Tag: physical sciences
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Paper Strip Test Developed for Ebola, Other Diseases
25 February 2015. Biological and engineering researchers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology designed a simple device that can test in the field for several viral diseases at once, including Ebola. The team from the labs of microbiologist Lee Gehrke and engineering professor Kimberly Hamad-Schifferli described the device earlier this month in the journal Lab on a…
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Patent Awarded for Neurostimulation Electronics
17 February 2015. A U.S. patent on electronic components for switching and pulse generation in neurostimulation devices was awarded earlier this month. The Patent and Trademark Office awarded patent number 8,948,880 on 3 February to Barry Yomtov, founder and chief technologist of AdvaStim Inc. in Beverly, Massachusetts, and assigned to the company. AdvaStim develops modular…
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Handheld Probe Detects Cancer Cells in Brain
12 February 2015. Medical and engineering researchers at McGill University and Polytechnique Montréal developed a technique using a handheld probe that enables surgeons to find elusive cancer cells in the brain. The team led by McGill’s Kevin Petrecca and Polytechnique Montréal’s Frederic Leblond reported their findings yesterday in the journal Science Translational Medicine (paid subscription…
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Smartphones Studied to Upgrade Hearing Aids
6 February 2015. Engineers at University of Texas in Dallas are studying the potential of smartphones to boost the ability of hearing aids to help people who are hard of hearing. Electrical engineering professor Issa Panahi is leading a team of engineers and audiologists in a two-year, $522,000 project funded by National Institute on Deafness…
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Robotics Designed for Laundry and Other Uncertain Tasks
6 February 2015. Computer scientists designed and tested decision-making models using artificial intelligence for robots to plan and perform unstructured and ill-defined tasks, from doing household laundry to conducting search-and-rescue operations. The team led by Siddharth Srivastava, now with United Technologies in Berkeley, California and Shlomo Zilberstein from University of Massachusetts in Amherst described their…
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Report: U.S. Edge in Advanced Industries Slipping
5 February 2015. A new report from Brookings Institution says the United States is losing ground to overseas competitors in critical advanced industries that hold the key to the country’s long-term economic future. The study by the Washington, D.C. think tank was discussed in a forum today with six CEOs of U.S. companies and the…
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Multiple Sclerosis Patients to Crowdsource Health Data
3 February 2015. A new initiative, called iConquerMS, is recruiting 20,000 patients with multiple sclerosis in the U.S. to offer their health data and research ideas to find a cure for the disease. iConquerMS is an undertaking of the Accelerated Cure Project for MS, with the research network segment funded by Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute or…
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$50M Grant Funding Research to Improve Vaccine Effects
30 January 2015. Researchers at Stanford University in California are beginning an interdisciplinary project to improve the way vaccines harness the immune system for protecting against disease. The initiative, which will establish a Human Systems Immunology Center at Stanford, is funded by a 10-year, $50 million grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Immunologist…
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Cancer Progress Indicators Devised
29 January 2015. Researchers in public health and cancer medicine developed statistical tools that capture findings on cancer treatments and care, and provide indicators of progress in defeating the disease. A team from Lilly Oncology — with colleagues from the U.S., Germany, U.K., and Italy — published its findings about the Continuous Innovation Indicators initiative…
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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…