Tag: physical sciences
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Venture Capital Investment Performance Improves Through 2010
Returns on venture capital (VC) investments continued to improve for the fourth quarter and all of 2010, for most time horizons stretching back to 1981, and in some cases exceeding the benchmark stock indexes. These data are contained in the latest Cambridge Associates U.S. Venture Capital Index, prepared for the National Venture Capital Association. For…
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Encryption Hardware Designed for Non-Volatile Main Memory
Computer scientists at North Carolina State University in Raleigh have developed a new technology for encrypting data in non-volatile main memory found increasingly in new computer systems and devices. The team will discuss their findings next month at the International Symposium on Computer Architecture in San Jose, California. Non-volatile main memory (NVMM) allows computers to…
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Engineers Develop Efficient Nanotech Solar Energy Film
An engineering team from the universities of Missouri and Colorado, Idaho National Lab, and MicroContinuum Inc. in Cambridge, Massachusetts are developing a flexible solar sheet that captures more than 90 percent of available light, for manufacture in the next few years. Their lab findings have appeared in the Journal of Solar Energy Engineering. Current photovoltaic…
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Engineers Demo Collaborative Mapping Robot Vehicles
A team from Georgia Institute of Technology, University of Pennsylvania and California Institute of Technology/Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) developed and demonstrated miniature vehicles that work by themselves to create a detailed floor plan of an office building. The researchers described their findings in a paper presented last month at the SPIE Defense, Security and Sensing…
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U.K. University Offering Space Data for Smaller Companies
The University of Leicester in the U.K. is making available Earth observation data from a European Union space program to small and medium-sized businesses in the East Midlands, where the university is located. The university’s Space Technology Exchange Partnership will develop practical uses of data generated from the EU’s Global Monitoring for Environment and Security…
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Cause of Headphone, Hearing Aid Fatigue Diagnosed
Engineers at Asius Technologies in Longmont, Colorado have found what they believe is the cause of listener fatigue brought on by on-ear headphones and hearing aids. Their findings, along with suggested fixes, were presented this past weekend at a meeting of the Audio Engineering Society in London, U.K. The problem concerns the discomfort and pain…
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Software Helps Farmers Determine Pesticide Spray Dates
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has developed software that helps farmers decide on the best days to spray pesticides on their fields. The software was developed by USDA’s Agricultural Research Service at its Fort Collins, Colorado research facility. The software, called PhenologyMMS (Modular Modeling System), was developed by agronomist Greg McMaster and plant science technician…
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Silver Nanoparticles Generated in Natural Environment
A team of university and government chemists have found that given a source of silver ions, naturally occurring humic acid can synthesize stable silver nanoparticles. The researchers published their findings last month in the journal Environmental Science and Technology (paid subscription required). Nanoscale silver particles — one nanometer equals one-billionth of a meter — are…
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Challenge Seeks New Pseudoephedrine Production Process
InnoCentive in Waltham, Massachusetts has released a challenge with a $100,000 award for new methods of producing the common medication pseudoephedrine that make it very difficult to extract ingredients for the illegal drug methamphetamine. InnoCentive acts as a marketplace that brings together companies or organizations seeking solutions with groups or individuals interested in providing those…
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University Patents Chemical Measurement Device and Process
Baylor University in Waco, Texas has received a U.S. patent for a new type of polarimeter, an instrument to measure and interpret transverse waves, such as light waves. The new polarimeter was developed by Baylor chemistry professor Kenneth Busch and lab coordinator Dennis Rabbe. United States Patent 7911608 covers not only the device hardware, but…