Tag: physical sciences
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Chip Set Developed for High Speed Wireless Data Transfers
Computer scientists at Nanyang Technological University and Institute for Infocomm Research (I2R) in Singapore have developed a microchip that can transmit large volumes of data at speeds of 2 gigabits per second, or 1,000 times faster than current Bluetooth technology. At that speed, a 2-hour, 8-gigabyte movie could be transferred in about half a minute,…
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Jet Injector Alternative to Hypodermic Needles Developed
Engineers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology have developed an alternative to hypodermic needles to deliver medications, but one that gives more control than most commercial jet injector devices. A description of the technology appears online in the journal Medical Engineering & Physics (paid subscription required). The new device sends a tiny, high-pressure jet of medicine…
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Consortium Developing Synthetic Biology Technology Platform
The Flowers Consortium, a group of five universities in the U.K., is developing a common platform technology for synthetic biology. Development of the platform — a basic set of standard technologies, from which specific applications can be designed — is being funded by a grant of some £5 million ($US 7.8 million) from the Engineering…
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Nanotech Fabrication Process Developed for Smaller Chips
Engineers at Stanford University and two Silicon Valley companies in California have devised a method of creating contact hole patterns for semiconductors that can reduce the size of logic and memory chips, while maintaining their fabrication accuracy. The findings of the team led by Stanford engineering professor H.-S. Philip Wong (pictured left) appear online in the…
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Venture Fund Raises $50M for Cleantech, Materials Start-Ups
Pangaea Ventures Ltd. in Vancouver, British Columbia has raised $US 50 million for its Pangaea Ventures Fund III that aims to invest in early-stage cleantech companies using advanced materials technologies. Pangaea says the new investment fund expects to eventually raise $100 million. The limited partners in the fund are corporate and private-equity venture investors including…
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New Standards Released for Drug Impurity Limits, Methods
U.S. Pharmacopeial Convention (USP) in Rockville, Maryland has published two new standards governing elemental impurities in medications. USP says conformance to the standards will be required starting 1 May 2014. Elemental impurities include catalysts and environmental contaminants such as lead or mercury that may be present in drugs. According to USP, elemental impurities can occur…
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Universities to Examine CO2 Injections for North Sea Oil
Geoscientists at University of Edinburgh and Heriot-Watt University in Scotland, with the British Geological Survey, will examine the use of carbon dioxide (CO2) to recover more oil from North Sea wells, while storing the CO2 underground. The program, called Centre for North Sea Enhanced Oil Recovery with CO2 (CENSEOR-CO2) aims to unlock three billion barrels…
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Circuit Manufacturer Acquires Wireless Network Developer
Silicon Laboratories Inc. in Austin, Texas has acquired Ember Corporation in Boston to supplement the Silicon Labs product line in low-power networking for home and business applications. The initial value of the purchase is placed at $72 million. Ember is expected to contribute $10-$12 million in revenue in the second half of 2012. Silicon Labs…
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Faster, Higher Capacity Memory Chip Developed
Engineers at University College London (UCL), with colleagues in France and Spain, have developed a silicon oxide memory chip that is faster can operate in ambient conditions. The discovery is described online in the Journal of Applied Physics (paid subscription required), and a patent has been filed for the technology. The team led by UCL…
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Bay Area Consortium to Fund Large-Scale Solar R&D
The Bay Area Photovoltaic Consortium (BAPVC) unveiled its first research grants aimed at making utility-scale solar power cost-competitive by the end of the decade. The new funds from the consortium — an industry-backed venture led by Stanford University and the University of California-Berkeley — total $7.5 million. The grants will support 18 projects at BAPVC…