Science and Enterprise

Month: December 2010

  • Space Company Launches European Comm. Satellite

    International Launch Services (ILS), a commercial space services company, launched the Ka-Sat satellite (pictured left) to orbit for Eutelsat Communications of France on an ILS Proton rocket from its facility at Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazahkstan. After a nine-hour mission, the KA-SAT was released into a geostationary transfer orbit. The Proton Breeze M vehicle used in…

  • International Team Sequences Criollo Cacao Genome

    Researchers from 18 institutions in five countries reported sequencing the genome of Theobroma cacao, commonly called the Criollo cacao tree. The findings are published in the current online issue of Nature Genetics. The tree is known for its high quality, but also for low productivity and weak resistance to disease. Most commercial chocolate today comes…

  • Small Business Research Grants Reauthorized in DADT Bill [Updated]

    UPDATE, 27 DECEMBER: My reading of the legislation and commentary was in error. It turns out the language to repeal Don’t Ask Don’t Tell replaced the SBIR/STTR authorization text in the bill, not added to the original text, as I first reported. SBIR and STTR are still on a temporary authorization through the end of…

  • Science Holiday Cheer

    Science Business will take a break for the Christmas holiday, and resume posting on Monday 27 December. To get in the scientific holiday spirit, here’s a video from Darlene Cavalier, founder of ScienceCheerleader.com. Cavalier is a former Philadelphia 76ers cheerleader with a masters degree from University of Pennsylvania, where she studied the role of citizens…

  • Survey: Type-2 Diabetes Patients Would Switch from Insulin

    A new survey shows 60 percent of type-2 diabetes patients in the U.S. who currently use insulin say they would prefer switching to a less expensive bio-similar insulin if such an agent became available.  Decision Resources, a health care industry research firm, conducted the survey of diabetes patients in September 2010. Decision Resources reports most…

  • Indiana Seed Fund Backs Biotech Start Up

    A new biotechnology company, whose work is based on research from the labs of the Indiana University medical school, has received investment backing from an Indiana state fund supporting life science start ups. Aarden Pharmaceuticals in Indianapolis will get $250,000 in early-stage capital from the Indiana Seed Fund. Aarden is developing technologies that attack difficult-to-treat…

  • Contracts Awarded for Advanced Battery Technologies

    Five companies received technology development and assessment contracts today from the United States Advanced Battery Consortium (USABC), a research collaboration of automakers Chrysler Group LLC, Ford Motor Company, and General Motors Company. The awards, totaling $5.43 million, are funded by the U.S. Department of Energy and include a 50 percent cost-share from each of the…

  • Energy Department Funding New Fuel Cell R&D

    The U.S. Department of Energy announced new grant programs totaling $74 million for research and development of fuel cells for residential and commercial buildings as well as vehicles. Fuel cells use the chemical energy of hydrogen or other fuels to produce electricity or heat with minimal byproducts, primarily water. The grants include up to $65…

  • Student Engineering Works Become Products for Disabled Vets

    Last year, four University at Buffalo (UB) computer engineering undergraduates developed a software program to enable quadriplegics and other people with limited mobility to use computers productively with one button. The students are now working with a federal government contractor to tailor the software for disabled veterans, and have formed a company to distribute the…

  • Biotech Makes Available Stem Cell Lines to Researchers

    BioTime Inc., a biotechnology company in Alameda, California said today it concluded an agreement to make five research-grade human embryonic stem (hES) cell lines available to University of California (UC) system researchers. These lines are genetically identical to the Good Management Practice (GMP)-compliant hES cell lines that will be made available to researchers in California…