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Phoenix666 writes:

The two darlings of carbon nanomaterials, carbon nanotubes and graphene, increasingly are joining forces... We've seen them being used in hybrid energy storage applications and for supercapacitors.
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Now researchers at the Michigan Technological University (MTU) have combined these two nanomaterials to tackle a far more difficult application field: electronics. Specifically, the researchers have created digital switches by making a sandwich of carbon nanotubes and graphene.
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In research published in the journal Scientific Reports , the MTU researchers exfoliated the graphene and modified its surface so that it was made of small holes. The researchers then coaxed the carbon nanotubes to grow out of these holes.
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The electrons are able to move smoothly along the graphene but when they come up to the hair-like sprouts of boron nitride carbon nanotubes they are slowed way down. It is at these points of where the graphene meets the carbon nanotubes, known as heterojunctions, that digital switches are made possible.
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In addition to having a relatively high switch ratio compared to current graphene switches, the hybrid material also avoids the issue of electron scattering in which electrons are dispersed in directions you don't want them to go. The hybrid material gets around this issue because the two materials that make it up have the same atomic arrangement pattern.

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fliptop writes:

We can't see the far side of the moon from Earth because the two bodies are tidally locked. NASA's Deep Space Climate Observatory has captured a series of pictures as the moon passed in front of the sunlit side of Earth and will keep doing so about twice a year:

The images, taken on 16 July, show the moon moving across the Pacific Ocean towards North America. Its far side is shown in detail owing to sunlight hitting it, revealing a crater and a large plain called the Mare Moscoviense.

[...] Associate Professor Michael Brown, an astronomer at Monash University, said the images of the far side of the moon were "captivating".

"It's unusual because you need a spacecraft that has gone beyond the moon to get a picture of the moon like this," he said. "This was taken around one million miles from Earth. We don't normally get that perspective."

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AnonTechie writes:

Blue LEDs, once confined to the world of digital displays and Blu-ray players, have just found a new calling: food preservation. New research at the National University of Singapore shows the potential of using blue LEDs as a chemical-free method to kill bacteria that lead to spoilage.

Earlier this year, public concern about artificial preservatives pushed fast-food restaurants like McDonald's, Subway, and Panera to seriously rethink the ways they keep their food fresh. Using blue LEDs could potentially kill the same bacteria that preservatives do without any of the scary, outrage-rousing chemicals.

The researchers looked at the effect of blue LED exposure on three of the major colonies of bugs that cause food to rot and stomachs to turn: Listeria, E. coli, and Salmonella. Their paper, published in the journal Food Microbiology, showed that the blue lights succeeded in inactivating the bacteria, with even better results in cold temperatures and acidic conditions. Foods like fresh-cut fruit, chilled meats, and ready-to-eat seafood, like sushi and lox, could all someday benefit from the pathogen-killing lights.

https://www.inverse.com/article/5154-blue-leds-are-the-future-of-food-preservation

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Phoenix666 writes:

Tesla Motors Inc. fell in extended trading after the electric-car maker backed off its full-year vehicle sales forecast.

Tesla said it now aims to deliver 50,000 to 55,000 vehicles this year, compared with a previous target of 55,000. The company sees third-quarter production and deliveries of just more than 12,000 vehicles including just a few Model X sport utility vehicles.

Reaching the initial target may be a stretch because some interior suppliers might not be able to increase the flow of high-quality parts fast enough to meet the Model X production plan, Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk said on a conference call with analysts. Because the SUV and the existing Model S share the same assembly line, a shortfall by one Model X supplier could slow output of both vehicles.

All is not wine and roses at Tesla, despite the glowing press they receive.

Arthur T Knackerbracket sneakily writes (and reads):

File synchronization services, used to accommodate roaming employees inside organizations, can also be a weak point that attackers could exploit to remain undetected inside compromised networks.

Researchers from security firm Imperva found that attackers could easily hijack user accounts for services from Dropbox, Google Drive, Microsoft OneDrive and Box if they gain limited access to computers where such programs run -- without actually stealing user names and passwords.

Once the accounts are hijacked, attackers could use them to grab the data stored in them, and to remotely control the compromised computers without using any malware programs that could be detected by antivirus and other security products.

The Imperva researchers found that all of the file synchronization applications they looked at provide continued access to users' cloud storage accounts via access tokens that are generated after users log in for the first time. These tokens are stored on users' computers in special files, in the Windows registry or in the Windows Credential Manager, depending on the application.

The researchers developed a simple tool they dubbed Switcher, whose role is to perform what they call a "double-switch" attack.

Switcher can be deployed on the system through a malicious email attachment or a drive-by download exploit that takes advantage of a vulnerability in a browser plug-in. If an exploit is used, the program doesn't even have to be written to disk. It can be loaded directly into the computer's memory and doesn't need high-level privileges to execute its routine.

Phoenix666 writes:

Vertical farms have appeared in the news as concepts over the last couple years. Now, one is to be built:

AeroFarms, an urban agricultural company, has big plans to turn a defunct steel mill into a 70,000 square foot vertical farm in Newark, New Jersey. The facility is projected to cost $39 million USD and will provide greens and other produce to local New York and New Jersey communities. According to the builders, it will be the largest indoor vertical farm in the world.

Vertical farms, like other types of urban farming, aim to provide fresh produce to city dwellers. They cut down on the energy demands of shipping food from the countryside to city markets, while at the same time offering an alternative to clearing ever more wilderness in the name of growing food. Vertical farms also have the potential to produce food year-round and can be more efficient in their use of water and fertilizer.

It will be interesting to see how they manage electricity costs. Can any Soylentils who've worked with hydroponics share their experiences?

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negativefactor writes:

The Department of Energy's SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory has developed a new very high speed electron camera. The ultrafast electron diffraction (UED) instrument, which has been in development for over a decade, is capable of generating a frame every 100 femtoseconds, which researchers hope to increase 1,000 fold in the future. Using the UED, researchers are able to increase their signal to noise ratio over XRAY cameras which allow atomic nuclei to be observed in addition to electrons of the object. This video (YouTube) explains the technology in a very easy to understand way.

From the article on the SLAC website:

"A new scientific instrument at the Department of Energy's SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory promises to capture some of nature's speediest processes. It uses a method known as ultrafast electron diffraction (UED) and can reveal motions of electrons and atomic nuclei within molecules that take place in less than a tenth of a trillionth of a second – information that will benefit groundbreaking research in materials science, chemistry and biology.

"We've built one of the world's best UED systems to create new research opportunities in ultrafast science," says SLAC's Xijie Wang, who is in charge of developing the new instrument described in a paper published July 24 in Review of Scientific Instruments. "Our apparatus delivers electron beams with a better quality than any other UED machine. For example, it allows us to study chemical processes in the gas phase that are up to four times faster than those we can examine with current UED technologies."

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kurenai.tsubasa writes:

The American Psychological Association has identified an emerging eating disorder in men: the excessive consumption of bodybuilding supplements. Supplements such as whey protein, creatine, and L-cartinine are legal and not regulated by the FDA.

An article from Fox News provides additional insight from Achiro:

Healthline also reports the study along with more of Achiro's thoughts on the problems men face due to a change in the "'ideal masculine' physique presented by the media... from hyper-muscularity — such as Arnold Schwarzenneger — to a mesomorphic ideal, which is muscular and lean, highlighting the importance of muscular definition."

I'm reminded of the scene from Fight Club where Tyler is staring at a Calvin Klein-esque ad, and the narrator asks, "Is that what a real man is supposed to look like?"

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Phoenix666 writes:

Like a mindless zombie controlled by a menacing overlord, the spider scampers back and forth, reinforcing its silky web. Not long from now, the subservient arachnid will be dead, its web transformed into a shelter for the spawn of the creature that once controlled it, according to a new study.

No, this isn't science fiction; it's the somewhat terrifying (but very real) tale of the orb-weaving spider Cyclosa argenteoalba and the parasitic wasp Reclinervellus nielseni, two species that carry out a strange relationship in Hyogo prefecture, Japan.
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That's why R. nielseni doesn't just direct its host to build a resting web; it instructs the spider to build a superstrong resting web, one chock-full of reinforced threads that hold the web — and the wasp-filled cocoon at its center — in place for long stretches of time, the researchers found.

Using a tensile machine, Takasuka and his colleagues tested the breaking forces (how much force a material can handle before breaking) of the radius and frame silks used to construct a so-called "cocoon" web and found that they were at least 2.7 times greater than the breaking forces of the silks that made up both the orb and the resting webs of C. argenteoalba.

The researchers suspect the wasp larva releases a hormone into the spider that mimics the signal to molt. With precedents in nature, perhaps the Zombie Apocalypse isn't so far-fetched after all.

mendax writes:

The amateur linguist in me who, for example, finds it fascinating that Hindi and Farsi are far more closely related to European languages such as English or Greek than they are to other languages in that part of the world such as Arabic or Tamil, has come across an Ars Technica article that appears to demonstrate that there is a "language universal" that binds all language families:

Language takes an astonishing variety of forms across the world—to such a huge extent that a long-standing debate rages around the question of whether all languages have even a single property in common. Well, there's a new candidate for the elusive title of "language universal" according to a paper in this week's issue of PNAS[*]. All languages, the authors say, self-organise in such a way that related concepts stay as close together as possible within a sentence, making it easier to piece together the overall meaning.

Language universals are a big deal because they shed light on heavy questions about human cognition. The most famous proponent of the idea of language universals is Noam Chomsky, who suggested a "universal grammar" that underlies all languages. Finding a property that occurs in every single language would suggest that some element of language is genetically predetermined and perhaps that there is specific brain architecture dedicated to language.

The idea that all the major language families is nothing new, and linguists have documented similar words that seem to be present in different language families all over the globe (e.g., milk). This article may be more evidence of these links, or it may just demonstrate something in the language center of the brain that guarantees that all languages are going to have similar characteristics.

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First time submitter jIyajbe writes in with an article from Space.com:

While it's not quite beaming up to a spacecraft, a "Star Trek" celebrity plans to take part in a special NASA flight to observe the universe.

Nichelle Nichols, best known for playing Lt. Nyota Uhura on "Star Trek: The Original Series," will join the crew of the SOFIA (Stratospheric Infrared Observatory) aircraft on Sept. 17, the star announced July 31.

"I am honored to say that I will be among the first non-essential personnel to experience NASA's newest telescope: SOFIA," Nichols wrote on StarPower, a website celebrities use to raise money for charities.

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Phoenix666 writes:

A group of scientists from the University of Miami have been tracking waves of a different breed – unseen colossal, skyscraper-tall underwater waves that are present in every one of our oceans.

Subsurface waves, otherwise known as internal waves (IW) are initiated by the effects of Earth's gravity, and rarely ever break the surface. To understand an IW, imagine separating the ocean into layers of water that get denser and denser as you go farther down. An IW is like a surface wave that occurs on one of the lower strata of the ocean levels.

Internal waves move much slower than their exterior counterparts, and whilst the height of the surface ocean remains essentially unaffected, the water layers beneath rise and fall dramatically as these waves pass by.

There's so much energy in those oceans. If the engineering challenges could be overcome tapping the currents, tides, and waves like these could solve a big chunk of mankind's demand for power.

takyon: University of Miami source.

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negativefactor writes:

Scientists at CERN have begun testing a new prototype coil made of magnesium diboride (MgB2), which they hope will be the precursor to an active magnetic shield for space craft travelling in deep space. Although current space craft are capable of shielding radiation from Sol, the shield must protect against galactic cosmic rays.

From the article:

During long-duration trips in space and in the absence of the magnetosphere that protects people living on Earth, astronauts are bombarded with high-energy cosmic rays that might cause a significant increase in the probability of various types of cancers. Because of this, exploration missions to Mars or other distant destinations will only become realistically possible if an effective solution for adequately shielding astronauts is found. ...

There are many more challenges to overcome before a spacecraft shield can be built: various possible magnetic configurations need to be tested and compared and other key enabling technologies need to be developed. But the MgB2 superconductor seems to be very well-placed to take part in this challenging adventure as, among its many advantages, there is also its ability to operate at higher temperatures (up to about 25 K) thus allowing the spacecraft to have a simplified cryogenic system.

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Arthur T Knackerbracket can't afford to print the following:

There can't be many printer owners who haven't had an apoplectic fit about the outrageous cost of inks for their machines, and now Epson is trying to change that business model and lower the cost of printing.

Traditionally printer manufacturers have sold their hardware at a loss and made the money back over the lifecycle of the product in consumables. Ink can cost more than expensive perfume or good single-malt Scotch, and in some cases it's cheaper to buy a new printer for $50 rather than replace all the damn cartridges. Now Epson is introducing Americans to its EcoTank printers that can hold two-year supplies of ink. A bottle of the replacement ink will cost around $13 per color, so the cost per page is drastically lower than for conventional printers.

"The introduction of EcoTank marks a fundamental shift in the way we think about using color in business and in the home," said Keith Kratzberg, VP of Epson America.

"Epson EcoTank sets a new standard for color printing, convenience, and value. We believe that our new EcoTank printers are well-positioned to take a large bite out of the small business printer market."

Epson still has to make money, of course, and will do so with a much higher upfront purchase price. The cheapest printer in the range, the Expression ET-2500 EcoTank, will set you back $379 plus tax, and the most expensive model, the WorkForce Pro WF-R4640, costs $1,200 – minus a buck.

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Phoenix666 writes:

Terahertz radiation is touted to open up many wondrous possibilities. T-ray technology could allow security officials to detect concealed weapons from a distance, provide accurate medical imaging, and allow high-speed wireless data communication.

One of the challenges in making the technology viable, though, has been developing a compact, efficient, and powerful terahertz source. The sources used today are bulky and costly. Some, such as quantum cascade lasers, require cryogenic temperatures.

A team of physicists now proposes a way to convert DC electric fields into terahertz radiation. They have come up with a seemingly simple nanoscale device—it relies on complex physics, mind you—that consists of a pair of two-dimensional material layers placed on top of a thicker conductor. When a DC electric current is passed through the conductor or the 2-D layer, the device should spontaneously emit terahertz radiation, the researchers say. They report the design this week in the Journal of Applied Physics.
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The device's underlying mechanism is surface plasmon resonance: the collective oscillations of conducting electrons. The DC field causes plasmon resonance at the thick conductor's surface and at the interface between the two 2-D layers. The two plasmons couple together and cause an instability in the oscillations, which induces the emission of THz radiation. Terahertz waves range in frequency from 300GHz–3 THz, corresponding to wavelengths between 1 mm to 0.1 mm.

More information on the device's design in the article. One step closer to real tricorders?

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Arthur T Knackerbracket and 'exec' try to sneak this story in without being noticed:

China's control over the Internet is set to expand. In a bid to better police local websites, the country's security forces are establishing offices at the biggest online companies in the country.

The country's Ministry of Public Security announced the new measures on Tuesday, at a time when authorities have been increasingly concerned about cyberthreats.

Websites based in China already have to abide by strict provisions for online censorship and will often delete any content deemed offensive by government censors.

The ministry's plan, however, will place China's security forces at the offices of the country's major websites, so that they can quickly respond to suspected online crimes, it said in a statement.

"Cyber attacks, the online spread of terrorist information, Internet fraud, and the stealing of personal information," were among the biggest threats the ministry named. In addition, authorities want to crack down on online rumor mongering, pornography, gambling and drug-related Internet activities.

No specific companies were mentioned, but the country's biggest Internet firms include Alibaba Group, Baidu and Tencent.

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miljo writes:

In a move that would align Australia with the UK, Spain, Canada and Singapore, an Australian senate committee recommends that digital currencies be treated as money as opposed to a commodity.

The change would help to eliminate the "double taxation effect".

Read the quoted story on Reuters http://reut.rs/1MMbUay

Read additional coverage on Computerworld Australia http://www.computerworld.com.au/article/581141/inquiry-recommends-radical-shakeup-australian-bitcoin-laws/

Read the senate report at http://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/Economics/Digital_currency/Report

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