Tag: physical sciences
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Compartmented Gel Capsule Developed for Multi-Drug Delivery
U.S. and Chinese researchers have designed a multiple-compartment gel capsule that could simultaneously deliver drugs of different types. A description of their research is published online in the journal Macromolecular Rapid Communications (paid subscription required). L. Andrew Lyon, a chemistry professor at Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta and Xiaobo Hu, a former visiting scholar…
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Lasers, Electric Fields Aid Lab-on-a-Chip Technology
Researchers from universities in the U.S., U.K., and China are developing new processes that combine a laser and electric fields to manipulate fluids and tiny particles such as bacteria, viruses, and DNA on miniature chip-sized analytic devices. These advances, with applications ranging from drug manufacturing to food safety, are described in the current issue of…
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Prof. Develops Anti-Microbial Technology for Fabrics
A University of Georgia researcher has invented an anti-microbial technology that can turn medical linens and clothing germ-free. Jason Locklin (right), a member of the chemistry and engineering faculties at the university’s Athens campus, published results of his and colleagues’ research last month in the journal ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces; paid subscription required. Locklin’s discovery…
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Algorithm Being Developed to Limit Small Airplane Collisions
A postdoc and colleagues at Massachusetts Institute of Technology are developing an algorithm for a tracking system to predict and prevent collisions between small aircraft. The MIT team will present early results of its research in October at the 30th Digital Avionics Systems Conference in Seattle. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has mandated that by…
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Anti-Smoking Drug Raises Risk of Heart Problems
Researchers at Johns Hopkins University, Wake Forest University, and University of East Anglia in the U.K. found healthy tobacco users that take a leading smoking cessation drug face a notably greater chance of hospitalization from heart problems, compared to those taking a placebo. The findings appear in the current issue of the Canadian Medical Association…
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University Spin-Off to Develop Semiconductor Power Devices
Anvil Semiconductors Ltd, a company created by University of Warwick in Coventry, U.K., will develop silicon carbide (SiC) semiconductor power switches that promise to be smaller and more efficient than devices built on traditional silicon. The company was founded by Warwick engineering faculty Phil Mawby and Peter Ward, who designed the company’s development technology in…
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Software Helps Reduce Battery Drain on Mobile WiFi Devices
A graduate student at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina has developed software that coordinates mobile devices competing for WiFi signals and extends the battery lives of those devices. Computer scientist Justin Manweiler (pictured right) presented details about the software at the Association for Computing Machinery’s conference on Mobile Systems, Applications and Services, held this…
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Challenges Focus on Quantification, Measurements of Metals
Two challenges posted today (30 June) on InnoCentive seek solutions to problems involving quantification or measurements of properties of metals. InnoCentive, in Waltham, Massachusetts, is a company that conducts challenge competitions for sponsors, who for these challenges have decided to remain anonymous. One of today’s challenges seeks a method for in-line quantification and real-time reporting…
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Integrated Robotic Tactile Skin Sensitivity Developed
Researchers at Technical University Munich (Technische Universität München, TUM) have built small hexagonal plates, which when joined together, provide a tactile-sensitive skin for autonomous robots. A paper describing these developments appears in the June issue of the journal IEEE Transactions on Robotics (paid subscription required). The TUM scientists have developed an artificial skin for robots…
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Ink-Jet Printing Method Tested to Make Solar Cells
Engineers at Oregon State University in Corvallis have devised a method of producing a type of solar cell using ink-jet technology. The process, for which a patent has been applied, is described in an upcoming issue of the journal Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells (paid subscription required). The OSU team led by engineering professor…