Science and Enterprise

Month: March 2011

  • Process Turns Algae into Renewable Fuel, Cleans Wastewater

    Chemical engineers at University of Arkansas in Fayetteville have developed a method for converting common algae into butanol, a renewable fuel that can be used in today’s internal-combustible engines. The technology has the added benefit helping to clean and oxygenate U.S. waterways by removing excess nitrogen and phosphorous from fertilizer in agricultural runoff. The team…

  • Blood Protein Test Can Reduce Heart Failure Readmissions

    A study by researchers at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland indicates that a routine test for a protein in blood can reduce the number of hospital readmissions due to congestive heart failure. Their findings appear online in the American Journal of Cardiology (paid subscription required). Johns Hopkins research fellow Henry Michtalik and colleagues tested…

  • Laser Suturing in Development for Minimally Invasive Surgery

    Researchers of the Fraunhofer Institute for Production Technology (IPT) in Aachen, Germany are developing a laser-based suturing process for use in minimally-invasive surgeries. The new process can simplify current methods with a form of laser welding replacing knots. More abdominal surgeries are being carried out in a minimally invasive manner, where the surgeon needs only…

  • EUREKA Network to Fund €33 Million in New European R&D

    EUREKA, a network of research officials from 40 countries in Europe and Israel, approved a series of new R&D projects in clean technology and related fields. Meeting in Eilat, Israel, the €33 million ($45.7 million) approved by EUREKA will fund 25 projects in renewable energy, agrofood technology, biotechnology, physical sciences, IT and electronics, and industrial…