Science News

(University of Cincinnati) Microfluidic devices typically depend upon electrokinetic or traditional pressure methods to move microscopic amounts of fluid around a fixed microchip. As just published as the cover story in Lab on a Chip, in "Virtual electrowetting channels: electronic liquid transport with continuous channel functionality," engineering researchers at the University of Cincinnati have created a paradigm shift -- and moved some tiny channels in the process.

(University of California - Los Angeles) Complementary metal oxide semiconductor technology is used today in all forms of electronic devices. However power dissipation and variability, saturation of device performance, are two major issues the market will need to overcome as it continues to scale down its devices. In a new study published in Nature Materials, Kang L.Wang, professor of electrical engineering at UCLA and his team report on the creation of a new material incorporating spintronics that could lead to a new generation of devices.

(University of Nottingham) A new spin-out company from the University of Nottingham is aiming to prove that a new form of green energy could be in widespread use within 15 years and at a fraction of the cost of its nearest competitor.

(American Association for Cancer Research) Postmenopausal women who regularly use aspirin and other analgesics (known as painkillers) have lower estrogen levels, which could contribute to a decreased risk of breast or ovarian cancer.

(American Chemical Society) Scientists today reported development of a new method for converting soybean oil into a highly effective bio-based sunscreen active ingredient that does not carry the potential health concerns of ingredients in some existing sunscreens. The new, natural sunscreen agent could replace petroleum-derived ingredients in a variety of personal-care products.

(Louisiana Tech University) Professors Henry Cardenas and Sven Eklund, and Ph.D. candidate Kunal Kupwade-Patil of the College of Engineering and Science at Louisiana Tech University will present their award-winning paper at the Second International Conference on Sustainable Construction and Materials Technologies in Ancona, Italy, in June.

(Naval Research Laboratory) Naval Research Laboratory, which has been involved in pioneering work involving chemical vapor deposition of diamond and the use of diamond materials in advanced technologies relevant to the US Department of Defense since 1987, has recently undertaken some new projects in diamond research. In collaboration with the Smithsonian Institution Museum of Natural History, NRL researchers have begun studying unique and historic natural colored diamonds to understand and characterize the defects/impurities, which cause the color.

(American Chemical Society) A new inhalable powder carrying insulin not only eliminates the pain of injections, but actually delivers the medication faster than a needle, researchers reported today. Their findings were presented at the 239th American Chemical Society National Meeting.

(Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres) Dr. Matthias Selbach from the Max Delbrück Center in Berlin-Buch, has been honored with the Analytica Research Prize 2010 for his work on "the impact of microRNAs on protein production in cancer cells." He has developed a new approach enabling him to measure the production of thousands of proteins simultaneously. The prize, which is endowed with 25,000 euros, is awarded by the Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and funded by Roche.

(American Chemical Society) News media and others interested in the chemical sciences are invited to join the next in a series of American Chemical Society Webinars, focusing on Professional Growth and Development. The webinar will be aired on Thursday, April 1, 2-3 p.m. Eastern Time.

(Emory University) A high dietary intake of phosphate promotes tumor formation in an animal model of skin cancer. The results suggest a high intake of phosphates may promote tumor development and contribute to tumor growth in skin cancer, while restricting phosphate intake may help prevent cancer.

(Indiana University) Two recently diverged populations of a southern California songbird produce unique odors, suggesting smell could contribute to the reproductive isolation that accompanies the origin of new bird species. The Indiana University Bloomington study of organic compounds present in the preen oils of dark-eyed juncos is described in this month's Behavioral Ecology.

(Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council) Three new complementary research projects will turn carbon from a pollutant into useful products that could help both industry and the environment.

(American Institute of Physics) What is research telling us about the noise levels to which soldiers in the field and sailors on the deck of aircraft carriers are exposed? What sounds do humpback whales make when they congregate in the summer? How can science help us understand how to achieve improved acoustics in the classroom and elsewhere in our schools? Can sound in a city trigger strong emotions in our brains? When people are exhausted, do their voices give them away?

(Burness Communications) Millions of infants and young children in the world's poorest countries will receive potentially life-saving vaccines that help protect against pneumococcal disease, including pneumonia -- the world's biggest childhood killer, thanks to new agreements made with two major pharmaceutical firms, the GAVI Alliance announced today.

(American Chemical Society) Scientists are reporting development of a first-of-its-kind method for determining the age of ancient artifacts without causing damage to the objects. The method could help shed new light on the history of mummified bodies, old maps, cave paintings and other treasures, they say. Their study is scheduled for presentation in March at the 239th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society in San Francisco.

(Indiana University) The National Science Foundation has awarded a $221,660 grant to Indiana University faculty member Amit Hagar for the first comprehensive study of fundamental length, a concept that has intrigued theoretical physicists off and on for nearly a century.

(American Chemical Society) Scientific advances in a rapidly emerging field termed "green chemistry" offer the brightest promise for guiding the American economy into a new era of sustainability, the US Environmental Protection Agency's top R&D official said today in the keynote address at the 239th American Chemical Society National Meeting.

(BioMed Central) Both legitimate brewers and distillers -- and authorities on the track of illicit alcohol from home stills -- will soon have a helping hand. Measurement experts have unveiled a portable device to determine the strength of alcoholic drinks quickly and easily, almost anywhere. Published in the open-access Chemistry Central Journal, the researchers show that their technique is just as accurate, and more sophisticated, than widely used lab-based methods.

(BioMed Central) Just like the rest of us, scientists today are swamped with information. As more chemical resources become freely available, text mining applications -- previously focused on correctly identifying gene and protein names -- are now shifting towards also correctly identifying chemical names. Now database experts have compared two chemical name dictionaries head to head, and report on the payoffs of manual versus automatic data curation in the open-access publication, Journal of Cheminformatics.