ScienceDaily: Top Technology News

When one of the largest modern earthquakes struck Japan on March 11, 2011, the nuclear reactors at Fukushima-Daiichi automatically shut down, as designed. The emergency systems, which would have helped maintain the necessary cooling of the core, were destroyed by the subsequent tsunami. Because the reactor could no longer cool itself, the core overheated, resulting in a severe nuclear meltdown, the likes of which haven't been seen since the Chernobyl disaster in 1986.

More than 100 kg of highly toxic uranium (U) and plutonium (Pu) was dispersed in the form of tiny 'hot' radioactive particles after the British detonated nine atomic bombs in remote areas of South Australia, including Maralinga.

Physicists make unique broadband polarization rotators with ultrathin carbon nanotube films. The rotators extend to the terahertz, which could simplify devices for use in telecommunications, security and manufacturing.

You might be older - or younger - than you think. A new study found that differences between a person's age in years and his or her biological age, as predicted by an artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled EKG, can provide measurable insights into health and longevity.

New research provides an updated understanding of how to add functional groups onto simple hydrocarbons like methane. This new and highly detailed mechanism is a crucial step towards designing the next generation of catalysts and finding scalable approaches for turning greenhouse gases into value-added chemicals.

Building more homes and buildings with wood has been on the radar for years as a way to offset carbon emissions, though construction companies have been hesitant to take the material in broader use. A study is now the first to show that building with wood can be a sound investment. The findings show that multi-storied buildings made out of wood sold for an average of 8.85% more than those made from other materials.

A new light detecting device can more accurately amplify weak signals bouncing off faraway objects than current technology allows, giving autonomous vehicles a fuller picture of what's happening on the road.

Researchers have developed a cutting edge technique which enables them to instantly examine the biological traits and behaviors of developing embryos as an energy signature, rather than focusing on individual characteristics.

Engineers have found a way to replicate a natural process that moves water between cells, with a goal of improving how we filter out salt and other elements and molecules to create clean water while consuming less energy.

Researchers use intense laser light in the XUV spectrum to generate second harmonics on a laboratory scale. As the team writes in Science Advances, they were able to achieve this effect for the first time with a laser source on a laboratory scale and thus investigate the surface of a titanium sample down to the atomic level.

Researchers found that e-scooters provide an important alternative mode of transit in urban areas, with growing utility as a micro-mobility service in Singapore. The researchers' study revealed several implications for more effective harnessing and regulation of e-scooters as a mode of transit, including where to deploy e-scooters to satisfy demand unmet by other modes of transit, and how best to strike a balance between private operators and public welfare.

Young children who practice visual working memory and reasoning tasks improve their math skills more than children who focus on spatial rotation exercises, according to a large study. The findings support the notion that training spatial cognition can enhance academic performance and that when it comes to math, the type of training matters.

Today, proteins that can be controlled with light are a widely used tool in research to specifically switch certain functions on and off in living organisms. Channelrhodopsins are often used for the technique known as optogenetics: When exposed to light, these proteins open a pore in the cell membrane through which ions can flow in. A research team has now used spectroscopy to discover a universal functional mechanism of channelrhodopsins that determines their efficiency as a channel and thus as an optogenetic tool.