Science and Enterprise

Tag: Asia

  • Hot Booze Found to Increase Iron Superconductivity

    Scientists from the National Institute for Materials Science in Tsukuba, Japan and University of Tsukuba found that soaking pellets of an iron-based compound in heated alcoholic beverages for 24 hours increases the pellets’ superconducting ability. Their findings appear in the current issue of the journal Superconductor Science and Technology (free registration required). Creating a faster…

  • Grad Student Creates, Markets Rural Water Conveyance Device

    Cynthia Koenig, a business school graduate student at University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, created a rolling water barrel and started an enterprise to distribute the device in developing countries. Koenig plans to pilot test the device, called the WaterWheel, in India. The WaterWheel is a 20-gallon rolling plastic barrel that provides enough water for…

  • Consortium to Study Ocean Potential for Carbon Storage

    The new ISIS (In-Situ Iron Studies) Consortium announced today its plans to study the role of iron in regulating the ocean’s capacity to remove atmospheric carbon dioxide.  The group of scientists from 12 institutions worldwide aims to better understand the impact of iron on marine ecosystems and to quantify its potential for CO2 removal. The…

  • Univ. Adapts Commercial Technology in Blood Pressure Method

    Researchers at University of Leicester in the U.K. and Singapore medical device manufacturer HealthSTATS International developed a new method of non-surgically measuring blood pressure near the heart. The team published their findings in this week’s issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology (paid subscription required). The traditional cuff-style blood pressure monitor inflates…

  • Asian Patents Jump in 2010, Decline in U.S., Mixed in Europe

    The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) reports today that the number of patent filings under WIPO’s Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) increased in 2010, with the largest percentage gains recorded in Asia. Provisional data for 2010 indicate that 162,900 international patent applications were filed in 2010 compared to the 155,398 applications filed in 2009, an increase…

  • Singapore Univ., U.S. Company Partner on Vaccines

    Inviragen Inc. in Fort Collins, Colorado and the Duke-National University of Singapore Graduate Medical School (Duke-NUS) announced a partnership to research the transmission and prevention of infectious diseases. Their first  project will involve research and development of vaccines against diseases such as dengue fever, hand, foot and mouth disease, and chikungunya. Dengue infection is a…

  • Taiwan Chip Maker to Raise R&D Nearly 40%

    The Taipei Times reports today that Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) in Hsinchu, Taiwan plans to raise its research and development spending by 39 percent next year to NT$50 billion (US$1.63 billion), due to more aggressive competition in TSMC’s market. TSMC is the world’s largest contract chip manufacturer. At present, the company does not directly…

  • Report: U.S. Scientific Dominance Slipping

    A study from Thomson Reuters, Global Research Report: United States, released today (12 November), found that research output from the United States has been surpassed by that of Asia and Europe. The report is based on an analysis of research papers in the most influential journals, as indexed by Thomson Reuters in the Web of…

  • Global R&D Spending Among Innovators Declines in 2009

    Total R&D spending among the world’s top spenders on innovation dropped in 2009 for the first time in the 13 years studied, according to the annual survey by management consulting firm Booz & Company. At the same time, most science-related companies, especially those in the health care industry, increased their R&D spending, with the pharmaceutical…

  • Worldwide Corporate R&D Drops, Pharma/Biotech Bucks Trend

    The European Commission’s 2010 “EU Industrial R&D Investment Scoreboard” shows that R&D investment by the world’s top 1,400 companies dropped by nearly 2 percent in the companies’ 2009 fiscal years, but with pharmaceutical/biotech companies and companies in Asian countries increasing their R&D spending. The worldwide economic recession, the report indicates, is taking its toll on…