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Tuesday, September 24, 2013

ScienceDaily: Top Technology News

ScienceDaily: Top Technology News

World record solar cell with 44.7% efficiency

Posted: 23 Sep 2013 05:42 PM PDT

Researchers in Germany report a new world record for the conversion of sunlight into electricity using a new solar cell structure with four solar subcells. A new record efficiency of 44.7% was measured at a concentration of 297 suns, indicating that 44.7% of the solar spectrum's energy, from ultraviolet through to the infrared, is converted into electrical energy. The achievement is being hailed as a major step towards reducing the costs of solar electricity.

Enormous catalog of more than 300,000 nearby galaxies

Posted: 23 Sep 2013 05:03 PM PDT

More than 83,000 volunteer citizen scientists. Over 16 million galaxy classifications. Information on more than 300,000 galaxies. This is what you get when you ask the public for help in learning more about our universe.

Spinning CDs to clean sewage water

Posted: 23 Sep 2013 02:59 PM PDT

Audio CDs, all the rage in the '90s, seem increasingly obsolete in a world of MP3 files and iPods, leaving many music lovers with the question of what to do with their extensive compact disk collections. While you could turn your old disks into a work of avant-garde art, researchers in Taiwan have come up with a more practical application: breaking down sewage.

Theory and formula to improve 'plastic' semiconductors developed

Posted: 23 Sep 2013 12:55 PM PDT

We could find many uses for bendable electronics, such as e-readers that folded like newspapers or smart phones that curved in our back pockets. Polymer semiconductors could get us there. But their electrical properties are not well understood. In some novel work scientists explain how the structure of polymers affects their electrical properties with an eye toward improving their performance as electronic components.

Math explains history: Simulation accurately captures the evolution of ancient complex societies

Posted: 23 Sep 2013 12:55 PM PDT

The question of how human societies evolve from small groups to the huge, anonymous and complex societies of today has been answered mathematically, accurately matching the historical record on the emergence of complex states in the ancient world.

The inefficient acquisition: Research gives new reason why some companies overpay for merger targets

Posted: 23 Sep 2013 12:53 PM PDT

Sometimes, companies know they're paying too much for another company, and a researcher says they have a good reason for doing it anyway.

Stretchable, foldable transparent electronic display created

Posted: 23 Sep 2013 11:37 AM PDT

Imagine an electronic display nearly as clear as a window, or a curtain that illuminates a room, or a smartphone screen that doubles in size, stretching like rubber. Now imagine all of these being made from the same material. Researchers have developed a transparent, elastic organic light-emitting device, or OLED, that could one day make all these possible.

Headway towards quantum information transfer via nanomechanical coupling

Posted: 23 Sep 2013 11:37 AM PDT

Fiber optics has made communication faster than ever, but the next step involves a quantum leap –– literally. In order to improve the security of the transfer of information, scientists are working on how to translate electrical quantum states to optical quantum states in a way that would enable ultrafast, quantum-encrypted communications.

Non-precious metal catalysts outperforming Pt-based one

Posted: 23 Sep 2013 11:36 AM PDT

Researchers have discovered a new family of non-precious metal catalysts. These catalysts exhibit better performance than platinum in oxygen-reduction reaction (ORR) only with 10% of the production cost of a platinum catalyst.

Optical properties of a novel kind of magnetism probed

Posted: 23 Sep 2013 08:41 AM PDT

Using low-frequency laser pulses, a team of researchers has carried out the first measurements that reveal the detailed characteristics of a unique kind of magnetism found in a mineral called herbertsmithite. In this material, the magnetic elements constantly fluctuate, leading to an exotic state of fluid magnetism called a "quantum spin liquid." This is in contrast to conventional magnetism, found in materials called ferromagnets -- where all of the magnetic forces align in the same direction, reinforcing each other -- or antiferromagnets, where adjacent magnetic elements align in opposite directions, leading to complete cancellation of the material's overall magnetic field.

First steps towards achieving better and cheaper biodiesel

Posted: 23 Sep 2013 07:19 AM PDT

Is there any connection between wine and biodiesel? The answer is yes, however surprising it may seem. Acetals are chemical compounds found in many wines, like port, for example, which give it a unique, sweet smell. However if acetals are blended with biodiesel, they improve its properties.

Smile! New nanotube surface promises dental implants that heal faster and fight infection

Posted: 23 Sep 2013 06:31 AM PDT

A surface of TiO2 nanotubes could reduce the failure rate for dental implants, both by encouraging bone growth around the implant and by serving as a drug-delivery system for antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory substances.

Magnetic nanowires: Domain walls as new information storage medium

Posted: 23 Sep 2013 06:27 AM PDT

While searching for ever smaller devices that can be used as data storage systems and novel sensors, physicists have directly observed magnetization dynamics processes in magnetic nanowires and thus paved the way for further research in the field of nanomagnetism. Small magnetic domain wall structures in nanowires can be used to store information and, for example, can be used as angle sensors. Initial applications based on magnetic domain walls have been developed and are already in use in sensor technology.
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