r&d

China will soon overtake Japan as the world's second heaviest spender on research and development, according to a report from the Battelle Memorial Institute.

A nonprofit group that conducts scientific research, Battelle published its findings today as part of an article in its R&D Magazine. The article and its full supplementary report (PDF) looked at global R&D spending in general and across six specific segments--Information Technology, Electronics, Life Sciences, Aerospace/Defense/Security, Energy, and Advanced Materials.

Next year, China is expected to spend $153.7 billion on R&D, a big jump from $141.… Read more

When I first saw this limited-edition Pentax K-r digital SLR called the K-r Korejanairobomoderu, I thought it was a dSLR made from Legos. And then I remembered that sadly, this is the company's second go-round with this Korejanai Robo design; it gave the same paint job to the K-x around this time last year.

If you were hoping to pick one up for the holidays you're out of luck. Only 100 are being made and reservations start on December 24, with the cameras shipping in January. They're available through Pentax's Japanese shopping site for approximately $1,… Read more

Terrafugia, a developer of "roadable aircraft"--otherwise known as flying cars--released a scale model and computer-generated mockups of its redesigned "Transition" vehicle on Monday that the company says bring it a step closer, engineering-wise, to a deliverable product late next year.

The design tweaks, Terrafugia explained, were based on the results of a successful test flight last year at Plattsburgh International Airport in New York. Some of the improvements include a touch-screen cockpit interface and better-optimized wings with a new folding mechanism that helps them retract for road driving. It'll still run on gas station … Read more

Google has developed a prototype for a new mirror technology that could cut by half the cost of building a solar thermal plant, the company's green energy czar said on Friday.

Bill Weihl said that if development and testing go well, he could see the product being ready in one to three years.

"Things have progressed," Weihl said in an interview. "We have an internal prototype."

Google has been looking at unusual materials for the mirror's reflective surface and the substrate on which the mirror is mounted.

In solar thermal technology, the sun's … Read more

Nokia announced Tuesday that it will lay off about 220 employees from its R&D division in Japan, a bit more than 1 percent of the company's worldwide R&D workforce.

The layoffs are part of the company's efforts to align its global research & development operations with new products. Nokia Siemens Networks, the network equipment maker owned by Nokia and Siemens, will not be affected by the reorganization, said Nokia.

Just last week, Nokia said that it will slash 330 positions in total from its R&D units in Finland and Copenhagen as part … Read more

Nokia said Friday that a streamlining effort could result in the elimination of as many as 330 positions from its research and development staff, or about 2 percent of its global R&D workforce.

The changes will likely hit up to 230 workers in the company's Oulu site in Finland and roughly 100 at its Copenhagen site. Nokia said it plans to offer voluntary severance packages to the affected workers and to find alternative jobs for as many people as possible.

The company currently employs more than 17,000 workers in its R&D business. It has … Read more

Microchip technology can now enable chemists to perform more than 1,000 experiments at once, according to researchers from the University of California at Los Angeles.

A team of scientists from the university and other organizations have developed a chip based on microfluidics--the channeling of minute amounts of liquids and chemicals. The chip is designed to be plugged into a computer so chemists can perform multiple chemical reactions on the chip automatically.

In a study, the UCLA scientists produced a chip capable of conducting 1,024 reactions simultaneously, which the scientists used to identify inhibitors to the enzyme bovine carbonic … Read more

Pouring water from a pitcher into a glass is not just about transferring liquid from one container to another--at least not to Phil McKinney.

To the chief technology officer of Hewlett-Packard's personal systems group, it represents the challenge of doing the same with data. McKinney oversees research into the concept of "liquid media," in which data can be easily and effectively moved between different types of devices--in a way that is intelligent enough to tap the capabilities of each platform.

Known in HP as "the gadget guy," McKinney spoke with ZNet Asia on the sidelines … Read more

Updated at 12:55 p.m. PDT with comments from Foundation Capital. Updated at 3:45 a.m. PDT March 24 with corrected figure for total government investment in clean energy and efficiency.

Seeking to boost the U.S. clean-energy industry, President Obama on Monday announced $1.2 billion for science research at national labs and a proposal to extend a business tax credit for investments in research and development.

At an event at the White House, Obama told researchers and green-technology business people that their work was vital to revitalizing the U.S. economy and cutting the country's … Read more