Ohio State University : Buzz

Researchers at Ohio State University are experimenting with polymer semiconductors that absorb the sun's energy and generate electricity, reports Science Daily. The goal: lighter, cheaper, and more-flexible solar cells.

Researchers have discovered that adding tiny bits of silver to the plastic boosts the materials' electrical current generation. Without silver, the material generated 6.2 milli-amps per square centimeter. With silver, it generated 7.0 -- an increase of almost 12 percent.

Original source: Science Daily
Read the full story here.

Biomedical research could someday look a lot like playing video games, thanks to an Ohio State University team that has figured out how to manipulate cells with the swerve of a joystick, reports LiveScience.com.

The team at OSU put the device through its paces with magnetically-tagged T-cells, the body's guardians against infection. They snapped the cells to attention at one end of the chip, marched them down to the other end, and made them hop from one wire to another, reaching speeds of about 20 microns, or about a one-fifth the width of a human hair, per second.

Original source: LiveScience.com
Read the full story here.

A $1-billion expansion project for the Ohio State Medical Center campus has received final approval from the OSU board of trustees, reports The Lantern.

The revamped plan, which was unanimously approved by the university Board of Trustees, is estimated to save at least $50 million over the initial plan and create 10,000 full-time jobs in central Ohio by 2015, officials said. The expansion is the largest building project in university history.

Original source: The Lantern
Ready the full story here.