Researchers try to understand the catalyst in making hydrogen fuel

Tweet

Some engineers want to pack hydrogen into a larger molecule, rather than compressing the gas into a tank. A gas flows easily out of a tank, but getting hydrogen out of a molecule requires a catalyst. Now, researchers reveal new details about one such catalyst. The results are a step toward designing catalysts for use in hydrogen energy applications such as fuel cells.

Plastic solar cells could one day charge your iPod, and much more

Tweet

Researchers the world over are striving to develop organic solar cells that can be produced easily and inexpensively as thin films that could be widely used to generate electricity.

Internists tackle key health reform issues

Tweet

WASHINGTON –Monographs addressing individual mandates, tax exclusion and a public plan option were released today by the American College of Physicians (ACP). The new policy papers are:

• Individual Mandates in Health Insurance Reform

• Reforming the Tax Exclusion for Health Insurance
• A Public Plan Option in a Health Insurance Connector

New light given to solar power research in Arizona

Tweet

On a 104-degree Friday in July when sunlight bathed campus, doctoral student Dio Placencia sat before a noisy vacuum chamber in the Chemical Sciences Building trying to advance the renewable energy revolution.

As a University of Arizona (UA) professor, Neal R. Armstrong's research group, Placencia conducts research aimed at creating a thin, flexible organic solar cell that could power a tent or keep a car charged between trips to work and back home again.

Digital mammography may increase successful diagnoses

Tweet

Nationally, about ten percent of women in the US are recalled for a second mammogram after an abnormality is detected on the first one. However, the use of digital breast tomosynthesis and full-field digital mammography combined may be associated with a substantial decrease in recall rate, according to a study performed at UPMC in Pittsburgh, PA. Some researchers believe that digital breast tomosynthesis depicts the breast tissue in a way which may allow radiologists to identify some tumors which could be missed with standard two-dimensional mammography.

MRI may help physicians diagnose and treat diabetes

Tweet

Noninvasive imaging (MRI) may aid physicians in the early diagnosis, staging and treatment of diabetes, according to a study performed at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston, MA. This is the first study of its kind to apply noninvasive imaging techniques to diabetes research.

1930s style home gets “green” renovations

Tweet

A 1930s house built in 2008 is about to undergo the first of three energy efficiency upgrades which will ultimately convert an energy inefficient house into a zero carbon home designed to meet the Government's 2016 CO₂ targets for all new housing. The results of this research will be relevant to millions of householders across the UK.

Nerve-block anesthesia limits side effects of surgery

Tweet

Regional nerve blocks, an anesthesia technique available at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, are known to improve pain relief, reduce side effects, and allow patients to go home sooner when compared with general anesthesia. With the introduction of ultrasound guidance, nerve blocks have become more accurate, making the technique available in the treatment of an increasing variety of conditions, including breast cancer surgery.

Eco-benefits of hybrid vehicles negligible despite high costs

Tweet

Despite major costs to taxpayers in the U.S. and Canada, government programs that offer rebates to hybrid vehicle buyers are failing to produce environmental benefits, a new UBC study says.

The study finds that hybrid sales have come largely at the expense of small, relatively fuel-efficient, conventional cars, rather than large SUVs, trucks and vans, which produce substantially greater carbon emissions.

Agricultural research key to food security, agricultural scientist suggests

Tweet

Boosting agricultural research in the developing world is the key to ensuring food security for the world's poorest, says Adel el-Beltagy, Chair of the Global Form on Agricultural Research (GFAR), writing in the latest issue of the TWAS Newsletter, published last week.