Topics

Scientists from the University of Pennsylvania have developed nanowires that can store computer data for 100,000 years and retrieve the data 1,000 times faster than existing portable memory devices such as Flash and micro-drives. The self-assembling nanowire is made of germanium antimony telluride, a phase-changing material that...

The X PRIZE Foundation and Google announced the Google Lunar X PRIZE, a robotic race to the Moon to win a $30 million prize. Private companies from around the world will compete to land a privately funded robotic rover on the Moon that is capable of completing several mission objectives, including roaming the lunar surface for at least...

Doctors rely on a dwindling arsenal of drugs to fight bacterial infections as the bugs keep finding ways to survive. These "superbugs" may be brought to their knees with the discovery by Boston University biomedical engineers of a previously unknown chain of events occurring in bacteria when they are fed antibiotics. The three...

A modification of the design of the pulse tube in a pulse-tube cryocooler reduces axial thermal conductance while preserving radial thermal conductance. It is desirable to minimize axial thermal conductance in the pulse-tube wall to minimize leakage of heat between the warm and cold ends of the pulse tube. At the same time, it...

Equipment and techniques have been developed to implement a method of photometric calibration of consumer video cameras for imaging of objects that are sufficiently narrow or sufficiently distant to be optically equivalent to point or line sources. Heretofore, it has been difficult to calibrate...

A document summarizes a study in which it was found that spores of the SAFR-032 strain of Bacillus pumilus can survive doses of ultraviolet (UV) radiation, γ radiation, and hydrogen peroxide in proportions much greater than those of other bacteria. The study was part of a continuing effort to understand the...

A report describes experiments on the effects of bone morphogenic proteins (BMPs) on engineered cartilage grown in vitro. In the experiments, bovine calf articular chondrocytes were seeded onto biodegradable polyglycolic acid scaffolds and cultured in, variously, a control medium or a...

Two documents describe a proposed Earth-atmosphere observatory to orbit the Sun at the Sun-Earth L2 Lagrange point — a point of unstable equilibrium in the shadow of the Earth, about 1.5 million km from the Earth along an outward projection of the Earth-Sun axis. The observatory would...

Thomas Jefferson University Hospital for Neuroscience has developed and is using translational, interactive 3D technology to map the human brain and guide surgeons during epilepsy surgery, and to help determine the location of brain tumors for removal. The 3D mapping guides surgeons during epilepsy procedures to see exactly where...

A suite of reagents has been developed for three-dimensional crystallization of integral membranes present in solution as protein-detergent complexes (PDCs). The compositions of these reagents have been determined in part by proximity to the phase boundaries (lower consolute boundaries) of...

A report discusses the second generation of the JPL Electronic Nose (ENose), an array of 32 semi-specific chemical sensors used as an event monitor to identify and quantify contaminants released into breathing air by leaks or spills. It is designed to monitor the environment for changes in air quality, and is...

Inspired by the device used to find lost coins in the sand, Johns Hopkins University biomedical engineering students have invented a small handheld metal detector to help doctors locate hidden orthopedic screws that need to be removed from patients' bodies. The device emits a tone that rises in pitch as the surgeon moves closer...