• DOE awards $9 million to encourage nuclear power eduction

    Funds will benefit nuclear science and engineering students and university research infrastructure

  • Researchers find ways to slow down deformation of concrete

    Concrete is used in practically all forms of construction — buildings, bridges, tunnels, dams; trouble is, it deforms and crumbles over time; MIT researchers discover the reasons for the gradual deformation of concrete, a discovery which will lead to concrete infrastructures capable of lasting hundreds of years rather than tens

  • Building sturdier structures in hurricane-prone areas

    The hurricane season is upon us; an architecture professor offers tips on how to build — and how not to build — sturdier structures in hurricane-prone regions

  • Chatham creates School of Sustainability and the Environment

    Two trends — globalization and the centralization of food production — have pushed food safety issues to the fore; Chatham University launches a new degree program designed to provide students with “a deep understanding of the issues surrounding food such as the environmental costs of food production and distribution, cultural issues, sustainability of communities, and safety of the food supply”

  • Quantum computing nears with European QAP project

    QAP co-coordinator Professor Ian Walmsley: “Quantum computing, when it arrives, could make all current cryptographic technology obsolete”

  • Robotic ferret to secure cargo containers

    The U.S. maritime system consists of more than 300 seaports and more than 3,700 cargo and passenger terminals; more than 6 million cargo containers enter U.S. seaports annually; new robotic ferret will help detect radioactive materials, explosives, drugs, and illegal immigrants smuggled inside such containers

  • More modest version of nuclear fusion power project to start

    Nuclear fusion reactor to built in southern France by an international consortium; operation will begin in 2018

  • ITER fusion project will start with hydrogen

    The ITER experiments will start in 2018 — but will be literally lighter, using hydrogen rather than heavier tritium and deuterium; the tritium and deuterium experiments will have to wait until 2026

  • Locating VoIP callers in emergencies

    Callers who use VoIP to call 999 (the U.K. equivalent of the U.S. 911) run the risk of making it difficult, if not impossible, for the police, paramedics, and fire crews to attend emergencies promptly; a system is being developed to locate Internet phones

  • First solar-powered plane to fly at night

    Swiss aviators designed a solar-powered plane capable of flying day and night; the goal is to make fly for 36 hours without fuel; test flight scheduled for 26 June

  • NSF receives $3 billion in stimulus package funds

    NSF director: “The Obama administration understands the role of science in dealing with national problems. It’s built into their priorities and the people they have appointed to get the agenda moving”

  • Researchers conduct live human trials of brain-plug interface

    Brown University researchers begin human trials of “neural interface” brain-plug equipment, intended to let users control computers and machinery merely by thinking; the technology would initially be used by patients suffering from paralysis or amputated limbs, but eventually allow people, telekinetically, to unlock doors, turn lights or machines on and off, handle computers

  • New method for chemoterrorism developed

    Chemical terrorism does not receive as much press as bioterrorism; still, poisoning the air, water, and food supply using chemicals can do major harm and terrorize, intimidate, or coerce governments or civilian populations; scientists develop a new method to detect chemical attacks

  • Mystery surrounds detection of North Korea's nuclear test

    Detecting radionuclide evidence in the form of radioactive gas is the “smoking gun” — proving that a nuclear explosion has occurred; seismologists say they are comfortable that explosion in North Korea two weeks ago was a nuclear test — but sensors have not been able to pick up radionuclide evidence

  • Inflatable tower would bring people to the edge of space

    Scientists describe a 15-kilometer inflatable tower made up of 100 modules, each one 150 meters tall and 230 meters in diameter, built from inflatable tubes 2 meters across; when pressurized, the tower would weigh 800,000 tons — twice the weight of the world’s largest supertanker