Tech | Page 1717 | Science Codex

3-D microchips for more powerful and environmentally friendly computers

Not so long ago our computers had a single core which had to be boosted for performance – making each machine into a great central heating system. Beyond 85° C, however, electronic components become unstable. To overcome this physical limit, a solution was found with the multicore technology, where the same chip includes several processors which share tasks. Most of today's consumer electronics proudly boast a "dual core" or "quad core". However, in time the technology will come up against the same physical limits.

Roe of marine animals is best natural source of omega-3

The roe of hake, lumpsucker and salmon is the best dietary source of Omega 3, according to a study carried out by researchers at the University of Almería (UAL). The scientists analysed the eggs, or roe, of 15 marine animals, and found all of these contained high levels of these fatty acids, which are essential to the human body.

Chinese-American and Korean-American women at highest risk for diabetes in pregnancy

December 11 2009 (Portland, Ore.) – More than 10 percent of women of Chinese and Korean heritage may be at risk for developing diabetes during pregnancy, according to a Kaiser Permanente study of 16,000 women in Hawaii that appears in the December issue of the Ethnicity and Disease journal. The study also found that Korean-American and Chinese-American women's gestational diabetes risk is one-third higher than average—and more than double that of Caucasian and African-American women.

Elusive 'hot' electrons captured in ultra-thin solar cells

CHESTNUT HILL, MA (12/11/2009) – Boston College researchers have observed the "hot electron" effect in a solar cell for the first time and successfully harvested the elusive charges using ultra-thin solar cells, opening a potential avenue to improved solar power efficiency, the authors report in the current online edition of Applied Physics Letters.

Old math reveals new thinking in children's cognitive development

Five-year-olds can reason about the world from multiple perspectives simultaneously, according to a new theory by researchers in Japan and Australia. Using an established branch of mathematics called Category Theory, the researchers explain why specific reasoning skills develop in children at certain ages, particularly at age five. The new theory, published December 11 in the open-access journal PLoS Computational Biology, shows that these reasoning skills have similar profiles of development because they involve related sorts of processes.

MRI detects breast cancer at earlier stage

SAN ANTONIO – Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) coupled with mammography detects almost all cancers at an early stage, thereby reducing the incidence of advanced stage breast cancer in high-risk women.

"Earlier stage breast cancers are more likely to be curable," said lead researcher Ellen Warner, M.D., M.Sc., medical oncologist in the Department of Medicine, Division of Medical Oncology at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Center, in Toronto, Canada.

Kidney disease patients benefit from surgery to prevent stroke

Physicians should be comfortable referring some patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) for effective stroke prevention surgery, according to a study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (JASN). The findings indicate that CKD patients gain a significant benefit from the procedures without an increased risk of dying from surgical complications.

The need for cardio-oncology: Treating cancer and protecting the heart

Cardiologists and oncologists must work together in an attempt to avoid or prevent adverse cardiovascular effects in patients from certain chemotherapies, especially for those who may be at a higher risk for such effects, according to a new review published online December 10 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

Researchers engineer bacteria to turn carbon dioxide into isobutanol

Global climate change has prompted efforts to drastically reduce emissions of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas produced by burning fossil fuels.

In a new approach, researchers from the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science have genetically modified a cyanobacterium to consume carbon dioxide and produce the liquid fuel isobutanol, which holds great potential as a gasoline alternative. The reaction is powered directly by energy from sunlight, through photosynthesis.

'Fighting' IED attacks with SCARE technology

COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- University of Maryland researchers have developed and successfully tested new computer software and computational techniques to analyze patterns of improvised explosive device (IED) attacks in Iraq, Afghanistan or other locations and predict the locations of weapons caches that are used by insurgents to support those attacks.

Argonne scientists to control attractive force for nanoelectromechanical systems

ARGONNE, Ill. (Dec.10, 2009) — Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory are developing a way to control the Casimir force, a quantum mechanical force, which attracts objects when they are only hundred nanometers apart.

"The Casimir force is so small that most experimentation has dealt simply with its characteristics," said Derrick Mancini, interim director of the Center for Nanoscale Materials. "If we can control this force or make it repulsive, it can have dramatic effects on the development of nanoelectromechanical systems."

Absorbing hydrogen fluoride gas to enhance crystal growth

UPTON, NY — Two scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory have developed a method to control the buildup of hydrogen fluoride gas during the growth of precision crystals needed for applications such as superconductors, optical devices, and microelectronics. The invention — by Vyacheslav Solovyov and Harold Wiesmann and recently awarded U.S. Patent number 7,622,426 — could lead to more efficient production and improved performance of these materials.

Breakthrough in monitoring tropical deforestation announced in Copenhagen

Palo Alto, CA—Tropical forest destruction accounts for some 20% of global greenhouse gas emissions. But quantifying these emissions has not been easy, particularly for tropical nations. New technology, developed by a team of scientists at Carnegie's Department of Global Ecology, is revolutionizing forest monitoring by marrying free satellite imagery and powerful analytical methods in an easy-to-use, desktop software package called CLASlite. Thus far, 70 government, non-government, and academic organizations in five countries have adopted the technology, with more on the horizon.

New silicon-germanium nanowires could lead to smaller, more powerful electronic devices

Microchip manufacturers have long faced challenges miniaturizing transistors, the key active components in nearly every modern electronic device, which are used to amplify or switch electronic signals.

Now, researchers from the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science, Purdue University and IBM have successfully grown silicon-germanium semiconducting nanowires for potential use in next-generation transistors.

Physicians knowledge of childhood food allergies needs room for improvement

With an estimated four to six percent of children in the U.S. suffering from food allergies, a new study shows that pediatricians and family physicians aren't always confident they have the ability to diagnose or treat food allergies.