OAK RIDGE, Tenn, July 08, 2010 – Researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory have been honored with eight awards in the annual R&D 100 Awards by R&D Magazine. Sometimes referred to as the "Academy Awards of Science," the magazine selected winners for development of "one of the 100 most technologically significant new products of 2010."
This year's eight awards bring to 156 the total number of R&D 100 awards won by ORNL scientists.
A North Carolina State University entomologist has for the first time shown which specific chemicals are used by some termite queens to prevent other termites in the colony from becoming mommies like themselves.
Metallic carbon nanotubes show great promise for applications from microelectronics to power lines because of their ballistic transmission of electrons. But who knew magnets could stop those electrons in their tracks?
Rice physicist Junichiro Kono and his team have been studying the Aharonov-Bohm effect -- the interaction between electrically charged particles and magnetic fields -- and how it relates to carbon nanotubes. While doing so, they came to the unexpected conclusion that magnetic fields can turn highly conductive nanotubes into semiconductors.
OAK BROOK, Ill. – July 8, 2010 – A new study has found that endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) is associated with improved outcomes in patients with localized pancreatic cancer, possibly due to the detection of earlier cancers and improved stage-appropriate management, including more selective performance of curative intent surgery. This is the first study to analyze a large population-based cancer registry and demonstrate that EUS evaluation is associated with improved pancreatic cancer survival.
COLUMBIA, Mo. – In 20 years, approximately 72 million older adults will reside in the United States, almost double the current number, according to the U.S. Administration on Aging. Potential issues are compounded by the projected shortage of health care workers needed to provide elder care. As part of the solution, an interdisciplinary team of University of Missouri researchers is refining electronic health record (EHR) technology to more efficiently meet increasing health care demands.
PHILADELPHIA — A recent report in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research, adds to the growing evidence that fish oil supplements may play a role in preventing chronic disease.
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - A new type of heat pump being developed at Purdue University could allow residents in cold climates to cut their heating bills in half.
The research, funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, builds on previous work that began about five years ago at Purdue's Ray W. Herrick Laboratories, said James Braun, a professor of mechanical engineering.
Heat pumps provide heating in winter and cooling in summer but are not efficient in extreme cold climates, such as Minneapolis winters.
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Chemical engineers at Purdue University have developed a new method to process agricultural waste and other biomass into biofuels, and they are proposing the creation of mobile processing plants that would rove the Midwest to produce the fuels.
"What's important is that you can process all kinds of available biomass -- wood chips, switch grass, corn stover, rice husks, wheat straw ╔," said Rakesh Agrawal, the Winthrop E. Stone Distinguished Professor of Chemical Engineering.
Lack of dental care continues to be a significant problem for American children, who miss about 1.6 million school days each year due to dental disease.
A new study published in the July issue of the journal Health Affairs reveals that in California, nearly 25 percent of children have never seen a dentist and that disparities exist across race, ethnicity and type of insurance when it comes to the duration between dental care visits.
Here's a way to tell a romantic relationship is going to fall apart: find out what people really think about their partners. The researchers in a new study used a so-called implicit task, which shows how people automatically respond to words – in this case, whether they find it easier to link words referring to their partner to words with pleasant or unpleasant meanings.
PORTLAND, Ore. — African-American women's beliefs about depression and depression care are consistently and systematically influenced by racism, according to a new study conducted at Oregon Health & Science University. The results are published online in the American Journal of Public Health.
Boston, MA - Caregivers who participated in a program where attendees discuss medical cases that were complex for psychosocial and emotional reasons were more likely to be attentive to the psychosocial and emotional aspects of patient care. The program also enhanced their beliefs about the importance of empathy.
EAST LANSING, Mich. — During his unprecedented expedition into the heart of the Amazon, Michigan State University geographer Bob Walker discovered surprising evidence that many of the Brazilian government's efforts to protect the environment are working.
As expected, Walker and two fellow scientists – the first research team to travel a 700-mile stretch of the so-called Transamazon Highway in the western Amazon basin – confirmed the existence of illegal logging and gold-mining operations that threaten further damage to the world's largest rainforest.
A research group from the UAB Department of Telecommunications and Systems Engineering at the School of Engineering, led by José López Vicario and Antoni Morell, took part in the development of a new system which locates unoccupied car park spaces and guides users to the nearest one.
Whales produce upcalls, sometimes called contact calls, when they are alone or in the process of joining with other whales. An upcall begins low and rises in pitch. It is the most frequent call produced by right whales.
Parks and her colleagues, Mark Johnson and Peter L. Tyack, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and Douglas Nowacek, Duke University, looked at short-term modifications of calling behavior of individual North Atlantic right whales in varying environmental noise situations. They report their results in today's (July 6) issue of Biology Letters.