Applied Sciences
The sputtering alternative-energy market, which has been mired in a deep slump for at least the last six months, is showing some signs of recovery.
| 3 min read
A team of scientists and engineers from Stanford, the University of Florida, and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory is the first to create one of two basic types of semiconductors using an exotic, new, one-atom-thick material called graphene. The findings could help open the door to computer chips that are not only smaller and hold more memory -- but are also more adept at uploading large files, downloading movies, and other data- and communication-intensive tasks.
| 3 min read
As more therapeutic proteins enter the market, an even larger number accumulate in biopharmaceutical drug pipelines. In order to improve assay quality and manage the growing workload, automated systems are needed to provide qualitative and quantitative information.
| 2 min read
Whether vacuum is utilized for analytical purposes in corporate R&D or in government or university laboratory settings, those who depend on vacuum pumps do not expect vacuum to have color. However, in very significant and measurable ways, vacuum can be green.
| 4 min read
Getting a new drug into the hands of patients is no easy feat. Pharmaceutical companies have to go through a myriad of tests in cell cultures, animals and humans before discovering and developing treatments for illnesses.
| 5+ min read
Algenol Biofuels, a three-year-old company, aims to make ethanol with blue-green algae, by feeding it a steady diet of carbon dioxide and farm animal waste.
| 5 min read
The cracking of concrete pavements is merely a nuisance, but cracks in roads, bridges and buildings are a hazard. A way of making concrete that healed such cracks spontaneously would thus be very welcome. And a team led by Henk Jonkers at the Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands may have come up with one.
| 2 min read
Skyline Solar, a startup that today announced its existence to the world, has developed a cheaper way to harvest energy from the sun. The company's solar panels concentrate sunlight onto a small area, reducing the amount of expensive semiconductor material needed to generate electricity.
| 3 min read
The U.S. military can now calibrate high-power laser systems, such as those intended to defuse unexploded mines, more quickly and easily thanks to a novel nanotube-coated power measurement device developed at the National Institute of Standards and Technology.
| 2 min read
Two University of California, Berkeley, faculty members will receive $30 million over the next five years to find better ways to separate carbon dioxide from power plant and natural gas well emissions and stick it permanently underground.
| 3 min read
Moving to improve informatics support in the fast growing area of biologics research, Symyx Technologies, Inc. has announced that it is extending an invitation to life scientists in industry and academia to join an expanded Biologics Advisory Board.
| 2 min read
In early April, Adam Wilson posted a status update on the social networking Web site Twitter just by thinking about it.
| 3 min read
