EurekAlert! - Technology, Engineering and Computer Science

NASA sees wide-eyed cyclone Jasmine

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 00:00:00 EST

(NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center) Cyclone Jasmine's eye has opened wider on NASA satellite imagery, as it moves through the Southern Pacific Ocean.

NASA sees Giovanna reach cyclone strength, threaten Madagascar

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 00:00:00 EST

(NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center) Tropical Storm 12S built up steam and became a cyclone on Feb. 10, 2012 as NASA's Terra satellite passed overhead. Residents of east-central Madagascar should prepare for this cyclone to make landfall by Feb. 13 according to forecasters.

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.

New book about fuzzy hierarchical decision modeling from NJIT professor

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 00:00:00 EST

(New Jersey Institute of Technology) 'Fuzzy Hierarchical Decision Modeling' by NJIT Associate Professor Michael Khader has been re-issued by Lambert Publishing Company in a soft-bound text. The book, originally published in 2009 by Walden University, focuses on applying decision modeling rooted in fuzzy theory and hierarchical analysis to complex problems in networks' design and acquisition.

$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.

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.

Sonic Cradle lands spot in TED exhibition

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 00:00:00 EST

(Simon Fraser University) A Simon Fraser University graduate student project that melds music, meditation and modern technology has landed a rare spot as an exhibit at TEDActive 2012 in Palm Springs, Calif., this month.Jay Vidyarthi's project, Sonic Cradle, allows individuals to use their breathing to shape musical sounds while they sit suspended in a totally dark chamber. The experience is described as "meditation for the non-meditator."

Researchers develop new method for creating tissue engineering scaffolds

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 00:00:00 EST

(Northwestern University) Researchers at Northwestern University have developed a new method for creating scaffolds for tissue engineering applications, providing an alternative that is more flexible and less time-intensive than current technology.

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.

Grass to gas: UGA researchers' genome map speeds biofuel development

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 00:00:00 EST

(University of Georgia) Researchers at the University of Georgia have taken a major step in the ongoing effort to find sources of cleaner, renewable energy by mapping the genomes of two originator cells of Miscanthus x giganteus, a large perennial grass with promise as a source of ethanol and bioenergy.

Development of social technology to improve the quality of life of intellectually disabled people

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 00:00:00 EST

(Elhuyar Fundazioa) The Uliazpi Foundation and the Tecnalia Centre for Applied Research have signed an agreement to collaborate on the development of technologies for assisting intellectually disabled people. Specifically, the two organizations will be working together to develop tools that will improve the emotional communication, personal care, and well-being of individuals who, as a result of their disability, have problems expressing themselves and making their emotional, physical or mental needs known to their carers.

Domestic consumption main contributor to Africa's growing E-waste

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 00:00:00 EST

(Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology (EMPA)) West Africa faces a rising tide of E-waste generated by domestic consumption of new and used electrical and electronic equipment, according to a new United Nations report. Domestic consumption makes up the majority (up to 85 percent) of waste electronic and electrical equipment produced in the region, according to the study. The E-waste problem in West Africa is further exacerbated by an ongoing stream of used equipment from industrialized countries, significant volumes of which prove unsuitable for reuse.

Tailor-made search tools for the Web

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 00:00:00 EST

(Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft) For companies, customer feedback is a matter of strategic importance. Smart apps for the semantic analysis of user opinions from the Web help businesses keep an eye on feedback. Users benefit as well: with the "Eat and Drink" app, the user can quickly learn all about the special features of restaurants, cafes and bars.

Georgetown hosts forum to discuss government request of journals to redact scientific data

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 00:00:00 EST

(Georgetown University Medical Center) Georgetown University hosts "Censoring Research on Contagious H5N1 Influenza in 2012? -- A Panel Discussion on Global Public Health, Legal, and Policy Controversies" on Wednesday, Feb. 15, from 5:30-7:30 p.m. in the New Research Building Auditorium on the campus of Georgetown University Medical Center. The panel is free and open to the public.

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.

New method makes culture of complex tissue possible in any lab

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 00:00:00 EST

(University of California - San Diego) Scientists at the University of California, San Diego have developed a new method for making scaffolds for culturing tissue in three-dimensional arrangements that mimic those in the body. This advance, published online in the journal Advanced Materials, allows the production of tissue culture scaffolds containing multiple structurally and chemically distinct layers using common laboratory reagents and materials.

New integrated building model may improve fish farming operations

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 00:00:00 EST

(University of Massachusetts at Amherst) Those who have ventured to turn a vacant barn or garage into an aquaculture business have too often been defeated by high energy and feed costs, building-related woes and serious environmental problems.

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.

NASA's TRMM satellite sees Cyclone Jasmine in 3-D

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 00:00:00 EST

(NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center) Data from NASA's TRMM satellite was used to create a 3-Dimensional look at Cyclone Jasmine, currently moving through the South Pacific Ocean.

NASA sees Tropical Storm 12S - a possible threat to Madagascar

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 00:00:00 EST

(NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center) The twelfth tropical depression formed in the Southern Indian Ocean today and quickly became a tropical storm, dubbed Tropical Storm 12S. NASA's Aqua satellite passed over the storm and captured infrared data that revealed a quickly developing tropical cyclone with powerful thunderstorms around its center of circulation.

Deconstructing a mystery: What caused Snowmaggedon?

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 00:00:00 EST

(NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center) NASA scientists are using computer models to help unravel the mystery of a record-setting snowfall in the Washington, DC area in early 2010.

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.