Science and Enterprise

Tag: water

  • Display Surface Developed from Air-Water Interaction

    University researchers in Finland and the U.K., and Nokia Research Center in the U.K., have developed an optical display technology based on the ability of a surface structure to repel water. The findings of the team led by physicist Robin Ras (pictured left) of Aalto University in Finland appear online this week in the journal…

  • Low-Cost Nanoscale Catalyst Splits Hydrogen from Water

    Researchers at Brookhaven National Laboratory in New York, part of the U.S. Department of Energy, have developed a new electrocatalyst that generates hydrogen gas from water cleanly and with much less expensive materials than current catalysts. Their findings are described online this week in the journal Angewandte Chemie International Edition (paid subscription required). Traditional methods…

  • Report: Investment Increasing In Water Technologies

    A new report by the London Environmental Investment Forum says venture capital (VC) investors are showing more interest in technologies related to water used in extractive industries, such as oil, gas, and mining. The report, “Water Innovation in Extractive Industries,” can be downloaded from the organization’s Web site. London Environmental Investment Forum is owned and…

  • Boron Added to Carbon Nanotubes Produce Super Oil Sponge

    Materials scientists at Rice University in Houston have devised a material that can absorb large quantities of oil by adding the element boron to carbon nanotubes. The Rice researchers, joined by colleagues in the U.S., Belgium, Japan, Spain, and Mexico published their findings Friday in the journal Scientific Reports. Rice graduate student Daniel Hashim (pictured…

  • Study Urges Deep Cut in Forage Fish Catch

    A task force of 13 environmental and marine researchers from North America, Australia, Europe, and South Africa recommends reducing the global catch of herring, anchovy, and other forage fish to maintain the ocean ecosystem and sustain supplies of larger commercial species. A report from the Lenfest Forage Fish Task Force, based at Stony Brook University…

  • BASF to Boost R&D Spending, Staffing

    The global chemical company BASF in Ludwigshafen, Germany says it plans to increase its research and development spending to €1.7 billion ($2.3 billion) in 2012, and align its R&D programs more closely with high-growth business fields. The company also announced plans to increase its research staff, particularly in Asia and the Americas. The €1.7 billion…

  • Robot Jellyfish Runs on Hydrogen, Oxygen in Water

    Researchers at University of Texas at Dallas and Virginia Tech in Blacksburg have developed an autonomous undersea vehicle inspired by the common jellyfish that runs on hydrogen and oxygen in the water. The team, led by Dallas engineering professor and first author Yonas Tadesse (pictured left), published its findings this week in the journal Smart Materials…

  • Aqueous Solution Tested to Reduce Carbon Nanotube Toxicity

    Engineers at University of Florida in Gainesville are investigating ways of reducing the toxicity of carbon nanotubes, a promising technology with applications in semiconductors, energy storage, and displays. The latest findings of environmental engineer Jean-Claude Bonzongo, chemical engineer Kirk Ziegler, and their Florida colleagues appear in the March 2012 issue of the journal Nanotoxicology (paid…

  • Algorithms Plot Optimal Autonomous Underwater Vehicle Routes

    Engineers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology have devised mathematical methods to plot the optimal routes for autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs), increasingly used for industrial, research, and security applications. The team led by mechanical engineering professor Pierre Lermusiaux will discuss its work in May 2012 at the IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation. Setting an…

  • Process IDs Rice Traits to Help Tsunami-Hit Rice Growers

    A collaboration between scientists in Japan and the U.K. is developing methods to identify genetic markers that can help cut the time needed to breed salt-tolerant and shorter rice to help Japanese growers recover from the tsunami in March 2011. The new process, called MutMap, is described online in the journal Nature Biotechnology (paid subscription…