Tag: physical sciences
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Nanosatellites Launched in SpaceX Falcon Vehicle
Among the payloads in the commercial Space Exploration (SpaceX) Technologies Inc., Falcon 9 vehicle, launched into low-earth orbit on 8 December were two two small satellites, called nanosatellites, built by the U.S. Naval Research Lab. The lab, part of the Department of Defense, says the launch of these satellites will help evaluate their utility for…
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Another Use for Bounce Dryer Sheets: Repelling Gnats
For some time, many gardeners have carried around Bounce fabric softening dryer sheets to ward off insects. Entomology professor Raymond Cloyd and colleagues at Kansas State University in Manhattan and University of Illinois in Urbana, decided to test this claim about the Procter and Gamble product and discovered there’s something to it. Cloyd’s team conducted…
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Israeli Prof. Develops Catalysts for Biodegradable Plastics
Moshe Kol, professor chemistry at Tel Aviv University in Israel, is developing new processes using corn starch and sugar to make biodegradable plastics more competitive in the industry. Kol’s approach involves a new variety of catalysts, substances that initiate or sustain chemical reactions in other substances. Kol’s team in Tel Aviv is working with collaborators…
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Weather Company, Brazil Institute to Test Lightning Sensors
WeatherBug, a Germantown, Maryland provider of weather-related products and services and operator of a weather observation network, has agreed to form a research partnership with the Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais (INPE), Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research. WeatherBug and INPE will collaborate on research to test the performance of a network of 12 WeatherBug…
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Univ. Researchers Develop New Blast-Resistant Glass
A team of engineers from the University of Missouri in Columbia and the University of Sydney in Australia is developing a blast-resistant glass that is lighter, thinner, and colorless, yet tough enough to withstand the force of an explosion, earthquake, or hurricanes winds. Their research is funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of…
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U.K. Lab Spin Off Creates Athletic Testing Device
UK Sport, the national development organization for elite athletes in the U.K., has agreed to use a new hand-held medical device to help improve athletes’ training programs. The device is made by Argento Diagnostics, a company spun off fron the National Physical Laboratory, the country’s national institute for standards and measurements. The Argento Diagnostics device…
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Carbon Capture and Storage Offer New Green Industry for U.K.
The United Kingdom has the capacity to develop new green industries for capturing harmful carbon dioxide emissions from industry and storing them deep underground, but more investment is needed to further develop the relevant technologies and infrastructure. These conclusions are outlined in two recent briefing papers published by the Grantham Institute for Climate Change at…
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GE Demonstrates Prototype Hybrid-Battery Bus
GE Global Research, the technology development arm of General Electric Company, says it demonstrated a prototype transit bus with a hybrid battery — “hybrid” in this case means two different battery technologies to optimize power and storage. The company says the new type of battery can help electrify other larger, heavy-duty vehicles such as delivery…
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Academics, Company Develop High-Performance Nanotech Fiber
Researchers at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois and MER Corporation in Tucson, Arizona have engineered a new kind of fiber that can absorb more energy than Kevlar, a fabric now woven into bulletproof vests and other industrial applications. MER — short for Materials and Electrochemical Research — Corporation develops high-tech materials, including those based on…
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Start Up Licenses University Mining Sensor Technology
United Science, a start up company in Center City, Minnesota, has licensed sensor technology developed at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis that could prevent toxic byproducts of copper and iron mining, and potentially other industries, from ending up in the environment. Chemistry associate professor Philippe Buhlmann developed the ion selective electrode (ISE) sensor membrane.…