Tag: physical sciences
-
University Opens Silicon Photonics Chip Design Service
The University of Washington in Seattle opens today a new service called OpSIS to help scientists and engineers share the high cost of developing a new type of light-based computer chips. OpSIS — Optoelectronics Systems Integration in Silicon — is a multi-project wafer service for silicon photonics, and part of the university’s College of Engineering.…
-
Three U.S. Corporations Start Energy Technology Fund
Three American energy corporations –- General Electric Co. (GE), NRG Energy Inc., and ConocoPhillips -– have begun a joint venture that aims to fund emerging energy technology companies. The companies have committed $300 million to the collaboration, called Energy Technology Ventures, with plans to support some 30 venture- and growth-stage companies over the next four…
-
German Institute, BASF to Collaborate on Batteries
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) in Karlsruhe, Germany and the chemical company BASF in Ludwigshafen will develop advanced battery materials at a new KIT lab. The new lab, called BELLA — for Batteries and Electrochemistry Laboratory — is expected to accelerate the implementation of research results in products for high-energy battery systems. KIT and BASF…
-
Collaboration Tracks Solar Streams Disrupting Communications
A university-government partnership is making operational a prediction model designed for weather forecasting, and put into use to track solar activity that disrupts communications. The Center for Integrated Space Weather Modeling (CISM) at Boston University and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Space Weather Prediction Center reported the news of the collaboration today at…
-
Paper Strip Technique Devised for Complex Diagnostics
Researchers at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana have developed a technique using inexpensive paper to make test strips for more complex medical diagnostics and chemical analysis. The team from Purdue’s engineering school published their findings online this week in the journal Lab on a Chip (paid subscription required). The researchers say this innovation provides…
-
Researchers Improve Efficiency of LED Lighting
Researchers from North Carolina State University in Raleigh have developed a new technique that reduces defects in the gallium nitride (GaN) films used to create light-emitting diodes or LEDs, making this energy-efficient form of lighting even more efficient. The team of engineers and and materials scientists published their findings online in the 17 January issue…
-
Study: Energy Dept Lab Generates $271 Million for State
An economic study estimates that the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility, a U.S. Department of Energy nuclear physics research laboratory in Newport News, Virginia, generates more than $271 million in economic output and 2,200 jobs in Virginia. The study for Jefferson Science Associates LLC, the contract operators of the lab, was conducted by The Wessex…
-
Formula Devised to Better Place Wind Farm Turbines
Engineers in the U.S. and Belgium have developed a formula to help wind farm planners arrange the most effective placement of wind energy turbines. Charles Meneveau of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland and Johan Meyers at Katholieke Universiteit Leuven in Belgium presented their findings at a recent meeting of the American Physical Society’s Division…
-
Math Model Analyzes Moving Bottlenecks in Traffic
A trio of researchers in Italy has developed a mathematical model for a common cause of traffic jams, the slow-moving vehicle, such as a farm tractor or heavy truck, on a crowded highway. The team of Corrado Lattanzio and Amelio Maurizi from University of L’Aquila, with Benedetto Piccoli of Italy’s Institute in Applied Mathematics, published…
-
Report: Tech Industry Clusters Help Build Regional Economies
A new report from the Brookings Institution, a public policy research institute in Washington, D.C., urges the nation’s governors to create innovative new businesses in their states by building on current clusters of enterprises rather than trying to steal companies from other states. The report says this strategy, documented with examples of science and technology-based…