SciTech Daily

May 3, 2013

Study Reveals How Saturn’s Magnetosphere Changes with the Seasons

Using data from NASA’s Cassini spacecraft, scientists from the University of Iowa have discovered how the magnetosphere around Saturn changes with the planet’s seasons, providing an important clue for solving a riddle about the planet’s naturally occurring radio signal and helping scientists better understand variations in Earth’s magnetosphere and Van Allen radiation belts. A University [...]

May 2, 2013

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3D Printed “Bionic” Ear Exhibits Enhanced Auditory Sensing

Researchers at Princeton created a 3D printed “bionic” ear that exhibits enhanced auditory sensing for radio frequency reception, merging biologic and nanoelectronic functionalities via 3D printing. Scientists at Princeton University used off-the-shelf printing tools to create a functional ear that can “hear” radio frequencies far beyond the range of normal human capability. The researchers’ primary [...]

May 2, 2013

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ESA’s Mars Express Captures New Images of Sulci Gordii

ESA’s Mars Express has captured new images of a region on Mars known as Sulci Gordii, which lies about 200 km east of Olympus Mons. Giant landslides, lava flows and tectonic forces are behind this dynamic scene captured recently by ESA’s Mars Express of a region scarred by the Solar System’s largest volcano, Olympus Mons. [...]

May 2, 2013

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Researchers Use Light to Manipulate a Quantum Bit

UC Santa Barbara researchers developed an all-optical scheme for controlling individual quantum bits in semiconductors using pulses of light, opening up new paths toward the creation of quantum computers. Santa Barbara, California –– By using light, researchers at UC Santa Barbara have manipulated the quantum state of a single atomic-sized defect in diamond –– the [...]

May 2, 2013

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Adaptive Optics Improve Measurements of the Properties of Stars

Using a new instrument dubbed SAM, astronomers demonstrated the significant difference that sharp stellar images can make in our understanding of the properties of stars, allowing astronomers to make more precise measures of the colors of the stars and better measurements of distance, age, and metallicity of globular clusters. Astronomers at the Southern Observatory for [...]

May 2, 2013

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ESO Views the Star Formation Region NGC 6559

A new image from ESO’s La Silla Observatory in Chile shows NGC 6559, a star formation region located roughly 5,000 light-years from Earth in the constellation of Sagittarius. The Danish 1.54-meter telescope located at ESO’s La Silla Observatory in Chile has captured a striking image of NGC 6559, an object that showcases the anarchy that [...]

May 1, 2013

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Researchers Use Data from CERN to Measure Antimatter Gravity Directly

In a new study, physicists from the Berkeley Lab and UC Berkeley used data from the ALPHA Experiment at CERN to measure antimatter gravity directly, presenting the first direct evidence of how atoms of antimatter interact with gravity. The atoms that make up ordinary matter fall down, so do antimatter atoms fall up? Do they [...]

May 1, 2013

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New Approach Improves Biomass-to-Fuel Process

A newly published study describes a new approach to converting non-food based biomass into fuels, allowing researchers to generate a range of alkanes from a variety of biomass-derived molecules. Los Alamos, New Mexico — One of the more promising roads to energy independence leads away from crude oil and into the forests and fields. For [...]

May 1, 2013

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Scientists Reveal Saturn’s Youthful Appearance is the Result of Layered Convection

In a new study, scientists from the University of Exeter and the Ecole Normale Supérieure de Lyon reveal that Saturn’s youthful appearance is due to its inability to cool down, suggesting that the interior structure, composition and thermal evolution of giant planets may be more complex than the conventional approximation of giant planets as homogeneous [...]

May 1, 2013

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VLA Identifies Discrete Sources of Radio Waves Coming from Distant Galaxies

Using data from the Very Large Array, astronomers have for the first time identified discrete sources that account for nearly all the radio waves coming from distant galaxies. Staring at a small patch of sky for more than 50 hours with the ultra-sensitive Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA), astronomers have for the first [...]

May 1, 2013

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NASA’s Fermi Dodges a Defunct Cold War Spy Satellite

NASA’s Fermi Gamma-Ray Space Telescope has a close call with the 3,100-pound Cosmos 1805, a defunct Cold-War spy satellite, avoiding a near collision. NASA scientists don’t often learn that their spacecraft is at risk of crashing into another satellite. But when Julie McEnery, the project scientist for NASA’s Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope, checked her email [...]

May 1, 2013

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Chandra Reveals an Enormous Cloud of Hot Gas Enveloping Two Colliding Galaxies

A burst of star formation that lasted for at least 200 million years may be responsible for a cloud of hot gas, which contains the mass of 10 billion Suns, spans 300,000 light years, and radiates at more 7 million degrees, that is surrounding two merging spiral galaxies. Scientists have used Chandra to make a [...]