Techonology, Engineering and Computer Science News

Food, water safety provide new challenges for today's sensors
24 May 2012, 4:00 am
(DOE/Oak Ridge National Laboratory) Sensors that work flawlessly in laboratory settings may stumble when it comes to performing in real-world conditions, according to researchers at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

Funding will establish platform technology for emerging synthetic biology field
24 May 2012, 4:00 am
(Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council) The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council will help the UK's world-leading researchers in synthetic biology to establish platform technology in the emerging field with a new grant of almost £5 million. Platform technology is the crucial next step necessary for applications to be produced and commercialized.

Tiny planet-finding mirrors borrow from Webb Telescope playbook
24 May 2012, 4:00 am
(NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center) NASA's next flagship mission -- the James Webb Space Telescope -- will carry the largest primary mirror ever deployed. This segmented behemoth will unfold to 21.3 feet in diameter once the observatory reaches its orbit in 2018.

Minister announces £250M strategic investment in UK bioscience
24 May 2012, 4:00 am
(Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council) Minister for Universities and Science, David Willetts, will today announce substantial funding that will ensure the UK's bioscience research base remains globally competitive and at the forefront of meeting the grand challenges faced by society in the coming decades. The announcement will be made by the Minister during a visit to the Babraham Research Campus, near Cambridge, and highlighted again during a major speech at the University of East Anglia in Norwich.

The American Society for Microbiology announces the 2012 Award Laureates
24 May 2012, 4:00 am
(American Society for Microbiology) The American Society for Microbiology (ASM) is proud to announce the 2012 award laureates. The awards will be presented during the 112th General Meeting of the ASM, June 16-19, 2012, in San Francisco.

A nanoclutch for nanobots
24 May 2012, 4:00 am
(American Institute of Physics) Chinese researchers have designed and tested simulations of a "nanoclutch," a speed regulation tool for nanomotors.

Slip-and-slide power generators
24 May 2012, 4:00 am
(American Institute of Physics) Researchers from Vestfold University College in Norway have created a simple, efficient energy harvesting device that uses the motion of a single droplet to generate electrical power.

NASA satellites feed forecasters information as Bud becomes a hurricane
24 May 2012, 4:00 am
(NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center) Bud has now become the first hurricane of the eastern Pacific Hurricane Season, as NASA visible and infrared satellite imagery revealed an organized structure of spiraling thunderstorms around the eye. Watches and warnings are already in effect for southwestern Mexico as Bud nears.

Helmsley Charitable Trust grants $6.3 million to University of Louisville for neurosurgery
24 May 2012, 4:00 am
(University of Louisville) The University of Louisville has received $6.3 million from the Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust to support research in the Department of Neurological Surgery and the Kentucky Spinal Cord Injury Research Center at UofL developing the next generation of technology to help paralyzed people regain movement in their limbs and enhance their quality of life.

NASA's TRMM satellite sees some heavy rainfall in Typhoon Sanvu
24 May 2012, 4:00 am
(NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center) Tropical Storm Sanvu strengthened overnight as forecast and is now a Typhoon in the western North Pacific Ocean. NASA's Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission satellite observed that most of the rainfall is falling in the eastern half of the storm.