Economic Forces Continue to Drive Up Lab Construction Costs
Research laboratory construction costs are expected to increase in 2008 due to the same combustible mix of forces seen over the past several years—rising oil prices, aggressive labor demands, spikes in commodity prices, and an active construction market in North America. These forecasts are made by analysts at HLW International LLP, New York, N.Y.(Ted Hammer and Reza Agahian) and Accu-Cost Construction Consultants, New York, N.Y. (Edward Mermelstein).
Mixed-Flow Exhaust Systems Cut Vibration and Noise
Designing a world-class research facility requires careful planning, right down to the exhaust systems. The Integrative Science Complex (ISC) at the Univ. of Oregon, Eugene, is a unique approach to scientific research and technology problem solving, by bringing together scientists and researchers with different specialties and disciplines.
Project Blackbox puts big computing in a green package
Sun’s new Modular Datacenter S20, also known as Project Blackbox, looks like a shipping container. But it replaces brick-and-mortar setups with up to 280 servers and petabytes of storage. The Univ. of California, San Diego, is among the few universities to opt for this portable computing solution.
Selecting the Right Power Protection for Laboratory Instrumentation
Most laboratory professionals understand that it is imperative to follow the instructions in the manufacturer's site preparation guide to avoid system malfunctions and maximize the throughput and productivity of custom-designed testing systems, sequencers, gas chromatograph/mass spectrometers (GC/MS), and other scientific instruments.
Generation of Hydrogen Via an In-House Hydrogen Generator
The hydrogenation reaction, which is frequently used by chemists involved with the synthesis of compounds of pharmacological interest, involves the addition of hydrogen to an organic compound.
Toxicology Steps Up to Nanotechnology Safety
In Michael Crichton's novel Prey, the hero must outwit swarms of out-of-control nanoparticles that have become self-replicating, intelligent, and deadly.
Restructuring of HP Labs changes global profile
HP has long been seen as a leader in “Blue Sky” R&D, but times are changing. Earlier this month, the company announced plans to cut back from 150 projects to just 20 to 30 “big bang” sure bets. At a recent press event in Cupertino, Calif., HP showed off a few examples.
Pittcon 2008: Fume hoods pick up the green banner
As laboratory design continues its energy conservation trend, systems integral to a lab’s performance are beginning to follow suit. A notable breakthrough, shown at Pittcon this week, is Neutrodine technology, which allows the same fume hood filter to handle acids, solvents and bases.
Centroids to the rescue
Data has outgrown data analysis, say Brown Univ. mathematicians who have attempted to build a new class of statistical estimators. Called centroids, these replacements for likelihood estimators are better able to deal with immense data sets, such as those produced every day in labs throughout the U.S.
In science, not all papers are created equal Wide and expanding daily, the sea of online information poses major navigation problems for scientists looking for relevant science journals and papers. Northwestern Univ.’s recent mathematical study helps rank 23 million research papers, using criteria such as citations.
Toxicology Steps Up to
Nanotechnology Safety In Michael Crichton's novel Prey, the hero must outwit swarms of out-of-control nanoparticles that have become self-replicating, intelligent, and deadly.
The year's best labs chosen by R&D R&D Magazine's annual Laboratory of the Year competition, in its 42nd year, wrapped up its judging yesterday. This year's top picks covered both academic and federal institute sectors, and yielded a surprising finding from the field of architects, engineers, lab planners and others who examined the candidate labs.
Crunching the Numbers: A Conceptual Cost Estimating System for LEED Facilities Ever since a sustainable design team first discussed the U.S. Green Building Council's (USGBC's) LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification system with their first potential "green" client, the question that has been on every client's lips has been, "How much will it cost?"
Sink or swim time for fusion research A critical U.S. Dept.of Energy meeting next week may determine America’s funding participation in history’s largest fusion research project. It’s not the first time the U.S. has cut its commitment, but this time it could mean the death of such research.
Mirroring economy, R&D investment applies the brakes R&D Magazine and Battelle recently published their annual R&D Funding Forecast, which details the shifting priorities of domestic corporate and federal R&D investment. Adjusted for inflation, this year’s small funding increase—to $367 billion—reflects economic trends.
Need a 3-D model fast? Turn on the printer A printer that “prints” thin layers of plastic which eventually form a 3-D model is proving invaluable at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC) for creating fast prototypes such as rotatable collimators. It’s not quite atom smashing, but it is a time-saving godsend for designers.
NASA’s “Chariot” to roam the moon Designed as a versatile, rugged truck for a 2020 mission to the moon, NASA’s lunar rover project, gold rims and all, took a year to build and got design cues from Harrison Schmitt, the last astronaut to drive a rover on the moon.
Large Hadron Collider gets final detector element The 15th last and piece of the Compact Muon Solenoid detector, all 1,430 tons of it, was lowered into at the CERN supercollider yesterday, completing an 8-year assembly. This summer, collisions begin.
Facing strict federal energy goals, auto suppliers join with big labs An agreement announced at the beginning of the Detroit auto show will attempt to address the challenges President Bush has placed before America’s big automakers. The goal: put high technology into cars faster.
Amundsen-Scott station replaces iconic South Pole dome As frigid temperatures crawled across the U.S. this month, the American flag was raised over an even colder locale. Twelve years in the making, the new U.S. research base will be safer and more productive despite its foreboding location.
Bush gets holiday wish with R&D package approval To expedite the resolution of unfinished appropriations business, the U.S. Congress drafted an omnibus appropriations bill combining 11 unfinished 2008 bills into one package. Part of the weight of this bill resulted from President Bush's earlier veto of a $30.2 billion proposal on a 2008 National Institutes of Health budget, which would have meant a 3.6% increase-or about $1.1 billion-over 2007.
Delivering High-Purity Water Designing, building and equipping a research lab is a challenge for any organization. But when you're a company involved in manufacturing a potential life-saving prognostic test, it becomes a fast-track project.
“Serious weaknesses” plague NIH pathogen lab safety report A National Institutes of Health draft assessment of the risks associated with a proposed biocontainment laboratory at Boston University is "not sound and credible," according to a National Research Council report requested by the state of Massachusetts.
A penguin stretches its “wings”
OMRON Electronic Components LLC, Schaumburg, Ill., has just released a new micro-electromechanical system (MEMS)-based flow sensor. Incorporating a unique cyclone-type Dust Segregation System (DSS), the new flow sensor is ideal for applications that require sensing of non-filtered, 'ordinary' air, such as variable air volume (VAV) ventilation systems.
Last Thursday, the R&D Daily made one of its occasional forays into the fast-paced world of semiconductor technology, specifically extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUVL). According to new measurements from the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the photoresists designed for use with this hotly-anticipated new technology are twice as effective is previously thought.
The discrepancy was caused by an older measurement method. Unfortunately, it’s not great news for EUV developers because it strongly indicates existing optics are only half as effective as previously thought.
However, judging from a recent conversations with technical leaders at Cymer, a major U.S. maker of radiation sources for semiconductor lithography, the rolling ball that is EUVL won’t be stopped anytime soon.
Cymer is one of just a few companies at the forefront of a race to develop a viable EUV scanner to replace existing 193 nm argon-fluoride-based devices which now dominate the semiconductor industry. Like other companies, it pushing to design a powerful light source in the about 13 nm wavelength range. So far, it has achieved 25 W of continuous power and intends to break 100 W by year’s end. And, like other companies, it must deal with the intense heat generated by such light and design robust optics which are efficient enough to achieve conversion goals.
Only with adequate conversion efficiency will developers of EUVL be in a position to deliver the performance needed when the market wants it.
It remains to be seen whether EUVL is the new standard in 2012 (the target date for widespread adoption of new scanners). But R&D Magazine will be closely following the progress of this and other technologies aimed at the next-generation of microchips; the push to keep us on the path of that oft-cited economic law of Gordon Moore will continue to surprise us.
