EurekAlert! - Technology, Engineering and Computer Science
Sun Apr 24 04:23:18 EDT 2011
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Virginia Tech researcher seeks to improve emergency hospital, community evacuations - (Virginia Tech) When a hurricane or another major threat requires an emergency evacuation of a hospital, or an entire coastal community, the logistics can be a nightmare fraught with dangers, missed cues, and the likelihood of traffic congestion and other problems that can halt or slow an evacuation. Douglas Bish, an assistant professor in the Virginia Tech College of Engineering, is doing research to alleviate some of uncertainties.

SDSC to venture capitalists: Data-intensive supercomputing is here - (University of California - San Diego) The exponentially increasing amount of digital information, along with new challenges in storing valuable data and massive datasets, are changing the architecture of today's newest supercomputers as well as how researchers will use them to accelerate scientific discovery, said Michael Norman, director of the San Diego Supercomputer Center at the University of California, San Diego.

The ultimate camo: Team to mimic camouflage skill of marine animals in high-tech materials - (Marine Biological Laboratory) Camouflage expert Roger Hanlon of the Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) is co-recipient of a $6 million grant from the Office of Naval Research to study and ultimately emulate the exquisite ability of some marine animals to instantly change their skin color and pattern to blend into their environment.

TGen findings contribute to understanding of diabetic kidney disease - (The Translational Genomics Research Institute) A gene called PVT1 may help reduce the kidneys ability to filter blood, leading to kidney disease, kidney failure and death, according to a study published today by researchers at the Translational Genomics Research Institute.

17th Annual International Sustainable Development Research Conference - (The Earth Institute at Columbia University) “Moving Toward a Sustainable Future: Opportunities and Challenges” is the theme of this three-day annual gathering of the International Sustainable Development Research Society, bringing together experts in agriculture, urban development, climate, business, education, architecture, public health and other fields. The fundamental question: how can global society’s aspiration for continued economic growth be harmonized with the limits imposed by earth’s resources? Speakers include Nina Federoff, Lester Brown, Sanjeev Chadha, Christiana Figueres, Achim Steiner and Jeffrey D. Sachs.

Optical microscope without lenses produces high-resolution 3-D images on a chip - (University of California - Los Angeles) UCLA researchers have redesigned the concept of a microscope, by removing the lens, to create a system small enough to fit in the palm of a hand, but powerful enough to create 3-D tomographic, or sectional, images of miniscule samples. The advance, published online this week in PNAS, represents the first demonstration of lens-free optical tomographic imaging on a chip, a technique capable of producing high resolution 3-D images of large volumes of microscopic objects.

What motivates environmental activists, policymakers? asks new research center - (University of Maryland) A new University of Maryland research center will focus on the human side of environmental policymaking and activism -- one of the first of its kind in the field."Environmental legislation and community activism doesn't just spring up in a vacuum," said Dana R. Fisher, a University of Maryland sociology professor who directs the new Center for Society and the Environment.

Researchers create functioning synapse using carbon nanotubes - (University of Southern California) Engineering researchers at the University of Southern California have made a significant breakthrough in the use of nanotechnologies for the construction of a synthetic brain. They have built a carbon nanotube synapse circuit whose behavior in tests reproduces the function of a neuron, the building block of the brain.

Carnegie Mellon researchers build time machine to visually explore space and time - (Carnegie Mellon University) Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University's Robotics Institute have leveraged the latest browser technology to create GigaPan Time Machine, a system that enables viewers to explore gigapixel-scale, high-resolution videos and image sequences by panning or zooming in and out of the images while simultaneously moving back and forth through time.

Scientists engineer nanoscale vaults to encapsulate 'nanodisks' for drug delivery - (University of California - Los Angeles) The first steps toward the development of the vault nanoparticle into a versatile and effective DDS are reported in this paper. The ability to encapsulate therapeutic compounds into the vault is a critical and fundamental obstacle in their development for small-molecule drug delivery. Recombinant vaults are engineered to encapsulate the highly insoluble and toxic hydrophobic compound all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) using a vault-binding lipoprotein complex that forms a lipid bilayer nanodisk.

Data miners dig for corrosion resistance - (Penn State) A better understanding of corrosion resistance may be possible using a data-mining tool, according to Penn State material scientists. This tool may also aid research in other areas where massive amounts of information exist.

Students tackle deforestation, win first prize with video game design - (University of Houston) Tackling deforestation, water pollution and poverty earned University of Houston students top honors in computer game designing at the US finals of the 2011 Microsoft Imagine Cup competition. With the annual contest drawing more than 74,000 of the nation's brightest technology students to Microsoft's headquarters, UH made quite an impact with three of its four finalists winning in game design.

MIT: Development in fog harvesting process - (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) Shreerang Chhatre is an engineer and aspiring entrepreneur at MIT who works on fog harvesting, the deployment of devices that, like the beetle, attract water droplets and corral the runoff. This way, poor villagers could collect clean water near their homes, instead of spending hours carrying water from distant wells or streams.

First articles in new neuroscience journal -- Brain Connectivity -- debut online - (Mary Ann Liebert, Inc./Genetic Engineering News) The new neuroscience journal, Brain Connectivity, set to become the premier source of cutting-edge basic and clinical research contributing to a better understanding of how structural and functional connections in the brain are organized, develop, and are altered in neurological disorders, launches with four compelling articles. Brain Connectivity, a bimonthly peer-reviewed journal, is published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. The articles and a full description of the Journal and its editorial leadership are available online.

Lawn of native grasses beats traditional lawn for lushness, weed resistance - (University of Texas at Austin) A lawn of regionally native grasses would take less resources to maintain while providing as lush a carpet as a common turfgrass used in the South, according to a study by ecologists at The University of Texas at Austin's Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.

Researchers find fat turns into soap in sewers, contributes to overflows - (North Carolina State University) Researchers from North Carolina State University have discovered how fat, oil and grease can create hardened deposits in sewer lines: it turns into soap! The hardened deposits, which can look like stalactites, contribute to sewer overflows.

UC Berkeley launches Synthetic Biology Institute to advance research in biological engineering - (Pontifex Marketing and Communications) Aiming to create "an industrial revolution in biological engineering," the Synthetic Biology Institute is launching a collaborative effort with its first Industry Member, Agilent Technologies Inc., a leader in measurement technologies and products to advance science and engineering research. Agilent is helping to initiate SBI research with a multi-year, multi-million dollar commitment, including early access to Agilent technologies through the active participation of the company's research scientists and engineers.

Wayne State University chosen as Michigan's sole participant in EcoCAR 2 - (Wayne State University - Office of the Vice President for Research) A team of Wayne State University students from the College of Engineering have been chosen to participate in EcoCAR 2: Plugging in to the Future, a one-of-a-kind program established by the US Department of Energy and General Motors. This three-year collegiate engineering program will educate the next generation of automotive engineers, giving them the knowledge and skills needed to continue the evolution of automotive propulsion technology and energy efficiency.

Columbia engineering study links ozone hole to climate change all the way to the equator - (Columbia University) In a study in the April 21 issue of Science, researchers at Columbia University's School of Engineering and Applied Science report their findings that the ozone hole, which is located over the South Pole, has affected the entire circulation of the Southern Hemisphere all the way to the equator. This is the first time that ozone depletion, an upper atmospheric phenomenon confined to the polar regions, has been linked to climate change from the Pole to the equator.

Say hello to cheaper hydrogen fuel cells - (DOE/Los Alamos National Laboratory) Los Alamos National Laboratory scientists have developed a way to avoid the use of expensive platinum in hydrogen fuel cells, the environmentally friendly devices that might replace current power sources in everything from personal data devices to automobiles.In a paper published today in Science, Los Alamos researchers Gang Wu, Christina Johnston, and Piotr Zelenay, joined by researcher Karren More of Oak Ridge National Laboratory, describe the use of a platinum-free catalyst in the cathode of a hydrogen fuel cell.

Growers rally behind purple flowers to support TGen cancer research - (The Translational Genomics Research Institute) A group of Ohio greenhouse growers hopes a "shock wave" of purple flowers will eventually roll across America in support of scientific research to end pancreatic cancer. Starting May 1, the Maumee Valley Growers and 16 affiliated northwest Ohio greenhouse retailers will raise funds for the Phoenix-based Translational Genomics Research Institute by selling "denim shock wave petunias" through a program called Plant Purple-Grow Hope.

Discovery identifies elaborate G-protein network in plants - (Donald Danforth Plant Science Center) "The next step will be to try and engineer plants to express altered amounts of these G-proteins to see how they affect their overall growth and can enable them to better respond to stresses that may be involved in limiting crop yield," Pandey said.

Starting a new metabolic path - (DOE/Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory) JBEI researchers have demonstrated a new technique that speeds up and improves the identification and quantification of proteins within a cell or micoorganism. Called "targeted proteomics," the new technique is expected to be an important new tool for the fields of metabolic engineering and synthetic biology.

Worm studies shed light on human cancers - (University of Wisconsin-Madison) Research in the worm is shedding light on a protein associated with a number of different human cancers, and may point to a highly targeted way to treat them.

Researchers construct RNA nanoparticles to safely deliver long-lasting therapy to cells - (University of Cincinnati Academic Health Center) Though RNA is viewed as a promising tool in nanotherapy, the difficulties of producing stable and long-lasting therapeutic RNA have posed challenges to research. In the journal Molecular Therapy, University of Cincinnati biomedical engineering professor Peixuan Guo, Ph.D., details the successful production of large RNA nanoparticles from smaller RNA segments. The nanoparticles had a half life of between five and 10 hours in animal models and targeted cancer cells in vivo to release therapeutics.