Search Results for: Research

BY KEITH NUTHALL
WANT to safely destroy BSE-infection in specified risk material (SRM) from abattoirs? Well exposing it to 10,000C plasma and high levels of ultra violet light should do the trick. That’s the principle behind mobile waste treatment technology being developed by the European Union-backed PLASMER project.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Court of Justice (ECJ) is to increase its budget by 50 per cent to cope with the increase in caseload and translation caused by May’s accession to the European Union (EU) of 10 new member countries from eastern and southern Europe.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
A EUROPEAN Union-funded research consortium is developing an industrial system for producing biodegradable plastics from whey, separated from milk curd during cheese-making. Around 30 per cent of the 50 million tonnes of whey produced in Europe annually is currently discarded, and the Euro 1.6 million WHEYPOL project is creating process to synthesise polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) generated from whey into plastic.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
A EUROPEAN Union (EU) backed research project is promoting the use of hemp and flax to make fibreboard used in car manufacture. Coordinator Helmut Zimmer of Austrian renewable raw materials specialist Funder Industries said the Hi-Fi project would generate an “added-value opportunity” for hemp and flax producers, improving fibreboard door panel production.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE PORTUGUESE government is being threatened with legal action at the European Court of Justice (ECJ) for failing to ensure European Union (EU) nuclear safety standards are applied at the country’s nuclear technology institute. The European Commission claims that Portugal is not complying with various demands from Euratom and the EU basic safety standards directive, such as continuously monitoring local radioactivity and alerting Brussels about any records.…

BY MONICA DOBIE
AUSTRALIA’S two large brewers have shifted their advertising campaigns to attract more 18-30’s into drinking their beer over pre-mixed drinks. Carlton & United Breweries and Lion Nathan spent far more money last year promoting premium and youth oriented beer brands than on their traditional top-selling brands.…

BY MONICA DOBIE
AMERICAN researchers have developed a ‘curtain of air’ system that could keep disease-carrying insects from boarding civil aeroplanes. The technology, created by the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) in the United States, is a high velocity fan system used in passenger walkways that excludes 99 per cent of mosquitoes and flies.…

BY PHILIP FINE

FEELING grouchy and hungry? Tempted to snack? Your low-carb diet could be to blame, according to Massachusetts Institute of Technology MIT researchers who have looked at carbohydrates and brain chemistry. Husband-and-wife researchers Judith and Richard Wurtman have discovered that carbohydrates, despite being demonised by some weight-loss advocates, are essential in regulating mood and suppressing appetite.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
NEW European Union (EU) guidelines on using animal wastes (uncontaminated with BSE) as organic fertilisers should be drawn up by the European Commission, the European Food Safety Authority scientific panel on biological hazards has said. There should also be further research into the disappearance over time of bacteria and viruses contained in this fertiliser, it advised.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
STUDIES into the environmental conditions sparking asthma and allergies in Europe are to be carried out by an expert network (GA2LEN) funded by Euro 14.4 million in EU research grants. The initiative involves 650 researchers in 16 countries and will investigate national contrasts in allergy rates.…