-
Lundbeck, Foundation to Partner on Huntington’s Research
The U.S. subsidiary of the pharmaceutical company Lundbeck A/S and the CHDI Foundation in Los Angeles will collaborate on research for a targeted therapy for Huntington’s Disease. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed. Huntington’s disease is an inherited disease that causes the progressive degeneration of nerve cells in the brain, affecting a person’s…
-
Students Design Pill Dispenser for Visually Impaired
Two undergraduate students of design at University of Cincinnati in Ohio have designed and built a prototype of a prescription-medicine pill bottle that better serves the needs of the blind and visually impaired. Alex Broerman and Ashley Ma will display their device, for which a provisional patent has been filed, at the DAAPworks 2012 show,…
-
Grant to Fund Research on Network Efficiency Math Theory
The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council in the U.K. has awarded a £1.6 million ($US 2.5 million) grant to two researchers at University of York to study mathematical theory with applications in electronic communications, including the efficiency of wireless networks. The EPSRC grant will fund the work of York mathematicians Sanju Velani (pictured right)…
-
Circuit Manufacturer Acquires Wireless Network Developer
Silicon Laboratories Inc. in Austin, Texas has acquired Ember Corporation in Boston to supplement the Silicon Labs product line in low-power networking for home and business applications. The initial value of the purchase is placed at $72 million. Ember is expected to contribute $10-$12 million in revenue in the second half of 2012. Silicon Labs…
-
Statins Found to Reduce Cancers After Heart Transplants
A study by physicians and medical researchers at University Hospital Zurich in Switzerland indicates heart transplant patients taking statins — drugs used to lower cholesterol — reduced their risk of getting cancer, and were associated with overall survival independent of their cholesterol levels. The findings were reported yesterday at a meeting of the European Society…
-
Challenge Seeks Electric Power Utility Service Enhancements
A new challenge on InnoCentive seeks ideas to improve the process for electric power utilities to deploy two types of electricity services in a timely, cost-effective manner. The challenge has a payout of $15,000 and a deadline of 8 July for submissions. InnoCentive in Waltham, Massachusetts is a company the conducts open-innovation, crowd-sourcing competitions for…
-
Faster, Higher Capacity Memory Chip Developed
Engineers at University College London (UCL), with colleagues in France and Spain, have developed a silicon oxide memory chip that is faster can operate in ambient conditions. The discovery is described online in the Journal of Applied Physics (paid subscription required), and a patent has been filed for the technology. The team led by UCL…
-
Bay Area Consortium to Fund Large-Scale Solar R&D
The Bay Area Photovoltaic Consortium (BAPVC) unveiled its first research grants aimed at making utility-scale solar power cost-competitive by the end of the decade. The new funds from the consortium — an industry-backed venture led by Stanford University and the University of California-Berkeley — total $7.5 million. The grants will support 18 projects at BAPVC…
-
$525M Venture Fund to Back Tech, Science Companies
The venture capital company Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers in Menlo Park, California has closed a $525 million venture capital fund for equity investments in early-stage green technology and life sciences, as well as digital enterprise companies. The fund, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers XV LLC (KPCB 15) will be led by 10 of the…
-
Genetic Tests Not Triggering More Health Care Use
Researchers at Group Health Research Institute in Seattle, National Institutes of Health, Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, and Abt Associates in Bethesda, Maryland found patients who receive genetic tests for susceptibility to disease were no more likely to use medical services after receiving the results than before the tests. The study results appear online today…