ScienceDaily: Top Technology News

In a new study, researchers describe a spatio-temporal model to predict trends in firearm prevalence on a state-by-state level by fusing data from two available proxies -- background checks per capita and suicides committed with a firearm in a given state. Calibrating their results with yearly survey data, they determined that the two proxies can be simultaneously considered to draw precise information regarding firearm ownership.

In a step toward robots that can learn on the fly like humans do, a new approach expands training data sets for robots that work with soft objects like ropes and fabrics, or in cluttered environments.

NASA's Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission is the world's first full-scale planetary defense test against potential asteroid impacts on Earth. Researchers now show that instead of leaving behind a relatively small crater, the impact of the DART spacecraft on its target could leave the asteroid near unrecognizable.

A new way to safely deliver carbon monoxide to the body might help fight inflammation. Inspired by molecular gastronomy, researchers incorporated carbon monoxide into foams that can be delivered to the digestive tract.

New research analyzes antibiotic resistance patterns, with the aim of finding trends that can help decide which treatment to apply to each type of patient and stop the spread of bacteria.

Engineers have created a new type of semiconductor laser that accomplishes an elusive goal in the field of optics: the ability to maintain a single mode of emitted light while maintaining the ability to scale up in size and power. It is an achievement that means size does not have to come at the expense of coherence, enabling lasers to be more powerful and to cover longer distances for many applications.

Astrophysicists have developed the first 3D simulation of the entire evolution of a jet -- from its birth by a rotating black hole to its emission far from the collapsing star. Simulation shows that as the star collapses, its material falls on the disk that swirls around the black hole. This falling material tilts the disk, and, in turn, tilts the jet, which wobbles as it struggles to return to its original trajectory. The wobbling jet explains the longstanding mystery of why gamma ray bursts blink and shows that these bursts are even rarer than previously thought.

Researchers explore a basic building block used in the fabrication of many DNA nanoforms. Known as a Holliday junction, this nexus of two segments of double stranded DNA has been used to form elaborate, self-assembling crystal lattices at the nanometer scale, (or roughly 1/75,000th the width of a human hair).

Researchers have found that organic vapor can dissolve molecular salts in a phenomenon known as organic deliquescence. Similar to how water vapor can induce deliquescence of compounds like calcium chloride, this phenomenon will be useful for developing methods for capturing harmful volatile organic compounds (VOCs). There is an urgent need to remove them from indoor environments, particularly industrial facilities, where concentrations are highest.

New research reveals that a factory-calibrated continuous glucose monitor (CGM) may be sufficiently accurate for use by people on dialysis, a group often plagued by dangerous swings in blood-sugar levels.

Sensing with levitated nanoparticles has so far been limited by the precision of position measurements. Now, researchers have demonstrated a new method for optical interferometry in which light scattered by a particle is reflected by a mirror. This opens up new possibilities for using levitated particles as sensors, in particular, in quantum regimes.

FuseBot is a new robotic system that fuses visual information and radio-frequency signals to efficiently find hidden items buried under a pile of objects, whether or not the targeted item has an RFID tag.

The current system of chemical risk assessment is inadequate and underestimates levels of flame retardants and other pollutants needed to cause harmful health effects, according to a recent analysis.

To solve a long-standing puzzle about how long a neutron can 'live' outside an atomic nucleus, physicists entertained a wild but testable theory positing the existence of a right-handed version of our left-handed universe. They designed a mind-bending experiment to try to detect a particle that has been speculated but not spotted. If found, the theorized 'mirror neutron' -- a dark-matter twin to the neutron -- could explain a discrepancy between answers from two types of neutron lifetime experiments and provide the first observation of dark matter.

A chemical compound discovered in 2019 in Fairbanks' wintertime air accounts for a significant portion of the community's fine particulate pollution, according to new research that seeks to better understand the causes and makeup of the dirty air. The finding is the first measurement of how much hydroxymethanesulfonate, or HMS, is in Fairbanks' air.