• New consortium to develop tiny sensors to boost energy production

    The University of Texas at Austin announces the Advanced Energy Consortium (AEC), a multimillion-dollar research consortium dedicated to the development of micro and nanotechnology applications to increase oil and gas production

  • Swiss move on quantum cryptography

    Ensuring effective data security is the next challenge for global data networks; quantum cryptography offers such effective security; the Swiss national election in October 2007 provided first real-life test of the technology, and Swiss now move to implement it in security-sensitive sectors of the economy

  • New device helps radiation mapping in nuclear power plants

    U.K. company develops radiation-mapping device which allows repairs to be carried out in small contaminated areas of nuclear power plants; device is based on technology used for radiation therapy delivery

  • Pac-Man-like molecule chews up uranium contamination

    Uranium leaches into groundwater from natural deposits of its ore, depleted uranium munitions, nuclear facilities, and the detritus of uranium mining; removing uranium from groundwater is very difficult: Not only does uranium bind very strongly to oxygen — it is also soluble, making dissolved uranium virtually impossible to remove; British scientists find an innovative solution

  • As nuclear power spreads, so do worries about safety

    Of the more than 100 nuclear reactors now being built, planned, or on order, about half are in China, India, and other developing nations; China has 11 nuclear plants and plans to bring more than 30 others on line by 2020; MIT report says China may need to add as many as 200 reactors by 2050; imagine China bringing to nuclear matters the same rigor and corruption-free approach it brings to inspection of food, children toys, and medicines

  • GAO: More federal efforts needed to thwart threats to oil tankers

    GAO publishes a detailed report on terrorist threats to tankers carrying crude oil, liquefied gases, and refined products to the U.S.; these threats pose a major challenge, since the U.S. imports 55 percent of the nation’s crude oil supply

  • Hand-held near-infrared chemical detector developed

    Welsh company ZiNIR develops a hand-held near-infrared detector which can identify the chemical content of a substance within a few seconds on a “point, click, read” basis; company sees big opportunity in U.S. security market

  • Manchester University leads SPRIng project

    University to develop new tools for assessing the sustainability of nuclear power; among the tools to be developed: Methodology and decision-support system for assessing the sustainability of nuclear power and considering energy supply and demand

  • First commercial wave farm operates in Portugal

    Scottish company Pelamis has been operating the world’s first commercial wave energy farm, located off the coast line of Portugal, for a year now

  • First U.S. hydrokinetic wave energy license granted

    Federal regulator grants Canadian company Finavera conditional five-year license to build and operate wave energy farm off the shore of Washington State; wave energy buoy farm is first in the U.S.

  • Wireless sensors to monitor bridges' health

    There are about 597,000 bridges exceeding 20 feet in length on public roads in the United States; more than 50,000 of them were found to be deficient in load-bearing ratings; wireless sensors embedded in the bridge’s concrete will monitor structure’s health

  • Eight-day IT outage would cripple most companies

    Survey finds that most companies could not withstand a regional disaster because they are built to overcome severe outages lasting only up to seven days; experts say companies must make the business continuity plans more robust so they endure outages of at least thirty days

  • Information technology to create more efficient power grid

    Creating a smarter grid through information technology could save $80 billion over 20 years nationally by offsetting costs of building new electric infrastructure; 300 Pacific Northwest volunteers take part in smart-appliance trial

  • Day of ultra-clean engine nears

    One of the major obstacles facing the development of ultra-clean car engines is the need for permanent-magnet electric motors to operate well at temperatures up to 200 degrees Celsius; Iowa researchers offer a way to create such magnets

  • Reviewing -- and fixing -- Open Source code security holes

    Popular open source projects such as Samba, the PHP, Perl, Tcl dynamic languages, and Amanda were found to have dozens or hundreds of security exposures; some are quicker than others in fixing the problem