Tag: physical sciences
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Rare Earths in the U.S.: More Than You Think
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), an agency of the Department of the Interior, says rare earth elements in the U.S. are not all that rare. Rare earths are 16 metallic elements with similar properties that are used in the manufacture of many of high-technology applications, such as high-strength magnets, metal alloys for batteries and light-weight…
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Machine Learning Helps Decipher Consumer Medical Searches
Many consumers turn to Web sites like WebMD for comprehensive health and medical information, but they cannot help as much if visitors searching the sites use unclear or unorthodox language to describe their conditions. A group of Georgia Tech researchers in Atlanta have created a machine-learning model that enables the sites to learn visitors’ dialect…
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Univ. Nanotech Center Opens Collaborations in Japan
The College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering (CNSE) of the University at Albany in New York has established partnerships with three educational and technological institutions in Japan. These collaborations in nanoscale education and research and development are the first for CNSE in the Pacific Rim. Joint programs are underway between CNSE and Japan’s National Institute…
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Engineers Test Fire’s Effects on Structural Steel
Researchers in engineering at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana are studying the effects of fire on steel structures, such as buildings and bridges. The research uses a unique heating system and a specialized laboratory for testing large beams and other components. Building fires may reach temperatures of 1,000 degrees Celsius (1,800 degrees Fahrenheit), say…
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Lighting Technology Helps Combat Hospital Superbugs
A lighting system that can kill hospital bacteria resistant to antibiotics called superbugs has been developed by researchers at University of Strathclyde in Glascow, Scotland. The superbug bacteria killed by this technology include methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and Clostridium difficile (c. diff). A team of professors from the university’s engineering, physics, and biology departments discovered…
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Baking Soda Improves Oil Output from Algae
Sodium bicarbonate, the familiar baking soda found in households worldwide, can increase the production of oil precursors from algae, according to researchers at Montana State University (MSU) in Bozeman. However, for baking soda to work with algae, it must be added a precisely the right time, and pinning down that time was a big part…
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Semiconductor Group Signs Research Deal with Abu Dhabi
Semiconductor Research Corporation (SRC) in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina and Advanced Technology Investment Company (ATIC) in Abu Dhabi announced today (11 November) a university research partnership to increase semiconductor R&D in the Arab Gulf state of Abu Dhabi. SRC is a university-industry research consortium for semiconductors and related technologies, and ATIC is a technology…
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Student, Company Produce Nanotech for Solar Cells
A collaboration between a University of Copenhagen Ph.D. candidate in Denmark and nearby solar technology company SunFlake A/S produced a discovery of using nanotechnology to improve the efficiency of solar cells and other nanoscale electronics. Nanowires are chains of single crystals a few nanometers across (1 nanometer = 1 billionth of a meter) with unique…
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Fast Food Wrapper Chemicals Likely Migrating to Humans
Scientists at University of Toronto in Ontario, Canada have found that chemicals used to line fast food wrappers and microwave popcorn bags are probably migrating into food and being ingested by people where they are contributing to chemical contamination observed in blood. The chemicals, called perfluorinated carboxylic acids or PFCAs are the breakdown products of…
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Graphene-Based Material Developed with Teflon Properties
Scientists from University of Manchester in the U.K. and elsewhere have created a new material which could replace or compete with Teflon in thousands of everyday applications. The team, including Manchester’s Andre Geim and Kostya Novoselov who won the 2010 Nobel Prize for their research on graphene –- the world’s thinnest material — has now…