Tag: physical sciences
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University, Company Engineers Research Safer Railroad Ties
Engineers at Kansas State University in Manhattan and the company CXT Concrete Ties in Tucson, Arizona have received funding for research leading to safer railroad ties to support the nation’s new high-speed rail projects. The engineering team was awarded a grant for nearly $900,000 from the Federal Railroad Administration, with another $300,000 provided by CXT…
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Report: Research Triangle Becoming Smart-Grid R&D Cluster
A new report by Duke University’s Center for Globalization, Governance and Competitiveness (CGGC) assesses the capabilities of North Carolina, particularly the 13-county Research Triangle region, to serve as a hub for developing advanced technologies to better manage electrical power. A smart grid, as this collection of technologies is called, promises to make the outdated U.S.…
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Non-Narcotic Natural Pain Killer Synthesized
Scientists from the Scripps Research Institute in Jupiter, Florida have synthesized a rare natural product isolated from the bark of a plant widely used in traditional medicine, that has potential as a non-narcotic pain killer. Their findings appear online in the journal Nature Chemistry (paid subscription required). The study defined a way to generate quantities…
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Timken, College to Build Wind Energy R&D Center
The Timken Company in Canton, Ohio revealed plans for a new research and development center for wind turbine mechanisms used to generate electricity. The $11.8 million facility, built in collaboration with nearby Stark State College, is expected to add 65 new jobs. The R&D center will focus on wind turbine mechanisms that convert wind power…
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Engineers Set New Laser Data Transmission Speed Record
Scientists at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) in Germany have transmitted the largest data volume ever on a laser beam, the equivalent of 700 DVDs in one second. The team’s findings appear online in the journal Nature Photonics (paid subscription required). The KIT scientists, led by electronics professor Juerg Leuthold, encoded data at a rate…
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University to Open Biomass Gasification Research Center
Luleå University of Technology in Sweden announced plans to start a research center on the production of fuel gas from biomass. The new Swedish Gasification Centre (SFC) on the Luleå campus is expected to have a budget of SEK 540 million (USD 84.7 million) over 10 years. SFC will combine industry and academic researchers from…
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Ethanol By-Product Reprocessing Expands to Pilot Stage
A process developed by engineers at Iowa State University in Ames to turn by-products of corn ethanol into into animal feed has moved from the lab to a pilot plant. The process, called MycoMeal, developed by engineering professor Hans van Leeuwen and his team, has two patents pending and won several industry and academic awards.…
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So-Called Legal High Drugs on Internet Found Phony, Illegal
A chemistry professor in the U.K. has found many drugs sold as “legal highs” on the Internet do not contain the ingredients they claim, and some contain controlled substances, for which Internet sales are illegal. Mark Baron, lecturer in chemistry at University of Lincoln published his findings online in the journal Drug Testing and Analysis…
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Nanotech Patch Repairs Damaged Heart Tissue in Lab Tests
Engineers at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island and India Institute of Technology (IIT) in Kanpur created a patch made from carbon nanofibers and a polymer material that restores damaged cardiac tissue similar to the damage resulting from a heart attack. The team reported their results online earlier this month in the journal Acta Biomaterialia…
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Wireless Sensor Network Developed to Monitor Forests
Scientists from the Fraunhofer Institute for Microelectronic Circuits and Systems (IMS) in Duisburg, Germany have installed a wireless sensor system for micro-climatic monitoring on the grounds of the Northwest German Forestry Testing Facility in Göttingen. The IMS team believes the network can provide a very detailed picture about the environmental conditions on the site, without…