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.

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.

Pepperl+Fuchs acquires Siemens proximity sensor business

Mar 15 | News

Pepperl+Fuchs has signed an agreement with Siemens Industry Automation Division to acquire Siemens’ binary proximity sensor business. The acquisition is expected to be finalized effective June 30, 2010.

High-speed pipeline revs up biomass analysis

Mar 11 | News

Researchers at the National Renewable Energy Lab are analyzing 1,000 samples of biomass at a time, finding which one, combined with the right enzyme, most eagerly gives up its sugars to be converted into biofuel. Their work is part of an effort to meet federal regulations that require the U.S. produce 36 billion gallons of biofuel by 2022.

Study validates general relativity on cosmic scale, existence of dark matter

Mar 11 | News

An analysis of more than 70,000 galaxies by physicists in the U.S. and Switzerland demonstrates that the universe—at least up to a distance of 3.5 billion light years from Earth—plays by the rules set out 95 years ago by Albert Einstein in his General Theory of Relativity.

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.

Broadband wireless from a desk lamp?

Mar 10 | News

The Optical Society of America has highlighted an upcoming presentation at an annual optics conference San Diego in which the researchers from Germany will describe a method for encoding a wireless broadband signal through the light generated by a common household lamp. Visible-frequency signals have a tremendous advantage in bandwidth, and modulation would be so fast no one would notice the flickering.

Earthquake engineers send second recon team

Mar 9 | News

It’s been a busy time for seismologists, but massive earthquakes also provides work for experts in civil engineering, urban planning, architecture, geography, and social support. The Earthquake Engineering Research Institute had just published its team report of the magnitude 7.0 quake in Haiti when the Chilean city of Concepción was moved 10 feet to the west by the most recent 8.8 magnitude earthquake.

Alternative energy crops in space

Mar 9 | News

What if space held the key to producing alternative energy crops on Earth? That's what researchers are hoping to find in a new experiment on the International Space Station. The experiment, National Lab Pathfinder-Cells 3, is aimed at learning whether microgravity can help jatropha curcas plant cells grow faster to produce biofuel, or renewable fuel derived from biological matter.

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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.