R & D articles from May 2005

R & D archives from May 2005

Time to buckle down.(managing energy resources for future)(Editorial)
May 1, 2005... One of the single largest research topics in the world is the search for an energy source that could at some time replace oil. There are very few stones being left unturned in this scientific race. But after hundreds of years of research there...

College life in the Smart House.(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... Duke Univ., Durham, N.C., has recently broken ground on its new "Smart House" project. The two-story, 418 [m.sup.2]-building, designed in conjunction with architect Frank Harmon, Raleigh, N.C., is intended to serve as a live-in engineering...

Moving NMR into the field.(ANALYTICAL INSTRUMENTS)(nuclear magnetic resonance sensor)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... The power of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) to accurately resolve molecular structures continues to drive its adoption. Translating this technology from the lab into the field, however, has proven to be a challenge due to its dependence on...

Paying for IC history.(BULLETIN)(integrated circuit)
May 1, 2005... This past April marked the 40th anniversary of the first publication of Moore's Law, the now famous axiom from Intel's co-founder, Gordon Moore, on the future of the integrated circuit (IC) in Electronics Magazine. For years, Intel, Santa...

Super-fast oscilloscope.(laboratory equipment)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... LeCroy, Chestnut Ridge, N.Y., has revealed a new oscilloscope operating at a record-breaking rate. According to the company, "at 100 GHz bandwidth, the Wave-Expert 9000 is the world's highest bandwidth digital oscilloscope." The increase in...

ReLEX takes center stage.(Upcoming Conferences & Events)(Calendar)
May 1, 2005... The editors of R&D Magazine and Laboratory Equipment magazine will host the 2nd annual Research Lab Expo (ReLEX) on June 21-22. This online expo is designed to provide an educational forum that addresses the advancement, needs and issues facing...

Doing battle with the Buckeye.(LASERS & OPTICS)(improvised explosive devices detection systems)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... A camera technology developed at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers R&D Center has demonstrated its effectiveness in locating improvised explosive devices (IEDs). Once aboard an aircraft, the Buckeye, and its associated software, is able to...

Time for the Tether Challenge.(MATERIALS)( National Aeronautics and Space Administration objectives)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... The recent success of Burt Rutan's (R&D Innovator of the Year 2004) Space Ship One, combined with the loss of the space shuttle Columbia and her crew, has prompted NASA to reinvest in new technologies and innovations capable of successfully and...

My first ancestor was ...(LIFE SCIENCE)(migratory history research using DNA tests)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... A unique research partnership recently forged between the National Geographic Society, Washington D.C., and IBM, Armonk, N.Y., has set out to trace the migratory history of the human species. Dubbed the Genographic Project, this five-year...

Nanomaterial IP mapped out.(MICRO/NANO TECHNOLOGY)(Nanotech Intellectual Property Landscape review reports)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... "A gold-rush mentality has taken hold in nanotechnology, and patents are the precious resource being hoarded." This is one of the themes outlined in a new research report, The Nanotech Intellectual Property Landscape, prepared by nanotech...

Upgrading STEM.(MICROSCOPY)(aberration-corrected scanning/ transmission electron microscope)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... Nanotechnology tool provider, FEI Co., Hillsboro, Ore., has announced the creation of the Titan 80-300, a dedicated aberration-corrected scanning/ transmission electron microscope (STEM) capable of achieving resolution levels below 0.07 nm. ...

Training man's best friend.(TEST & MEASUREMENT)(National Institute of Standards dog training for explosive ordnance disposal)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... A special program at the National Institute of Standards (NIST), Gaithersburg, Md., is helping to train some of the country's most perceptive hounds. Every month as many as 20 dogs and their handlers from federal agencies, as well as from local...

Growing diamond films.(Defense Office of Naval Research)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... A team consisting of members from the Univ. of Nebraska, Lincoln and the Univ. of Missouri, Rolla, has been awarded a multi-million grant from the Dept. of Defense Office of Naval Research, Washington, D.C., to explore the phenomena behind a...

Advancing RNAi.(PHARMACEUTICAL)(biomedical research techniques)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... The ability to silence genes by RNA interference (RNAi) is emerging as one of the most important advances in biomedical research. As potent as RNAi technology has proven to be, however, one of the conundrums in the field is that some genes...

MIT forges TParty initiative.(R&D[TM] ASIA)(Massachusetts Institute of Technology)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, and Quanta Computer Inc., the world's largest manufacturer of laptop PCs, Taipei, Taiwan, have announced a five-year, $20 million research collaboration aimed at developing the next...

Dupont broadens Asian chemical research.(R&D[TM] ASIA)(E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Co.)(National Chemical Laboratory)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... DuPont, the world's largest chemical producer, Wilmington, Del., has signed an ongoing research agreement with the National Chemical Laboratory (NCL), Pune, India. NCL employs more than 300 PhD scientists and more than 360 graduate students....

ABB opens Beijing site.(R&D[TM] ASIA)(ABB Group opens corporate R&D center)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... Automation and power technology provider, ABB Group, Switzerland, has opened its 10th global corporate R&D center in Beijing, China. The center is expected to work closely with ABB's other labs in the U.S., Europe, and India. Initial R&D will...

Hitachi forms China R&D hub.(R&D[TM] ASIA)(Hitachi (China) R&D Corp)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... Hitachi, Ltd., Tokyo, Japan, has spun off its R&D group in China as a new group company, Hitachi (China) R&D Corp. (HCR&D). The new company will be capitalized by Hitachi China at $6 million and launched with 80 employees, which is expected to...

ASTM/Japan define nanotech.(R&D[TM] ASIA)(National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science)(www.astm.org)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... The National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) in Japan has partnered with ASTM Int'l., W. Conshohocken, Pa., to develop a terminology standard for nanotechnology. AIST is a combination of 15 research institutes...

Novartis creates research magic in a candy factory: take the shell of a landmark building, add large doses of creativity, lighting, collaboration, and openness, and you have the formula for a new Lab of the Year winning category.(The Future of Laboratory Design: 2005 LAB OF THE YEAR)(Cover Story)
May 1, 2005... From sweets to science" is how the lead architect of this year s Laboratory of the Year winner describes their project that transformed an aging 46,500 [m.sup.2] candy factory near the Massachusetts Institute of Technology campus in Cambridge,...

Eye research site sees the light: an efficient lab plan, bold use of colors, and airy open spaces become the inspiring backdrop for the Schepens Eye Research Institute's research vision.(The Future of Laboratory Design: 2005 LAB OF THE YEAR)(Cover Story)
May 1, 2005... The use of color and lighting, added to the designers' acceptance of the existing structure and their sophisticated design, all represent a breathtaking transformation of what was once routine, anonymous space." This observation, from...

Measurement science's new mecca: the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) create a world-class measurement facility with unparalleled environmental controls--giving scientists a one-of-a-kind capability.(The Future of Laboratory Design: 2005 LAB OF THE YEAR)(Cover Story)
May 1, 2005... Spanning roughly 12 acres, the goal of the Advanced Measurement Laboratory (AML) at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Gaithersburg, Md., is to be, quite simply, the best measurement laboratory in the world. But to be...

Lab adopts "green" design: the Carnegie Institution of Washington's Global Ecology Center achieves sustainability while meeting the requirements of a laboratory.(The Future of Laboratory Design: 2005 LAB OF THE YEAR)(Cover Story)
May 1, 2005... Designed to last more than 100 years with little maintenance, the Carnegie Institution of Washington's Global Ecology Center, Stanford, Calif., sets a new standard for "green" buildings. Through its use of recycled material, waste minimization,...

Lab trends for the next five years: the next generation of laboratories built in the U.S. face a series of challenges--both economic and user-driven.(The Future of Laboratory Design: 2005 LAB OF THE YEAR)
May 1, 2005... What types of laboratories will be built within the next five years? What will drive these projects? What will their most dominant features be? The outcome to each of these items may very well be dictated by a series of trends driving the...

Inflation and increased demand push lab costs up: academic and government labs are increasing their lab build rates with higher demand pushing lab construction costs to uncharacteristic new highs.(The Future of Laboratory Design: 2005 LAB OF THE YEAR)
May 1, 2005... The small increases seen in R&D laboratory construction costs over the past several years have been overwhelmed by escalating economic forces since late-2004. These increases have resulted in an overall cost increase of approximately 6%,...

Geospatial tools guide environmental decisions: decision-support technologies monitor and analyze environmental events, helping users select appropriate responses.
May 1, 2005... A volcano erupts in a remote location in Antarctica. A fire rages through a distant forest. A flood devastates a faraway plain. If all these events take place with no one to observe them during the first hours of occurrence, does it matter? It...

Protocol changes reflect the need for international standards: proposed modifications to the USP's standards for balance measurements improve the user's interpretation of results and unify global measurement practices.(U.S. Pharmacopeia's)
May 1, 2005... Change is in the wind. The Pharmacopeial Forum--the U.S. Pharmacopeia's (USP), Rockville, Md., journal for the development and revision of its official standards--recently published recommended changes to the USR Chapter 41, Balances and...

Integrated optics drive fiber-to-the-home solutions: industry works to solve the inefficiencies that have stymied the creation of a reliable and widely accessible all optical telecommunications network for the home.
May 1, 2005... This past March, the Optical Fiber Communication and National Fiber Optic Engineers Conferences (OFC/NFOEC) were held together for the first time. More than 650 companies showcased their technologies--offering a glimpse into the future of...

Tackling death by decimals.(Emerging Technologies)
May 1, 2005... A study by HealthGrades Inc., Lakewood, Colo., found that as many as 195,000 people could be dying in U.S. hospitals every year because of easily preventable medication errors. To prevent such errors and maximize patient safety, Ohio Valley...

Mobile facial recognition.(Emerging Technologies)(Vision Face Recognition Sensor )(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... OMRON Corp., Kyoto, Japan, has unveiled the world's first face recognition technology for mobile devices. The OKAO Vision Face Recognition Sensor can be implemented in any camera-equipped mobile device without additional hardware being needed....

Stainless steel nanopowder.(Emerging Technologies)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... Conventional process methods for steel powders produce micron-sized particles. The [Tesima.sup.A] process, however, that was developed by Nanomaterials Limited, Hampshire, UK, generates nanoscale stainless steel powders. The process recently...

Stray voltage protection.(Emerging Technologies)(stray voltage detection mobile systems)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... Stray voltage caused by electricity leaking from the electrical distribution grid into exposed objects can pose a serious threat to people. Addressing this danger are scientists at Sarnoff Corp., Princeton, N.J., who created a mobile system...

EDAX's new Trident offers 3-in-1 analysis tool.(MANUFACTURERS' SHOWCASE)(Advertisement)
May 1, 2005... The new EDAX Trident System from AMETEK EDAX offers the unique combination of x-ray microanalysis, electron diffraction, and wavelength dispersal spectrometry in a single powerful tool for electron microscopes. It eliminates the need to...

Experience GWS Visio laboratory ergonomics.(MANUFACTURERS' SHOWCASE)(Advertisement)
May 1, 2005... The GWS Visio line from GWS Systems provides the lab user with the highest quality and most flexible system, adapting to the demanding needs of the lab today and tomorrow. GWS Visio increases your lab staff productivity while placing a strong...

Portable handheld data logger.(MANUFACTURERS' SHOWCASE)(Advertisement)
May 1, 2005... The OM-DAQPRO-5300 from Omega Engineering is an eight-channel portable data acquisition and logging system with graphic display and built-in analysis functions. It is powered by an internal rechargeable battery and is capable of sampling,...

ErgoHeigh[TM] auto-adjusting cleanroom work station.(MANUFACTURERS' SHOWCASE)(Advertisement)
May 1, 2005... Terra Universal's ErgoHeight[TM] Work Station eliminates back strain and injury by bringing the work surface to an ergonomically correct level for each user. Four preset height positions are stored in memory, and up/down and leveling controls...

IMT's complete MEMS and foundry capabilities.(MANUFACTURERS' SHOWCASE)(Innovative Micro Technology)(Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems)(Brief Article)(Advertisement)
May 1, 2005... Innovative Micro Technology (IMT) makes your MEMS work. IMT is a leading MEMS manufacturing partner with extensive experience in a wide range of applications. The datasheet lists services for design, prototyping, and high-volume manufacturing,...

New melting point apparatus.(MANUFACTURERS' SHOWCASE)(Brief Article)(Advertisement)
May 1, 2005... OptiMelt from Stanford Research System is the first fully-automated melting point apparatus that uses a built-in digital camera to determine melting points. Pictures are taken during a melt, image data is processed to determine the melting...

Millipore's new RiOs-DI[TM] 3 UV system converts tap water into consistently pure water.(MANUFACTURERS' SHOWCASE)(Brief Article)(Advertisement)
May 1, 2005... Millipore's economical and easy-to-use RiOs-DI 3 UV system is optimal for low volume, routine laboratory applications. The system combines all major purification technologies into a single disposable pack for easy maintenance. A built-in 254-nm...