Tag: energy
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Jet Fuel Additive Reduces Chance for Crash Explosions
2 October 2015. Materials scientists and chemists designed a polymer additive that reduces the explosive nature of jet fuel in crashes or terror attacks, without compromising the fuel’s performance. Researchers from California Institute of Technology and Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena published their findings in today’s issue of the journal Science (paid subscription required). The…
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Synthetic Biology Company Raises $200 Million in IPO
21 August 2015. Intrexon Corp., a company developing genomic solutions with synthetic biology, raised some $200 million in its initial public stock offering. The Germantown, Maryland enterprise issued 4,878,049 shares of common stock priced at $41.00, and traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol XON. The company’s shares closed today at $45.46,…
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Navy Seeks Graphene Nanoribbons for Electricity Distribution
20 July 2015. The U.S. Navy wants a more efficient way to distribute electric power on its ships, and believes ultrathin ribbons made of graphene may help them do it. The Office of Naval Research awarded an $800,000 grant to the lab led by engineering professor Cemal Basaran at University at Buffalo to find out more…
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Material Developed to Prevent Li-Ion Battery Fires
28 January 2015. Materials scientists and engineers at University of Michigan designed a new material to better protect lithium-ion batteries from starting fires like the kind on Boeing 787 Dreamliners. The team from the lab of engineering professor Nicholas Kotov published its findings yesterday in the journal Nature Communications (paid subscription required). Kotov and first…
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UC-Davis, National Labs to Train Science Entrepreneurs
23 January 2015. Lawrence Livermore and Sandia National Laboratories are partnering with the Graduate School of Management at University of California in Davis to train scientists in entrepreneurial skills to take their discoveries to market. The pilot program, called Lab-Corps, is funded by a $350,000 grant from U.S. Department of Energy, parent agency of the…
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Child-Safe Coating Devised for Button Batteries
4 November 2014. Engineers and medical researchers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and hospitals affiliated with Harvard Medical School developed a coating for small batteries that tests show could prevent poisoning when swallowed accidentally by young children. The team from the labs of Robert Langer at MIT and Jeffrey Karp at Brigham and Women’s Hospital…
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Simple 3-D Graphene Construction Process Devised
17 October 2014. Materials scientists at Kyoto University in Japan developed a new process that simplifies the building of three-dimension structures with graphene, a light, strong, conductive material with many industrial and commercial applications. Franklin Kim and Jianli Zou from Kyoto’s Institute for Integrated Cell-Material Sciences published their findings yesterday in the journal Nature Communications…
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Solar Water-Splitting System Produces Hydrogen for Energy
26 September 2014. Engineers at Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) in Switzerland designed a solar energy system made of inexpensive and abundant materials that efficiently splits water into hydrogen and oxygen for producing electricity. The team from the lab of EPFL’s Michael Grätzel, with colleagues from Singapore and Korea, published its findings in today’s…
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U.S. Energy, Ag Depts Fund Genomic Research for Biofuels
18 July 2014. The U.S. energy and agriculture departments are funding 10 new studies that aim to improve plant feedstocks for biofuels and other bio-based products. Department of Energy (DoE) is contributing $10.6 million in 2014, while Department of Agriculture (USDA) is adding $2 million. The studies run for 3 years. The joint DoE/USDA Plant…
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Solar Process Converts CO2 to Source of Power, Chemicals
2 July 2014. Chemists from Princeton University and spin-off company Liquid Light Inc. in Monmouth Junction, New Jersey created a process to use sunlight for converting carbon dioxide into formic acid, a source for electric power and industrial chemicals. Princeton chemistry professor Andrew Bocarsly, also a founder of Liquid Light, and colleagues published their findings…