R & D articles from February 2006

R & D archives from February 2006

Right turn.(United States's American Competitiveness Initiative )(Editorial)
February 1, 2006... One of the most positive steps to come out of Washington, D.C., for improving U.S.-based R&D in recent memory is the American Competitiveness Initiative (ACI) announced by President Bush in his 2006 State of the Union address. The ACI commits...

LLNL delves deeper into carbon properties.(BULLETIN)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2006... Research conducted at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Calif., offers new insight into the physical and electronic properties of one of the Earth's oldest known constituents--elemental carbon. Despite important experimental...

Industry preps bird flu chip.(LABORATORY EQUIPMENT)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2006... Researchers from Europe's second-largest chip manufacturer, ST Microelectronics, Geneva, Switzerland, and Veredus Laboratories, Singapore, are planning to release a disposable lab chip capable of diagnosing avian flu, or bird flu, in...

SPIE throws weight behind EU initiative.(Society for Optical Engineering)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2006... The International Society for Optical Engineering (SPIE) has announced its support of the Photonics21 European Technology Platform. The platform serves as the strategic vision document for photonics in the upcoming Seventh Framework Program...

Spectroscopic technique yields finer details.(ANALYTICAL INSTRUMENTS)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2006... Researchers at the Univ. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) have offered up a new way of probing molecular structure on surfaces with the demonstration of single molecule absorption spectroscopy. Unlike single molecule fluorescence...

Changes abound in ITRS 2005.(VACUUM & THIN FILMS)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2006... Experts from the semiconductor arena have come together to make significant changes to the industry's International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors (ITRS).The document, released in late-December, has historically served as the industry's...

Solving the chaos in AFM.(Atomic force microscope )(Brief Article)
February 1, 2006... Atomic force microscope (AFM) users take note. According to engineers at Purdue Univ., West Lafayette, Ind., there now is evidence that chaos does, in fact, impact measurements made using AFM. "The idea that chaos interferes with measurements...

CLEO gears up in May.(Upcoming: Conferences & Events)(Calendar)
February 1, 2006... The Optical Society of America will hold its annual Conference on Lasers and Electro-optics Quantum Electronics and Laser Science (CLEO/QELS) at the Long Beach Convention Center, Calif., from May 21-26. This event is designed to update...

Solar Decathlon ramps up.(solar power home competitions )(Brief article)
February 1, 2006... The Dept. of Energy's (DOE) Solar Decathlon competition is moving ahead with the recent selection of 20 participating teams. Established in 2002, the competition draws teams from universities in the U.S., Europe, and Canada to design, build,...

Metrology acquisition.(TEST & MEASUREMENT)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2006... Metrology equipment supplier, Nanometrics Inc., Milipitas, Calif., will acquire Optical Technologies Inc., Bend, Ore., a supplier of process control and metrology systems, for $80.9 million in stock. The agreement between these companies,...

New steps in molecular switches.(MICRO/NANO TECHNOLOGY)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2006... The promise of molecular electronics continues to garner attention from research organizations. Of particular interest are methods to successfully combine individual molecules into functioning, nanoscale devices. This is the framework behind...

2006 Laboratory Design conference: April 3-5, 2006 Atlanta, GA Grand Hyatt Buckhead.(Calendar)
February 1, 2006... ... Where Your Next Laboratory Design And Renovation Project Should Begin SPRING 2006 CONFERENCE PROGRAM: MONDAY, APRIL 3, 2006 * Pre-Conference: Sustainability Beyond Energy Issues Lab Tours (tentative) * Whitehead...

Pharma facility finalists announced.(PHARMACEUTICAL)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2006... Officials from the 27th Interphex Conference and Exhibition have announced six pharmaceutical manufacturing sites as finalists for its second annual Facility of the Year Award. This year's finalists are as follows: AstraZeneca...

Better designs through math.(Data Management & Analysis)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2006... Engineers at Purdue Univ., West Lafayette, Ind., and Tel Aviv Univ., Israel, have created new theorems combining the mathematics of kinematics and statics. "These new theorems represent a common language and provide an understanding of what we...

Sorting genomes.(Data Management & Analysis)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2006... Using computers to mine genetic information is essential to progress in medical science and biotechnology. To that end, researchers at Argonne National Laboratory, Ill., are using hundreds of computers around-the-clock to analyze genomic...

Chemical sensor growth.(Data Management & Analysis)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2006... U.S. chemical sensor demand is predicted to grow 7.4% annually through 2009 to $4.2 billion. The fastest advances will be realized in sensor types that are the locus of newer technologies--for example, optical sensors and biosensors. In...

Wireless data forecast.(Data Management & Analysis)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2006... Wireless data services are predicted to make significant gains in U.S. businesses over the next several years. Expenditures by enterprise firms on wireless data will grow an average of 18% per year through 2009. In the small office, home office...

Asian R&D continues climb.(R&D ASIA)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2006... The 2005 Science Report, recently released by the UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), reaffirms other reports on the continuing growth of R&D spending in Asia. Created by the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS),...

China GDP up 16.8%.(gross domestic product )(Brief Article)
February 1, 2006... While most Western countries struggled with economic growth rates in the low single digits in 2004, China has revised its gross domestic product (GDP) growth upward to 16.8%. The revision was made to accommodate China's service sector, which...

Epson makes univ. ties.(R&D ASIA)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2006... Shinshu Univ., Nagano Prefecture, Japan, and Epson, Tokyo, have agreed to collaborate on research projects, human resource exchanges, and student internships. The agreement marks the first time for Shinshu Univ. to enter into a comprehensive...

Tokamak completion near.(R&D ASIA)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2006... The Chinese Academy of Sciences is nearing completion of the experimental advanced superconducting Tokamak (EAST) in Hefei, capital city of China's Anhui Province. Initial experiments could begin as early as July. The device was built for about...

MIT award to India.(R&D ASIA)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2006... The Global Indus Innovators' award was presented by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to Aid India's Tamil Nadu chapter, a non-profit organization, for its contribution toward community development. Part of Aid India's initiatives...

Safeguarding against terror with GC: gas chromatography is being applied on various fronts in the war against terror.
February 1, 2006... Homeland security involves protecting many locations from a variety of threats. Ports, borders, airports, subways, and buildings need to be defended from attacks by explosives or chemical and biological weapons. With this wide range of threats...

Simplifying electronic measurements.(POWER PROFILE)
February 1, 2006... A digitizer is a tool that electronics designers use to convert analog signals into digital representations of those signals. The two variables in these tools is resolution and sample rates with traditional digitizers having fixed resolutions...

Analyzing the universe, one atom at a time.(research studies on astrophysics)(services of William Raphael Hix)
February 1, 2006... Have you ever looked up into the night sky and wondered how the stars formed, how the universe evolved, and how we came to be made out of the stuff of stars? For William Raphael Hix, the pursuit of that wonder led him to the top of the...

San Francisco, CA 2006 MRS Spring Meeting: April 17-April 21.(Calendar)
February 1, 2006... APRIL 17 - APRIL 21 MEETING CHAIRS J. Chades Barbour Sandia National Laboratories jcbarbo@sandia.gov Paul S. Drzaic Alien Technology Corporation pdrzaie@alientechnology.com Gregg S. Higashi Applied...

Breaking color barriers.(study of bird coloration)
February 1, 2006... Kevin McGraw is an assistant professor in evolutionary and systems biology in the School of Life Sciences at Arizona State Univ., Tempe. He heads a group of researchers studying the function and evolution of bird coloration. McGraw's...

The rise of image analysis software: in many research arenas, image analysis tools have become as important as microscopes.
February 1, 2006... Software has become a major component of most research light microscope systems today. With the development of digital cameras and other capture methodologies that rely on the power of computing to capture, analyze, and organize data, it is...

The evolving turbomolecular pump: already the leader in high-reliability high-vacuum pumping, design improvements continue to enhance their capabilities.
February 1, 2006... Just as in the aerospace arena where jet turbine technologies continue to see dramatic improvements in thrust and reliability, the turbomolecular vacuum pump (TMP) continues to see new designs that improve their effectiveness and performance....

Getting the lead out.(Regulatory Update)
February 1, 2006... A new regulation proposed by the European Parliament restricting the use of certain hazardous substances in electrical equipment, known as RoHS, will be implemented on July 1. The new rule will affect anyone who produces any electrical or...

FreedomCar charges ahead.(Regulatory Update)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2006... In an effort to reduce America's dependence on oil, the FreedomCar program has been researching how to produce lithium-ion (Li-Ion) batteries with longer lifetimes for the purpose of inclusion into hybrid electric vehicles. Working toward...

States challenge CAIR rule.(Clean Air Interstate Rule)(lawsuits of air pollution rules)(Brief article)
February 1, 2006... Recently, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) agreed to reconsider an aspect of its Clean Air Interstate Rule (CAIR). The rule, which is expected to cap emissions of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides in the eastern U.S., was...

Nano reg debate continues.(regulations of nanotechnology)(Brief article)
February 1, 2006... Nanotechnology is being used in industries across the board. But, because of its promising future, researchers fear regulations will slow its advances. Nevertheless, there are also growing concerns that current laws provide little protection...

Safety in space tourism.(Brief article)
February 1, 2006... The U.S. Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) has indicated in a recent report that they are looking to extend current air travel safety measures into commercial space travel. Recognizing the possible threat of terror, the FAA has proposed that not...

Creating patterns with DNA.(deoxyribo nucleic acid)
February 1, 2006... Many research labs have formed simple structures with DNA, but researchers at Ohio State Univ., Columbus, have coaxed strands of DNA into structures that are so orderly and complex that they resemble stitches on a quilt. James Lee and Jingjiao...

Trapping & controlling atoms.(Emerging Technologies: Academic)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2006... Using the same semiconductor fabrication technology that is used in everyday computer chips, researchers at the Univ. of Michigan, Ann Arbor, have produced what is believed to be the first scalable quantum computer chip. The team was able to...

A high-speed alternative.(Emerging Technologies: Academic)
February 1, 2006... Engineers from the Pennsylvania State Univ., University Park, have shown that a white LED system for lighting, coupled with broadband over low-voltage power line grids (BPL), can deliver secure, wireless bit rates of 1Gb/sec, a rate exceeded...

Reduce power consumption.(Emerging Technologies: Academic)
February 1, 2006... A pair of newly-patented technologies may soon enable power-hungry imaging chips to use just a fraction of the energy used today and capture better images to boot. Researchers from the Univ. of Rochester, N.Y., have designed a prototype chip...

Shocking crystals produces light.(Emerging Technologies: Eureka)
February 1, 2006... For the past 50 years, lasers and free-electron lasers have been the only fundamental ways to produce coherent light. That has all changed with the recent discovery of a new source of coherent optical radiation that is distinct from lasers...

Memory design breakthrough.(reports of cobalt and nickel nanorings development)(Brief article)
February 1, 2006... Tiny, irregularly-shaped cobalt and nickel rings that can store a great quantity of information have been developed by researchers at The Johns Hopkins Univ., Baltimore, Md. The "nanorings" with diameters of about 100 nm, are immune to the...

Tiny crystals, big benefits.(research of semiconductor nanocrystals)(Brief article)
February 1, 2006... Carrier multiplication, in which semiconductor nanocrystals respond to photons by producing multiple electrons, is applicable to a broader array of materials than previously thought, including cadmium selenide. This discovery, made by...

Finding veins faster.(uses of ultrasound medical diagnostic equipment)(Brief article)
February 1, 2006... A team of researchers from Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, is developing a handheld device that uses Doppler ultrasound technology to find veins quickly. As medics move the device along a patient's arm or leg, the transducer emits a...