ScienceDaily: Top Technology News

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• Robots get a feel for the world: Touch more sensitve than a human's
• Reflected infrared light unveils never-before-seen details of Renaissance paintings
• Particle physics: BaBar data hint at cracks in the Standard Model
• Study improves understanding of surface molecules in controlling size of gold nanoparticles
• Black holes as particle detectors
• Automated pavement crack detection and sealing prototype system developed

Robots get a feel for the world: Touch more sensitve than a human's Posted: 18 Jun 2012 04:49 PM PDT What does a robot feel when it touches something? Little or nothing until now. Specially designed robots can now be equipped with a sense of touch even more sensitive than that of humans.

Reflected infrared light unveils never-before-seen details of Renaissance paintings Posted: 18 Jun 2012 08:18 AM PDT When restoring damaged and faded works of art, artists often employ lasers and other sophisticated imaging techniques to study intricate details, analyze pigments, and search for subtle defects not visible to the naked eye. To refine what can be seen during the restoration process even further, a team of Italian researchers has developed a new imaging tool that can capture features not otherwise detectable with the naked eye or current imaging techniques.

Particle physics: BaBar data hint at cracks in the Standard Model Posted: 18 Jun 2012 08:18 AM PDT Recently analyzed data from the BaBar experiment may suggest possible flaws in the Standard Model of particle physics, the reigning description of how the universe works on subatomic scales. The data from BaBar, a high-energy physics experiment, show that a particular type of particle decay called "B to D-star-tau-nu" happens more often than the Standard Model says it should.

Study improves understanding of surface molecules in controlling size of gold nanoparticles Posted: 18 Jun 2012 07:28 AM PDT Researchers have shown that the "bulkiness" of molecules commonly used in the creation of gold nanoparticles actually dictates the size of the nanoparticles – with larger so-called ligands resulting in smaller nanoparticles. The research team also found that each type of ligand produces nanoparticles in a particular array of discrete sizes.

Black holes as particle detectors Posted: 18 Jun 2012 07:28 AM PDT Black holes could serve as particle detectors, say scientists. Axions, a hypothetical but not improbable kind of particles, could accumulate around a black hole, creating a "boson cloud". After some time, this boson cloud would collapse, sending out characteristic gravity waves.

Automated pavement crack detection and sealing prototype system developed Posted: 18 Jun 2012 06:50 AM PDT Researchers have developed a prototype automated pavement crack detection and sealing system. In road tests, the system was able to detect cracks smaller than one-eighth-inch wide and efficiently fill cracks from a vehicle moving at a speed of three miles per hour.

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