(Nanyang Technological University) Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich, Switzerland, and University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, N.C., have come together to set up a new international research center for telepresence and telecollaboration, known as the BeingThere Centre. These new technologies are set to revolutionize the way humans communicate in the 21st century.

(Queen's University Belfast) The Food Integrity and Traceability Conference will take place at Queen’s University Belfast March 21-24, 2011. The conference will showcase the latest international developments in food safety and traceability. The event will welcome scientists, food standards regulators and food producers from around 32 countries, who will share their expertise in delivering safe and authentic foods to consumers.

(The Translational Genomics Research Institute) TGen Drug Development and Flagship Biosciences today announced a strategic alliance that should help speed new drugs safely into human testing and quickly benefit cancer patients.

(Massachusetts General Hospital) Massachusetts General Hospital investigators have developed a novel system for delivery of growth factors to chronic wounds such as pressure sores and diabetic foot ulcers. The team from the MGH Center for Engineering in Medicine fabricated nanospheres containing keratinocyte growth factor fused with elastin-like peptides. When suspended in a fibrin gel, the nanoparticles improved the healing of deep skin wounds in diabetic mice.

(North Carolina State University) Light-emitting diodes (LEDs) are an increasingly popular technology for use in energy-efficient lighting. Researchers from North Carolina State University have now developed a new technique that reduces defects in the gallium nitride (GaN) films used to create LEDs, making them more efficient.