Cradle turns smartphone into handheld biosensor
May 23, 2013 3:26 pm | by University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign | CommentsResearchers and physicians in the field could soon run on-the-spot tests for environmental toxins, medical diagnostics, food safety and more with their smartphones. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign researchers have developed a cradle and app for the iPhone that uses the phone’s built-in camera and processing power as a biosensor...
ESO's Very Large Telescope celebrates 15 years of success
May 23, 2013 2:48 pm | by EurekAlert! | CommentsWith this new view of a spectacular stellar nursery ESO is celebrating 15 years of the Very Large Telescope — the world's most advanced optical instrument. This picture reveals thick clumps of dust silhouetted against the pink glowing gas cloud known to astronomers as IC 2944.
Researchers reveal model of Sun's magnetic field
May 23, 2013 2:41 pm | by EurekAlert! | CommentsResearchers at the Universities of Leeds and Chicago have uncovered an important mechanism behind the generation of astrophysical magnetic fields such as that of the Sun. Scientists have known since the 18th Century that the Sun regularly oscillates between periods of high and low solar activity in an 11-year cycle, but have been unable to fully explain how this cycle is generated.
UBC engineer helps pioneer flat spray-on optical lens
May 23, 2013 2:29 pm | by EurekAlert! | CommentsA University of British Columbia engineer and a team of U.S. researchers have made a breakthrough utilizing spray-on technology that could revolutionize the way optical lenses are made and used. Kenneth Chau, an assistant professor in the School of Engineering at UBC's Okanagan campus, is a key investigator among colleagues at the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Maryland.
The world's favorite fruit only better-tasting and longer-lasting
May 23, 2013 2:04 pm | by EurekAlert! | CommentsTomatoes, said to be the world's most popular fruit, can be made both better-tasting and longer-lasting thanks to UK research with purple GM varieties. "Working with GM tomatoes that are different to normal fruit only by the addition of a specific compound, allows us to pinpoint exactly how to breed in valuable traits," said Professor Cathie Martin from the John Innes Centre.
Doctors save Ohio boy by 'printing' an airway tube
May 23, 2013 2:01 pm | by MARILYNN MARCHIONE, AP Chief Medical Writer | CommentsIn a medical first, doctors used plastic particles and a 3-D laser printer to create an airway splint to save the life of a baby boy who used to stop breathing nearly every day. It's the latest advance from the booming field of regenerative medicine, making body parts in the lab.
US envoy in Cuba engages critics on and offline
May 23, 2013 1:54 pm | by PETER ORSI, Associated Press | CommentsThe meeting on a sunny Havana square was a little bit revolutionary for Cuba's revolution. And for U.S. diplomacy as well. Dozens of young bloggers and tweeters gathered to talk about their place in a socialist society whose leaders have referred to the Internet as "a wild colt" to be tamed and make access difficult for all but a few.
NYU researchers took bribes from Chinese group
May 23, 2013 12:52 pm | by The Associated Press | CommentsThree New York University researchers from China divulged results from a U.S.-funded study to Chinese competitors in exchange for tuition, rent and other expenses, federal prosecutors said Monday. Zhu Yudong, a U.S.-educated NYU professor, and Yang Xing, a lab engineer, were released on bail after appearing in court...
Rice University students engineer electricity-generating shoes
May 23, 2013 12:49 pm | by Rice University | CommentsA group of Rice University mechanical engineering students are getting a charge out of having the coolest new shoes on campus. As their capstone project that is required for graduation, four seniors created a way to extract and store energy with every step.
Innovation could bring flexible solar cells, transistors, displays
May 23, 2013 11:44 am | by Purdue University | CommentsResearchers have created a new type of transparent electrode that might find uses in solar cells, flexible displays for computers and consumer electronics and future "optoelectronic" circuits for sensors and information processing. The electrode is made of silver nanowires covered with a material called graphene, an extremely thin layer of carbon.
Tests lead to doubling of fuel cell life
May 23, 2013 11:34 am | by Simon Fraser University | CommentsResearchers working to improve durability in fuel cell powered buses, including a team from Simon Fraser University, have discovered links between electrode degradation processes and bus membrane durability. The team is quantifying the effects of electrode degradation stressors in the operating cycle of the bus on the membrane lifetime.
Milwaukee-York researchers forward quest for quantum computing
May 23, 2013 11:13 am | by EurekAlert! | CommentsResearch teams from UW-Milwaukee and the University of York investigating the properties of ultra-thin films of new materials are helping bring quantum computing one step closer to reality. An on-going collaboration between physicists is focusing on understanding, tailoring and tuning the electronic properties of topological insulators...
Tesla uses stock, note sale to repay government
May 23, 2013 10:56 am | by TOM KRISHER, AP Auto Writer | CommentsTesla Motors, which makes a highly acclaimed $70,000 electric car, has paid off a startup loan from the U.S. government nine years early. The Palo Alto, Calif., company said it wired in a $451.8 million payment to the government on Wednesday.
Solar plane completes 2nd leg of trip in Texas
May 23, 2013 10:54 am | by The Associated Press | CommentsA solar-powered plane has landed in Texas, completing the second leg of a trip across the United States. The Solar Impulse is making the first attempt by a solar airplane capable of flying day and night without fuel to fly across the U.S.
Michiganians share $4.3M in e-book price-fix deal
May 23, 2013 10:15 am | by The Associated Press | CommentsMichigan Attorney General Bill Schuette says state residents will receive about $4.3 million as part of a nationwide settlement in an e-book price-fixing case. Schuette said Wednesday that the state has reached an agreement with Penguin to settle allegations that it and other publishers...