EurekAlert! InContext Modules

Public Release: 12-Sep-2011
Center for Sustainable Materials Chemistry gets Phase 2 NSF grant
A collaborative Oregon State University-University of Oregon Center for Sustainable Materials Chemistry, born under a National Science Foundation grant in 2008, is moving into a second phase under a new five-year, $20 million grant.

National Science Foundation

Public Release: 12-Sep-2011

Nature Nanotechnology
Team finds stable RNA nano-scaffold within virus core
With the discovery of a RNA nano-scaffold that remains unusually stable in the body, researchers at the University of Cincinnati (UC) have overcome another barrier to the development of therapeutic RNA nanotechnology. The nanoparticle, constructed from a three-way junction (3WJ) motif of packaging RNA (pRNA) molecules, can serve as a platform for building larger, multifunctional nanoparticles -- which can then be injected into the body to deliver therapeutics to targeted cells.

NIH/National Institute of General Medical Sciences

Public Release: 12-Sep-2011

AIP Advances
'Oscar Madison' approach to solar cells may outshine 'Felix Unger' design
Sometimes neatness may not be necessary. Researchers have demonstrated that a tangled coating of randomly positioned nanowires can increase solar cell efficiency by absorbing more light.

Public Release: 12-Sep-2011
New supercomputer to boost Rensselaer leadership in high-performance computing
A new system to be installed at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute supercomputing center will enable exciting new research possibilities across the nation and boost the university's international leadership in computational modeling and simulation, data science, high-performance computing, and web science. Funded by a $2.65 million grant from the NSF, the new system will be a national resource for researchers in academia and industry across a wide range of disciplines.

National Science Foundation

Public Release: 12-Sep-2011

Applied Physics Letters
Spin pumping effect proven for the first time
Bochum's physicists have demonstrated the spin pumping effect in magnetic layers for the first time experimentally. The behavior of the spin pumping had previously only been predicted theoretically. The research team at the RUB has now succeeded in measuring the effect using ultrafast X-ray scattering with picosecond resolution. Through their rotation of the magnetic moments, the so-called magnetic precession, single electrons can mutually influence each other's rotation (spin) through a non-magnetic intermediate layer.

Public Release: 11-Sep-2011

Nature Photonics
A guiding light for new directions in energy production
October's issue of Nature Photonics focuses on optofluidics, the study of microfluidics -- the microscopic delivery of fluids through extremely small channels or tubes -- combined with optics. In a review written by Demetri Psaltis, Dean of EPFL's School of Engineering, he and his co-authors argue that optofluidics is poised to take on one of this century's most important challenges: energy.

Academic Venture Fund of the Cornell Center for a Sustainable Future, National Science Foundation

Public Release: 9-Sep-2011
$13-million NSF center to explore new ways to manipulate light at the nanoscale
A new $13-million National Science Foundation center based at the University of Michigan will develop high-tech materials that manipulate light in new ways. The research could enable advances such as invisibility cloaks, nanoscale lasers, high-efficiency lighting, and quantum computers.

Public Release: 9-Sep-2011
IAA 2011: Reducing costs of electric vehicle batteries
Costs of manufacture of batteries and power trains of electric vehicles can be halved by 2018, if gaps in the innovation chain can be closed. For reaching this objective, scientists develop concrete, close-to-industry solutions for energy stores and power trains and combine them on the system level. A close-to-industry "research factory" is planned to be constructed on the premises of KIT. KIT will present its concept of the 200-million-Euro project at the IAA International Motor Show.

Public Release: 9-Sep-2011
$21.5 million for materials research at the University of Utah
The University of Utah is launching a six-year, $21.5 million effort to conduct basic research aimed at developing new materials for uses ranging from faster computers and communications devices to better microscopes and solar cells. The new Center of Excellence in Materials Research and Innovation is funded by a $12 million grant from the National Science Foundation, $6.5 million from the Utah Science Technology and Research initiative and $3 million from university.

National Science Foundation

Public Release: 8-Sep-2011
Collaborative science and engineering
Northwestern University has received from the NSF a six-year, $16.2 million grant for support of the Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC), one of the nation's oldest interdisciplinary research centers. The center is one of six MRSECs in the country to successfully renew NSF support this fiscal year. The Northwestern center provides to scientists and engineers an infrastructure and environment for designing, synthesizing and characterizing transformative new nanoscale materials and for exploring new device concepts.

National Science Foundation

Public Release: 8-Sep-2011
NSF establishes Triangle (NC) Center for Soft Matter Research
Recognizing that some of the leading scientists and engineers involved in soft matter research are located in the Research Triangle Park area, the National Science Foundation has provided a six-year, $13.6 million grant to establish a multi-university center to investigate aspects of this promising area of scientific endeavor.

National Science Foundation

Public Release: 7-Sep-2011
INRS professor Federico Rosei awarded Rutherford Memorial Medal for Chemistry
Federico Rosei, professor and director of the INRS's Energy, Materials, and Telecommunications Centre, has just received yet another major honour—the 2011 Rutherford Memorial Medal in Chemistry.

Public Release: 7-Sep-2011

Scientific Reports
Rice researchers power line-voltage light bulb with nanotube wire
Cables made of carbon nanotubes are inching toward electrical conductivities seen in metal wires, and that may light up interest among a range of industries, according to Rice University researchers.

The Research Partnership to Secure Energy for America, the Department of Energy and Air Force Research Laboratory supported the project.