SciTech Daily

May 1, 2012

Particulate Pollution Created ‘Warming Hole’ that Delayed Climate Change

model suggests regional pollution obscured a global trend

In what may seem like a strange twist on global warming and greenhouse gas effects, Harvard researchers discovered that particulate pollution created a “warming hole” where the effects of global warming and greenhouse gases were temporarily obscured. Climate scientists at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) have discovered that particulate pollution in [...]

May 1, 2012

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Bioengineers Develop Deformability Cytometer to Help Diagnose Disease

Bioengineers at UCLA developed a deformability cytometer to better understand the physical properties of cells, which may prove very useful in the fight against diseases such as cancer. The device works by slamming cells against a wall of fluid and quickly analyzing the physical response, allowing for the identification of cell states without expensive chemical [...]

May 1, 2012

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Extraordinary Outburst from Black Hole in Galaxy M83

Using NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory, scientists discovered a new ultraluminous X-ray source located in spiral galaxy M83, which is roughly 15 million light years from Earth. The ULX was produced by a black hole that is part of class of black holes capable of producing as much energy in X-rays as a million suns radiate [...]

May 1, 2012

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Zeolite Catalyst Creates P-Xylene from Biomass

Chemical Engineers Discover a High-Yield Method for Producing Everyday Plastics from Biomass

Chemical engineers at UMass Amherst have discovered a high-yield method of making plastic bottles from biomass. By using a zeolite catalyst capable of transforming glucose into p-xylene, the inexpensive process creates p-xylene with an efficient yield of 75-percent, which could help remove the need for petroleum-based materials in the plastic bottle industry. Amherst, Massachusetts – [...]

May 1, 2012

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Thwarting Side-Channel Attacks and Increasing Computer Security

hackers can steal a computer’s secrets by timing its data storage transactions or measuring its power use

Personal computers and corporate computers have long been susceptible to hackers, but now savvy hackers are using cloud technology to their advantage to steal a computer’s secrets. The increase in cloud computing allows hackers to load a bit of code on a server in the cloud and eavesdrop on other applications it’s running, luckily cryptographers [...]

April 30, 2012

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Odor Processing Function of Fly Resembles Mammalian Brain

In an effort to better understand why fruit flies are immediately attracted to our food, a team of scientists developed a device, called Flywalk, to measure the response of insects to odor signals. Researchers discovered males and females of the same species were attracted to different odors and that their brain function, when determining between [...]

April 30, 2012

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Radio Waves from Brown Dwarf Discovered

An artist's impression of a brown dwarf similar to J1047+21

Using the radio telescope at Arecibo, Puerto Rico, a team of astrophysicists from Penn State have discovered radio emissions from a brown dwarf in the constellation Leo. 33.6 light years away, this ultra-cool star, named J1047+21, is only 5 times hotter than Jupiter. Penn State astronomers using the world’s largest radio telescope, at Arecibo, Puerto [...]

April 30, 2012

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New Insight on Mitotic Spindle Architecture

researchers have developed a clearer picture of how cell division occurs

New research from scientists at Harvard University examines the mitotic spindle, finding that the spindle is more complex than previously thought. Using a femtosecond laser and mathematical analysis, the team was able to understand the architecture and assembly of the spindle in a way that was never before possible. The mitotic spindle, an apparatus that [...]

April 30, 2012

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“Random Lasers” Reduce Noise and Improve Medical Imaging

random lasers as a source of illumination in medical imaging equip

Physicists from Yale University have engineered a “random laser” which they believe will improve both processing time and the clarity of the images from devices that use laser illumination. The published study describes their findings in detail and explains how random lasers enable faster image generation while generating speckle-free images. Using “random lasers” as a [...]

April 30, 2012

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Examining the Genes of Stone Age Farmers

genetic variation of today’s Europeans was strongly affected by immigrant Stone Age farmers

New findings from a team of Swedish-Danish evolutionary biologists show that the genetic variation of today’s Europeans was strongly affected by immigrant Stone Age farmers. The study involved comparisons of thousands of genetic markers from four Stone Age skeletons to genetic data from living individuals. One of the most debated developments in human history is [...]

April 30, 2012

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Hubble Views Star in Preplanetary Nebula Stage

Searchlight Beams from a Preplanetary Nebula

A new image produced from exposures in visible and infrared light from Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3 shows a star from the Egg Nebula running out of nuclear fuel and entering the protoplanetary nebula stage. The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has been at the cutting edge of research into what happens to stars like our [...]

April 30, 2012

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Robonaut 2, A Robotic Space Station Crew Member

A joint effort between NASA and General Motors to improve robotic technology and capabilities for future space exploration platforms has led to Robonaut 2, NASA’s first dexterous humanoid robot. Robonaut 2 was built to work on space stations, assisting astronauts with dangerous or repetitive jobs. Robonaut 2, NASA’s first dexterous humanoid robot, has successfully hitched [...]