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Nanotech Fiber Material Converts Heat to Electricity
Researchers at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina have developed a fiber-like material with the ability to convert heat, such as body heat, into electric power. The team, which includes researchers from universities in New Zealand and Korea, and the company NanoTechLabs Inc. in nearby Yadkinville, North Carolina published its findings online in the…
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University Research Spinoff To Build Manufacturing Plant
Aquion Energy Inc. in Pittsburgh, a developer of sodium ion batteries and energy storage systems, says it will build its first large-scale manufacturing plant in southwestern Pennsylvania. Aquion Energy that makes energy storage systems for electrical power grids expects to create over 400 high-tech manufacturing jobs by the end of 2015. The company’s systems are…
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Energy Efficient, Low CO2, Lower Cost Cement Developed
Engineers at Drexel University in Philadelphia have developed a new cement that reduces energy use and carbon dioxide output by 97 percent compared to standard Portland cement. The research behind the new cement is described in the March 2012 issue of the journal Cement and Concrete Composites (paid subscription required). The new type of cement…
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Pharmacist/Tech Initiative Found to Cut Medication Errors
An initiative led by pharmacists, using information technology was found to reduce more prescription errors by general practitioners than simple automated feedback among patients at risk for these errors. The findings by a team led by University of Nottingham medical professor Tony Avery, himself a practicing G.P. , appear online in the journal The Lancet…
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GE, Carbon Trust to Partner on Clean Tech Start-Up Support
General Electric and the U.K. environmental organization Carbon Trust will collaborate on backing start-up companies in Europe focusing on clean technologies. The partnership comes as the share of European investment in clean energy has declined over the past five years. During the first 18 months of the partnership, the Carbon Trust and GE will identify…
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Device Improves Wheelchair Control for Spinal Cord Injured
A system designed at Georgia Institute of Technology enables people with high-level spinal cord injuries to operate a computer and electrically powered wheelchair by moving their tongues. The Tongue Drive, as the system is called, is scheduled for demonstration today by electrical and computer engineering professor Maysam Ghovanloo and colleagues at the IEEE International Solid-State…
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Bayer, Texas AgrilLife to Partner on New Wheat Varieties
Bayer CropScience in Monheim, Germany and Texas AgriLife Research in College Station will collaborate on developing improved types of wheat and taking them to market. Financial details of the deal were not disclosed. Researchers at the two organizations plan to develop wheat lines that offer drought and disease resistance which are important properties for wheat…
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Braille Texting App for Visually Impaired in Prototype
Georgia Institute of Technology researchers have built a prototype application for touch-screen mobile devices that aims to be a way of texting without the need to look at a handheld device’s screen. The team led by postdoctoral researcher Mario Romero in Georgia Tech’s interactive computing school will demonstrate the app this weekend at the Abilities…
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Cell Phone User Locations Open to Hackers via Networks
Computer scientists at University of Minnesota in Minneapolis have discovered a vulnerability in cellular networks that can allow hackers to follow individual cell phone users without their knowledge. Ph.D. candidate Denis Foo Kune, with fellow student John Koelndorfer and professors Nick Hopper and Yongdae Kim presented their findings earlier this month at the Network &…
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J&J, University to Partner on Spider Venom Therapy for Pain
Researchers at University of Queensland in Australia are collaborating with the U.S. pharmaceutical company Johnson & Johnson to develop components of spider venom as a potential treatment for pain. Johnson & Johnson’s Corporate Office of Science and Technology (COSAT) and other company units will provide funding to the university’s Institute for Molecular Bioscience for the…