R&D Magazine

Technologies & Strategies That Enable R&D

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New Sensor Could Explore Rocks on the Moon, Mars

Authored by Kenny Walter, Digital Reporter, R&D Magazine

Scientists have created a new sensor that could gather information on rocks during future space missions to the Moon or Mars.

A team from the Faculty of Physics of Lomonosov Moscow State University (MSU) has developed a compact spectral polarimeter that can carry out mineralogical investigations on the surface of astronomical bodies.

Read more: https://www.rdmag.com/article/2017/11/new-sensor-could-explore-rocks-moon-mars

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New robots can see into their future

University of California, Berkeley, researchers have developed a robotic learning technology that enables robots to imagine the future of their actions so they can figure out how to manipulate objects they have never encountered before. In the future, this technology could help self-driving cars anticipate future events on the road and produce more intelligent robotic assistants in homes, but the initial prototype focuses on learning simple manual skills entirely from autonomous play.

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The bacterial community on the International Space Station resembles homes

Microbiologists at the University of California, Davis analyzed swabs taken by astronauts on the International Space Station (ISS) and compared them with samples from homes on earth as well as the Human Microbiome Project. This work, part of a nationwide citizen science project called Project MERCCURI, found that the microbial community in this unique habitat was very diverse and more closely resembled that of homes than of humans.

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New Waterproof Wheelchair is Powered Entirely by Compressed Air

Authored by Kenny Walter, Digital Reporter, R&D Magazine

A new lightweight, high-powered wheelchair that is powered by high-pressurized air instead of batteries or electronics is offering users new recreational opportunities.

Researchers from the University of Pittsburgh have created the PneuChair, a pneumatic wheelchair that forgoes the traditional heavy battery energy source for high-pressured air.  It runs on 4,500 psi. This make it both significantly lighter than other power chairs and also waterproof, enabling users to take the PneuChair to lakes, beaches and water parks.

Read more: https://www.rdmag.com/article/2017/11/new-waterproof-wheelchair-powered-entirely-compressed-air

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Good news from trio of phase one Zika vaccine trials

More than 90 percent of study volunteers in the 3 trials who received the investigational vaccine demonstrated an immune response to Zika virus.

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Startup to Test New Development Approach for Cell and Gene Therapies

Authored by Ryan Bushey, Digital Editor, Drug Discovery & Development

A new biotech startup has launched with a unique strategy for creating specialized cell and gene therapies.

Obsidian Therapeutics completed an estimated $49.5 million financing round as it seeks to advance its lead programs toward clinical development and continue building its proprietary technology platform.

Read more: https://www.dddmag.com/article/2017/12/startup-test-new-development-approach-cell-and-gene-therapies

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Gene Variant that Protects Against Alzheimer’s Identified

Authored by Kenny Walter, Digital Reporter, R&D Magazine

Scientists have identified a gene variant that, if reduced, may decrease the risk of Alzheimer’s disease.

Researchers from Brigham Young University (BYU) have discovered a rare genetic variant that provides a protective effect for high-risk individuals, including elderly people who carry known genetic risk for Alzheimer’s but never acquire the disease.

Read more: https://www.rdmag.com/article/2017/11/gene-variant-protects-against-alzheimers-identified

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Microscope using UV instead of visible light emerging as diagnostic tool

New MUSE technology obtains high-resolution images of fresh biopsies for analysis within minutes, eliminating need for conventional slides and preserving original tissue sample.

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Rooftop wiretap aims to learn what crows gossip about at dusk

An interdisciplinary team is using a covert sound-based approach, worthy of an avian CSI, to study the link between crows' calls and their behavior.

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Mammoth Bones Found in Michigan

Authored by Kenny Walter, Digital Reporter, R&D Magazine

Researchers have found additional bones of a mammoth on the same site they found skeletal remains of the Ice Age-era animal in 2015.

Paleontologists from the University of Michigan have found 40 bones and bone fragments from a Mammoth at the J. Bristle Farm in Manchester, Michigan, just two years after they found a skull, tusks and dozens of intact bones at the same farm.

Read more: https://www.rdmag.com/article/2017/12/mammoth-bones-found-michigan

[forbes]

A Complete Beginner's Guide To Blockchain

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Iceberg in Antarctica Disintegrates

Authored by Kenny Walter, Digital Reporter, R&D Magazine

A giant iceberg in the western part of Antarctica has disintegrated.

Researchers from the British Antarctic Survey have discovered that a 100-square mile iceberg that was calving from Antarctica’s Pine Island Glacier (PIG) has disintegrated into several smaller icebergs.

Read more: https://www.rdmag.com/article/2017/12/iceberg-antarctica-disintegrates

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Graphene Nano Tweezers Can Grab Individual Biomolecules

Authored by Kenny Walter, Digital Reporter, R&D Magazine

A team from the University of Minnesota College of Science and Engineering have created graphene nano “tweezers” that can grab biomolecules floating on water, leading to a plethora of new application possibilities.

The new graphene tweezers are more effective at trapping particles compared to other techniques used in the past because graphene is only a single atom thick—less than one billionth of a meter.

Read more: https://www.rdmag.com/article/2017/12/graphene-nano-tweezers-can-grab-individual-biomolecules

[archaeologicalnews]

Archaeologists revise chronology of the last hunter-gatherers in the Near East

New research by a team of scientists and archaeologists based at the Weizmann Institute of Science and the University of Copenhagen suggests that the 15,000-year-old Natufian Culture could live comfortably in the steppe zone of present-day eastern Jordan .This was previously thought to be either uninhabitable or only sparsely populated.

The hunter-gatherers of the Natufian Culture, which existed in modern-day Israel, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria between c. 14,500 to 11,500 years ago, were some of the first people to build permanent houses and tend to edible plants. These innovations were probably crucial for the subsequent emergence of agriculture during the Neolithic era. Previous research had suggested that the centre of this culture was the Mount Carmel and Galilee region, and that it spread from here to other parts of the region. The new study by the Copenhagen-Weizmann team, published in Scientific Reports, challenges this ‘core region’ theory. Read more.

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Metal recyclers prepare for electric car revolution

Recycling companies are honing processes to extract metals from old batteries more cheaply and efficiently so they can capitalize on an expected shortfall in materials such as cobalt and lithium when sales of electric cars take off.

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New Brain Interface Reveals Details on Visual System

Authored by Kenny Walter, Digital Reporter, R&D Magazine

A new EEG is opening up insight into the brain’s visual system.

Researchers from Carnegie Mellon University have developed the “super-Nyquist density” EEG that can capture the brain’s neural activity at a higher spatial resolution than ever before.

Read more: https://www.rdmag.com/article/2017/12/new-brain-interface-reveals-details-visual-system

[archaeologicalnews]

Earliest example of large hydraulic enterprise excavated in China

A team of researchers from several institutions in China has uncovered one of the largest water management projects in the ancient world in what is now a part of the eastern coast of modern China. In their paper published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the group describes their finding and compares it to other ancient water management systems.

Over 5000 years ago, people living in the Yangtze River Delta apparently grew weary of the flooding that periodically destroyed their crops. They embarked on what became one of the largest water management projects in the ancient world, moving earth and piling it in desired ways to change over 10,000 hectares of landscape to suit their needs. The researchers at the site have been working for four years uncovering the large hydraulic system that was built to support Liangzhu Ancient City. 

The researchers report that laborers spent years digging up dirt to make canals, piled it to make dams, and even installed a system of gates to control movement of the water. Read more.