Tag: physical sciences
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High-Strength Muscle-Emulating Nanotech Yarn Developed
Engineers and materials scientists from the U.S., Canada, Brazil, Australia, China, and Korea developed a super-strong yarn based on carbon nanotubes with the contracting ability of muscles. The team led by Ray Baughman of University of Texas in Dallas published its findings in this week’s issue of the journal Science (paid subscription required). The yarn…
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Wear-Resistant Diamond Tip Created for Nano-Manufacturing
Engineers at University of Illinois, University of Pennsylvania, and Advanced Diamond Technologies Inc. in Romeoville, Illinois, developed a diamond tip for nanoscale lithography better able to meet heat and wear demands of semiconductor manufacturing. The team led by Illinois engineering professor William King (pictured left) published its findings yesterday online in the journal Nanotechnology; free…
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Method Devised to Improve Wireless Network Efficiency
Engineers at University of California in Riverside developed a method they say can double the efficiency of mobile wireless networks. Riverside electrical engineering professors Yingbo Hua and Ping Liang, with three graduate students, published their findings in a recent online issue of the journal IEEE Signal Processing Letters. The proliferation of smartphones and tablets is…
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VC, University Partner on Medical Device Start-Up Company
George Washington University in Washington, D.C., and venture capital company Allied Minds Inc. in Boston, formed LuxCath LLC, a new company that makes a device for increasing the speed and safety of surgery for irregular heartbeat. LuxCath’s technology is based on research by faculty at George Washington’s medical school and engineering department. LuxCath is developing…
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Metamaterials Enhanced to Improve Invisibility Functions
Researchers at Duke University in North Carolina improved the invisibility functions of materials engineered to deflect light waves and hide objects from view, with potential uses in fiber optic communications. Engineering graduate student Nathan Landy and professor David Smith published their findings online yesterday in the journal Nature Materials (paid subscription required). In 2006, Smith…
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Self-Cleaning Surfaces Tested that Emulate Natural Models
Engineers at Ohio State University in Columbus devised and tested material surfaces that clean themselves and reduce drag, based on models in nature such as shark skin and butterfly wings. Mechanical engineering professor Bharat Bhushan and doctoral candidate Gregory Bixler recently published their findings online in the journal Soft Matter (paid subscription required). Materials that…
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Dual-Purpose Medical Imaging Contrast Agent Developed
Biomedical engineers from University at Buffalo in New York and medical researchers at University of Toronto in Canada developed a new type of contrast agent applicable to two medical imaging technologies. The findings of the Buffalo-Toronto team are described in a recent issue of the Journal of the American Chemical Society (paid subscription required). The…
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Cloud Computing Harnessed for Cancer Data Analysis
Researchers at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore will collect large volumes of cancer data, down to the level of individual cells, using cloud computing to amass and analyze the data. The team of engineering and medical researchers is led by Denis Wirtz, associate director of Johns Hopkins’s Institute for NanoBio Technology, and funded by a…
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Trial to Test Electronic Media for Brain Injury Care
The Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota and collaborators in the upper Midwest will examine ways to use electronic media to improve the care of patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI) in rural and underserved urban areas. The five-year clinical study is funded by a $2.2 million grant from the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation…
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Stronger, Tougher Steel Variety Developed
Engineers at Wayne State University in Detroit developed a new type of steel that they say is stronger and more resistant to fracture, and can also resist the fatigue encountered with similar materials. The work of engineering professor Susil Putatunda, leading this research group, is supported by National Science Foundation, Michigan Initiative for Innovation and…