Science and Enterprise

Tag: computer science

  • Canadian Corporate R&D Spending Drops for 5th Straight Year

    Industry market research company Research Infosource in Toronto, Ontario says total corporate R&D spending in Canada dropped for the fifth year in a row in the 2010 fiscal year, despite an increase in revenues for these companies. The top R&D spenders among Canadian companies in 2010 were found in the information technology, engineering, and aerospace…

  • iPhone App Helps Delay Need for Reading Glasses

    Software released for iPhones and based on the work of a research team at Tel Aviv University in Israel can help middle-age eyes delay their need for reading glasses. The research, led by Uri Polat, a professor at the university’s medical school, addresses presbyopia, a condition where  near vision deteriorates because eyes cannot focus as…

  • Math Model Detects Financial Asset Bubbles

    Statisticians in the U.S. and France have devised a mathematical model that they say can detect asset bubbles, such as vastly over-valued stocks, in real time. Robert Jarrow of Cornell University and risk management company Kamakura Corp. in Honolulu, Younes Kchia at Ecole Polytechnique in Paris, and Philip Protter of Columbia University published their findings…

  • Q3 Venture Investments Rise in China, Decline in Europe

    Venture capital (VC) investments, according to Dow Jones VentureSource, moved in opposite directions in China and Europe during the third quarter of 2011. Dow Jones VentureSource is a database of investments from 67,000 venture-backed companies in North America, Europe, Israel, China, and India. In the third quarter, investors put $1.3 billion into 89 deals for…

  • $40K Challenge Seeks High-Speed Missing Food Finder

    A new challenge on InnoCentive seeks a method or process of identifying trays with missing food servings in a system where servings are delivered to trays one at a time at high speeds. The competition has a prize of $40,000 and a deadline of 2 January 2012 for submissions. InnoCentive in Waltham, Massachusetts is a…

  • Open-Source Software Models Human Muscle Movements

    A software package called OpenSim, developed by biomedical engineers at Stanford University in California, enables researchers and clinicians to simulate movements of human muscles. A participatory exhibit developed around OpenSim is now open at The Leonardo, a new Salt Lake City science and technology museum. OpenSim builds musculo-skeletal models used in research on ergonomics, rehabilitation,…

  • Gates Foundation, China to Partner on Health, Agriculture

    The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and China’s Ministry of Science and Technology announced a partnership to support research and development and manufacturing of new products to improve global health and agriculture. Bill Gates and vice-minister Zhang Laiwu signed an agreement that they say affirms their focus on meeting the needs of developing countries and…

  • Online Resource Helps Responders Identify Chemical Hazards

    An online tool, developed by a University of Virginia faculty member, will help emergency medical staff and other first responders identify more quickly the group of chemicals causing patients to become ill. Mark Kirk, a professor of emergency medicine with the University of Virginia Health System, led development of the Chemical Hazards Emergency Medical Management…

  • NSF Grant to Fund Savannah River Water Quality Monitors

    Clemson University in South Carolina says it received a grant to develop a computerized water-quality technology for the entire length of the Savannah River. The four-year grant, exceeding $3 million, is funded by the National Science Foundation’s Division of Computer and Network Systems. The system is expected to cover a network of buoys (pictured left)…

  • Investment Fund to Back Health Cost-Cutting Technologies

    The West Health Investment Fund, an angel capital enterprise in San Diego, unveiled its first set of investments and plans to support other entrepreneurs developing health care technologies and services designed to lower the cost of health care. Gary and Mary West, who established the fund, expect to invest $100 million in early-stage companies. The…