-
Algorithm Improves Brain-Controlled Cursor Movements
Engineers, neuroscientists, and computer scientists in the U.S. and U.K. designed an algorithm offering more sensitive and accurate control of a computer display cursor controlled by thoughts. The team led by Krishna Shenoy, Stanford University professor of neurobiology and engineering, published its findings online yesterday in the journal Nature Neuroscience (paid subscription required), and aims…
-
Process Devised to Reinforce Injectable Hydrogels in Body
Chemical engineers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology developed a way to add structure to hydrogels injected in the body as treatments, to prevent them from liquifying. The team led by MIT engineering professor Bradley Olsen (pictured left) published its findings recently in an online issue of the journal Advanced Functional Materials; paid subscription required. Olsen,…
-
High-Tech Sheet Fabric Developed to Reduce Bed Sore Risk
Researchers at Empa, a scientific institute in Switzerland, the Swiss Paraplegic Centre, and Schoeller Group, an advanced textiles company also in Switzerland, created a new type of bed linen that reduces the chance of bed sores developing on immobile patients. Schoeller Group’s medical division plans to introduce the new material as a commercial product next…
-
High-Strength Muscle-Emulating Nanotech Yarn Developed
Engineers and materials scientists from the U.S., Canada, Brazil, Australia, China, and Korea developed a super-strong yarn based on carbon nanotubes with the contracting ability of muscles. The team led by Ray Baughman of University of Texas in Dallas published its findings in this week’s issue of the journal Science (paid subscription required). The yarn…
-
More U.S. Primary Doctors Using Electronic Health Records
A greater percentage of primary care doctors in the U.S. now use electronic medical records in their practices, according to an international survey by the Commonwealth Fund, but lag in other indicators of affordability and administrative time. The survey findings were reported online today in the journal Health Affairs. The research team, led by Commonwealth…
-
U.K. Devotes £60 Million for Science Entrepreneurship
The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council or EPSRC in the U.K. is funding 31 projects at British universities to encourage scientists to become new or better entrepreneurs. The £60 million ($US 95.3 million) program was announced today by Vince Cable, U.K.’s Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills. Under the program, EPSRC is…
-
Swine Genome Offers Insights for Agriculture, Medicine
An analysis of the pig genome by an international consortium highlights genetic mechanisms that can improve breeding practices and show similarities with humans for development of drugs. The findings by the International Swine Genome Sequence Consortium appear online in the journals Nature and Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The researchers from North America,…
-
Wear-Resistant Diamond Tip Created for Nano-Manufacturing
Engineers at University of Illinois, University of Pennsylvania, and Advanced Diamond Technologies Inc. in Romeoville, Illinois, developed a diamond tip for nanoscale lithography better able to meet heat and wear demands of semiconductor manufacturing. The team led by Illinois engineering professor William King (pictured left) published its findings yesterday online in the journal Nanotechnology; free…
-
Nanotech Strategy Developed for Solid Tumor Drug Delivery
Researchers at Ludwig-Maximilians University in Munich, with colleagues from Munich Technical University and Helmholtz Center Munich, engineered a gene that can generate anti-cancer agents deep inside solid cancerous tumors. The team led by Ludwig-Maximilians pharmacologist Manfred Ogris reported its findings online yesterday in the journal Molecular Therapy (paid subscription required). Ogris (pictured right) and colleagues…
-
Method Devised to Improve Wireless Network Efficiency
Engineers at University of California in Riverside developed a method they say can double the efficiency of mobile wireless networks. Riverside electrical engineering professors Yingbo Hua and Ping Liang, with three graduate students, published their findings in a recent online issue of the journal IEEE Signal Processing Letters. The proliferation of smartphones and tablets is…