EurekAlert! - Technology, Engineering and Computer Science

Smartphone app illuminates power consumption

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST

(University of Michigan) A new application for the Android smartphone shows users and software developers how much power their applications are consuming. PowerTutor was developed by doctoral students and professors at the University of Michigan.

SDSC, UC San Diego, LBNL team wins SC09 'Storage Challenge' Award

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST

(University of California - San Diego) A research team from the San Diego Supercomputer Center at UC San Diego and the University of California's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory has won the Storage Challenge competition at SC09, the leading international conference on high-performance computing, networking, storage and analysis being held in this week in Portland, Oregon.

Science journalism awards announced

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST

(National Science Foundation) A television feature about growing diamonds in the lab, and a radio story that dramatizes some strange coincidences in a discussion of randomness and probability won recognition earlier this month in the 2009 AAAS Kavli Science Journalism Awards. Both programs were funded in part by the National Science Foundation.

From toxic dust and algae to ill winds from Africa

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST

(United States Geological Survey) Media tipsheet on USGS scientific presentations at SETAC conference, Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry.

Lehigh receives grant to reduce cost of carbon capture at coal-fired power plants

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST

(Lehigh University) A US Department of Energy grant will help develop methods of recovering and reusing heat generated by the compression of CO2 in a carbon-capture system. The goal is to facilitate carbon capture and sequestration and limit the amount of CO2 emitted into the atmosphere by coal-fired power plants. Unlike other modeling studies, which focus on specific components of the carbon-capture system, the Lehigh researchers will look at the entire power plant.

Flax and yellow flowers can produce bioethanol

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST

(FECYT - Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology) Surplus biomass from the production of flax sheaves, and generated from Brassica carinata, a yellow-flowered plant related to those which engulf fields in spring, can be used to produce bioethanol. This has been suggested by two studies carried out by Spanish and Dutch researchers and published in the journal Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews.

Biologists discover bacterial defense mechanism against aggressive oxygen

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST

(VIB (the Flanders Institute for Biotechnology)) Bacteria possess an ingenious mechanism for preventing oxygen from harming the building blocks of the cell. This is the new finding of a team of biologists that includes Joris Messens of VIB, a life sciences research institute in Flanders, Belgium, connected to the Vrije Universiteit Brussel.

More than powerful! German research computer QPACE is the most energy efficient in the world

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST

(Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres) At the 2009 Supercomputing Conference in Portland, Ore., the high-performance computer QPACE (QCD Parallel Computing on the Cell) was recognized today as the most energy-efficient supercomputer in the world. QPACE is at the head of the Green500 list, which provides a global ranking of energy-efficient supercomputers.

Delft breakthrough in bioethanol production from agricultural waste

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST

(Delft University of Technology) With the introduction of a single bacterial gene into yeast, researchers from Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands achieved three improvements in bioethanol production from agricultural waste material: "More ethanol, less acetate and elimination of the major by-product glycerol." This week the invention was published in the scientific journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology.

Novel K-anonymity algorithm safeguards access to data

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST

(Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario Research Institute) As electronic health records become more widely deployed, increasing amounts of health information are being collected. This data has many beneficial applications, such as research, public health, and health system planning. In a recent study, Dr. Khaled El Emam, the Canada Research Chair in Electronic Health Information at the CHEO Research Institute argues that there is a need for robust de-identification of patient data to avoid the negative impact that individual consent requirements have on studies using health record data for secondary purposes.

Projections of savings from health IT are baseless, Harvard researchers say

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST

(Physicians for a National Health Program) The increased computerization in US hospitals hasn't made them cheaper or more efficient, Harvard researchers say, although it may have modestly improved the quality of care for heart attacks. The findings contradict claims by President Obama and many lawmakers that health information technology, including electronic medical records, will save billions and help make reform affordable. The study uses data from the most extensive survey ever undertaken of hospital computerization.

UCSB physicists move 1 step closer to quantum computing

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST

(University of California - Santa Barbara) Physicists at UC Santa Barbara have made an important advance in electrically controlling quantum states of electrons, a step that could help in the development of quantum computing. The work is published online today on the Science Express Web site.

Bone implant offers hope for skull deformities

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST

(University of California - Davis) A synthetic bone matrix offers hope for babies born with craniosynostosis, a condition that causes the plates in the skull to fuse too soon.

Nanotube defects equal better energy and storage systems

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST

(University of California - San Diego) Most people would like to be able to charge their cell phones and other personal electronics quickly and not too often. A recent discovery made by UC San Diego engineers could lead to carbon nanotube-based supercapacitors that could do just this.

University of Miami receives grant towards research of hypersonic materials and structures

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST

(University of Miami) The University of Miami College of Engineering has been awarded a grant from the newly established National Hypersonic Science Center for Hypersonic Materials through Teledyne Scientific and Imaging, to work collaboratively with other research institutions to develop hypersonic materials and structures, such as those used for thermal protection of space vehicles during re-entry to the Earth's atmosphere.

ORNL, Los Alamos pioneer new approach to assist scientists, farmers

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST

(DOE/Oak Ridge National Laboratory) Sustainable farming, initially adopted to preserve soil quality for future generations, may also play a role in maintaining a healthy climate, according to researchers at the US Department of Energy's Oak Ridge and Los Alamos national laboratories.

USC study to evaluate robots as exercise trainers

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST

(University of Southern California) The University of Southern California Center for Robotics and Embedded Systems is comparing virtual versus physical robots as exercise coaches for adults of all ages, with a particular focus on the elderly.

Causative gene of a rare disorder discovered by sequencing only protein-coding regions of genome

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST

(University of Washington) More that 7,000 rare disorders in aggregate affect millions of people. Researchers have now shown that it may be possible to more quickly identify the causative gene for many of these disorders by sequencing only the protein-coding regions of the genome. This can be done on unrelated individuals, thereby avoiding the need for large families for such studies.

Drug studied as possible treatment for spinal injuries

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST

(Purdue University) Researchers have shown how an experimental drug might restore the function of nerves damaged in spinal cord injuries by preventing short circuits caused when tiny "potassium channels" in the fibers are exposed.

Bioreactor for bone tissue engineering wins professor venture fair

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST

(University of Maryland) John Fisher, associate professor in the Fischell Department of Bioengineering, won the Best Inventor Pitch at the 2009 Bioscience Research and Technology Review Day with a tissue engineering bioreactor system that grows bone and other types of tissue for implantation.

Technique finds gene regulatory sites without knowledge of regulators

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST

(University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign) A new statistical technique developed by researchers at the University of Illinois allows scientists to scan a genome for specific gene-regulatory regions without requiring prior knowledge of the relevant transcription factors. The technique has been experimentally validated in both the mouse genome and the fruit fly genome.

Engineer designs micro-endoscope to seek out early signs of cancer

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST

(University of Florida) Traditional endoscopes provide a peek inside patients' bodies. Now, a University of Florida engineering researcher is designing ones capable of a full inspection.

World's first album of Twitter music available now

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST

(Queen Mary, University of London) For the first time, you can now download an album of digital music written exclusively for Twitter. Entitled sc140, this unique collection has been curated by Dan Stowell, a composer and computer scientist at Queen Mary, University of London.

SMOS satellite instrument comes alive

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST

(European Space Agency) The MIRAS instrument on ESA's SMOS satellite, launched earlier this month, has been switched on and is operating normally. MIRAS will map soil moisture and ocean salinity to improve our understanding of the role these two key variables play in regulating Earth's water cycle.

NESCent helps to build a global digital data network for biology and the earth sciences

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST

(National Evolutionary Synthesis Center (NESCent)) The National Evolutionary Synthesis Center is now part of a major new digital data initiative that will improve the ability of scientists, policymakers and the public to monitor the status of Earth's biota and the environment. Named DataONE, the initiative aims to provide secure and permanent access to data in biology and the earth sciences, including atmospheric, ecological, evolutionary, hydrological and oceanographic sources.