ScienceDaily: Top Technology News

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• Inspiration from a porcupine's quills
• Airborne scientists search distant stars for complex organic molecules
• Wind and solar power paired with storage could power grid 99.9 percent of the time
• Do we live in a computer simulation run by our descendants? Researchers say idea can be tested
• Structure of carbon's 'Hoyle state' revealed
• Space-age ceramics get their toughest test
• Can your smartphone see through walls? Engineers make tiny, low-cost, terahertz imager chip
• Tiny compound semiconductor transistor could challenge silicon's dominance
• Ultrasound can now monitor the health of your car engine
• Composites for large-scale manufacturing
• Substrate patterning creates p-n junctions in graphene
• Electronics: Graphene sheets' growing attractions
• Lithography: High-resolution images get richer in contrast
• Data storage: Electrically enhanced recall
• Photonics: Graphene's flexible future
• Electricity from water mains: Inline hydropower system generates power from water pipelines

Inspiration from a porcupine's quills Posted: 10 Dec 2012 01:08 PM PST Researchers hope to exploit the porcupine quill's unique properties to develop new types of adhesives, needles and other medical devices.

Airborne scientists search distant stars for complex organic molecules Posted: 10 Dec 2012 01:07 PM PST A team of astrobiology researchers – including two from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute – will use a series of nighttime flights on an airborne observatory to search newly born stars for the presence of precursors to life.

Wind and solar power paired with storage could power grid 99.9 percent of the time Posted: 10 Dec 2012 10:35 AM PST Renewable energy could fully power a large electric grid 99.9 percent of the time by 2030 at costs comparable to today's electricity expenses, according to new research. A well-designed combination of wind power, solar power and storage in batteries and fuel cells would nearly always exceed electricity demands while keeping costs low, scientists found.

Do we live in a computer simulation run by our descendants? Researchers say idea can be tested Posted: 10 Dec 2012 10:27 AM PST A decade ago, a British philosopher put forth the possibility that our universe might be a computer simulation run by our descendants. Now, physicists have come up with a potential test to see if the idea holds water.

Structure of carbon's 'Hoyle state' revealed Posted: 10 Dec 2012 09:47 AM PST A researcher has taken a "snapshot" of the way particles combine to form carbon-12, the element that makes all life on Earth possible. And the picture looks like a bent arm.

Space-age ceramics get their toughest test Posted: 10 Dec 2012 09:47 AM PST Space-age ceramics at their best promise advanced jet and gas turbine engines that burn with greater fuel efficiencies and less pollution. Scientists have developed the first mechanical test rig for obtaining real-time X-ray computed microtomography images at ultrahigh temperatures for improving the composition and architecture of advanced ceramic composites.

Can your smartphone see through walls? Engineers make tiny, low-cost, terahertz imager chip Posted: 10 Dec 2012 09:04 AM PST Researchers have created tiny silicon microchips that could help people see through walls, luggage, sealed boxes and containers, and other objects. The new chips generate terahertz waves that have the ability to penetrate materials with none of the harmful affects of X-rays.

Tiny compound semiconductor transistor could challenge silicon's dominance Posted: 10 Dec 2012 08:24 AM PST Silicon's crown is under threat: The semiconductor's days as the king of microchips for computers and smart devices could be numbered, thanks to the development of the smallest transistor ever to be built from a rival material, indium gallium arsenide. Researchers have developed the smallest indium gallium arsenide transistor ever built.

Ultrasound can now monitor the health of your car engine Posted: 10 Dec 2012 08:23 AM PST A system that uses ultrasound technology to look inside car engines could lead to more efficient engines -- and huge fuel savings for motorists.

Composites for large-scale manufacturing Posted: 10 Dec 2012 08:22 AM PST Continuous fiber-reinforced composites with thermoplastic matrix resins are very well suited for use in automotive manufacturing. However, to manufacture them is complicated. A new approach now makes it possible to use the injection molding process.

Substrate patterning creates p-n junctions in graphene Posted: 10 Dec 2012 07:14 AM PST Researchers are creating graphene p-n junctions by transferring films of the electronic material to substrates that have been patterned by compounds that are either strong electron donors or electron acceptors.

Electronics: Graphene sheets' growing attractions Posted: 10 Dec 2012 05:04 AM PST A theoretical and numerical study of graphene sheets reveals a property that may lead to novel opto-electric devices and circuits.

Lithography: High-resolution images get richer in contrast Posted: 10 Dec 2012 05:04 AM PST A method that boosts the contrast of high-resolution optical images has the potential to enable lithography at the nanoscale.

Data storage: Electrically enhanced recall Posted: 10 Dec 2012 05:04 AM PST Operating tiny magnetic memories under electrical fields reduces power demand and could enable storage and retrieval of data at much higher speeds than conventional devices.

Photonics: Graphene's flexible future Posted: 10 Dec 2012 05:04 AM PST Theoretical calculations show graphene's potential for controlling nanoscale light propagation on a chip.

Electricity from water mains: Inline hydropower system generates power from water pipelines Posted: 10 Dec 2012 05:04 AM PST A novel inline hydropower system generates power from water pipelines. In full operation, an array of in-pipe turbines is expected to save 700kWh of electricity and reduce 560 kg of carbon dioxide emission per year.

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