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National Lab Software Helps Safeguard Public Water Supplies
Software developed at Sandia National Lab in Albuquerque, New Mexico gives public water utilities early warnings of water quality threats from terrorists or natural contaminants. The open-source code, written in partnership with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, is available as a free download. The software, known as CANARY, can tells utility operators in minutes of…
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Caltech Develops High Rez, High Speed, High Depth 3D Imaging
Researchers from California Institute of Technology (Caltech) in Pasadena have developed a new process for 3D optical imaging of live biological samples. The new approach that produces images of higher resolution, penetration depth — for seeing deep inside 3D samples — and imaging speed are described online in the journal Nature Methods (paid subscription required).…
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FDA Outlines Regulatory Science Needs for Drug Evaluations
The Food and Drug Administration published its proposed needs for regulatory science in the agency’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER), its main drug regulating division. The document is available for public review and comments, which close 60 days following the 21 July 2011 publication. CDER regulates over-the-counter and prescription drugs, including biological therapeutics…
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Project Developing Inexpensive Auto Safety Sensors
An EU-funded project is developing a sensor system for smaller cars to detect distances between cars on the road, and other safety features. The system, consisting of a camera, lenses, and infared LED, is being built by the Fraunhofer Institute for Reliability and Microintegration (IZM) in Berlin, Germany, with the Italian automaker Fiat and chip…
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Illinois Chemists Extend Functions of Glucose Meters
The inexpensive handheld glucose meters familiar to diabetics can now perform more diagnostic tests, based on research by chemistry faculty at University of Illinois at Champaign. Their findings appear in the online edition of the journal Nature Chemistry (paid subscription required). Chemistry professor Yi Lu and postdoc Yu Xiang found that glucose meters can be…
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Challenge Seeks Independent Acutator for Radiator Thermostat
A challenge at InnoCentive seeks a design of an independently powered actuator and power harvesting system for standard hot-water radiator thermostat valves. The competition, with a prize of $20,000, requires a written proposal. The due date for proposals is 22 September 2011. InnoCentive in Waltham, Massachusetts is a company the conducts open-innovation crowd-sourcing competitions for…
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Navy Develops Lightweight Power for Explosive Disposal Teams
The U.S. Office of Naval Research has developed a lightweight power system to cut the 50 pounds of battery devices hauled by the Navy’s explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) teams. Protonex Technology Corp. in Southborough, Massachusetts partnered with the Navy to build the system, called the Power Management Kit (PMK), and shipped five units to the…
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Prostate Cancer Compound Granted U.S. Patent
Adamis Pharmaceuticals Corp. in San Diego, California says the technology behind its cancer drug candidate has received a patent from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Claims in patent 7863324 “Chroman-Derived Compounds for the Treatment of Cancer” include methods for inhibiting the growth of prostate cancer cells, delaying the progression of prostate cancer, and preventing…
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Kaiser Permanente, UCSF Complete DNA Data Gathering
Researchers at health care provider Kaiser Permanente and University of California at San Francisco completed the genomic analysis of more than 100,000 older Kaiser Permanente members, the first phase of their project to better understand the genetic makeup of their patients. The NIH-funded research aims to provide scientists with high-quality, genetic data on a large…
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Prototype Spherical Robot Developed to Monitor Reactor Pipes
Engineers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology have developed a small robotic device to inspect underground pipes for corrosion at nuclear reactors. A prototype of the remote-controlled device was presented in May at the 2011 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation. The device, about the size of an egg and with a spherical shape, was…