Researchers from Johns Hopkins and the University of Pennsylvania have uncovered another reason why the Myc protein - one of the most commonly activated proteins in cancer - is so dangerous. Myc can stop the production of at least 13 microRNAs, small pieces of nucleic acid that help control which genes are turned on and off. A...

High-performance, single photon sources are closer to reality. A single photon can be used to implement secure optical communication, also known as quantum cryptography. According to scientists, a single photon signature that took eight hours five years back can now be achieved on a millisecond time scale. This was achieved...

An optical device that peers through the eyes of a mouse enables scientists to monitor the cells passing through its bloodstream, holding hope for researchers treating cancer and other diseases. The device, developed by researchers from the Wellman Center for Photomedicine at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical...

A method to detect image position errors includes forming a first pattern with a symbol embedded therein and a second pattern which, when positioned on the first pattern, exposes the symbol if the misalignment between the first and second patterns exceeds a position error tolerance. The symbol is perceivable with the unaided eye,...

Finding the source of pollutant emissions is no easy task when one has to look inside a dirty combustion chamber. But an Iowa State University researcher may have a solution. Terry Meyer, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering at Iowa State, is using laser-based sensors to capture images at upwards of thousands of...

Each month, NTB highlights tech briefs related to a particular area of technology in a special section called Technology Focus. Here are some of the technologies featured in the December issue focus on Data Acquisition.

Panoramic Video Patent Portfolio. Ten issued US patents for sale. Several U.S. applications: Computer Graphics Processing and Selective Visual Display Systems, Television, and Optics. Watermarking, Cryptography & Anti-Piracy Patent Portfolio. Eleven issued US patents for sale. Several U.S. applications: Electrical...

The world's most powerful medical magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machine at the University of Illinois at Chicago has passed safety tests and will soon offer doctors a real-time view of biological processes in the human brain. The MRI, called the 9.4 Tesla (9.4T), will allow physicians to observe metabolic processes in real...

Science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) courses often employ graphs, diagrams, and figures, putting students with visual disabilities at a significant disadvantage. The company Livescribe has created a smartpen and paper technology that aims to bring these subjects to life for blind students. Andy Van Schaack, a lecturer at...

Technology is required to enable real-time detection of defects during the welding process. This could be achieved by a system that monitors parameters during the welding process and then analyzes changes, ascertains the presence and location of a weld defect, and if possible, its nature. Potential solutions should be...

The University of California-Davis has licensed a new plug-in hybrid vehicle technology to Efficient Drivetrains Inc. (EDI) of Palo Alto, CA. EDI was founded in 2006 to commercialize the technology brought about by decades of work by Andy Frank, professor of mechanical and aeronautical engineering at UC Davis. Unlike hybrid-electric...

Researchers at Chalmers have succeeded in combining a receiver for high frequencies with an antenna on a small chip. Measuring just a few square millimeters, the receiver integrates an antenna, low-noise amplifier, and frequency converter, monolithically integrated on gallium arsenide. The receiver is designed to operate at...

The hassle of going through airport security and taking off shoes, watches, belts, and other items could be alleviated with a safe form of electro- magnetic radiation called T-rays, or terahertz radiation. Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory, along with collaborators in Turkey and Japan, have...

A cantilevered microbeam temperature sensor is free from the residual or induced stress characteristic of standard bridge-type strain gauges. The microbeam is supported at one end, and the other is free to oscillate relative to the substrate and is isolated from changes in strain caused from flexure of a diaphragm. The beam's...

Advances in limb prostheses have not obscured the fact that these devices still lack a sense of touch. Now, scientists from Northwestern University in Chicago have shown that transplanting the nerves from an amputated hand to the chest allows patients to feel hand sensation there. The findings could pave the way toward...

Before you run out and buy the latest electronic games and devices for your kids this holiday season, Temple University and University of Delaware psychologists want you to think simple. They say the overarching principle is that children are creative problem-solvers and discoverers, and they are active. Children build their...

The MV1000 and MV2000 paperless portable recorders from Yokogawa Electric Corp. (Newnan, GA) have been named NASA Tech Briefs Product of the Month for December. The recorders have integrated display, recording, and communications functions. They record on-site changes in temperature, voltage, current, flow, and pressure.

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Engineers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have developed and tested a laser-based ranging system to assess the performance of automobile collision warning systems. Industry and the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) will use the technology to develop safety systems that alert drivers to...

Storing carbon dioxide below the Earth's surface could be a safe, long-term solution to one of the planet's major contributors to climate change. University of Leeds research shows that porous sandstone, drained of oil, could provide a safe reservoir for carbon dioxide. The study found that sandstone reacts with injected fluids more...

RAID (Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks) is a storage architecture that offers data security in case of system failure. A company seeks patented technologies fundamental to the architecture of RAID levels 0, 1, 5, and 6, and also in patented technologies that relate to them, such as hot swap, hot spare, RAID level...

NASA has selected 18 middle and high school teams across 12 states to fly in the 2007-2008 Student Launch Initiative rocketeering challenge. The annual challenge is designed to inspire young people to pursue careers in science, engineering, math, and technology - fields vital to NASA's ongoing mission in space. The Student Launch...

Hydrogen as an environmentally friendly fuel source may be closer than we think, according to Penn State researchers. The researchers are employing microbial fuel cells to convert cellulose and other biodegradable organic materials directly into hydrogen, using naturally occurring bacteria in a microbial electrolysis cell...

To help solve the problem of identifying smuggled special nuclear material (SNM), researchers at Sandia National Laboratories in California say a neutron scatter camera under development may be able to detect radiation from much greater distances and through more shielding than current detection instruments. According to...

A high-temperature ceramics-based composite exhibits superior heat and oxidation resistance and frictional properties. The material comprises a dense carbon-fiber-reinforced SiC-infiltrated composite or a dense SiC-infiltrated composite with granular carbon dispersed. It shows excellent machineability and frictional properties....

Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory have developed a tool to quantitatively measure elusive atmospheric chemicals that play a key role in forming photochemical smog. The device measures atmospheric hydroperoxyl radicals - short-lived, highly reactive intermediates involved in forming...

Mechdyne Corporation's VRCO Inc. subsidiary has demonstrated real-time interaction with professional 3D design tools in the 100 megapixel C6 Virtual Reality Room at Iowa State University's Virtual Reality Applications Center (VRAC) – the world's highest-resolution virtual environment. VRCO's Conduit software allows...