ScienceDaily: Top Technology News

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• Privacy law expert warns of the perils of social media and social reading
• NASA spacecraft detects changes in Martian sand dunes
• It's a trap: New lab technique captures microRNA targets
• Overfed black holes shut down galactic star-making
• Secrets of the first practical artificial leaf
• ESA declares end of mission for Envisat
• Significant water anomaly explained
• VISTA views a vast ball of stars
• Portable diagnostics designed to be shaken, not stirred
• New insight into atomic nuclei may explain how supernovas formed elements crucial to humankind

Privacy law expert warns of the perils of social media and social reading Posted: 09 May 2012 02:58 PM PDT The Internet and social media have opened up new vistas for people to share preferences in films, books and music. Services such as Spotify and the Washington Post Social Reader already integrate reading and listening into social networks, providing what Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg calls "frictionless sharing." "But there's a problem. A world of automatic, always-on disclosure should give us pause," says a privacy law expert.

NASA spacecraft detects changes in Martian sand dunes Posted: 09 May 2012 02:12 PM PDT NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has revealed that movement in sand dune fields on the Red Planet occurs on a surprisingly large scale, about the same as in dune fields on Earth. This is unexpected because Mars has a much thinner atmosphere than Earth, is only about one percent as dense, and its high-speed winds are less frequent and weaker than Earth's.

It's a trap: New lab technique captures microRNA targets Posted: 09 May 2012 10:59 AM PDT To better understand how microRNAs -- small pieces of genetic material -- influence human health and disease, scientists first need to know which microRNAs act upon which genes. To do this scientists developed miR-TRAP, a new easy-to-use method to directly identify microRNA targets in cells.

Overfed black holes shut down galactic star-making Posted: 09 May 2012 10:59 AM PDT The Herschel Space Observatory has shown galaxies with the most powerful, active black holes at their cores produce fewer stars than galaxies with less active black holes. The results are the first to demonstrate black holes suppressed galactic star formation when the universe was less than half its current age.

Secrets of the first practical artificial leaf Posted: 09 May 2012 09:39 AM PDT A detailed description of development of the first practical artificial leaf -- a milestone in the drive for sustainable energy that mimics the process, photosynthesis, that green plants use to convert water and sunlight into energy -- has just been published. The article notes that unlike earlier devices, which used costly ingredients, the new device is made from inexpensive materials and employs low-cost engineering and manufacturing processes.

ESA declares end of mission for Envisat Posted: 09 May 2012 09:37 AM PDT Just weeks after celebrating its tenth year in orbit, communication with the Envisat satellite was suddenly lost on 8 April. Following rigorous attempts to re-establish contact and the investigation of failure scenarios, the end of the mission is being declared. A team of engineers has spent the last month attempting to regain control of Envisat, investigating possible reasons for the problem.

Significant water anomaly explained Posted: 09 May 2012 07:52 AM PDT Physicists have just explained a puzzling water anomaly -- a deviation from the common form -- of water ice that has been largely neglected and never before explained.

VISTA views a vast ball of stars Posted: 09 May 2012 06:27 AM PDT A new image of Messier 55 from ESO's VISTA infrared survey telescope shows tens of thousands of stars crowded together like a swarm of bees. Besides being packed into a relatively small space, these stars are also among the oldest in the Universe. Astronomers study Messier 55 and other ancient objects like it, called globular clusters, to learn how galaxies evolve and stars age.

Portable diagnostics designed to be shaken, not stirred Posted: 09 May 2012 06:24 AM PDT A textured surface mimics a lotus leaf to move drops of liquid in particular directions. The low-cost system could be used in portable medical or environmental tests.

New insight into atomic nuclei may explain how supernovas formed elements crucial to humankind Posted: 08 May 2012 06:43 AM PDT New insight into the behaviour of atomic nuclei may explain how gigantic star explosions, or supernovas, have formed the elements that are crucial to humankind.

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