Tag: physical sciences
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Dow Chemical Partners with Turkish Company on Carbon Fibers
Dow Chemical Company in Midland, Michigan and the industrial fiber company Aksa Akrilik Kimya Sanayii in Istanbul, Turkey have formed a joint venture to produce carbon fiber and derivative materials. The venture, known as DowAksa Advanced Composites Holdings BV (DowAksa), will be formed through Dow’s subsidiary Dow Europe Holding BV, with each party owning 50…
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Univ. Start-Up Developing High-Energy Light for Microchips
Engineers in a University of Washington fusion-energy lab have started a new company that aims to apply their discoveries to the semiconductor industry. Uri Shumlak, an aeronautics and astronautics professor, and research associate professor Brian Nelson are applying their research on high-energy plasma light from fusion reactors to meet a high-priority need of microchip developers.…
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Researchers Develop Battery Components as Painted Layers
Materials scientists and chemists at Rice University in Houston, with colleagues in Belgium, have created a battery that can be applied as spray-painted layers. Their findings appear in the online journal Scientific Reports. The team led by materials scientist Pulickel Ajayan devised a method for applying five components of a lithium-ion battery — two current collectors,…
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Energy Dept. to Fund $102M for Small Business Research
The U.S. Department of Energy says it will fund research projects by 104 small businesses in the U.S. to develop energy-related technologies for market. The grants, made under the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs, total $102 million. The projects cover technologies applying to energy efficiency, particularly for industrial…
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Process Devised to Manipulate Organic Molecules in Drugs
Chemists at Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California have developed new techniques they say make it easier to manipulate organic molecules in drug compounds and other chemicals. The team led by Scripps chemistry professor Jin-Quan Yu published its results this week in the online issue of the journal Nature (paid subscription required). Yu, with…
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Robot Recommends and Plays Music Based on Listener Feedback
A robotic device developed at Georgia Institute of Technology, and licensed to a start-up company in Atlanta, can recommend songs based on listeners’ tastes, and even dance to the music selected. Shimi, a musical companion derived from technology developed at Georgia Tech’s Center for Music Technology, is expected to be demonstrated today at Google’s I/O…
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Report: Foreign Scientists Key to U.S. Innovation, Patents
A new report on the impact of immigration on innovation in the U.S. says researchers from overseas account for a large majority of the patents granted to inventors from top research universities, particularly in high-growth science and engineering fields. The report, “Patent Pending: How Immigrants Are Reinventing The American Economy,” was prepared by the Partnership…
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National Lab Opens Battery Manufacturing R&D Center
Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee, part of U.S. Department of Energy, has opened a research and development center for battery manufacturing. The lab says the facility is designed for open collaboration among participating companies, although the lab did not disclose which companies are taking part. The facility, which the lab says costs $3 million,…
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Nanotech Window Glass Developer Lands $55M in Venture Funds
Soladigm, a developer of energy-efficient office building window glass in Milpitas, California, secured $55 million in series D venture funding, the fourth financing cycle after initial start-up. The funding round, led by Reinet Investments and NanoDimension, join current investors DBL Investors, GE, Khosla Ventures, Navitas Capital, Sigma Partners, and The Westly Group. Soladigm’s lead product,…
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Software Developed that Amplifies Video Frame Variations
Computer scientists at Massachusetts Institute of Technology have written software that amplifies variations in successive frames of video that are imperceptible to the naked eye. The team of graduate students, alumni, and faculty from MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory will discuss their software in August at the next Siggraph conference in Los Angeles.…