Science and Enterprise

Month: May 2012

  • Circuit Manufacturer Acquires Wireless Network Developer

    Silicon Laboratories Inc. in Austin, Texas has acquired Ember Corporation in Boston to supplement the Silicon Labs product line in low-power networking for home and business applications. The initial value of the purchase is placed at $72 million. Ember is expected to contribute $10-$12 million in revenue in the second half of 2012. Silicon Labs…

  • Statins Found to Reduce Cancers After Heart Transplants

    A study by physicians and medical researchers at University Hospital Zurich in Switzerland indicates heart transplant patients taking statins — drugs used to lower cholesterol — reduced their risk of getting cancer, and were associated with overall survival independent of their cholesterol levels. The findings were reported yesterday at a meeting of the European Society…

  • Challenge Seeks Electric Power Utility Service Enhancements

    A new challenge on InnoCentive seeks ideas to improve the process for electric power utilities to deploy two types of electricity services in a timely, cost-effective manner. The challenge has a payout of $15,000 and a deadline of 8 July for submissions. InnoCentive in Waltham, Massachusetts is a company the conducts open-innovation, crowd-sourcing competitions for…

  • Faster, Higher Capacity Memory Chip Developed

    Engineers at University College London (UCL), with colleagues in France and Spain, have developed a silicon oxide memory chip that is faster can operate in ambient conditions. The discovery is described online in the Journal of Applied Physics (paid subscription required), and a patent has been filed for the technology. The team led by UCL…

  • Bay Area Consortium to Fund Large-Scale Solar R&D

    The Bay Area Photovoltaic Consortium (BAPVC) unveiled its first research grants aimed at making utility-scale solar power cost-competitive by the end of the decade. The new funds from the consortium — an industry-backed venture led by Stanford University and the University of California-Berkeley — total $7.5 million. The grants will support 18 projects at BAPVC…

  • $525M Venture Fund to Back Tech, Science Companies

    The venture capital company Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers in Menlo Park, California has closed a $525 million venture capital fund for equity investments in early-stage green technology and life sciences, as well as digital enterprise companies. The fund, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers XV LLC (KPCB 15) will be led by 10 of the…

  • Genetic Tests Not Triggering More Health Care Use

    Researchers at Group Health Research Institute in Seattle, National Institutes of Health, Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, and Abt Associates in Bethesda, Maryland found patients who receive genetic tests for susceptibility to disease were no more likely to use medical services after receiving the results than before the tests. The study results appear online today…

  • Graphene as Rust-Proof Coating for Steel in Development

    Chemistry researchers from University at Buffalo in New York are developing a process for rust-proofing steel using a graphene-based composite as a coating. The Indian steel manufacturer Tata Steel is participating in the research by chemistry professor Sarbajit Banerjee and doctoral candidate Robert Dennis. In early experiments, Banerjee and Dennis were able to increase the…

  • Study: FDA Approves Drugs Faster Than in Europe, Canada

    Researchers at the Yale University medical school have found that since 2001, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) generally approves drug therapies faster and earlier than its counterparts in Canada and Europe. The findings of medical student Nicholas Downing and colleagues appear online in the New England Journal of Medicine. Downing’s team, under the…

  • Semiconductor Venture Investment Jumps in April

    Venture capital investments in semiconductor companies worldwide rose significantly in April 2012, compared both to March and April 2011. The Global Semiconductor Alliance in London compiles and publishes these statistics each month. The organization reports that semiconductor companies received $194.2 million in venture capital in April 2012, a 10-fold increase over March 2012, and more…