ZeitNews | A Zeitgeist Movement Technology Team Application

Skills learning program in middle schools dramatically reduces fighting

Credit: DeepCwind, Flickr

May 19, 2013

Skills learning program in middle schools dramatically reduces fighting

Middle school children who completed a social-emotional skills learning program at school were 42 percent less likely to engage in physical fighting a year later, according to a new study in the Journal of Adolescent Health. The study, which is ongoing, involves more than 3,600 children at 36 middle schools across Illinois...

Social Sciences » Education

May 16, 2013

This Crawling Inchworm Robot Can Be Printed Out and Folds Itself

Self-folding happens thanks to shape memory polymers that contract when heated. By printing these polymers on one side of a hinged substrate and then heating them, the hinge can be made to bend. The amount of bend is controlled by etching flexible connectors that connect both sides of the hinge, and with enough hinges...

Applied Sciences » Robotics

May 15, 2013

Fat-fuelled power station to run UK’s biggest sewage works

According to plans, the grease will be fed into what will be the world's largest fat-fuelled power station at Beckton in East London. The plant, developed and run by 2OC and financed by a consortium led by iCON Infrastructure, is set to produce 130 Gigawatt hours (GWh) a year of renewable electricity - enough to run...

Applied Sciences » Energy

May 15, 2013

Reversing Paralysis with a Restorative Gel

Some parts of the body, like the liver, can regenerate themselves after damage. But others, such as our nervous system, are considered either irreparable or slow to recover, leaving thousands with a lifetime of pain, limited mobility, or even paralysis. Now a team of Tel Aviv University researchers, including Dr. Shimon...

Life Sciences » Biotechnology

May 15, 2013

Photonic quantum computers: a brighter future than ever

Harnessing the unique features of the quantum world promises a dramatic speed-up in information processing as compared to the fastest classical machines. Scientists from the Group of Philip Walther from the Faculty of Physics, University of Vienna succeeded in prototyping a new and highly resource efficient model of a...

Applied Sciences » Computer Science

May 14, 2013

Data storage: Synchronized at the write time

The rise of the internet and the move from paper to digital information has driven a need for large-volume electronic data storage. Maria Yu Lin and her co‐workers at the A*STAR Data Storage Institute, Singapore, have now established some important design principles to consider when developing bit patterned media recording...

Applied Sciences » Computer Science

May 14, 2013

NASA'S HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE FINDS DEAD STARS `POLLUTED' WITH PLANET DEBRIS

These dead stars are located 150 light-years from Earth in a relatively young star cluster, Hyades, in the constellation Taurus. The star cluster is only 625 million years old. The white dwarfs are being polluted by asteroid-like debris falling onto them. Hubble's Cosmic Origins Spectrograph observed silicon and only...

Natural Sciences » Space Science

May 14, 2013

Impacts of Strong Solar Flares

Given a legitimate need to protect Earth from the most intense forms of space weather -- great bursts of electromagnetic energy and particles that can sometimes stream from the sun -- some people worry that a gigantic "killer solar flare" could hurl enough energy to destroy Earth, but this is not actually...

Natural Sciences » Space Science

May 13, 2013

Nano-breakthrough: Solving the case of the herringbone crystal

Leading nanoscientists created beautiful, tiled patterns with flat nanocrystals, but they were left with a mystery: Why did some sets of crystals arrange themselves in an alternating, herringbone style? To find out, they turned to experts in computer simulation at the University of Michigan and the Massachusetts Institute...

Natural Sciences » Nanotechnology

May 10, 2013

Flawed Diamonds Promise Sensory Perfection

From brain to heart to stomach, the bodies of humans and animals generate weak magnetic fields that a supersensitive detector could use to pinpoint illnesses, trace drugs – and maybe even read minds. Sensors no bigger than a thumbnail could map gas deposits underground, analyze chemicals, and pinpoint explosives that...

Applied Sciences » Computer Science

May 10, 2013

Invelox wind turbine claims 600% advantage in energy output

SheerWind, a wind power company from Minnesota, USA, has announced the results of tests it has carried out with its new Invelox wind power generation technology. The company says that during tests its turbine could generate six times more energy than the amount produced by traditional turbines mounted on towers. Besides,...

Applied Sciences » Energy

May 10, 2013

The fluorescent future of solar cells

(Phys.org) —For some solar cells, the future may be fluorescent. Scientists at Yale have improved the ability of a promising type of solar cell to absorb light and convert it into electrical power by adding a fluorescent organic dye to the cell layer. This squaraine dye boosts light absorption and recycles electrons...

Applied Sciences » Energy

May 10, 2013

Mission to measure world’s forest will launch in 2019

The European Space Agency’s (ESA) Earth Observation Programme Board has today (Tuesday 7 May 2013) given the go-ahead for a new €400-million Earth Observation mission that will measure global forest biomass for the first time. The BIOMASS mission is scheduled to launch in 2019 and will produce the first accurate...

Natural Sciences » Earth Science

May 10, 2013

HERB Uses Arms and More To Discover Objects

A robot can struggle to discover objects in its surroundings when it relies on computer vision alone. But by taking advantage of all of the information available to it — an object’s location, size, shape and even whether it can be lifted — a robot can continually discover and refine its understanding...

Applied Sciences » Robotics