Materials & Innovations

Heat transfer and bond strength linked

By RussJordan / May 27, 2009

Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute tell us of a discovery that might lead to new systems for cooling and displacing heat from computer chips, a critical issue in the semiconductor…

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Carbon nanotubes used to detect color

By RussJordan / May 26, 2009

Research being conducted at Sandia National Lab might eventually be applied to an optical detector with nanometer-scale resolution, ultra-tiny digital cameras, solar cells with more light absorption capability and a…

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MIT calls graphene a “material for all seasons”

By RussJordan / May 21, 2009

A recent article in MIT Tech Talk describes aspects of several exciting graphene research projects at MIT. A successor to silicon? Graphene could become the successor to silicon in a…

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No mistake at the lake: Cleveland transit bus to run on Erie’s water

By RussJordan / May 20, 2009

    Have you heard the joke about running a bus with water from Lake Erie? Well, it’s no laughing matter these days. In fact, it’s scheduled to happen about…

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Are CFLs already obsolete?

By RussJordan / May 19, 2009

Warner Philips, founder of Lemnis Lighting Co. in The Netherlands, claims “CFLs are officially an outdated technology. You can’t recycle CFLs. You can’t get a fully dimmable product. That should…

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71 university-based nuclear projects get DOE funding

By / May 14, 2009

The DOE says it is going to be shipping off $44 million over the next three years to 31 schools for 71 nuclear energy R&D projects. The funding is coming…

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Printable supercapacitors

By / May 11, 2009

A UCLA team has reported in Nano Letters that it has “printed” a supercapacitor for the first time. The group, led by George Grüner, accomplished their feat by spraying carbon…

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Bluegrass battery consortium

By / May 8, 2009

The state of Kentucky, the University of Kentucky, the University of Louisville and the Argonne National Lab have announced that they have entered into a partnership to forge a national…

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Strong-glass innovation at Alfred University

By / May 3, 2009

Alfred University reports that one of their veteran researchers has come up with a new and practical process for strengthening glass and ceramics. The school claims the technology can allow…

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EFRCs to provide big down payment for materials research

By / May 2, 2009

First, I apologize for the length of this post (I’ve saved it for the weekend), but one of biggest “sleeper” stories in science in a long time is the DOE’s…

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