Laser makes silicon pump liquid uphill with no added energy

20 hours ago | News

Researchers at the Univ. of Rochester's Institute of Optics have discovered a way to make liquid flow vertically upward along a silicon surface, overcoming the pull of gravity, without pumps or other mechanical devices.

Hand bacteria study holds promise for forensics identification

Mar 16 | News

Forensic scientists may soon have a valuable new item in their toolkits—a way to identify individuals using unique, telltale types of hand bacteria left behind on objects like keyboards and computer mice, says a new Univ. of Colorado at Boulder study.

A golden bullet for cancer

Mar 16 | News

Magic bullets, also called silver bullets, because of the folkloric belief that only silver bullets can kill supernatural creatures, remain the goal of drug development efforts today. A team of scientists at Washington Univ. in St. Louis is currently working on a magic bullet for cancer. But their bullets are gold rather than silver.

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.

Self-assembling computer chips

Mar 16 | News

The features on computer chips are getting so small that soon the process used to make them, which has hardly changed in the last 50 years, won’t work anymore. One of the alternatives that academic researchers have been exploring is to create tiny circuits using molecules that automatically arrange themselves into useful patterns.  

Testing century-old calculations

Mar 15 | News

Calculations are fine, but seeing is believing. That's the thought behind a new paper by Rice Univ. students who decided to put to the test calculations made more than a century ago.

Silk's secrets revealed

Mar 15 | News

Silks are among the toughest materials known, stronger and less brittle, pound for pound, than steel. Now scientists at MIT have unraveled some of their deepest secrets in research that could lead the way to the creation of synthetic materials that duplicate, or even exceed, the extraordinary properties of natural silk.

Conquering the chaos in multiprocessor computers

Mar 11 | News

Computers should not play dice. That, to paraphrase Einstein, is the feeling of a Univ. of Washington computer scientist with a simple manifesto: If you enter the same computer command, you should get back the same result.

Intentional environmental variations increase result validity in mouse testing

Mar 10 | News

For decades, the traditional practice in animal testing has been standardization, but a study involving Purdue Univ. has shown that adding as few as two controlled environmental variables to preclinical mice tests can greatly reduce costly false positives, the number of animals needed for testing and the cost of pharmaceutical trials.

Nature gives clues to a way to break down a common greenhouse gas

Mar 10 | News

A recent discovery in understanding how to chemically break down the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide into a useful form opens the doors for scientists to wonder what organism is out there—or could be created—to accomplish the task.

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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.