Tag: chemistry
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Aqueous Solution Tested to Reduce Carbon Nanotube Toxicity
Engineers at University of Florida in Gainesville are investigating ways of reducing the toxicity of carbon nanotubes, a promising technology with applications in semiconductors, energy storage, and displays. The latest findings of environmental engineer Jean-Claude Bonzongo, chemical engineer Kirk Ziegler, and their Florida colleagues appear in the March 2012 issue of the journal Nanotoxicology (paid…
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Camera Captures Photos of Objects Beyond Line of Sight
Researchers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Harvard, and Rice University have devised a system that can produce recognizable 3-D images of objects outside of a camera’s line of sight. Their findings are described in this week’s issue of the journal Nature Communications (paid subscription required). The interdisciplinary team of engineers, mathematician, and chemist, led by…
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U.S. Patent Awarded for Airborne Pathogen Diagnostic Device
PositiveID Corporation in Delray Beach, Florida says it has received a patent on a key element of its technology to test for airborne bacteria and viruses and deliver results within 30 minutes. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office awarded patent no. 8,133,451 for the technology on 13 March 2012 and assigned it to Microfluidics Systems,…
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Agilent to Develop Salmonella, Fish Species Tests for FDA
Agilent Technologies Inc. in Santa Clara, California, a developer of instrumentation for chemical and life science analysis, unveiled its agreement with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to develop new tests for the agency’s regulation of food. One set of tests for FDA will identify salmonella more precisely, while a different test suite will use…
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Air Pollutants Found Near Hydraulic Fracturing Gas Wells
Research conducted at the University of Colorado School of Public Health in Denver indicates the natural gas drilling practice known as hydraulic fracturing or fracking may be causing the release of toxic chemicals in the air near drilling sites. The findings of Lisa McKenzie, a Colorado public health research associate, and colleagues have been accepted…
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Graphene Electrodes Developed for Supercapacitors
Researchers at University of California in Los Angeles have developed electrodes for supercapacitors, energy storage devices that charge and discharge faster than batteries, using a one-atom-thick layer of carbon called graphene. Their findings appear in his week’s issue of the journal Science (paid subscription required). In addition to faster charging and discharging, supercapacitors store substantially…
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NIH, Eli Lilly to Partner on Drug Effects Profiles
National Institutes of Health and Eli Lilly and Company will produce a public resource that catalogs the effects of thousands of approved and investigational medicines in a variety of testing systems. Biological profiles of these medicines and molecules are expected to help biomedical researchers better predict treatment outcomes and improve drug development. NIH’s new National…
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U.S. Patent Awarded for Isobutanol Production Process
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has granted Gevo Inc. in Englewood, Colorado, a maker of biofuels from renewable feedstocks, a patent for its process of producing isobutanol with reduced accumulation of by-products. Patent no. 8,133,715, “Reduced By-Product Accumulation for Improved Production of Isobutanol,” was awarded today to 12 inventors and assigned to Gevo. Isobutanol…
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Nanotubes Boost Biosensors for Faster Medical Diagnostics
Researchers at Oregon State University in Corvallis have adapted carbon nanotubes to increase the speed of biological sensors that can reduce the time and costs for medical lab tests. The team led by physics professor Ethan Minot published their findings last month in the journal Lab on a Chip (paid subscription required). Carbon nanotubes are…
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Photo-Printing Technology Developed for 3-D Polymer Shapes
Researchers at University of Massachusetts in Amherst have developed a simple technology for producing three-dimensional shapes from thin polymer films. The findings of the work by Ryan Hayward, Christian Santangelo, and their UMass colleagues appear in the current issue of the journal Science (paid subscription required). The new method, funded by National Science Foundation, involves exposing…