Science and Enterprise

Month: May 2011

  • Non-Narcotic Natural Pain Killer Synthesized

    Scientists from the Scripps Research Institute in Jupiter, Florida have synthesized a rare natural product isolated from the bark of a plant widely used in traditional medicine, that has potential as a non-narcotic pain killer. Their findings appear online in the journal Nature Chemistry (paid subscription required). The study defined a way to generate quantities…

  • Timken, College to Build Wind Energy R&D Center

    The Timken Company in Canton, Ohio revealed plans for a new research and development center for wind turbine mechanisms used to generate electricity. The $11.8 million facility, built in collaboration with nearby Stark State College, is expected to add 65 new jobs. The R&D center will focus on wind turbine mechanisms that convert wind power…

  • Interactive Map Shows Off-Grid Energy Technology Sites

    Santa Clara University in California and social-enterprise information company Ayllu have created the Energy Map Web site that offers graphs and analyses of 40 social enterprises in 16 countries that bring electricity or alternative fuel to communities of 500 to 500,000 people each. All 40 of the sites involve energy produced or consumed outside of…

  • Engineers Set New Laser Data Transmission Speed Record

    Scientists at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) in Germany have transmitted the largest data volume ever on a laser beam, the equivalent of 700 DVDs in one second. The team’s findings appear online in the journal Nature Photonics (paid subscription required). The KIT scientists, led by electronics professor Juerg Leuthold, encoded data at a rate…

  • Lilly Spins Off Biotech to Develop Sepsis Drug

    Eli Lilly and Company in Indianapolis, Indiana has signed agreements with private investors Care Capital and NovaQuest Capital to establish BioCritica Inc., a new biotechnology company. BioCritica will initially focus on the continued U.S. development and commercialization of Xigris — drotrecogin alfa (activated) — Lilly’s medicine for severe sepsis. Under the agreement, BioCritica will acquire…

  • University to Open Biomass Gasification Research Center

    Luleå University of Technology in Sweden announced plans to start a research center on the production of fuel gas from biomass. The new Swedish Gasification Centre (SFC) on the Luleå campus is expected to have a budget of SEK 540 million (USD 84.7 million) over 10 years. SFC will combine industry and academic researchers from…

  • U.S. Regional Industry Cluster Challenge Unveiled

    The Economic Development Administration (EDA), part of the U.S. Department of Commerce, announced a funding competition to promote the development of regional collections of innovative businesses. The $33 million program, called the Jobs and Innovation Accelerator Challenge, will fund 20 “high-growth industry clusters” that best spell out strategies for meeting opportunities or overcoming obstacles to…

  • Sygenta to Build U.S. Genetics Research Facility

    Sygenta, in Basel, Switzerland says it will build a new biotechnology research facility adjacent to its current campus in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. The $71 million facility is expected to be operational in the second half of 2012. The company says the new labs will focus on discovering and developing new genetic characteristics for…

  • Ethanol By-Product Reprocessing Expands to Pilot Stage

    A process developed by engineers at Iowa State University in Ames to turn by-products of corn ethanol into into animal feed has moved from the lab to a pilot plant. The process, called MycoMeal, developed by engineering professor Hans van Leeuwen and his team, has two patents pending and won several industry and academic awards.…

  • FDA Approves HIV Drug in Combination Treatment

    The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved today the drug Edurant (rilpivirine) as a treatment for HIV infection in adults, when used in combination with other antiretroviral drugs. Edurant is manufactured by Tibotec Therapeutics, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson, in Raritan, New Jersey. FDA approved the drug for the treatment of HIV-1 — the…