Making cells feel right at home

Mar 16 | News

The film "Avatar" isn't the only 3-D blockbuster making a splash this winter. A team of scientists from Houston's Texas Medical Center this week unveiled a new technique for growing 3-D cell cultures, a technological leap from the flat petri dish that could save millions of dollars in drug-testing costs.

Once a seafarers' scourge, the gribble could be biofuel hero

Mar 9 | News

Tiny marine isopods called gribbles were for centuries the bane of sailors, whose vessels were quickly devoured. Even today, piers and docks are rapidly gnawed away, and researchers have now been attracted to the enzymes in their gut, which can convert wood into sugars without the help of microbes.

Molecular midwives may have helped give birth to the genetic material of life

Mar 9 | News

Scientists at the Georgia Institute of Technology have discovered that small molecules could have acted as “molecular midwives” in helping the building blocks of life’s genetic material form long chains and may have assisted in selecting the base pairs of the DNA double helix.

Honeywell signs agreement to provide system-design for Shell

Mar 9 | News

Honeywell announced that it has signed a global five-year agreement to be a Main Automation Contractor (MAC) for Shell.

Next wave of microelectronic biomedical devices

Mar 9 | News

A team of  engineers from MIT’s Microsystems Technology Laboratory (MTL) are working on tiny, low-power chips that could diagnose heart problems, monitor patients with Parkinson’s disease or predict seizures in epileptic patients.

Lunar tires, space MRSA, and resonating microfluidics

Mar 5 | RDBlog

I typically attend the annual Pittsburgh Conference on Analytical Chemistry and Applied Spectroscopy each year in pursuit of specific coverage. This year, I sought out candidates for coverage in a vacuum technology article, and pulled together some instruments for a spectroscopy guide. But as busy as that kept me, it wasn’t all mass spectrometers and vacuum pumps on the show floor.  

New energy source comes from the common pea

Mar 5 | News

If harnessing the unlimited solar power of the sun were easy, we wouldn't still have the greenhouse gas problem that results from the use of fossil fuel. And while solar energy systems work moderately well in hot desert climates, they are still inefficient and contribute only a small percentage of the general energy demand. A new solution may be coming from an unexpected source—a source that may be on your dinner plate tonight.

Biochemists take a bead on gene-controlling code

Mar 4 | News

DNA may provide the blueprint for life, but scientists are learning more about the role of a chemical code that governs the way that blueprint is read. Univ. of Wisconsin-Madison researchers have developed a new technique for observing the proteins that operate by that controlling code—called the epigenome—and assembled a library of interactions between the proteins and key positions on packets of DNA.

The killing power of clay: Advancing antibacterial alternatives

Mar 4 | News

Researchers from the Arizona State Univ. have helped advance understanding about the antibacterial activity of clay minerals and their ability to kill what the best antibiotics on the market can't touch.  

Popular nanoparticle causes toxicity in fish

Mar 2 | News

A nanoparticle growing in popularity as a bactericidal agent has been shown to be toxic to fish, according to a Purdue Univ. study. Tested on fathead minnows—an organism often used to test the effects of toxicity on aquatic life—nanosilver suspended in solution proved toxic and even lethal to the minnows.

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Much ado about next to nothing

Mar 15

The recent review of the past 10 years of the National Nanotechnology Initiative--as presented by the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology--suggested the rise of nanomanufacturing as the near future of nanotechnology. But the actual proposed funding reflects a cautious approach, even about nanotech in general.

Lunar tires, space MRSA, and resonating microfluidics

Mar 5

I typically attend the annual Pittsburgh Conference on Analytical Chemistry and Applied Spectroscopy each year in pursuit of specific coverage. This year, I sought out candidates for coverage in a vacuum technology article, and pulled together some instruments for a spectroscopy guide. But as busy as that kept me, it wasn’t all mass spectrometers and vacuum pumps on the show floor.  

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NuGard Coating Ashburn Hill

Jan 7

NuGard First Response Protective Clothing are lightweight coveralls, jackets, and pants that provide protection from heat and flame while keeping the wearers body temperature constant.

Multi-Touch Music Maker

Jan 7

Professor David Wessel shows his multi-touch interface that uses computer technologies that allow him to experiment with fine controls to "caress" the instrument.