Tag: physical sciences
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Fruit Juice Infusion Cuts Chocolate Fat Content in Half
Chemistry researchers at University of Warwick in the U.K. developed a process for keeping the desirable taste and texture of chocolate while sharply reducing its fat content. Warwick’s Stefan A. F. Bon described the process yesterday in a presentation at a meeting of the American Chemical Society in New Orleans. Bon and colleagues study colloidal…
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Challenge Seeks Answers for Recycling Cathode Ray Tubes
A new challenge on InnoCentive seeks proposals for recycling the lead in glass found in old cathode ray tubes (CRTs) into new products. The competition, sponsored by Consumer Electronics Association and Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries, has a prize of $10,000 and a deadline of 1 July 2013. InnoCentive in Waltham, Massachusetts conducts open-innovation, crowd-sourcing…
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FDA OKs Trial of Biopolymer to Treat Spinal Cord Injury
InVivo Therapeutics, a medical device developer in Cambridge, Massachusetts, says it received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to begin a clinical trial to test the company’s bio-based polymer scaffolding as a treatment for acute traumatic spinal cord injury. The agency’s approval came in the form of an Investigational Device Exemption that allows…
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Synthetic Tissue Created with Water, Lipids, 3-D Printing
Biochemical researchers at University of Oxford in the U.K. developed materials from networks of water droplets inside lipid films to perform functions similar to human tissue. The team led by Oxford chemistry professor Hagan Bayley published its findings as the cover story in this week’s issue of the journal Science (paid subscription required). The researchers…
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Enzyme Cocktail Generates High Volume Hydrogen from Biomass
Bioengineers at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, with colleagues from elsewhere in the U.S. and Mexico, developed a process to inexpensively extract large volumes of hydrogen fuel from any type of plant matter. The team led by biological systems engineering professor Y.H. Percival Zhang, published its findings online in a recent issue of the journal Angewandte…
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Anatomical Models 3-D Printed from Tomography Scans
Researchers at University of Notre Dame in Indiana developed a process for three-dimensional printing of anatomical models from computed tomography (CT) scans. The team from the lab of Matthew Leevy, a research professor at Notre Dame’s Integrated Imaging Facility, published its findings online last week in text and video form in the Journal of Visualized…
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Study: Solar Panel Industry Now a Net Energy Producer
The global photovoltaic industry has reached a point where solar panels are now likely generating more energy than needed to produce the panels, concludes a new study by Stanford University’s Global Climate and Energy Project. The findings of postdoctoral fellow Michael Dale and project director Sally Benson appear in the 2 April issue of the…
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Cellulosic Plants Engineered for Improved Biofuel Production
Researchers at the Joint BioEnergy Institute in Berkeley, California developed a process to re-engineer the cell walls of plants to make them better feedstocks for biofuels. The team led by bio-engineer Dominique Locque of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, one of the Joint BioEnergy Institute partners and a division of the U.S. Department of Energy, published…
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Recommended Heart Failure Meds Save Lives, and Maybe Money
Medical researchers at University of California in Los Angeles found medications recommended in national guidelines for heart failure are cost-effective in saving patient lives and could also provide financial savings for the national health care system. The findings of the team led by Gregg Fonarow, director of the cardiomyopathy center at UCLA, appear in the…
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Cancer Analytics Prototype Based on Patient Records Unveiled
American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) in Alexandria, Virginia demonstrated a prototype of its CancerLinq system based on information in patient records that aims to provide clinicians with better tools for decision-making. ASCO demonstrated the system yesterday at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. The goal of CancerLinq is to provide cancer physicians and…