Tech

FAIRBANKS, ALASKA--Staff from Poker Flat Research Range have traveled north to assist fire personnel in mapping Interior Alaska's Crazy Mountain Complex fires with unmanned aircraft. The team is stationed at Mile 145 of the Steese Highway, between Circle and Central, which are communities near the Yukon River. They have been deploying the aircraft since Aug. 5.

Researchers at the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) in Teddington have developed imaging technology to be used in an intelligent harvesting machine that could minimise wastage and solve an impending labour shortage for UK farmers.

Annual waste for certain crops can be up to 60% - which can mean up to £100,000 of lost revenue for an average farm every year, according to farmers who were consulted during research. Falling number of migrant labourers means that healthy crops cannot be gathered and so farms are losing crops due to harvesting at the wrong time.

SAN FRANCISCO — Middle-aged men who strongly idealize masculinity are almost 50 percent less likely than other men to seek preventative healthcare services, according to a study—the first population-based analysis of men's masculinity beliefs and preventative healthcare compliance—to be presented at the 104th annual meeting of the American Sociological Association.

SAN FRANCISCO — Single parents are more likely than parents in nuclear families to receive financial help from their grown, live-in children, according to research to be presented at the 104th annual meeting of the American Sociological Association.

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Researchers are developing a new class of tiny mechanical devices containing vibrating, hair-thin structures that could be used to filter electronic signals in cell phones and for other more exotic applications.

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- Carbon nanotubes — tiny, rolled-up tubes of graphite — promise to add speed to electronic circuits and strength to materials like carbon composites, used in airplanes and racecars. A major problem, however, is that the metals used to grow nanotubes react unfavorably with materials found in circuits and composites. But now, researchers at MIT have for the first time shown that nanotubes can grow without a metal catalyst.

“Based on our understanding of security and computer technology, it looks like paper-based elections are the way to go. Probably the best approach would involve fast optical scanners reading paper ballots. These kinds of paper-based systems are amenable to statistical audits, which is something the election security research community is shifting to,” said Shacham.

In a groundbreaking study, civil engineering researchers in the University of Minnesota's Institute of Technology have discovered that certain industries may be a significant source of plant-based estrogens, called phytoestrogens, in surface water. They also revealed that some of these phytoestrogens can be removed through standard wastewater treatment, but in some cases, the compounds remain at levels that may be damaging to fish.

WASHINGTON (7 August 2009) -- IEEE-USA commends the Department of Energy for awarding $2.4 billion in grants to fund 48 new advanced battery and electric drive projects.

"We welcome these investments, because electrifying transportation addresses two of our greatest needs: reducing our consumption of petroleum and limiting the release of greenhouse gases," IEEE-USA President Gordon Day said.

LA JOLLA, CA—A collaborative study by researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies uncovered that the tumor suppressor p53, which made its name as "guardian of the genome", not only stops cells that could become cancerous in their tracks but also controls somatic cell reprogramming.

TORONTO – As many as 50 million Americans are living sedentary lives, putting them at increased risk of health problems and even early death, a leading expert in exercise science told the American Psychological Association today.

Speaking at APA's 117th Annual Convention, Steven Blair, PED, called Americans' physical inactivity "the biggest public health problem of the 21st century."

NOAA will participate in a private research expedition to study marine life living on and around the wreck of the USS Monitor. The August 2-8 expedition is the first in the history of Monitor National Marine Sanctuary devoted specifically to understanding how the wreck contributes to the health of underwater creatures and plants living in sanctuary waters.

Not so long ago only the final products were visible and scientists were forced to gauge the processes behind those products by ensemble averages of many molecules. The limitations of that approach have become clear with the advent of technologies that allow for the observation and manipulation of single molecules. A prime example is the recent first ever direct observations in real-time of the growth of single nanocrystals in solution, which revealed that much of what we thought we knew is wrong.

It is important for the people who operate facilities and machines to be able to answer any question at any given time, because malfunctions and failures can prove costly. Condition monitoring systems, or CM systems, are used to monitor machines remotely: sensors mounted on the equipment feed continuous measurements back to a control box, which records and stores the data, and if an error occurs, the system alerts the operator. However, before a CM system goes live, it has to be adapted for use with the specific facility it is to monitor.

Cutting silicon blocks to make wafers for solar cells is not a matter of luck, its a honed skill. You need a special slicing tool to produce paper-thin wafers from silicon blocks ("ingots"): reminiscent of an egg slicer, a filigree wire is used to cut through the ingot at a speed of up to 60 km/h.

This wire is several hundred kilometers long and arranged in such a way that the ingot is sliced into hundreds of wafers simultaneously. The process takes around six hours and the resultant slices are approximately 180 µm thick.