Tag: physical sciences
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Nanoscale Bar Codes Developed to Combat Counterfeiting
Engineers and chemists at South Dakota School of Mines and Technology (SDSMT) in Rapid City and University of South Dakota in Vermillion devised invisible, nanoscale high-density bar codes that can authenticate paper documents and other solid objects. The team published its findings in the journal Nanotechnology, published by Institute of Physics (free registration required). The…
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Sliding Metal Parts Found to Exhibit Fluid-Like Properties
Researchers at Purdue University in Indiana found solid pieces of metal that slide over each other to display properties resembling fluids rather than solids. Their research — funded by National Science Foundation, U.S. Army and General Motors — appears in the journal Physical Review Letters (paid subscription required). The team led by materials engineer Srinivasan…
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Nanotech Process Devised for Graphene Semiconductors
Researchers at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim developed a process to make semiconductors by growing nanoscale wires on a graphene substrate. Helge Weman (pictured left), a professor of electronics, led the research team that published its findings last month in the journal Nano Letters; paid subscription required. Weman also co-founded a…
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Simulations Helping Design Cardiac Pump Improvements
Engineers at University of California in San Diego are devising computer simulations of a widely used pediatric heart pump to reduce the risk of blood clots to patients using the device. Mechanical/aerospace engineer Alison Marsden (pictured left) and structural engineer Yuri Bazilevs are leading teams of colleagues from their respective disciplines to better understand a…
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Nanotech Process Developed to Detect Heavy Metal Pollution
Researchers at Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) in Switzerland and Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois developed a nanoscale process to test for heavy metals such as mercury and cadmium in water and fish. Their findings appear onlne in the journal Nature Materials (paid subscription required). The process created by EPFL nanomaterials scientist Francesco Stellacci (pictured…
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New Materials Developed with Vast Surface Areas
Materials scientists and engineers at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois and University of Surrey in the U.K. created two new synthetic materials with the largest reported amounts of internal surface area. The researchers published their findings online in the Journal of the American Chemical Society (paid subscription required). The two new materials, known as NU-109…
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National Lab Licenses Neutron Detector for Life Sciences
Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee licensed one of its technologies for detecting neutrons to PartTec Ltd. in Bloomington, Indiana that develops neutron detectors and related systems. Financial aspects of the agreement were not disclosed. The licensed technology — called the Neutron-Sensitive Anger Camera — allows researchers to study a range of crystalline structures for…
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Blood Test Technology Devised with Lab Chip, Smartphone App
Engineering faculty and students at University of Rhode Island in Kingston developed a hand-held blood testing technology that combines a lab-on-a-chip device with a smartphone app. The university says several patents for been filed for the system invented by mechanical engineering professor Mohammad Faghri (pictured right) and colleagues. The device captures a drop of blood…
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Tough, Stretchable Hydrogel Cartilage Replacement Developed
Biomedical engineers at Harvard University created a tough, stretchable, and biocompatible synthetic material with the capacity to replace damaged cartilage in human joints. The findings from Harvard’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences appears in this week’s issue of the journal Nature (paid subscription required). The hydrogel developed by lead author and postdoctoral researcher Jeong-Yun…
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LED Bulbs Edge CFLs for Environmental Friendliness
A report from Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland, Washington says today’s bulbs made with light-emitting diodes (LEDs) are a bit more friendly to the environment than compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs), but both types of bulbs far outpace traditional incandescent lights. As LED technology advances in the next five years, the environmental advantage for LED bulbs…