ScienceDaily: Top Technology News

When the European Space Agency's Rosetta spacecraft discovered abundant molecular oxygen bursting from comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko (67P) in 2015, it puzzled scientists. They had never seen a comet emit oxygen, let alone in such abundance. But most alarming were the deeper implications: that researchers had to account for so much oxygen, which meant reconsidering everything they thought they already knew about the chemistry of the early solar system and how it formed. A new analysis, however, shows Rosetta's discovery may not be as strange as scientists first imagined. Instead, it suggests the comet has two internal reservoirs that make it seem like there's more oxygen than is actually there.

Researchers have developed a smartphone app that can calculate users' genetic risk for coronary artery disease (CAD)--and found that users at high risk sought out appropriate medication after using the app.

Irradiation with fast protons is a more effective and less invasive cancer treatment than X-rays. However, modern proton therapy requires large particle accelerators, which has experts investigating alternative accelerator concepts, such as laser systems to accelerate protons. Such systems are deployed in preclinical studies to pave the way for optimal radiation therapy. A research team has now successfully tested irradiation with laser protons on animals.

An international team of researchers from biology, computer science and mathematics explains why evolution has a preference for symmetry.

Researchers aim to streamline the time- and resource-intensive process of screening ligands during catalyst design by using virtual ligands.

Scientists have developed a ground-breaking achromatic lens for X-rays. This allows the X-ray beams to be accurately focused on a single point even if they have different wavelengths. The new lens will make it much easier to study nanostructures using X-rays, according to a new article.

A new approach to send 'friendly' nano-particles into a patient's blood stream has shown promising results by modifying the surface of these potential drug, vaccine or cancer treatment delivery objects to encourage the best result. Scientists are testing the body's responses to various surface treatments to nanomaterials.

Researchers have demonstrated a prototype glasses-free 3D light field display system with a significantly extended viewing distance thanks to a newly developed flat lens. The system is an important step toward compact, realistic-looking 3D displays that could be used for televisions, portable electronics and table-top devices.