Science and Enterprise

Month: October 2010

  • Researchers Process Tobacco Into Organic Pesticide

    Tobacco may be the plant we all love to hate, but researchers at the University of Western Ontario (UWO) in London have confirmed properties of tobacco that make it a potential natural alternative to traditional commercial pesticides. This potential as a pesticide can also provide tobacco farmers with another, more benign, use for their crops.…

  • Portable Scanner Enables Quicker Breast Cancer Detection

    An engineering professor at University of Manchester in the U.K. has invented a portable scanner based on radio frequency (microwave) technology, which can show in a second the presence of tumors -– both malignant and benign -– in the breast of a patient on a computer. The device can be used at a primary care…

  • Report: Large-Scale Fish Farming Increases Enviro Damage

    Fish farming on an industrial scale can inflict environmental damage, even when the industry’s best practices are being applied, according to the first global assessment of marine fin fish aquaculture released today. Fin fish include species such as salmon, cod, and turbot. John Volpe, a marine ecologist, and his team at the University of Victoria…

  • Europe R&D Network Approves 2011 Funding Targets

    EUREKA, an intergovernmental consortium of European and neighboring organizations focused on research and development, approved funding €51 million ($US 70.4 million) for 56 new projects next year. The projects were selected by EUREKA’s High Level Group Representatives and National Project Coordinators from 40 countries. The funded R&D projects covered the fields of electronics, IT and…

  • Study: Scented Products Stink with Unlisted Chemicals

    A study by an engineering professor at University of Washington (UW) in Seattle found that 25 commonly used scented products emit an average of 17 chemicals each, including some toxic substances. Only in a few instances were the potentially dangerous chemicals disclosed on the product labels. All were widely used brands, with more than half…

  • Worldwide Corporate R&D Drops, Pharma/Biotech Bucks Trend

    The European Commission’s 2010 “EU Industrial R&D Investment Scoreboard” shows that R&D investment by the world’s top 1,400 companies dropped by nearly 2 percent in the companies’ 2009 fiscal years, but with pharmaceutical/biotech companies and companies in Asian countries increasing their R&D spending. The worldwide economic recession, the report indicates, is taking its toll on…

  • Start Up Licenses Nuclear Imaging Drug Compounds

    Clarity Pharmaceuticals Pty Ltd, a new company in Australia, has licensed technology developed by the University of Melbourne and the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO). The technology involves compounds developed by scientists from ANSTO and the University of Melbourne for use in positron emission tomography. Positron emission tomography (PET) is a test that…

  • Oxford University Spins Off Tidal Turbine Company

    A new enterprise, Kepler Energy Limited, has been formed in the U.K. to develop a tidal turbine, a result of research in Oxford University’s Department of Engineering Science. Professors Guy Houlsby, Martin Oldfield, and Malcolm McCulloch developed the turbine (pictured right), which they say has the potential to harness tidal energy more efficiently and cheaply…

  • Drug Discovery Company Lands $25M in Private, State Funding

    Omeros Corporation, a Seattle, Washington biopharmaceutical company focused on inflammation and disorders of the central nervous system, says it has received $20 million from Vulcan Capital and a grant award for $5 million from Washington State’s Life Sciences Discovery Fund (LSDF) to finance the company’s G protein-coupled receptor program. G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) are a large…

  • Study: Hydraulic Fracturing Can Release Uranium from Shale

    University at Buffalo (UB) researchers have found indications that the process called hydraulic fracturing or “fracking” to release natural gas from Marcellus shale deposits can cause naturally trapped uranium inside the shale to be released. The findings add to the environmental concerns about the process, particularly chemical contamination of the groundwater in populated regions in…