ScienceDaily: Top Technology News

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• Preventing 'C'yber Pearl Harbor'
• Lignin-based thermoplastic conversion process
• Robotic equivalent of a Swiss army knife: Reconfigurable robot a step toward something that can become almost anything
• Gulf of Mexico clean-up makes 2010 spill 52-times more toxic; Mixing oil with dispersant increased toxicity to ecosystems
• Even brown dwarfs may grow rocky planets: Sizing up grains of cosmic dust around failed star
• Small and efficient: Water nanodroplets cool biomolecules ultrafast
• New view of the Sun: Radio telescope could save world billions through advanced warnings

Preventing 'C'yber Pearl Harbor' Posted: 30 Nov 2012 07:22 PM PST A new study shows computer network security analysts are not prepared for drawn out cyber attacks.

Lignin-based thermoplastic conversion process Posted: 30 Nov 2012 07:22 PM PST Turning lignin, a plant's structural "glue" and a byproduct of the paper and pulp industry, into something considerably more valuable is driving a new research effort.

Robotic equivalent of a Swiss army knife: Reconfigurable robot a step toward something that can become almost anything Posted: 30 Nov 2012 10:27 AM PST The device doesn't look like much: a caterpillar-sized assembly of metal rings and strips resembling something you might find buried in a home-workshop drawer. But the technology behind it, and the long-range possibilities it represents, are quite remarkable.

Gulf of Mexico clean-up makes 2010 spill 52-times more toxic; Mixing oil with dispersant increased toxicity to ecosystems Posted: 30 Nov 2012 08:05 AM PST If the 4.9 million barrels of oil that spilled into the Gulf of Mexico during the 2010 Deep Water Horizon spill was a ecological disaster, the two million gallons of dispersant used to clean it up apparently made it even worse – 52-times more toxic.

Even brown dwarfs may grow rocky planets: Sizing up grains of cosmic dust around failed star Posted: 30 Nov 2012 06:51 AM PST Astronomers have for the first time found that the outer region of a dusty disc encircling a brown dwarf contains millimeter-sized solid grains like those found in denser discs around newborn stars. The surprising finding challenges theories of how rocky, Earth-scale planets form, and suggests that rocky planets may be even more common in the Universe than expected.

Small and efficient: Water nanodroplets cool biomolecules ultrafast Posted: 30 Nov 2012 06:51 AM PST Researchers have observed how biomolecules transfer energy into extremely small water droplets in their environment. A water shell consisting of only three water molecules around a phospholipid molecule is sufficient for energy transfer within 1 ps.

New view of the Sun: Radio telescope could save world billions through advanced warnings Posted: 30 Nov 2012 06:48 AM PST A small pocket of Western Australia's remote outback is set to become the eye on the sky and could potentially save the world billions of dollars. The Murchison Widefield Array (MWA) radio telescope, unveiled November 30, will give the world a dramatically improved view of the Sun and provide early warning to prevent damage to communication satellites, electric power grids and GPS navigation systems.

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