Researchers create new aerosol database

October 27th, 2009 LONDON - A technology that can identify partial, distorted, scratched, smudged or warped fingerprints in just a few seconds has scored top marks in the world's two toughest technical fingerprint tests. The novel technology, developed by the University of Warwick (UW), can cope with the often worn and ravaged builders' thumbprints.

October 22nd, 2009 WASHINGTON - A newly developed optimised mouthpiece design can aid efficient drug delivery to the lungs by reducing the amount of medication wasted as it passes through the mouthpiece of an aerosol inhaler. With current inhaler designs, only approximately 10 to 20 percent of asthma medications are delivered to the lungs.

September 24th, 2009 LONDON - Conservationists have developed a new technique to identify cheetahs in the wild from just their paw prints. According to a report by BBC News, the method has been developed for the first time with cheetahs in an international collaboration involving conservation organisations N/a'an ku se sanctuary, Wildtrack, AfriCat and Chester Zoo.

September 6th, 2009 WASHINGTON - The United States Naval Research Laboratory is working on a new technology that uses flashes of laser light to remotely create underwater sound. Researchers behind the project say that the new technology has the potential to expand and improve both Naval and commercial underwater acoustic applications, including undersea communications, navigation, and acoustic imaging.

September 3rd, 2009 WASHINGTON - More and more discarded US computers are enjoying a lease of life in developing countries, says a comprehensive study. The findings may heighten growing concerns about environmental pollution with toxic metals that can result from dismantling and recycling computer components in developing countries.

August 8th, 2009 LONDON - In a new research, scientists have determined that the use of geo-engineering to slow global warming may increase the risk of droughts. Methods put forward include reflecting solar radiation back into space using giant mirrors or aerosol particles.

August 1st, 2009 WASHINGTON - Researchers in South Africa have come up with a system that allows biometric data to be used to create a secret key for data encryption. Describing the new technology in the International Journal of Electronic Security and Digital Forensics, Bobby Tait and Basie von Solms of the University of Johannesburg have shed some light on how biometrics-fingerprints, iris pattern, etc.-can be used to encrypt and decrypt data, so that Internet users do not have to remember endless, complicated passwords.

July 8th, 2009 WASHINGTON - A team of researchers at the Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona (UAB) have come up with a device called a dc metamaterial, which makes objects invisible under certain light. The device does so, according to the researchers, under very low frequency electromagnetic waves by making the inside of the magnetic field zero, but not altering the exterior field.

June 30th, 2009 WASHINGTON - A team of scientists is developing hand-held devices that can detect the presence of aerosols in air above oceans by measuring how light scatters as it strikes the particles. The portable photometers have been developed by Alexander Smirnov, an AERONET (Aerosol Robotic Network) project scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland, and his team.

June 18th, 2009 NEW YORK - A group of world-record buffs have created a new online database that allows users to dream up their own outlandish categories, and post videos of their feats. The Universal Record Database created by Dan Rollman and Corey Henderson gives everyone the chance to discover the "world record holder in them".

June 6th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Housewives can now have a good night's sleep - scientists have created a better mousetrap when it comes to repelling mosquitoes. Up till now, the gold standard has been DEET.

June 2nd, 2009 LONDON - An international team of scientists is writing a virtual book of all life on Earth, an online reference work that will create a detailed world map of flora and fauna and track changes in biodiversity. According to a report by BBC News, the database, dubbed a "macroscopic observatory", will be populated with data about local species gathered by members of the public.

May 31st, 2009 WASHINGTON - In a new study, researchers have estimated that in the United States, terror attacks on religious targets are relatively rare, but often deadly. The study was carried out by the University of Maryland-based National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START).

May 8th, 2009 Britain to remove some DNA profiles from databaseLONDON — The British government said Thursday it will set up a system to remove details about the DNA of innocent people from its nationwide registry of genetic information, after Europe's top human rights court criticized the way information was held. Home Secretary Jacqui Smith said authorities would wipe out DNA and fingerprint samples of people who are arrested but not convicted of most crimes after six years.

March 31st, 2009 LONDON - A new research has shown that unusually bright patches of sky, observed up to several kilometers away from clouds, are a result of the 'halo effect', which is light reflected off the cloud and bouncing off the particles in the air. This seemingly innocuous finding could have a surprisingly big knock-on effect because it means there may be fewer cooling particles in the sky than previously thought, and that could change the way climate change is modeled.