R & D articles from March 2005

R & D archives from March 2005

Sniffing out danger.(Editorial)(Editorial)
March 1, 2005... While at the 56th Annual Pittsburgh Conference on Analytical Chemistry and Applied Spectroscopy (PITTCON) in Orlando, I was deluged with new product introductions on all types of sophisticated, high-end analytical instrumentation and software....

Intel achieves laser milestone.(Lasers & Optics)
March 1, 2005... The very nature which makes silicon a non-light emitting medium has long deterred manufacturers from integrating the inexpensive semiconductor in photonics-based applications. In a scientific breakthrough, using the Raman-effect for light...

Sandia develops saliva sensor.(Analytical Instruments)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... Since their development in the mid-1990s, lab-on-a-chip devices have primarily been used for detection of biotoxins or chemical agents. Researchers at Sandia National Laboratories, N.M., funded by the National Institutes of Health, Bethesda,...

Einstein@home takes off.(Bulletin)
March 1, 2005... Come celebrate physics and help solve one of science's unresolved mysteries. This is the premise behind the Einstein@home project, one of a series of programs being launched in recognition of the World of Physics (WYP) 2005 celebration. The new...

Tracking thin film progress.(Upcoming Conferences & Events)(Brief Article)(Calendar)
March 1, 2005... The International Conference on Metallurgical Coatings and Thin Films (ICMCTF 2005) is set to be held May 2-6 at the Town and Country Hotel in San Diego, Calif. Symposia have been organized to address experimental, theoretical, and...

Streamlining MEMS design.(Laboratory Equipment)
March 1, 2005... SolidWorks Corp., Concord, Mass., has partnered with Calif.-based Microfabrica, Burbank, and MOSIS, Marina Del Ray, to offer a new service, EFAB Access, for designing and prototyping 3-D microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) and microdevices....

Building up independent R&D.(Laboratory Design)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... An architectural model is shown of RTI International's new 7,246 [m.sup.2] state-of-the-art science and engineering laboratory, scheduled for first-phase completion in mid-2006. Of note, one wing of the building will be left incomplete...

2004 R&D pharma stats.(Pharmaceutical)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... New statistics released by the biotechnology and pharmaceutical research member companies of PhRMA show a record $38.8 billion in pharmaceutical R&D was invested in medicines in 2004 (up from $34.5 billion in 2003).This tops a steady increase...

Fluke enters indoor air quality market.(Test & Measurement)
March 1, 2005... Test and measurement provider Fluke Corp., Everett, Wash., plans to introduce a new line of indoor air quality (IAQ) test tools during 2005 in an effort to provide a more comprehensive portfolio of products for HVAC, building maintenance, and...

EU companies forge "green" steel consortium.(Materials)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... Several of Europe's largest steel manufacturers have responded to the European Commission's call for cleaner steel production methodologies. Led by Arcelor, Luxembourg, 47 European companies and organizations have now entered into an agreement...

Robots step into the limelight.(Robotics)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... C-3PO had it, and so did the Terminator: that tell-tale sign of human-inspired machinery, the robotic walk. With all the advancements being put forth in the area of robotics, the ability of robots to mimic the human gait has continued to be an...

Growing films on Hg.(Vacuum & Thin Films)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... Teams from Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Upton, N.Y., Harvard Univ., Cambridge, Mass., and Bar-Ilan Univ., Israel, are experimenting with growing ultra-thin organic films on a variety of mediums, including liquid mercury, with...

Looking for solutions to arsenic.(Life Science)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... The National Academy of Engineering has announced the creation of the Grainger Challenge Prize for Sustainability. The prize will award $1 million for a practical technology that can prevent the slow poisoning of people throughout the world as...

Funding for nanotech startups.(Micro/Nano Technology)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... Veneto Nanotech, Padua, Italy, is organizing an international business plan competition centering around nanotechnology, dubbed Nanochallenge. The competition is designed to give participants an opportunity to create a start-up company by...

"Snomipede" technology en route.(Microscopy)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... Take IBM's Millipede technology, mix it with a scanning near-field optical microscope (SNOM) and you get--Snomipede. A team from the UK's Universities of Sheffield, Nottingham, Manchester, and Glasgow has been awarded $5.7 million in funding to...

Organizing data amid chaos.(Data Management & Analysis)(disaster simulators)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... The timely response of decision makers to reports of natural or manmade disasters stands to be enhanced thanks to a project underway at the Center for Multisource Information Fusion at the Univ. at Buffalo, N.Y. Spearheaded by Peter Scott, the...

Peptide demand grows.(Data Management & Analysis)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... Europe lags behind the U.S. as the second largest market for therapeutic peptides. In 2003, the region accounted for $300 million of the $1 billion global therapeutic peptide market. This contribution is expected to increase to $605 million by...

Flourishing laser market.(Data Management & Analysis)(laser components)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... The global demand for laser components is dominated by the North American market. This market is forecast to rise at an 8.6% average annual growth rate (AAGR) and reach $1.8 billion in 2009. Contributing to this growth will be the diode laser...

System simplifies multi-tasking.(Data Management & Analysis)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... Imagine a virtual assistant constantly tracking the shuffling you do between different tasks on your computer. It learns your way of doing things, ultimately helping you organize the materials you need for different projects. Jon Herlocker, Tom...

The math matters in R&D.(Data Management & Analysis)(Maplesoft)
March 1, 2005... Does math matter? Of course it does. Our models, analysis, and designs all depend on sound footings in fundamental mathematics. A better question is how effectively do you harness the power of math? The reality is the effective use of...

USB DAQ is hot.(Data Management & Analysis)
March 1, 2005... Universal Serial Bus (USB)-based data acquisition (DAQ) systems have become one of the hottest items in the test and measurement community. With a number of suppliers producing low-cost devices, these plug-and-play systems can be used within...

Asia accepts Kyoto pact.(R&D Asia)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... The Kyoto global warming pact went into effect in mid-February, setting limits on carbon dioxide and five other gases attributed to increasing world temperatures. As of March 1, 143 countries had ratified the agreement, including the following...

India upgrades space capabilities.(R&D Asia)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) has announced that it will launch its first recoverable and reusable spacecraft later this year. The 500-kg recoverable craft will be launched using India's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV)...

Dow to open China IT center.(R&D Asia)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... Dow Chemical Co., Midland, Mich., has announced that it will create a new R&D Center in China. Along with the R&D center, the proposed facility will also include a global information technology center, along with other service and support...

Taiwan invests in India.(R&D Asia)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... Taiwan's Institute for Information Industry (III) plans to set up an R&D center in India by the fourth quarter of 2005. III sees a strong need to internationalize its operations and address the current shortage of qualified R&D personnel in...

Adobe builds Indian R&D site.(R&D Asia)
March 1, 2005... Adobe, the San Jose, Calif., digital imaging software company, has announced that it has set up a new R&D center on the outskirts of Delhi, India. The new $8 million facility will employ about 150 researchers and will focus on research in new...

Smart materials respond to changing environments: scientists are focusing their research on various materials that can solve problems in diverse applications, among them medical and aerospace.(Cover Story)
March 1, 2005... The materials most used in smart material systems fall into three classes: piezoelectric, magnetostrictive, and shape memory alloys (SMAs). All three undergo a reversible change in properties in response to an external stimulus. Piezoelectric...

It's Google mania! Google continues to innovate the way search engines serve the masses--all while creating its own unique corporate culture.(R&D Corporation of the Year)
March 1, 2005... When Larry Page and Sergey Brin came across each other 10 years ago, neither could have imagined the enormity of that meeting. Today Page and Brin's brainchild, www.google.com, sees an astounding number of queries keyed in on its no-frills...

Rees Scientific.(Corporate Profile)(Advertisement)
March 1, 2005... Since 1982, Rees Scientific has been protecting university and pharmaceutical research laboratories, animal rooms, blood banks, and other high security facilities from loss due to equipment failure; equipment such as LN2 freezers, ultra-cold...

Fluorescence research grows on all fronts: government and academic research labs are advancing fluorescence-based spectroscopy for medical and military applications.
March 1, 2005... KEYWORDS Fluorescence * Optics * Spectroscopy Fluorescence spectroscopy remains a powerful analytical technique for the detection and characterization of organic and inorganic compounds. Most of the power behind this methodology lies...

X-ray imager peers into an explosive world: an innovative approach harnessing crystals exposes the inner workings of the world's most powerful x-ray source.
March 1, 2005... KEYWORDS x-rays * Fusion * Nuclear Testing Curved diffraction gratings designed in a Rowland circle configuration have the property that a source located on the Rowland circle will be imaged on the circle at a location dependent on...

Biotechnology toolkit unveiled.(Regulatory Update)
March 1, 2005... Scientists from CAMBIA, Canberra, Australia, a not-for-profit organization licensing technologies under an open source principle, have unveiled the "kernel" of the world's first "explicit open source" biotechnology toolkit. These tools...

Faster access to NIH research pubs.(Regulatory Update)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has appealed to scientists to release manuscripts of their NIH-funded research within 12 months of final publication in an effort to accelerate the public's access to this work. The policy's origins...

GEOSS initiative outlined.(Global Earth Observation System of Systems)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... Nearly 60 countries and the European Commission, all participants of the Third Earth Observation Summit held in Brussels, Belgium, have committed to adopt a 10-yr implementation plan for the Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS)....

Decorporation agents tested.(Regulatory Update)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has released the "Guidance for Industry: Internal Radioactive Contamination-Development of Decorporation Agents" to help ensure that these drugs will be available to protect U.S. citizens from radiation...

EPA invites emissions input.(Regulatory Update)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... As part of their efforts to improve emissions monitoring, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has given notice of a proposed rule that requests public input on the monitoring requirements of the Operating Permits Program under Title V of...

IR system serves as teacher's aid.(Academic)
March 1, 2005... A technology currently being deployed at 300 universities, including Duke Univ., Durham, N.C., is allowing teachers to instantaneously gauge their pupils' understanding of classroom subjects with the use of handheld infrared (IR) transmitters....

Lotus-inspired surface.(Academic)
March 1, 2005... Car windows sprayed with a water-repellent coating may be a thing of the past thanks to a technology developed by a group of engineers at Ohio State Univ., Columbus. Using a computer model, the scientists design surfaces that mimic the bumpy...

Biological ADHD test.(Academic)(Attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... Attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) affects 3 to 7% of children. Up to now, the diagnosis of this condition was made through questionnaires. However, researchers at Brunel Univ., Middlesex, UK, have created a simple biological...

Orange-infused plastic.(Academic)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... A research team at Cornell Univ., Ithaca, N.Y., has discovered how to make plastics from a greenhouse gas and citrus fruits. With the help of a novel catalyst, the researchers made a polymer--polylimonene carbonate--using carbon dioxide and...

Robot secures unstable slopes.(Industrial)
March 1, 2005... Avalanches of rock and debris are a major problem in many countries around the globe. In the U.S. alone, landslides are blamed for 25 to 50 fatalities ev++ery year and cause an estimated $2 billion worth of damage annually. The current...

PC e-waste recycling.(Industrial)
March 1, 2005... Although PCs may contain hazardous materials, only 10% of unwanted systems are recycled. The Rethink Initiative, launched by eBay, San Jose, Calif., helps confront the problem of potentially environmentally hazardous "e-waste" in landfills. It...

Combating in-car noise.(Industrial)
March 1, 2005... Today's cars feature wider, lower tires that transmit greater road noise levels to passengers. This low frequency monotonous in-car noise can make drivers drowsy, increasing the risk of accidents. To address this problem, Lotus Engineering,...

Portable HIV test.(Industrial)
March 1, 2005... An inexpensive, portable device that quickly detects the presence of infectious diseases, such as HIV, is the object of a joint research project. The collaboration involves Pria Diagnostics LLC, Menlo Park, Calif., and Vanderbilt Univ.'s...

Genetic hooks specify selection.(Eureka)
March 1, 2005... Genetic changes commonly linked to a disease can be highlighted through studies that compare DNA from numerous patients. Such work provides scientists with the information needed to better understand and treat various disorders. The obstacle,...

Ubiquitous PC connectivity.(Eureka)
March 1, 2005... Toshiba Corp., Tokyo, Japan, has unveiled the world's first software that bridges the gap between mobile phones and PCs. Ubiquitous Viewer supports remote operation of a PC from a cellular phone. It provides access to any Windows-based...

Camera meshes two worlds.(Eureka)
March 1, 2005... TV broadcasts that combine live action outside a studio and computer-generated images could become a reality. This is made possible by a camera navigation technology funded by the UK's Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council,...

Human-machine interface.(Eureka)
March 1, 2005... A tap on any flat surface gives an acoustic signature that is unique for the exact point of impact. This signature is used by ReverSys, developed by Sensitive Object, Paris, France, to make everyday objects interactive. A small sensor detects...

High Torque Linear Actuators.(R&D Manufacturers' Showcase)(Advertisement)
March 1, 2005... Computer controlled High Torque Linear Actuators from Edmund Industrial Optics are designed to replace manual micrometer heads on translation stages. With a maximum thrust of 70N, they are able to move stages with heavier loads. The resolution...

Millipore's Direct-Q[TM] 3 system cost-effectively meets pure and ultrapure water requirements.(R&D Manufacturers' Showcase)(Advertisement)
March 1, 2005... Millipore's new Direct-Q 3 system supplies both pure (Type 3) water for basic applications such as final glassware rinsing and ultrapure (Type 1) water for critical applications such as HPLC mobile-phase preparation. This cost-effective,...

Economical 2-pen circular process recorder.(R&D Manufacturers' Showcase)(Advertisement)
March 1, 2005... The OMEGA CT7300 is an economical 2-pen circular process chart recorder that measures and records up to two process variables from a variety of inputs. Record and optional alarm settings are easily configured for multiple recording...

JMP version 5.1.(R&D Manufacturers' Showcase)(Advertisement)
March 1, 2005... Learn how JMP software can help your organization make significant process improvements that increase the efficiency of doing business and give you a competitive edge. JMP links statistics with graphics to interactively explore, understand, and...

Ultra high resolution FESEM.(R&D Manufacturers' Showcase)(Advertisement)
March 1, 2005... The ULTRA FESEM from Carl Zeiss SMT delivers simultaneous ultra high resolution compositional BSE and topographic SE imaging. ULTRA, using renowned GEMINI[R] FESEM technology, comprises a fully integrated Energy and angle selective...

Ocean Optics introduces its highest-sensitivity spectrometer.(R&D Manufacturers' Showcase)(Advertisement)
March 1, 2005... The Ocean Optics QE65000 is a remarkably sensitive scientific-grade spectrometer that can achieve up to 90% quantum efficiency for demanding low-light level applications such as fluorescence, oil analysis, DNA sequencing, and Raman...

CARVER offers new Monarch hydraulic lab presses.(R&D Manufacturers' Showcase)(Advertisement)
March 1, 2005... CARVER, Inc. introduces Monarch presses with integral hydraulic systems and high technology options. All equipped with expanded metal safety guards for operator and bystander protection. Available in 30-, 50-, 75-, and 100-ton clamp capacities...

Keithley's 2005 catalog.(R&D Manufacturers' Showcase)(Advertisement)
March 1, 2005... Keithley Instruments' 2005 catalog offers details and specifications on the company's general-purpose and sensitive sourcing and measurement products, DC switching, RF switching and measurement, data acquisition solutions, semiconductor test...

Structured wiring center.(New Products)
March 1, 2005... ETCON Corp. has released a new structured wiring center for organizing voice, data, and video in your "connected" home. The new DD1X1 modular wiring device with 110 phone distribution for up to 4 lines now features an 8-way 2050 MHz splitter,...

Thermal management solution for military electronics.(New Products)
March 1, 2005... Thermal Management Solution for Military Electronics For military electronics, CPS Corp. offers AlSiC (aluminum silicon carbide), an alternative thermal management solution to copper and/or tungsten. Used for weight-sensitive, air-borne, and...

Single quadrupole mass spectrometer.(New Products)
March 1, 2005... Thermo Electron Corp. has launched the Finnigan Surveyor MSQ Plus, its next generation single quadrupole LC/MS detector. Targeted at chromatographers in the pharmaceutical and drug discovery environments, the Finnigan Surveyor MSQ Plus extends...

FreeZone Stoppering Tray Dryer.(New Products)
March 1, 2005... The Labconco FreeZone Stoppering Tray Dryer for use with Labconco FreeZone 6-, 12-, and 18-L Freeze Dry Systems, has three shelves for batch or bulk product lyophilization. A built-in stoppering mechanism pneumatically seals containers on all...

Photo detectors for homeland security applications.(New Products)
March 1, 2005... Hamamatsu Corp. offers photo detectors with a wide array of photomultiplier tubes for design into systems that detect chemicals, radiation, and other bio-terrorism agents. Measuring 16 mmx 12 mm, the R7400U's 8-stage electron multiplier...

LSM 5 LIVE from Carl Zeiss.(New Products)
March 1, 2005... The new LSM 5 LIVE confocal microscope from Carl Zeiss is designed specifically for studies on living specimens, with real-time observation of cellular motion and interaction. Collecting up to 120 confocal images per sec at a resolution of 512...

Ultrasonic sensors.(New Products)
March 1, 2005... Honeywell introduces the 941-D line of ultrasonic sensors. Unlike photoelectric technology, these sensors are not affected by dust, light, and color. The sensors' non-touch technology makes them generally more reliable than electromechanical...

Automated, multi-channel chemistry analyzer.(New Products)
March 1, 2005... A multi-channel chemistry analyzer from Nova Biomedical provides a real-time, on-line method for monitoring key nutrients, metabolites, and gases in cell culture media. The BioProfile 400 Automated Chemistry Analyzer offers ten measured tests,...

Low light level integrating sphere calibration standard.(New Products)
March 1, 2005... Optronic Laboratories now offers the OL Series 466, which can perform accurate calibrations of highly sensitive instruments under moderate to extremely low light levels. The OL Series 466 serves as a large area, uniform, diffusely radiating...

High temperature chromatography solutions.(New Products)
March 1, 2005... Since most HPLC chemists prefer the selectivity of silica-based columns, Selerity Technologies Inc. introduces a new polydentate silica phase. The column is stable at temperatures up to 200[degrees]C, with increased pH stability. When used with...

Power and energy meter.(New Products)
March 1, 2005... Spiricon Power Products Inc. announces a new universal, portable, dual channel power and energy meter for the measurement of lasers and other optical sources. The Universal Meter for Power and Energy (MPE-2500) interfaces to thermopile,...

Holographic gratings.(New Products)
March 1, 2005... Wasatch Photonics announces its product line of true volume phase holographic gratings (VPHGs). These gratings operate in transmission geometries and have high dispersion capability and high efficiencies for polarization modes. VPHGs possess...