 28, 2012, by NASA's Cassini spacecraft. Cassini passed Enceladus first on March 27, coming within about 46 miles (74 kilometers) of the moon's surface. The encounter was primarily designed for Cassini's ion and neutral mass spectrometer, which "tasted" the composition of Enceladus' south polar plume. Other instruments, including the Cassini plasma spectrometer and composite infrared spectrometer, also took measurements.

'Mount sharp' on Mars links geology's past and future Posted: 28 Mar 2012 08:11 AM PDT One particular mountain on Mars, bigger than Colorado's grandest, has been beckoning would-be explorers since it was first sighted from orbit in the 1970s. Scientists have ideas about how it took shape in the middle of ancient Gale Crater and hopes for what evidence it could yield about whether conditions on Mars have favored life.

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