Tech : Science World Report

Apr 04, 2012 06:25 AM EDT

Nanoscale Magnetic Media Diagnostics by Rippling Spin Waves

Memory devices based on magnetism are one of the core technologies of the computing industry, and engineers are working to develop new forms of magnetic memory that are faster, smaller, and more energy efficient than today's flash and SDRAM memory. They now have a new tool developed by a team from t...

Apr 04, 2012 06:03 AM EDT

Early Warning System for Seizures Could Cut False Alarms

Epilepsy affects 50 million people worldwide, but in a third of these cases, medication cannot keep seizures from occurring. One solution is to shoot a short pulse of electricity to the brain to stamp out the seizure just as it begins to erupt.

Apr 03, 2012 02:42 PM EDT

Rice University, IBM Partner to Bring First Blue Gene Supercomputer to Texas

Rice University and IBM today announced a partnership to build the first award-winning IBM Blue Gene supercomputer in Texas. Rice also announced a related collaboration agreement with the University of Sao Paulo (USP) in Brazil to initiate the shared administration and use of the Blue Gene supercomp...

Apr 03, 2012 07:21 AM EDT

Giant Telescope Project Partners Pass on Federal Funds

The board of directors of the Giant Magellan Telescope Organization (GMTO) has informed the National Science Foundation (NSF) that they will not participate in an upcoming funding opportunity.

Apr 03, 2012 06:52 AM EDT

S.Africa, Australia in Celestial Spat for Most Powerful Telescope

Deadly rivals on the rugby field, cricket pitch and in the underground mining sector, South Africa and Australia are now squaring off in a new contest: to win the right to host the world's most powerful telescope.

Apr 02, 2012 07:57 AM EDT

The F-1 Engine Powered Apollo Into History

The F-1 engine -- the most powerful single-nozzle, liquid fueled rocket engine ever developed -- boosted the Saturn V rocket off the launch pad and onto the moon during NASA's Apollo program during the 1960s and 1970.

Apr 02, 2012 06:50 AM EDT

Football Turns to Helmet Technology to Tackle Head Injuries

As Americans grow more aware of the risk of brain injury tied to football - the country's most popular sport - players and coaches are experimenting with the latest technology in a bid to make the game safer.

Mar 31, 2012 09:54 PM EDT

Honeycombs of Magnets Could Lead to New Type of Computer Processing

Scientists have taken an important step forward in developing a new material using nano-sized magnets that could ultimately lead to new types of electronic devices, with greater capacity than is currently feasible, in a study published today in the journal Science.

Mar 30, 2012 01:49 PM EDT

Robo-readers: the New Teachers' Helper in the U.S.

American high school students are terrible writers, and one education reform group thinks it has an answer: robots.

Mar 30, 2012 09:33 AM EDT

The Electronic Nose Knows When Your Cantaloupe Is Ripe

Have you ever been disappointed by a cantaloupe from the grocery store? Too ripe? Not ripe enough? Luckily for you, researchers from the University of California, Davis might have found a way to make imperfectly ripe fruit a thing of the past. The method will be published on March 30 in the Journal ...

Mar 30, 2012 07:46 AM EDT

Oscillating Gel Acts Like Artificial Skin, Giving Robots Potential Ability to 'Feel'

Sooner than later, robots may have the ability to "feel." In a paper published online March 26 in Advanced Functional Materials, a team of researchers from the University of Pittsburgh and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) demonstrated that a nonoscillating gel can be resuscitated in a...

Mar 30, 2012 07:04 AM EDT

The MIRI Has 2 Faces

A short new video takes viewers behind the scenes with the MIRI or the Mid-Infrared Instrument that will fly on-board NASA's James Webb Space Telescope. MIRI is a state-of-the-art infrared instrument that will allow scientists to study distant objects in greater detail than ever before.