Month: November 2011
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National Lab: U.S. Energy, Fossil Fuels Use Up in 2010
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California reports total U.S. energy use grew in 2010, particularly in the burning of fossil fuels. The lab’s annual accounting also shows the nation’s overall renewable fuel use in 2010 remained about the same as 2009, but wind energy and biomass power increased. Total energy use in the U.S. grew…
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National Lab Developing Alternatives to Rare Earth Materials
The Ames Laboratory in Iowa is developing alternatives to rare earth materials in two separate projects funded by the U.S. Department of Energy — one material for use in permanent magnets for electric vehicles, and the other material a manganese-based alternative to rare earths. The Ames Laboratory is a national lab under Department of Energy’s…
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Technology Funded to Assess Superfund Site Contamination
Researchers at Arizona State University in Tempe and University of Florida in Gainesville received funding to develop a device to measure toxic sediments with greater precision, accuracy and sensitivity. ASU’s Rolf Halden (pictured right) and Florida’s Nancy Denslow will test the device, and also evaluate health effects on two marine organisms and assess remediation efforts…
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Universities, Companies Partner on Data Center Power Use
Three U.S. universities have joined with 15 companies in a collaborative research center to increase energy efficiency and help create a greener electronics industry. Researchers at Binghamton University in New York, Villanova University in Pennsylvania, and University of Texas at Arlington are the institutions taking part in the Industry/University Cooperative Research Center in Energy-Efficient Electronic…
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University Spin-Off Lands Radiation Countermeasure Contract
RxBio Inc., an early stage biotech company spun off from the University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC) in Memphis, has received a contract from Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority for the company’s radiation countermeasure drug. The contract has a potential value of $24 million over the next two years. The contract, with a…
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Honda Advances Autonomous Humanoid Robot and Robot Arm
Robotics engineers at Honda Motor Company in Japan have developed more advanced capabilities for ASIMO, its humanoid robot, and released an early version of a task-performing robot arm. The experimental robot arm is designed to be remotely controlled for tasks in unstable places which are difficult for people to access. The new version of the…
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Algorithms Track Individual Athletes During Sports Events
Computer algorithms developed by Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) in Switzerland make it possible to visually track individual players in action on sports teams. The technology developers, from EPFL’s Computer Vision Laboratory, present their findings today at the International Conference on Computer Vision in Barcelona. The system can track multiple players in fast-moving sports…
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Depression Drug Fails in First Phase 3 Trial
A drug candidate designed to treat major depressive disorder has not met its success targets in the first round of phase 3 clinical trials. The drug, TC-5214 (S-mecamylamine), is made by global pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca and Targacept Inc., biotechnology company in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The clinical trial tested TC-5214 as a therapy for major depressive…
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Researchers Give Robotics a Human Face
Research engineers at Technical University of Munich (Technische Universitaet Muenchen, TUM) in Germany and the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology in Japan have developed a way to give robots a human-like plastic head. Called Mask-bot, the technology may have a more immediate application as a tool to create avatars for participants in…
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ACADIA, Meiji Seika Advance Schizophrenia Drug to Trials
ACADIA Pharmaceuticals, a biotechnology company in San Diego, says its drug AM-831 developed with Meiji Seika Pharma Co. Ltd. in Japan to treat schizophrenia has received clearance from the Food and Drug Administration to begin phase 1 clinical trials. The clinical study will test the drug’s safety, tolerability, and interaction with the body. AM-831 was…