Computer to Construction: Technique Enables Mass Production of Custom Concrete Building Components from Digital Designs

May 16, 2012 — Researchers are automating some of the processes by which computer-based designs are turned into real world entities, developing techniques that fabricate building elements directly from digital designs, and allowing custom components to be manufactured rapidly and at low cost.

Genetic Packing: Successful Stem Cell Differentiation Requires DNA Compaction, Study Finds

May 10, 2012 — New research findings show that embryonic stem cells unable to fully compact the DNA inside them cannot complete their primary task: differentiation into specific cell types that give rise to the various types of tissues and structures in the body.

Georgia Tech Receives Grand Challenges Explorations Grant to Design Energy-Efficient Vaccine Warehousing System

May 9, 2012 — Georgia Tech received a $100,000 Grand Challenges Explorations grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to design a net-zero energy warehousing and distribution system for vaccines and drugs in developing countries.

Neural Recordings: Robot Reveals the Inner Workings of Brain Cells

May 6, 2012 — Researchers have automated the process of finding and recording information from neurons in the living brain. A robotic arm guided by a cell-detecting computer algorithm can identify and record from neurons in the living mouse brain with better accuracy and speed than a human experimenter.

Homeland Defense: Novel Radiation Surveillance Technology Could Help Thwart Nuclear Terrorism

May 1, 2012 — Georgia Tech researchers have developed a prototype radiation-detection system that uses rare-earth elements and other materials at the nanoscale. The system could be used to enhance radiation-detection devices used at ports, border crossings, airports and elsewhere.

Detecting Strain: New Molecular Probes Can Identify Strain-induced Changes in Fibronectin Protein That May Lead to Disease

April 24, 2012 — Researchers have identified molecular probes capable of selectively attaching to fibronectin fibers under different strain states, enabling the detection and examination of fibronectin strain events that have been linked to pathological conditions including cancer and fibrosis.

Identifying Molecules: Compressed Sensing Allows Super-Resolution Microscopy Imaging of Live Cell Structures

April 22, 2012 — Researchers have advanced scientists’ ability to view a clear picture of a single cellular structure in motion. By identifying molecules using compressed sensing, this new method provides needed spatial resolution plus a faster temporal resolution than previously possible.

Atomic Blockade: Technique Efficiently Creates Single Photons for Quantum Information Processing and Study of Dynamics and Disorder

April 19, 2012 — Using lasers to excite just one atom from a cloud of ultra-cold rubidium gas, physicists have developed a new way to rapidly and efficiently create single photons for potential use in optical quantum information processing – and in the study of dynamics and disorder in certain physical systems.

Seeking Gamma Ray Bursts: IceCube Neutrino Observatory Explores Origin of Cosmic Rays

April 18, 2012 — In a paper published in the journal Nature, scientists using data from the IceCube Neutrino Observatory describe a search for neutrinos emitted from 300 gamma ray bursts. The study’s findings contradict 15 years of predictions and challenge one of the leading theories for the origin of the highest energy cosmic rays.

Preventing Failure: New Magnetic Testing Technique Helps Ensure Reliability of Microelectronic Devices, PV Cells and MEMS Applications

April 11, 2012 — Taking advantage of the force generated by magnetic repulsion, researchers have developed a new technique for measuring the adhesion strength between thin films of materials used in microelectronic devices, photovoltaic cells and microelectromechanical systems (MEMS).