Selecting the Right Power Protection for Laboratory Instrumentation
Most laboratory professionals understand that it is imperative to follow the instructions in the manufacturer's site preparation guide to avoid system malfunctions and maximize the throughput and productivity of custom-designed testing systems, sequencers, gas chromatograph/mass spectrometers (GC/MS), and other scientific instruments.
Generation of Hydrogen Via an In-House Hydrogen Generator
The hydrogenation reaction, which is frequently used by chemists involved with the synthesis of compounds of pharmacological interest, involves the addition of hydrogen to an organic compound.
Toxicology Steps Up to Nanotechnology Safety
In Michael Crichton's novel Prey, the hero must outwit swarms of out-of-control nanoparticles that have become self-replicating, intelligent, and deadly.
Restructuring of HP Labs changes global profile
HP has long been seen as a leader in “Blue Sky” R&D, but times are changing. Earlier this month, the company announced plans to cut back from 150 projects to just 20 to 30 “big bang” sure bets. At a recent press event in Cupertino, Calif., HP showed off a few examples.
Pittcon 2008: Fume hoods pick up the green banner
As laboratory design continues its energy conservation trend, systems integral to a lab’s performance are beginning to follow suit. A notable breakthrough, shown at Pittcon this week, is Neutrodine technology, which allows the same fume hood filter to handle acids, solvents and bases.
Centroids to the rescue
Data has outgrown data analysis, say Brown Univ. mathematicians who have attempted to build a new class of statistical estimators. Called centroids, these replacements for likelihood estimators are better able to deal with immense data sets, such as those produced every day in labs throughout the U.S.
In science, not all papers are created equal
Wide and expanding daily, the sea of online information poses major navigation problems for scientists looking for relevant science journals and papers. Northwestern Univ.’s recent mathematical study helps rank 23 million research papers, using criteria such as citations.
Toxicology Steps Up to
Nanotechnology Safety
In Michael Crichton's novel Prey, the hero must outwit swarms of out-of-control nanoparticles that have become self-replicating, intelligent, and deadly.
The year's best labs chosen by R&D
R&D Magazine's annual Laboratory of the Year competition, in its 42nd year, wrapped up its judging yesterday. This year's top picks covered both academic and federal institute sectors, and yielded a surprising finding from the field of architects, engineers, lab planners and others who examined the candidate labs.
Crunching the Numbers: A Conceptual Cost Estimating System for LEED Facilities Ever since a sustainable design team first discussed the U.S. Green Building Council's (USGBC's) LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification system with their first potential "green" client, the question that has been on every client's lips has been, "How much will it cost?"
Sink or swim time for fusion research A critical U.S. Dept.of Energy meeting next week may determine America’s funding participation in history’s largest fusion research project. It’s not the first time the U.S. has cut its commitment, but this time it could mean the death of such research.
Mirroring economy, R&D investment applies the brakes R&D Magazine and Battelle recently published their annual R&D Funding Forecast, which details the shifting priorities of domestic corporate and federal R&D investment. Adjusted for inflation, this year’s small funding increase—to $367 billion—reflects economic trends.
Need a 3-D model fast? Turn on the printer A printer that “prints” thin layers of plastic which eventually form a 3-D model is proving invaluable at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC) for creating fast prototypes such as rotatable collimators. It’s not quite atom smashing, but it is a time-saving godsend for designers.
NASA’s “Chariot” to roam the moon Designed as a versatile, rugged truck for a 2020 mission to the moon, NASA’s lunar rover project, gold rims and all, took a year to build and got design cues from Harrison Schmitt, the last astronaut to drive a rover on the moon.
Large Hadron Collider gets final detector element The 15th last and piece of the Compact Muon Solenoid detector, all 1,430 tons of it, was lowered into at the CERN supercollider yesterday, completing an 8-year assembly. This summer, collisions begin.
Facing strict federal energy goals, auto suppliers join with big labs An agreement announced at the beginning of the Detroit auto show will attempt to address the challenges President Bush has placed before America’s big automakers. The goal: put high technology into cars faster.
Amundsen-Scott station replaces iconic South Pole dome As frigid temperatures crawled across the U.S. this month, the American flag was raised over an even colder locale. Twelve years in the making, the new U.S. research base will be safer and more productive despite its foreboding location.
Bush gets holiday wish with R&D package approval To expedite the resolution of unfinished appropriations business, the U.S. Congress drafted an omnibus appropriations bill combining 11 unfinished 2008 bills into one package. Part of the weight of this bill resulted from President Bush's earlier veto of a $30.2 billion proposal on a 2008 National Institutes of Health budget, which would have meant a 3.6% increase-or about $1.1 billion-over 2007.
Delivering High-Purity Water Designing, building and equipping a research lab is a challenge for any organization. But when you're a company involved in manufacturing a potential life-saving prognostic test, it becomes a fast-track project.
“Serious weaknesses” plague NIH pathogen lab safety report A National Institutes of Health draft assessment of the risks associated with a proposed biocontainment laboratory at Boston University is "not sound and credible," according to a National Research Council report requested by the state of Massachusetts.
A penguin stretches its “wings”
OMRON Electronic Components LLC, Schaumburg, Ill., has just released a new micro-electromechanical system (MEMS)-based flow sensor. Incorporating a unique cyclone-type Dust Segregation System (DSS), the new flow sensor is ideal for applications that require sensing of non-filtered, 'ordinary' air, such as variable air volume (VAV) ventilation systems.
One easy way to measure the importance of a news story (or at least the importance the media places on the story) is to glance at the number of results hoarded by Google’s “News” search tool. I couldn’t say if this is an accurate metric—there are blog search tools out there that might be a better metric—but it does seem to reflect either public interest on a topic or the money involved.
I began watching this number more closely after seeing that
a recent story in the UK’s Sunday Times about a genetically modified human embryo created in New York last year generated just 270 unique stories (or blogs or editorials as of this writing) on Google News after more than a day out in the open.
What gives? Though the researchers involved rightly used a non-viable embryo, and destroyed it after five days (presumably once their research goals were accomplished), the story generated little more outrage than could be mustered by a few conservative groups and perhaps the media itself.
I had expected a firestorm of controversy, but I guess we shouldn’t be surprised. The tide has turned. An administration hostile to this sort of stem cell R&D is wrapping up its term; California has already pledged $271 million to build stem cell facilities.
We could also find answers back at Google News. There are just too many competing news stories of note this week. Coverage of the Chengdu earthquake, for example, is approaching 3,000 significant stories (or blogs or editorials). The HP bid for EDS has taken over as the business story of the moment with nearly 2,000 articles.
There are literally dozens of stories that outrank the embryo revelations, including web gems—the secret UFO files in the UK recently released to the public—and obligatory hard news—Bush’s arrival in Israel for the celebration of the country’s 60-year anniversary.
I think everyone has realized that if the U.S. doesn’t get on board with this type of research, which looks both promising and profitable, someone somewhere else will be happy to give it a try.
