News
New advance in biofuel production
May 9, 2013 4:01 pm | CommentsAdvanced biofuels — liquid fuels synthesized from the sugars in cellulosic biomass — offer a clean, green and renewable alternative to gasoline, diesel and jet fuels. Bringing the costs of producing these advanced biofuels down to competitive levels with petrofuels, however, is a major challenge.
Hit a 90 mph baseball? Scientists pinpoint how we see it coming
May 9, 2013 3:47 pm | by EurekAlert! | CommentsHow does San Francisco Giants slugger Pablo Sandoval swat a 95 mph fastball, or tennis icon Venus Williams see the oncoming ball, let alone return her sister Serena's 120 mph serves? For the first time, vision scientists at the University of California, Berkeley, have pinpointed how the brain tracks fast-moving objects.
Research in the news: Shedding light on mental illness, one brain synapse at a time
May 9, 2013 2:01 pm | by Yale UniversityYale University | CommentsYale researchers used light to probe the actions of the neurotransmitter GABA on single synapses along the branches of a neuron. The work, appearing in the May 10 issue of the journal Science, provides new insight into the interactions of excitatory and inhibitory activity in brain cells — processes that appear to be disrupted in disorders such as autism and schizophrenia....
Scientists develop device for portable, ultra-precise clocks and quantum sensors
May 9, 2013 12:26 pm | by EurekAlert! | CommentsIn a joint project between the Universities of Strathclyde and Glasgow, Imperial College London and the National Physical Laboratory, researchers have developed a portable way to produce ultracold atoms for quantum technology and quantum information processing.
Cyan shares edge down in trading debut
May 9, 2013 11:41 am | by The Associated Press | CommentsShares of Cyan Inc. fell slightly in their trading debut after the company raised $88 million in an initial public offering. In midday trading, Cyan shares fell 4 cents to $10.96, after initially dropping as low as $9.96. Earlier, the company sold 8 million shares for $11 each in the IPO. In...
Spintronics discovery
May 9, 2013 11:37 am | by University of Delaware | CommentsFrom powerful computers to super-sensitive medical and environmental detectors that are faster, smaller and use less energy — yes, we want them, but how do we get them? In research that is helping to lay the groundwork for the electronics of the future, scientists have confirmed the presence of a magnetic field generated by electrons...
Harbinger fiscal 2Q loss widens
May 9, 2013 11:29 am | by The Associated Press | CommentsHarbinger Group Inc., the holding company run by hedge fund manager Philip Falcone, said Thursday its fiscal second-quarter loss widened, pulled down by losses related to its preferred stock. The company also said in a regulatory filing that it reached a settlement with the Securities and...
Texas-based IT company to open operations to Utah
May 9, 2013 11:25 am | by The Associated Press | CommentsUtah Gov. Gary Herbert's economic developers are announcing that an information technology company will open a western regional office in Salt Lake City. SolarWinds Inc. of Austin, Texas, is taking up Utah's offer of tax incentives tied to the number of jobs it creates. The company says it...
Huawei founder gives first ever media interview
May 9, 2013 11:17 am | by NICK PERRY, Associated Press | CommentsDuring 26 years at the helm of Chinese tech giant Huawei, founder Ren Zhengfei has never once agreed to be interviewed by a journalist. Until Thursday. During a visit to the company's New Zealand operations, Ren sat down with four local journalists at a Wellington hotel. The rules were strict: no international media, no photos.
World's first handheld sound camera ready for market
May 9, 2013 10:55 am | by EurekAlert! | CommentsMost car drivers have had the experience of hearing a buzzing, squeaky, or rattling sound while driving but not being able to figure out where the noise is coming from. The problem could be simple, requiring a quick fix, or could be serious enough to bring a car to a mechanic.
Wearable robots getting lighter, more portable
May 9, 2013 10:47 am | by CARLA K. JOHNSON, AP Medical Writer | CommentsWhen Michael Gore stands, it's a triumph of science and engineering. Eleven years ago, Gore was paralyzed from the waist down in a workplace accident, yet he rises from his wheelchair to his full 6-foot-2-inches and walks across the room with help from a lightweight wearable robot.
Improved material for 'laser welding' of tissue in intestinal surgery
May 9, 2013 10:46 am | by EurekAlert! | CommentsA new "solder" for laser welding of tissue during surgical operations has the potential to produce stronger seals and expand use of this alternative to conventional sutures and stapling in intestinal surgery, scientists are reporting. Their study, which involves use of a gold-based solder...
Batteries that bend and flex will transform electronics, transportation
May 9, 2013 10:41 am | by EurekAlert! | CommentsImagine a TV screen that hangs on the wall like a poster and rolls up like a window shade — or a smartphone that can fold up and fit into a pocket. It may sound like science fiction, but those technological marvels are moving closer to reality, thanks to advances toward development of flexible batteries....
Engineers fine-tune the sensitivity of nano-chemical sensor
May 9, 2013 9:42 am | by EurekAlert! | CommentsResearchers have discovered a technique for controlling the sensitivity of graphene chemical sensors. The sensors, made of an insulating base coated with a graphene sheet--a single-atom-thick layer of carbon--are already so sensitive that they can detect an individual molecule of gas.
Study shows that people organize daily travel efficiently
May 9, 2013 9:38 am | by EurekAlert! | CommentsStudies of human mobility usually focus on either the small scale — determining the origins, destinations and travel modes of individuals' daily commutes — or the very large scale, such as using air-travel patterns to track the spread of epidemics over time.
