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Earthquake Model Helps Assess Building Vulnerabilities
Engineers and earth scientists at University of California in Berkeley built a physical earthquake fault model in the lab that can assess the vulnerabilities of buildings and other structures when an earthquake happens. The study reporting on the model, first-authored by Gregory McLaskey now at the U.S. Geological Survey in Menlo Park, California, appears in…
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Diagnostics Company Lands $12 Million Series B Funds
Advanced Cell Diagnostics Inc., a genomic diagnostics developer in Hayward, California, secured $12 million in series B funding, the second round of venture financing after initial start up. New Leaf Venture Partners that specializes in health care technology investments led the round, joined by existing investor Morningside Ventures. Advanced Cell Diagnostics makes diagnostic tests that…
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Solar Cell Developed from Carbon-Based Nanotech Materials
Researchers at Stanford University in California developed a solar cell made entirely of carbon, instead of silicon and more expensive materials found in current solar cells. The team that included contributors from University of Rochester in New York and Nankai University in China published their findings today in the online issue of the journal ACS…
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Cambridge Univ. Spin-Off Creates Drug Testing Stem Cells
A spin-off company from Cambridge University in the U.K. is commercializing a technology to convert adult stem cells into human liver cells suitable for drug testing. The technology, say its developers from Cambridge’s Anne McLaren Laboratory for Regenerative Medicine, can also test for a number of inherited liver diseases and has the potential to accelerate…
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Trial Shows Synthetic Cannabinoid Effective on Nerve Pain
Researchers at University of Calgary in Alberta, Canada find the drug nabilone, prescribed to treat nausea in chemotherapy patients, helps treat diabetic neuropathy, or nerve pain. The findings of Cory Toth and colleagues at Calgary’s Hotchkiss Brain Institute are reported in the October issue of the journal Pain (paid subscription required). Diabetic neuropathy results from…
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Study to Boost High-Speed Railroad Ties’ Durability
Research underway at Kansas State University in Manhattan aims to improve the durability of railroad ties designed for high speed rail systems in the U.S. and elsewhere. The work led by Kansas State engineering professor Kyle Riding is funded in part by a $1.2 milion grant from the Federal Railroad Association, an agency of the…
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Process Developed for Mass Nanotube Semiconductor Assembly
Researchers at IBM Corporation’s Thomas Watson research lab in New York developed a method for assembling high densities of carbon nanotubes on a wafer surface, a key advance in fabricating semiconductors. The IBM team led by Hongsik Park (picured right) published its findings yesterday online in the journal Nature Nanotechnology; paid subscription required. Carbon nanotubes…
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Storm Warnings (Update: We’re back)
The Washington, D.C. area, from where Science Business is published, is likely to take a direct hit from Hurricane Sandy tonight or tomorrow, 28-29 October, with widespread and extended power outages. As a result, Science Business may be dark for a few days, until power is restored. We will get back online as soon as…
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Challenge Seeks Smartphone GPS Jamming Detector
A new challenge on InnoCentive asks for a method of detecting GPS signal jamming devices using smartphones. The competiton (free registration required) has an award of $20,000 and a deadline of 3 January 2013. InnoCentive in Waltham, Massachusetts conducts open-innovation, crowd-sourcing competitions for corporate and organization sponsors. Global Positioning System (GPS) signals can be drowned…
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Lab-On-A-Chip Device Built for Visual Evaluation
Chemical researchers at Brigham Young University in Utah created a microfluidics device for lab tests that indicates the presence and concentrations of target substances with the naked eye. The findings of the team led by chemistry professor Adam Woolley appear online in the journal Analytical Chemistry (paid subscription required). Woolley’s team designed the device on…