Category: New products
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Hopkins to Study Creating Blood Platelets from Stem Cells
Researchers at Johns Hopkins Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland have begun a study of inherited blood clotting abnormalities focusing on the potential creation of human platelet cells from stem cells. The study is funded by a $9 million grant from the National Institutes of Health. The grant is part of an overall NIH initiative on genetic…
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Univ. Research Leads to Mobile Transaction Security Advances
Research by Georgia Institute of Technology engineering faculty has led to a new layer of security on transactions by mobile phones. The work of engineering professor Steven McLaughlin is also being commercialized by Whisper Communications, a company he co-founded to take the technology to market. The ability of smart phones and other mobile devices to…
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University Profs. Develop, Commercialize Food-Bite Counter
Two Clemson University faculty members have developed a device worn on the wrist that can help people monitor the amounts of food they consume. Psychology professor Eric Muth and engineering professor Adam Hoover have also started a company to take their patent-pending device to market. The Bite Counter, as Muth and Hoover call their device,…
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Robot Being Developed to Aid in Care of Elderly
The Japanese research foundation RIKEN, in collaboration with Tokai Rubber Industries Ltd. in Nagoya Science Park, has developed a robot with the ability to lift and carry a patient from floor-level bedding to a wheelchair and back. The robot, with high-precision tactile sensors and motor control, was designed to meet the needs of caring…
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Bio-Engineered Spinal Disc Implants Tested in Animals
A team of engineers and neurosurgeons at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York and New York City have developed and tested in rats a biologically based implant to replace intervertebral discs in the spinal column. Their findings appear online in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (paid subscription required). Spinal discs are…
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Grad Student Develops Process to Recycle Paper Mill Waste
A graduate student at Hebrew University in Israel has developed a method for converting paper mill sludge into eco-friendly industrial foams. Shaul Lapidot (pictured right), a Ph.D. candidate in agriculture, also started a company that licensed the technology and plans to take the process to market. A paper mill uses wood fibers long enough to…
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Sensor Lab Chip Detects Manganese in Humans
Engineers at University of Cincinnati in Ohio have created a sensor that quickly detects the presence and levels of the element manganese in humans. The disposable diagnostic tool that requires just a few drops of blood is described in the August issue of the journal Biomedical Microdevices (paid subscription required). Manganese is used to make…
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Cold Electrons Aid Nanoscale Imaging and Processes
Physicists at University of Melbourne in Australia have developed a new source of ultra-cold electrons that can improve the quality and speed of nanoscale imaging for processes such as drug and materials development. The team’s findings appear online in the journal Nature Physics (paid subscription required). The researchers led by Melbourne physics professor Robert Scholten…
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Wireless Bridge Safety Sensor Developed, Commercialized
An engineer at University of Maryland in College Park has developed a wireless, self-powered safety sensor for bridges, and started a company to take the device to market. Electrical engineering researcher Mehdi Kalantari says the sensor can provide public works authorities with an effective structural monitoring system for bridges at about 1 percent of the…
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Surfactants Discovered Among Naturally Occurring Yeasts
Scientists with the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service in Peoria, Illinois have found naturally-grown yeasts that can produce molecules with surfactant properties. Surfactants are wetting agents that lower a liquid’s surface tension, used in a variety of consumer and industrial products, and normally derived from petroleum. Surfactants work by enabling the cleaning solution to fully wet…