News
Don't see your company?
Mercury-free sensor rapidly detects heavy metals in humans
August 1, 2011 12:51 pm | by M.B. Reilly | CommentsUniversity of Cincinnati researchers have developed the first lab-on-a-chip sensor to provide fast feedback regarding levels of the heavy metal manganese in humans. The low-cost, disposable invention is mercury-free and can deliver feedback within about 10 minutes.
High-speed 3D imaging system could improve cancer screening
August 1, 2011 12:44 pm | CommentsA new optical coherence tomography technology developed by a Massachusetts Institute of Technology team has made it possible for users of endoscopy to see below the surface of the colon or esophagus to image microscopic pre-cancerous changes. Traditional screening methods were unable to offer this information.
Ansys completes Apache Design acquisition
August 1, 2011 12:40 pm | by The Associated Press | CommentsEngineering software provider Ansys Inc. said Monday that it has completed its acquisition of Apache Design Solutions Inc. for $314 million in cash.Apache Design, a privately held company based in San Jose, Calif., specializes in designing simulation software for advanced, low-power solutions...
Water’s secrets revealed
August 1, 2011 12:38 pm | by David L. Chandler, MIT News Office | CommentsIn a recent video clip, Massachusetts Institute of Technology PhD student Yang Zhang demonstrates the way water can stay in a supercooled state if there are no nucleation centers present to start the freezing process. His recent research has helped form a controversial new theory about water’s behavior.
Google buys about 1,000 IBM patents
August 1, 2011 12:32 pm | by Peter Svensson, AP Technology Writer | CommentsAfter losing out to a consortium of technology companies during bidding for thousands of patents from the bankrupt Nortel, Google has bolstered its war chest with a collection of patents from IBM, one of the industry’s leading generators of intellectual property. The move has less to do with innovation than it does an effort to defend against lawsuits from other tech companies.
Bayer MaterialScience improves chlorine tech to reduce emissions, consumption
August 1, 2011 12:29 pm | CommentsWith the introduction of a new chlorine manufacturing process achieved by combining oxygen depolarized cathode technology and new electrolysis technology, Bayer MaterialScience is poised to save enough electricity to power a small city.
AT & T to throttle data speeds for 'unlimited' hogs
August 1, 2011 12:27 pm | by Peter Svensson, AP Technology Writer | CommentsOn Friday, AT&T became the latest wireless provider to limit speeds for users who go over certain limits for data consumption. AT&T stopped signing up new customer for unlimited plans last year, as did Verizon and T-Mobile and now will start throttling speed for a small percentage of “data hogs”.
Finding: Artificial nanoparticles influence the heart rate
August 1, 2011 12:23 pm | CommentsUsing a so-called Langendorff heart?an isolated rodent heart flushed with a nutrient solution in place of blood?scientists from Germany were for the first time able to show that nanoparticles have a clearly measurable effect on the heart.
The revised art of magnetic writing
August 1, 2011 8:09 am | CommentsWriting data on magnetic media is currently performed using magnetic fields produced by wires and coils. A new technique developed by a research team in Europe eliminates the need for cumbersome magnetic fields and provides a simple and reversible way to write memory elements.
Physicists make new find of magnetic skyrmions
August 1, 2011 8:06 am | CommentsSkyrmions are cycloidal spin structures of exceptional stability named after the theoretical physicist, Tony Skyrme, who first discovered them. Researchers in Germany have now found for the first time a regular lattice of these skyrmions on the surface of atomically-thin metal film. They are also different than any previously found skyrmions.
Skeptic's small cloud study renews climate rancor
August 1, 2011 6:40 am | by Seth Borenstein, AP Science Writer | CommentsA new study on how much heat in Earth's atmosphere is caused by cloud cover has heated up the climate change blogosphere. Several mainstream climate scientists call the study's conclusions off-base and overstated, while climate change skeptics tout the study, saying it blasts gaping holes in global warming theory.
New catalyst for ethanol made from biomass
August 1, 2011 6:28 am | CommentsEthanol production is currently dominated by catalytic chemicals derived from petroleum. To produce sustainable biofuels, however, researchers need to ferment ethanol from non-food plant matter. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory scientists say they can now convert bioethanol into isobutene in one production step.
Disease-causing tangle could spawn new materials
August 1, 2011 6:15 am | by David L. Chandler, MIT News Office | CommentsDense protein masses called amyloids are normally associated with Alzheimer’s and other disease. They typically are thought of as proteins that have failed to form precisely folded shapes. But materials researchers are taking inspiration from the physical characteristics of these bundles to theorize new, tough synthetic polymers.
Scientists produce largest-ever map of plant protein interactions
August 1, 2011 6:01 am | CommentsAn international consortium of researchers have mapped thousands of protein-to-protein interactions in Arabidopsis thaliana , a mustard plant that serves as a model organism for botanists. The completion of the first “interactome” of this species could improve selections for agriculture and pharmaceuticals.
Researchers say humans crowded out Neanderthals
July 29, 2011 9:11 am | CommentsScientists have long debated the reason why modern people replaced Neanderthals across Europe about 40,000 years ago. Theories have included differences in thinking ability and the effects of climate. New work contends that numerical supremacy alone may have been the deciding factor, but not everyone agrees.
