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Quantum Dots (Qdots), nano-scale semiconductor crystals that emit a range of bright colors when excited by a light source such as a laser, are shining brightly these days.  The Berkeley Lab developed technology has been licensed by Quantum Dot Corporation and is being used as fluorescence probes for biomedical assays.  The technology just won an R & D 100 Award and Quantum … [Read more...] about Quantum Dots Outshine the Competition for Biomedical Assays

In the future, biological/electronic chip implants may be able to restore mental function, the use of limbs, and eyesight.  In the near future, in vitro neural networks consisting of millions of living, interconnected nerve cells, will be used to test drugs and sense neurotoxins.  Before any of this can happen, however, scientists must learn how neurons in the human system … [Read more...] about Berkeley Lab and CBI Collaborate on CCDs for Neurotoxin Detection

Due to aesthetics, most US homeowners won’t buy a light colored roof, even if it reduces their air conditioning bills by reflecting, instead of absorbing, solar heat.  So the question for scientists interested in increasing energy efficiency is, can one make a roof that is both cool and dark? Hashem Akbari, Paul Berdahl, and Ronnen Levinson of Lawrence Berkeley National … [Read more...] about Cool Color Roofs

The Berkeley Darfur Stove is a high-efficiency outdoor cooking stove with improved heat transfer characteristics, high combustion under draft, improved mechanical stability, and a design that uses very few parts and can easily be built with hand tools and the simple equipment that is typically available in remote areas of the world. The stove provides women in refugee … [Read more...] about The Berkeley Darfur Stove

Residential buildings consume over 20 percent of all energy used in the United States. When homeowners make upgrades that reduce energy use, they not only save money in energy costs, but they reduce the need to generate power, and its associated air emissions. Home Energy Saver™, funded by DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy and developed at Lawrence … [Read more...] about Energy Saved, Benefits Earned: Home Energy Saver