EurekAlert! - Chemistry, Physics and Materials Sciences

SFU cell biologist Lynne Quarmby will address top-flight American high school science students at AAAS conference in Vancouver

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 00:00:00 EST

(Simon Fraser University) Lynne Quarmby, a Simon Fraser University cell biologist with a passion for promoting science, will deliver a talk to 30-top flight American high school science students and their teachers about the importance of basic science. Quarmby will be the keynote speaker at the Feb. 16 AJAS meeting at SFU Burnaby. It strategically brings together the crème de la crème of young American science students during the AAAS meeting in Vancouver.

University of Pittsburgh receives $22 million from the Richard King Mellon Foundation

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 00:00:00 EST

(University of Pittsburgh) The Center for Energy in the University of Pittsburgh's Swanson School of Engineering has received a $22 million grant from the Richard King Mellon Foundation -- one of the largest private foundation grants in Pitt's history. The gift will accelerate the research and education efforts of the center, which is dedicated to improving energy technology development and sustainability through the work of more than 70 world-class faculty members and their research teams.

$5.5 million gift aids search for alternative energy

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 00:00:00 EST

(University of Missouri-Columbia) Scientists at the University of Missouri are the recipients of a five-year, $5.5 million gift from the Sidney Kimmel Foundation that will help focus efforts in fundamental, physical sciences in the search for new alternative energy sources.

Putting the squeeze on planets outside our solar system

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 00:00:00 EST

(DOE/Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory) Using high-powered lasers, scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and collaborators discovered that molten magnesium silicate undergoes a phase change in the liquid state, abruptly transforming to a more dense liquid with increasing pressure. The research provides insight into planet formation.

Illinois professor elected to National Academy of Engineering

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 00:00:00 EST

(University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign) Photonics pioneer James J. Coleman has been elected to membership in the National Academy of Engineering. Coleman, a professor of electrical and computer engineering at the University of Illinois, was cited for his work in semiconductor lasers and photonic materials.

Protein libraries in a snap

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 00:00:00 EST

(Rice University) A Rice University undergraduate will depart with not only a degree but also a possible patent for his invention of an efficient way to create protein libraries, an important component of biomolecular research.

Hovering not hard if you're top-heavy, NYU researchers find

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 00:00:00 EST

(New York University) Top-heavy structures are more likely to maintain their balance while hovering in the air than are those that bear a lower center of gravity, researchers at NYU's Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences and Department of Physics have found. Their findings are counter to common perceptions that flight stability can be achieved only through a relatively even distribution of weight -- and may offer new design principles for hovering aircraft.

No entry without protein recycling: RUB researchers discover new coherence in enzyme transport

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 00:00:00 EST

(Ruhr-University Bochum) The group of professor Dr. Ralf Erdmann at the Ruhr-Universitaet Bochum discovered a connection of peroxisomal protein import and receptor export. In the Journal of Biological Chemistry, they disclosed that enzymes only get imported into certain cell organelles (peroxisomes) upon coupling of their import to the recycling of their transport protein (receptor).

A mineral way to catalysis?

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 00:00:00 EST

(University of Cambridge) Catalytic materials, which lower the energy barriers for chemical reactions, are used in everything from the commercial production of chemicals to catalytic converters in car engines. However, with current catalytic materials becoming increasingly expensive, scientists are exploring viable alternatives.

New drugs schedule makes horse racing a sure thing

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 00:00:00 EST

(Queensland University of Technology) QUT professor of biosciences, Martin Sillence, said the new research pinpointed the length of time it took for 18 of the most commonly used therapeutic drugs to work their way out of a horse's system, providing greater certainty for horse owners, trainers and vets."Because horses are prohibited from racing with any trace of drugs in their system, the administration of therapeutic drugs to horses in need of care has been a risky business," professor Sillence said.

UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering faculty elected to National Academy of Engineering

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 00:00:00 EST

(University of California - San Diego) Three faculty members in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at the University of California, San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering have been elected to the National Academy of Engineering. Peter C. Farrell, founder, chairman and CEO of ResMed, and a member of the Council of Advisors of the Dean of the Jacobs School, also was elected to the academy.

Advancing global health through informatics -- NI2012 Congress

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 00:00:00 EST

(American Medical Informatics Association) Informatics leaders, practitioners and other healthcare professionals will meet in Montreal, June 23-27, for the 11th International Congress on Nursing Informatics.

New avenue for treating colon cancer

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 00:00:00 EST

(University of California - Riverside) A research team led by cell biologists at the University of California, Riverside has uncovered a new insight into colon cancer, the third leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the United States. The team analyzed human colon cancer specimens and found that in nearly 80 percent of them the variants of a gene (HNF4A) are out of balance. This imbalance appears to be the result of a complex, multi-step process by an enzyme (Src kinase).

'Dark plasmons' transmit energy

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 00:00:00 EST

(Rice University) Microscopic channels of gold nanoparticles have the ability to transmit electromagnetic energy that starts as light and propagates via "dark plasmons," according to researchers at Rice University.

ONR Global taking off for Singapore Air Show 2012

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 00:00:00 EST

(Office of Naval Research) The Office of Naval Research Global will be showcasing unmanned systems Feb. 14-19 at the 2012 Singapore Air Show, the largest air show in Asia and one of the top three aerospace and defense events on the global industry calendar. Through its offices in Washington, London, Prague, Tokyo, Singapore and Santiago, ONR Global pursues international partnerships with organizations conducting basic and early applied research to drive execution of long-term strategic efforts.

Navy to build 2 new oceanographic research vessels

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 00:00:00 EST

(Office of Naval Research) The Navy awarded $70 million to Dakota Creek Industries Inc. to begin building the second of two modern oceanographic research vessels, the Office of Naval Research announced Feb. 9. The company will begin detail design and construction on Ocean-class Auxiliary General Oceanographic Research vessel 28. Naval Sea Systems Command previously awarded a contract for the first of the two ships. The recent award brings the Navy's combined shipbuilding investments in the program to $145 million.

Hydrogen from acidic water

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 00:00:00 EST

(DOE/Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory) A technique from Berkley Lab for creating a new molecule that structurally and chemically replicates the active part of the molybdenite catalyst paves the way for developing catalytic materials that can serve as effective low-cost alternatives to platinum for generating hydrogen gas from water.

ORNL's Zinkle elected to National Academy of Engineering

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 00:00:00 EST

(DOE/Oak Ridge National Laboratory) Steven J. Zinkle, a senior materials researcher at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory, has been elected to the National Academy of Engineering.

UofL receives Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Grand Challenges TB biomarkers grant

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 00:00:00 EST

(University of Louisville) The University of Louisville has been awarded its first Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation grant, $576,800 over two years to pursue an innovative research project to identify and validate tuberculosis biomarkers, titled "Disposable Sampling Plate and Breath Test to Identify Patients with Active Tuberculosis."

Could antidepressants help reduce the risk of sudden unexpected death in epilepsy?

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 00:00:00 EST

(Elsevier) A groundbreaking study published in Elsevier's Epilepsy & Behavior provides evidence in mouse model that drugs known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs; one category of antidepressants) may reduce the risk of sudden unexpected death in epilepsy.

University of Minnesota and start-up to develop antidote to cyanide poisoning

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 00:00:00 EST

(University of Minnesota) Cyanide poisoning is often fatal and typically affects victims of industrial accidents, terrorist attacks, or structural fires. Based on research conducted at the Center for Drug Design at the University of Minnesota, start-up Vytacera Pharma Inc. will develop and market Sulfanegen, a treatment for cyanide poisoning.

Secrets of immune response illuminated in new study

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 00:00:00 EST

(Arizona State University) In research appearing in this month's issue of the journal Nature Immunology, Roy Curtiss, director of the Center for Infectious Diseases and Vaccinology at the Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University investigates the coordination of a particular type of immune response, involving the release of of IFN-λ -- a cell-signaling protein molecule known as a cytokine.

Nanotube therapy takes aim at breast cancer stem cells

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 00:00:00 EST

(Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center) Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center researchers have again proven that injecting multiwalled carbon nanotubes into tumors and heating them with a quick, 30-second laser treatment can kill them.

Sustainable land use strategies to support bioenergy described in Industrial Biotechnology journal

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 00:00:00 EST

(Mary Ann Liebert, Inc./Genetic Engineering News) Applying 21st century tools and technologies to manage land use, maximize biomass production, and increase the efficiency of processes for extracting energy from renewable resources will enable the biofuels industry to overcome current challenges in bioenergy production, according to a comprehensive review article published in Industrial Biotechnology, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert Inc.

Model analyzes shape-memory alloys for use in earthquake-resistant structures

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 00:00:00 EST

(Georgia Institute of Technology Research News) Recent earthquake damage has exposed the vulnerability of existing structures to strong ground movement. At Georgia Tech, researchers are analyzing shape-memory alloys for their potential use in constructing seismic-resistant structures.