Tag Archives: technique

NASA Releases Radar Movie of Asteroid 2012 DA14

By Guest PostFebruary 21, 2013Scienceantenna, asteroid, asteroid 2012 da14, data collection, deep space network, earth, goldstone, goldstone radar, hazardous, lance benner, long axis, marina brozovic, observation, planet, radar movie, radar observations, rotation, rotation state, shape, size, spaceguard, surface features, surface roughness, technique

An initial sequence of radar images of asteroid 2012 DA14 was obtained on the night of Feb. 15/16, 2013, by NASA scientists using the 230-foot (70-meter) Deep Space Network antenna at Goldstone, Calif. Each of the 72 frames required 320 seconds of data collection by the Goldstone radar.

The observations were made as the asteroid was moving away from Earth. The asteroid’s distance from the radar dish increased from 74,000 miles (120,000 kilometers) to 195,000 miles (314,000 kilometers). The resolution is 13 feet (four meters) per pixel. The images span close to eight hours and clearly show an elongated object undergoing roughly one full rotation. The images suggest that the asteroid has a long axis of about 130 feet (40 meters). The radar observations were led by scientists Lance Benner and Marina Brozovic of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. Additional Goldstone radar observations are scheduled on February 18, 19 and 20. (more…)

Aging Cells Lose Their Grip on DNA Rogues

By Guest PostFebruary 3, 2013Scienceabigail peterson, aging bodies, aging cells, balls of protein, barbara mcclintock, brown university, chromatin, chromosomes, computational biologist, desirable genes, DNA, edward peckham, eliza hamm, enzyme, essential genes, euchromatin formations, faire, genetic material, genome, genomic havoc, heterochromatin, heterochromatin prison system, high stakes warfare, hiv drugs, human fibroblast cells, human retrotransposons, jayameenakshi manivannan, jill kreiling, john sedivy, l1, marco de cecco, mobile strands, molecular parasites, nicola neretti, nobel prize, nucleosomes, parasitic strands, reverse transcriptases, rna, sara hillenmeyer, senescent, senescent cells, steven criscione, technique, transposable elements, transposons, transposons in maize, useful genes

Transposable elements are mobile strands of DNA that insert themselves into chromosomes with mostly harmful consequences. Cells try to keep them locked down, but in a new study, Brown University researchers report that aging cells lose their ability to maintain this control. The result may be a further decline in the health of senescent cells and of the aging bodies they compose.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — Even in our DNA there is no refuge from rogues that prey on the elderly. Parasitic strands of genetic material called transposable elements — transposons — lurk in our chromosomes, poised to wreak genomic havoc. Cells have evolved ways to defend themselves, but in a new study, Brown University researchers describe how cells lose this ability as they age, possibly resulting in a decline in their function and health. (more…)

Researchers Create Flexible, Nanoscale ‘Bed of Nails’ for Possible Drug Delivery

By Guest PostJanuary 27, 2013Sciencealuminum substrate, anatoli melechko, balloon, bed of nails, brain, bryan anderson, carbon nanofibers, drug delivery systems, elastic membrane, elastic silicone membrane, embedding carbon nanofibers, joseph tracy, justin railsback, liquid silicone polymer, mehmet sarac, nanofibers, nanoscale, needle like, north Carolina, ryan pearce, state university, technique, timothy mcknight

Researchers at North Carolina State University have come up with a technique to embed needle-like carbon nanofibers in an elastic membrane, creating a flexible “bed of nails” on the nanoscale that opens the door to development of new drug-delivery systems.

The research community is interested in finding new ways to deliver precise doses of drugs to specific targets, such as regions of the brain. One idea is to create balloons embedded with nanoscale spikes that are coated with the relevant drug. Theoretically, the deflated balloon could be inserted into the target area and then inflated, allowing the spikes on the balloon’s surface to pierce the surrounding cell walls and deliver the drug. The balloon could then be deflated and withdrawn. (more…)

Do We Live in a Computer Simulation? UW Researchers Say Idea Can be Tested

By Guest PostDecember 12, 2012Scienceatom, belief, binds subatomic particles, british philosopher, computer model, computer simulation, concept, cosmic rays, evolutionary history, four dimensional grid, fundamental forces, gluons, human species, lattice quantum chromodynamics, martin savage, model, molecule, Nature, neutrons, nick bostrom, notion, nucleus, parallel universe, physical laws, posthuman civilization, posthuman stage, potential test, primitive simulations, protons, quarks, scale, silas beane, small scale simulations, space time continuum, supercomputers, technique, universe, university of oxford, university of washington, zohreh davoudi

A decade ago, a British philosopher put forth the notion that the universe we live in might in fact be a computer simulation run by our descendants. While that seems far-fetched, perhaps even incomprehensible, a team of physicists at the University of Washington has come up with a potential test to see if the idea holds water.

The concept that current humanity could possibly be living in a computer simulation comes from a 2003 paper published in Philosophical Quarterly by Nick Bostrom, a philosophy professor at the University of Oxford. In the paper, he argued that at least one of three possibilities is true:

The human species is likely to go extinct before reaching a “posthuman” stage.
Any posthuman civilization is very unlikely to run a significant number of simulations of its evolutionary history.
We are almost certainly living in a computer simulation. (more…)

Next Scientific Fashion Could be Designer Nanocrystals

By Guest PostDecember 6, 2012Sciencealternative, array, assisted, bioluminescence, chemical bonds, Chicago, chromophores, correlation, crystalline arrays, david mazziotti, designer atoms, dmitri talapin, electric charges, electronic glue, electrons, element, functional materials, gradient, grape, greg engel, helium, hydrogen, magnetic semiconductors, molecular systems, nanocrystals, phenomena, photon echo, properties, quantum computing, semiconductor nanocrystals, solar energy, spectroscopy, superior oil company, technique, trajectories, university

Three University of Chicago chemistry professors hope that their separate research trajectories will converge to create a new way of assembling what they call “designer atoms” into materials with a broad array of potentially useful properties and functions.

These “designer atoms” would be nanocrystals—crystalline arrays of atoms intended to be manipulated in ways that go beyond standard uses of atoms in the periodic table. Such arrays would be suited to address challenges in solar energy, quantum computing and functional materials. (more…)

Researchers ID Ways to Exploit ‘Cloud Browsers’ for Large-Scale, Anonymous Computing

By Guest PostNovember 29, 2012Technologyashwin shashidharan, cloud browser, cloud computing, enck adds, function, Google, joe pletcher, kevin butler, large scale computing, mapreduce, megabytes, north Carolina, oregon, paradigm, service, state university, technique, university, vasant tendulkar, web browsers, web interface, william enck

Researchers from North Carolina State University and the University of Oregon have found a way to exploit cloud-based Web browsers, using them to perform large-scale computing tasks anonymously. The finding has potential ramifications for the security of “cloud browser” services.

At issue are cloud browsers, which create a Web interface in the cloud so that computing is done there rather than on a user’s machine. This is particularly useful for mobile devices, such as smartphones, which have limited computing power.The cloud-computing paradigm pools the computational power and storage of multiple computers, allowing shared resources for multiple users. (more…)

Breakthrough Technique Images Breast Tumors in 3-D with Great Clarity, Reduced Radiation

By Guest PostOctober 23, 2012Health, Science3d picture, alberto mittone, aniko sztrokay, blind evaluation, bone, breakthrough, breast cancer, breast tissue, computing algorithm, ct scanner, digital, dual view, equally sloped tomography, est, european, european colleague, france, Germany, image, jianwei miao, ludwig maximilians university, mammogram, mammography, maximilian reiser, oscillation, paola coan, patient, paul claude diemoz, radiation, radiation facility, researcher, scientist, screening, sergei gasilov, susanne liebhardt, synchrotron, technique, three-dimensional, tomography, tumor, ucla, united states, xray, yunzhe zhao, zhifeng huang

Like cleaning the lenses of a foggy pair of glasses, scientists are now able to use a technique developed by UCLA researchers and their European colleagues to produce three-dimensional images of breast tissue that are two to three times sharper than those made using current CT scanners at hospitals. The technique also uses a lower dose of X-ray radiation than a mammogram.

These higher-quality images could allow breast tumors to be detected earlier and with much greater accuracy. One in eight women in the United States will be diagnosed with breast cancer during her lifetime.

The research is published the week of Oct. 22 in the early edition of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. (more…)

Freezing Electrons in Flight

By Guest PostOctober 13, 2012Science1878, arizona, artificial, arvinder sandhu, atmosphere, atom, attosecond, camera, chemical process, destruction, eadweard muybridge, earth, electron, electron emission, electronic devices, electronic motion, emulsion plate, excited atom, femtosecond, formation, ground, henry timmers, high energy, horse, iconic series, laser flash, laser pulses, microscopic dynamics, molecular process, muybridge, mystery, natural, niranjan shivaram, oxygen molecule, ozone, phenomena, photo, photograph, physical, quintillionths, real-time, second, stroboscopy, super excited, technique, touch, ultrafast, ultraviolet light, university, upper atmosphere, zeptosecond

Using the world’s fastest laser pulses, which can freeze the ultrafast motion of electrons and atoms, UA physicists have caught the action of molecules breaking apart and electrons getting knocked out of atoms. Their research helps us better understand molecular processes and ultimately be able to control them in many possible applications.

In 1878, a now iconic series of photographs instantly solved a long-standing mystery: Does a galloping horse touch the ground at all times? (It doesn’t.) The images of Eadweard Muybridge taken alongside a racetrack marked the beginning of high-speed photography.

Approximately 134 years later, researchers in the University of Arizona department of physics have solved a similar mystery, one in which super-excited oxygen molecules have replaced the horse, and ultrafast, high-energy laser flashes have replaced Muybridge’s photo emulsion plates. (more…)