Tag: physical sciences
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Energy Department Seeking New Power Storage Technologies
The U.S. Department of Energy is looking for new methods for storing electric power, for use in plug-in passenger cars and to improve the performance of the nation’s power grids. The $30 million research program is being offered by the department’s Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA-E). The agency’s Advanced Management and Protection of…
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Non-Invasive Technique Developed to Measure Brain Pressure
Researchers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, with colleagues in the U.S. and the U.K., have devised a non-invasive technique to measure intercranial pressure that builds up in cases of head trauma and brain tumors. Their findings are described in this week’s issue of the journal Science Translational Medicine (paid subscription required). When head trauma or…
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IBM, Universities Form Canadian Research Center
IBM Corporation is establishing a new research and development center in Barrie, Ontario, part of a $210 million technology initiative involving research universities in the province. The plan calls for investments of $175 million by IBM, $20 million by the government of Canada, and $15 million by the Ontario government, with the creation of 145…
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Companies Join Stanford/Berkeley Open Networking Consortium
Twelve companies in software, mobile computing, semiconductors, and IT equipment have joined with research groups at Stanford University and University of California at Berkeley to explore software-defined networking as a new paradigm in networking. The aim of the Open Networking Research Center (ONRC) is to develop the intellectual foundations of software-defined networking in order to…
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DuPont Expanding Iowa Agriculture R&D Center
DuPont Corporation says it will add a $40 million plant genetics research center to its current facilities in Johnston, Iowa. The 200,000 square foot center is expected to add some 400 jobs. The new facility will be part of DuPont’s Pioneer Hi-Bred business, a subsidiary developing seeds through plant genetics. Johnston is located northwest of…
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Graphene Materials Faster, Cheaper at Cooling Electronics
A materials scientist at North Carolina State University in Durham has created a new way of cooling high-temperature electronic devices with composites made of graphene. The work of Jag Kasichainula, a professor of materials science and engineering at NC State, appears in the journal Metallurgical and Materials Transactions B (paid subscription required). Graphene is a…
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Undergrad Engineers Design Improved Neck Stabilizer Brace
A team of mechanical and biomedical engineering students at Rice University in Houston, all undergraduates, have devised a prototype cervical collar that they say improves on neck braces now in use. The Rice team, called CivSAFE, is one of 10 finalists in the Innovation Showcase (iShow), a student engineering design competition held in Montreal in…
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FDA Approves Brain Imaging Agent for Alzheimer’s Diagnosis
Eli Lilly and Company in Indianapolis says the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Friday approved Amyvid, a radioactive diagnostic agent made by its subsidiary Avid Radiopharmaceuticals. Amyvid is designed to work with Positron Emission Tomography (PET) scans to reveal beta-amyloid plaques in patients with suspected cognitive impairment disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease. Amyvid is…
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New PhD Grad, Professor Form Building Technology Company
An engineering professor and recent PhD graduate at University of Toronto have developed a technology to protect tall buildings from high winds and earthquakes, and started a company to take the technology to market. Civil engineering professor Constantin Christopoulos and recent Ph.D. Michael Montgomery (pictured left) developed the technology over 10 years, and founded Kinetica…
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Database Reveals Food Ingredient Fraud Hazards
A study drawing on a database of reports on fraud and economically motivated adulteration in food shows that olive oil, milk, honey, and saffron are among the foods found most often with adulterated ingredients. The research appears online in the April Journal of Food Science (paid subscription required) that draws on a database offered by the…