Tag: physical sciences
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NSF Awards $20 Million for Cyber Security, Privacy R&D
National Science Foundation is funding new research to better secure the nation’s health information technology, simplify and improve control of security for cloud computing, and clarify an individual’s privacy on the Web. The awards, made under the agency’s Secure and Trustworthy Cyberspace program, total $20 million and are supporting three initiatives, each shared among multiple…
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Nanotech Window Coating Controls Building Light, Heat
Chemists and materials scientists at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California created a window coating of nanocrystals that can dynamically control the sunlight passing through the window and thus improve a building’s energy efficiency. The team led by Berkeley Lab’s Delia Milliron published its findings yesterday in the journal Nature (paid subscription required). The Department…
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Calculator Estimates Individual Surgical Complications Risk
Medical researchers with American College of Surgeons devised an online system that calculates an individual’s risk of developing complications for nearly all kinds of surgery. The team led by Karl Bilimoria, director of the Surgical Outcomes and Quality Improvement Center at Northwestern University in Chicago, with colleagues from the UCLA medical center and VA Greater…
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TV, Cellular Signals Harnessed for Power, Communications
Computer scientists and engineers at University of Washington in Seattle developed a wireless process that harnesses existing television and cell phone signals as sources of power and a way of communicating. The team led by computer science professors Shyam Gollakota and Joshua Smith describes the process in a paper at ACM’s Special Interest Group on…
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FDA Funds Organ-on-Chip to Test Radiation Disease Treatments
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration awarded a contract to a Harvard University lab for simulated organ devices to test radiation disease countermeasures. The $5.6 million award will fund the work of Harvard’s Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering from FDA’s research and development program on regulatory science and medical countermeasures initiative. Wyss Institute researchers,…
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Prototype Robotic Brain Blood-Clot Surgery Device Developed
Engineers and surgeons at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee built a prototype of a surgical device to safely remove blood clots from the brain, a risky and difficult procedure. A team led by Vanderbilt neurosurgery professor Kyle Weaver and mechanical engineering professor Robert Webster describe the system in an upcoming issue of the journal IEEE…
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Inexpensive Robotic Power Line Inspection Device Developed
An engineer at University of California in San Diego created a prototype device that propels itself along utility lines and can locate problems that need repair. The device, called SkySweeper and built by graduate student Nick Morozovsky, will be presented at the International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, 3 to 8 November, in Tokyo.…
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Radiation Sensors Launched in Open-Source Satellites
Radiation sensors made by Libelium, a developer of wireless sensor hardware in Zaragoza, Spain are part of the payload contained in CubeSat satellites launched this past weekend on a cargo mission by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. The sensors are part of the first two ArduSat satellites made by open-platform satellite maker NanoSatisfi in San…
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Nanowire Coating Boosts Bone Bonding to Implant Material
Materials scientists and biomedical engineers at Ohio State University in Columbus designed a coating of nanowires that can help improve the bonding between human bone and implant materials. The team led by Ohio State materials scientist Sheikh Akbar published its results in this month’s issue of the journal Ceramics International (paid subscription required). The process…
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Engineers Double Efficiency of Solar Film Cells
Engineers and materials scientists at University of California in Los Angeles improved the design of solar cells built in a thin semi-transparent film that nearly doubles their ability to generate power. A team from the lab of engineering professor Yang Yang described its findings online in Friday’s issue of the journal Energy and Environmental Science…