General Sciences
Scientists moving 15-ton magnet from N.Y. to Chicago
June 17, 2013 6:20 pm | by Frank Eltman, Associated Press | News | Comments
Scientists on Long Island are preparing to move a 50-foot-wide electromagnet 3,200 miles over land and sea to its new home at the U.S. Department of Energy's Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory in Illinois. The trip, starting at Brookhaven National Laboratory, is expected to take more than a month.
Airborne laser reveals hidden city in Cambodia
June 19, 2013 1:08 am | by Kristen Gelineau, Associated Press | News | Comments
Laser technology has uncovered a network of roadways and canals, illustrating a...
Solar plane to help ground energy use
June 19, 2013 1:01 am | by Seth Borenstein, AP Science Writer | News | Comments
When it's in flight, there's no roar of engines. It's strangely quiet. And as it...
Scientists discuss new photo-taking satellite
June 19, 2013 12:52 am | by Dirk Lammers, Associated Press | News | Comments
Nearly 120 scientists and engineers from around the world are meeting in South Dakota...
Stop hyperventilating, say energy-efficiency researchers
June 18, 2013 2:10 pm | News | CommentsA single advanced building control now in development could slash 18%—tens of thousands of dollars—off the overall annual energy bill of the average large office building, with no loss of comfort, according to a report by researchers at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.
Printing tiny batteries
June 18, 2013 1:52 pm | News | Comments3-D printing can now be used to print lithium-ion microbatteries the size of a grain of sand. The printed microbatteries could supply electricity to tiny devices in fields from medicine to communications, including many that have lingered on laboratory benches for lack of a battery small enough to fit the device, yet provide enough stored energy to power them.
World’s most powerful microscope ready for research
June 18, 2013 1:26 pm | News | CommentsThe world’s most powerful microscope, which resides in a specially constructed room at the Univ. of Victoria, has now been fully assembled and tested, and has a lineup of scientists and businesses eager to use it. The seven-ton, 4.5-m-tall scanning transmission electron holography microscope, the first such microscope of its type, came to the university in parts last year.
Researchers design variant of main painkiller receptor
June 18, 2013 1:04 pm | News | CommentsOpioids are still the most effective class of painkillers, but they come with unwanted side effects. Designing new drugs of this type involves testing them on their corresponding receptors, but access to meaningful quantities of these receptors that work in experimental conditions has been a limiting factor. Now, researchers have developed a variant of the mu opioid receptor that has several advantages when it comes to experimentation.
A new high-energy record for LCLS
June 18, 2013 11:25 am | News | CommentsJohn Hill, a Brookhaven National Laboratory scientist, and his team watched with eager anticipation as controllers ramped up the power systems driving SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory's x-ray laser in an attempt to achieve the record high energies needed to make his experiment a runaway success. To reach the high x-ray energies they were aiming for, all of the 80 klystrons associated with LCLS would need to operate at near-peak levels.
New method helps distinguish between neighboring quantum bits
June 18, 2013 10:42 am | News | CommentsResearchers at the Univ. of New South Wales have proposed a new way to distinguish between quantum bits that are placed only a few nanometers apart in a silicon chip, taking them a step closer to the construction of a large-scale quantum computer.
Global cooling as significant as global warming
June 18, 2013 10:30 am | News | CommentsA “cold snap” 116 million years ago triggered a similar marine ecosystem crisis to the ones witnessed in the past as a result of global warming, according to recently published research. The international study confirms the link between global cooling and a crash in the marine ecosystem during the mid-Cretaceous greenhouse period.
China’s Tiahne-2 is the new world champ of supercomputing
June 18, 2013 9:27 am | News | CommentsTiahne-2, or Milky Way-2, a supercomputer developed by China's National Univ. of Defense Technology, is the new No. 1 ranked machine on the industry-standard Top500 list of the world's most powerful high-performance computing (HPC) systems.
Database helps building owners, investors evaluate energy-efficient buildings
June 18, 2013 7:32 am | News | CommentsA new database of building features and energy use data helps building managers, owners, real estate investors and lenders evaluate the financial results of energy efficiency investment projects and identify high- and low-performing buildings.
Surprising turns in magnetic thin films could lead to better data storage
June 18, 2013 7:19 am | by David L. Chandler, MIT News Office | News | CommentsA magnetic phenomenon newly discovered by Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers could lead to much faster, denser and more energy-efficient chips for memory and computation. The findings could reduce the energy needed to store and retrieve one bit of data by a factor of 10,000.
A way to detect new viruses
June 17, 2013 2:14 pm | News | CommentsIn recently published research, St. Louis Univ. researchers describe a technology that can detect new, previously unknown viruses. The technique offers the potential to screen patients for viruses even when doctors have not identified a particular virus as the likely source of an infection. In the new approach, scientists use blood serum as a biological source to categorize and discover viruses.
Is artificial sweetener a potential treatment for Parkinson’s disease?
June 17, 2013 11:42 am | News | CommentsMannitol, a sugar alcohol produced by fungi, bacteria and algae, is a common component of sugar-free gum and candy. The sweetener is also used in the medical field. Now a team from Tel Aviv Univ. have found that mannitol also prevents clumps of a protein from forming in the brain—a process that is characteristic of Parkinson's disease.
Printing artificial bone
June 17, 2013 10:23 am | by Denise Brehm, Civil and Environmental Engineering | News | CommentsResearchers working to design new materials that are durable, lightweight and environmentally sustainable are increasingly looking to bone for inspiration. While researchers have come up with hierarchical structures in the design of new materials, going from a computer model to the production of physical artifacts has been a persistent challenge. Now researchers have developed an approach that allows them to turn their designs into reality.
Lilly to take over development of diabetes drug
June 17, 2013 9:16 am | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsEli Lilly and Co. will pay Canadian drug developer Transition Therapeutics Inc. $7 million and take over the development of a potential diabetes treatment heading into mid-stage clinical testing. Transition said Monday it also could receive up to $240 million in additional payments, plus royalties if the treatment is eventually approved and sold.
Noble gases hitch a ride on hydrous minerals
June 17, 2013 7:43 am | by Kevin Stacey, Brown Univ. | News | CommentsThe noble gases get their collective moniker from their tendency toward snobbishness. The six elements in the family, which includes helium and neon, don’t normally bond with other elements and they don’t dissolve into minerals the way other gases do. But now, geochemists from Brown Univ. have found a mineral structure with which the nobles deign to fraternize.
New synthesis could make biofuel more appealing for mass production
June 17, 2013 7:32 am | by Anne Trafton, MIT News Office | News | CommentsMassachusetts Institute of Technology chemical engineers have devised a cheaper way to synthesize a key biofuel component, which could make its industrial production much more cost effective. The compound, known as gamma-valerolactone (GVL), is attractive because of its versatility. It has more energy than ethanol and could be used on its own or as an additive to other fuels.
Microsoft brings Office to iPhone, but not tablets
June 14, 2013 2:24 pm | by ANICK JESDANUN - AP Technology Writer - Associated Press | News | CommentsEven as a pared-down version of Microsoft's Office software package arrived on the iPhone, the company is holding out on extending that to the iPad and Android devices as it tries to boost sales of tablet computers running its own Windows system.
Testing method promising for spinal cord injuries, multiple sclerosis
June 14, 2013 7:49 am | News | CommentsA medical test previously developed to measure a toxin found in tobacco smokers has been adapted to measure the same toxin in people suffering from spinal cord injuries and multiple sclerosis, offering a potential tool to reduce symptoms. The toxin, called acrolein, is produced in the body after nerve cells are injured, triggering a cascade of biochemical events thought to worsen the injury's severity.
Can you feel me now?
June 14, 2013 7:31 am | by Jennifer Chu, MIT News Office | News | CommentsIn the near future, a buzz in your belt or a pulse from your jacket may give you instructions on how to navigate your surroundings. Think of it as tactile Morse code: vibrations from a wearable, GPS-linked device that tell you to turn right or left, or stop, depending on the pattern of pulses you feel.
Electronic nose nanosensor in development for food safety
June 13, 2013 3:47 pm | News | CommentsThe "electronic nose" sensor developed by a Univ. of California, Riverside engineering professor, and being commercialized by Innovation Economy Crowd (ieCrowd), will be further refined to detect deadly pathogens including toxic pesticides in the global food supply chain, according to a recently signed product development and distribution agreement.
Nanoparticle opens the door to clean-energy alternatives
June 13, 2013 1:57 pm | News | CommentsCheaper clean-energy technologies could be made possible thanks to a new discovery. A Penn State Univ. research team has found that an important chemical reaction that generates hydrogen from water is effectively triggered—or catalyzed—by a nanoparticle composed of nickel and phosphorus, two inexpensive elements that are abundant on Earth.
U.S. court says human genes cannot be patented
June 13, 2013 11:53 am | by JESSE J. HOLLAND - Associated Press Writer - Associated Press | News | CommentsThe U.S. Supreme Court ruled Thursday that companies cannot patent parts of naturally-occurring human genes, a decision with the potential to profoundly affect the emerging and lucrative medical and biotechnology industries. The high court's unanimous judgment reverses three decades of patent awards by government officials.
Scientists capture crystallization of materials in nanoseconds
June 13, 2013 10:16 am | News | CommentsLawrence Livermore National Laboratory researchers, for the first time, have created movies of irreversible reactions that occur too rapidly to capture with conventional microscopy. The team used multiframe, nanosecond-scale imaging in the dynamic transmission electron microscope to create movies of the crystallization of phase-change materials used for optical and resistive memory.
Silicon-based nanoparticles could make LEDs cheaper, greener
June 13, 2013 8:07 am | News | CommentsLight-emitting diodes, or LEDs, are the most efficient and environmentally friendly light bulbs on the market. But they come at a higher up-front price than other bulbs, especially the ones with warmer and more appealing hues. Researchers at the Univ. of Washington have created a material they say would make LED bulbs cheaper and greener to manufacture, driving down the price.
Detecting homemade explosives, not toothpaste
June 13, 2013 7:52 am | News | CommentsSandia National Laboratories researchers want airports, border checkpoints and others to detect homemade explosives made with hydrogen peroxide without nabbing people whose toothpaste happens to contain peroxide. That’s part of the challenge faced in developing a portable sensor to detect a common homemade explosive called a FOx mixture, made by mixing hydrogen peroxide with fuels.
