Tag: physical sciences
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Programming Language Created for Synthetic DNA Chemistry
Computer scientists and systems biologists at University of Washington, California Institute of Technology, and University of California in San Francisco are developing a coding language to enable the programming of synthetic DNA chemical interactions. A report from the team led by Washington computer scientist Georg Seelig appeared yesterday online in the journal Nature Nanotechnology (paid…
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Small-Scale Ceramics Materials Engineered for Flexibility
Materials scientists at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Nanyang Technological University in Singapore created a new type of ceramics material with the ability to bend like metal, but retaining its strength. The team from the lab of MIT’s Christopher Schuh published its findings today in the journal Science (paid subscription required). The MIT-Singapore researchers developed…
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Computer System Built with Carbon Nanotube Circuitry
Engineers at Stanford University in California created a basic computer system of circuits made from carbon nanotubes rather than conventional semiconductors built on silicon. The team led by Stanford electrical engineering professors Subhasish Mitra and H.S. Philip Wong published its findings online today in the journal Nature (paid subscription required). As silicon semiconductors became smaller and packed more…
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NIST Funding $7.4M for Additive Manufacturing Standards
National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), an agency of U.S. Department of Commerce, is awarding two grants totaling $7.4 million to improve measurement and standards for additive manufacturing, industrial applications of three-dimensional printing. Most of the money — $5 million — is going to a consortium of 27 organization headed by the National Additive Manufacturing…
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Graphene Photodetector Integrated with Semiconductor Chip
Researchers at Vienna University of Technology and Johannes Kepler University in Linz, Austria built a detector and converter of optical signals with graphene into a traditional semiconductor chip, making it easier to integrate optics and electronics in a single device. The team led by Vienna’s Thomas Mueller published its findings online this week in the…
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Near-Infrared Light Tests Paintings’ Ability to Travel
A collaboration of British, Spanish, and Slovenian chemistry researchers and fine art conservation specialists devised a technique adapted from the life sciences to test the ability of paintings to withstand the rigors of travel without damaging the works of art. The team led by Matija Strlic of the Centre for Sustainable Heritage at University College London…
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System Measures Ball-Head Impact to Simulate Sports Injuries
Engineers at Washington State University in Pullman built a system that lets sports scientists measure the impact of a softball hitting a player’s head to simulate potential injuries based on the properties of the ball. Washington State engineering professor Lloyd Smith and project engineer Derek Nevins will report their findings next week at the Asia-Pacific…
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Safer, Cheaper Ultraviolet PCB Disposal Process Developed
A team of engineers and chemists at University of Calgary in Alberta, Canada devised a new process for cleaning soil contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls or PCBs, cancer-causing chemicals banned in the U.S. since 1979, but with residues still in the environment. The new methods, say Calgary engineering professor Gopal Achari and chemistry professor Cooper Langford,…
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Copper and Copper Alloys Found to Destroy Norovirus
Biologists at University of Southampton in the U.K. found surfaces made of copper and copper alloys can quickly destroy norovirus, the pathogen causing acute gastroenteritis. Researcher Sarah Warnes and Bill Keevil, director of the university’s Environmental Healthcare Unit, published their findings earlier this week in the online journal PLoS One. Norovirus is a highly contagious…
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Nanodiamonds Improve Chemotherapy Targeting for Brain Tumors
Researchers at University of California in Los Angeles, with colleagues from Northwestern University and Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, developed a more precise delivery method for chemotherapy drugs using nanoscale diamonds to treat brain tumors. The team that included participants from the lab of UCLA biomedical engineering professor Dean Ho published their findings online in…