Science and Enterprise

Tag: Asia

  • Engineered HIV/AIDS Vaccine Approved for Clinical Trials

    A vaccine designed to prevent HIV infection based on a genetically engineered virus has received approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to start clinical trials. The vaccine is a product of a joint venture between Universiy of Western Onatrio in London and the Canadian subsidiary of Korean pharmaceutical venture company Sumagen. Chil-Yong Kang…

  • UCLA, Korean Institute Collaborate on Smart Grid R&D

    The engineering school at University of California at Los Angeles and the Korea Institute of Energy Research (KIER) have begun a 10-year partnership to collaborate on smart-grid research and the development of new related technologies. The project, funded on the U.S. side by the Department of Energy and the Los Angeles Department of Water and…

  • Biogen Idec, Samsung to Form $300M Biosimilar Venture

    Biogen Idec, a biotechnology company in Weston, Massachusetts, and the Korean conglomerate Samsung will form a joint venture to develop and market follow-on biologic drugs known as biosimilars. Investments by both companies in the venture will total $300 million. Samsung will contribute $255 million of the $300 million for an 85 percent stake in the…

  • Rice Growers to Develop Sustainable Farming Standards

    The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in the Philippines is joining a consortium of international organizations, government agencies, NGOs, and private companies in an initiative to set environmentally sustainable and socially responsible rice production management standards. The Sustainable Rice Platform, as it’s called, aims to boost growers’ rice production, keep the environment healthy, facilitate safer…

  • U.S., China Patent Offices to Begin Reciprocity Tests

    The patent offices of the U.S. and China are set to begin today pilot programs of reciprocity agreements to reduce the duplication of patent examinations between the two countries. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and China’s State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO) agreed last month to hold these one-year pilot tests. Under the agreement…

  • European, Chinese Patent Offices Agree to Translations

    The European Patent Office (EPO) and State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO) of the People’s Republic of China have agreed to make possible translations of each other’s patents to the general public. The two organizations signed the agreement at their annual joint meeting, held this year in Chongqing, China. The translations in English and Chinese, according…

  • Graphene-Based Nanotech Gas Detector Developed

    Engineers from the U.S. and China devised a foam substance made from graphene that is more sensitive in detecting potentially dangerous and explosive chemicals than current technologies. The researchers from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York and the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Shenyang published their research in the journal Scientific Reports. The graphene-based…

  • Electronic Film Implant Designed to Monitor Brain Functions

    Medical and engineering researchers from the U.S., Korea, and China have developed a thin, flexible electronic film that can monitor brain activity without the use of penetrating electrodes. The team’s findings appear online in the journal Nature Neuroscience (paid subscription required). The film (illustrated left), about one-quarter the thickness of a human hair, contains 720…

  • Honda Advances Autonomous Humanoid Robot and Robot Arm

    Robotics engineers at Honda Motor Company in Japan have developed more advanced capabilities for ASIMO, its humanoid robot, and released an early version of a task-performing robot arm. The experimental robot arm is designed to be remotely controlled for tasks in unstable places which are difficult for people to access. The new version of the…

  • Researchers Give Robotics a Human Face

    Research engineers at Technical University of Munich (Technische Universitaet Muenchen, TUM) in Germany and the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology in Japan have developed a way to give robots a human-like plastic head. Called Mask-bot, the technology may have a more immediate application as a tool to create avatars for participants in…