Tag: physical sciences
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University Research Spinoff To Build Manufacturing Plant
Aquion Energy Inc. in Pittsburgh, a developer of sodium ion batteries and energy storage systems, says it will build its first large-scale manufacturing plant in southwestern Pennsylvania. Aquion Energy that makes energy storage systems for electrical power grids expects to create over 400 high-tech manufacturing jobs by the end of 2015. The company’s systems are…
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Energy Efficient, Low CO2, Lower Cost Cement Developed
Engineers at Drexel University in Philadelphia have developed a new cement that reduces energy use and carbon dioxide output by 97 percent compared to standard Portland cement. The research behind the new cement is described in the March 2012 issue of the journal Cement and Concrete Composites (paid subscription required). The new type of cement…
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Device Improves Wheelchair Control for Spinal Cord Injured
A system designed at Georgia Institute of Technology enables people with high-level spinal cord injuries to operate a computer and electrically powered wheelchair by moving their tongues. The Tongue Drive, as the system is called, is scheduled for demonstration today by electrical and computer engineering professor Maysam Ghovanloo and colleagues at the IEEE International Solid-State…
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Braille Texting App for Visually Impaired in Prototype
Georgia Institute of Technology researchers have built a prototype application for touch-screen mobile devices that aims to be a way of texting without the need to look at a handheld device’s screen. The team led by postdoctoral researcher Mario Romero in Georgia Tech’s interactive computing school will demonstrate the app this weekend at the Abilities…
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Cell Phone User Locations Open to Hackers via Networks
Computer scientists at University of Minnesota in Minneapolis have discovered a vulnerability in cellular networks that can allow hackers to follow individual cell phone users without their knowledge. Ph.D. candidate Denis Foo Kune, with fellow student John Koelndorfer and professors Nick Hopper and Yongdae Kim presented their findings earlier this month at the Network &…
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Device Company, MIT Test Drug-Delivery Implanted Microchip
Scientists at medical technology developer MicroCHIPS in Walthan, Massachusetts and MIT reported the results of a successful human clinical trial of a programmable and wirelessly controlled implanted microchip to deliver drugs. The results appear online in the journal Science Translational Medicine (paid subscription required). The trial, the first successful test of this type of device,…
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Living Tissue Cell Model Developed to Study Brain Tumors
Researchers at Brown University in Providence and Harvard Medical School in Boston have created a three-dimensional living tissue model of the brain, including surrounding blood vessels, to study potential brain tumor treatments. The team of chemistry and biomedical engineering researchers published their findings in the journal Theranostics. The need for a living tissue model arose…
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Mass Production Process Devised for Micro Robots, Devices
Engineers at Harvard University have developed a technology that makes possible the mass production of miniature electronic and robotic devices, using layering and folding processes similar to the Japanese paper-folding art of origami. Doctoral candidates Pratheev Sreetharan and Peter Whitney say their discovery is scheduled for publication in the March 2012 issue of the Journal…
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Student Devises Lithium Battery for Solar Energy Storage
A joint research project between a graduate student at University of Southampton in the U.K. and the company REAPSystems, also in Southampton, has resulted in a battery that can help improve the efficiency and reduce the cost of solar power. REAPSystems was founded by Dennis Doerffel, himself a former Southampton researcher and now the company’s…
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Gaps Found in Satellite Telephone Encryption Algorithms
Computer scientists at Ruhr-Universität in Bochum, Germany say they have cracked algorithms of European encryption standards used globally for satellite telephones in less than an hour and with simple equipment. The team from the university’s Horst Görtz Institute for IT Security (HGI) will present the findings of their proof-of-concept tests at the IEEE Symposium on…