Search Results for: Research

BY KEITH NUTHALL AND MONICA DOBIE
CONSIDERING the high value of many cargos shipped around the world, a rational observer might assume that pirates would ignore fishing boats in favour of vessels carrying spices, cigarettes, alcohol, metals or electrical goods. Not so.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE FINDINGS of three EU funded research projects have concluded that water consumption could be reduced by as much as 90 per cent in certain economic sectors, namely tanneries, abandoned industrial sites and waste water management. The European Commission is now advising industry to further reduce their water consumption through internal recycling.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
A GREEK renewable energy company has been ordered to repay the equivalent of Drachma 9.4 million, plus interest, of the Drachma 13.8 million it was given by the European Commission in 1985 to instal a 300 kW wind energy converter on an Aegean island; the idea was to demonstrate the system for two years and then hand it over to an operator.…

BY MARK ROWE
CHINA is drafting its first law governing the use of biotechnology in an attempt to protect public health and the environment. The law will seek to control the potentially harmful effects of genetically modified organisms, such as crops, in areas including research and imports from abroad.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
CRIMINALS dream of a world without police and although such a concept might seem science-fiction, it is actually easy to commit offences away from the eyes of law enforcement: just hire a boat. On the high seas, there is no-one watching, which is why fishing crime is so common and difficult to detect.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
A EUROPEAN Commission-funded report has claimed that technological advances have made it feasible to roll-out the next phase of offshore wind turbines, which could generate 100 MW, dwarfing the capacity of the current 80 MW models.

The Concerted Action on Offshore Wind Energy in Europe (CA-OWEE) project has concluded that “the physical and environmental challenges are within the grasp of the offshore and wind energy industries,” although there are still problems posed by “market uncertainties.”…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
INTERNATIONAL cooperation is to be stepped up to fight travel document fraud, with border authorities increasingly anxious to restrict the movement of would-be terrorists.

The European Union Council of Ministers (justice and home affairs) has agreed in principle to allow information on counterfeits to be exchanged between its working party on frontiers and false documents and Europol, Interpol, the USA and Canada.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EU Joint Research Centre’s reactor at Geel, the Netherlands, was to be restarted in March, following its shutdown in February for IAEA-led safety assessments. These have led to improved training and monitoring procedures.…

BY MONICA DOBIE
THE MORE alcohol one consumes, the more money one makes, and vice versa, according to research by a Canadian academic at the University of Calgary.

Dr Chris Auld, an assistant professor of economics, concluded that teetotalers were generally poorer, following research correlating alcohol consumption and income.…

BY MONICA DOBIE
THE SASKATCHEWAN provincial government in Canada has recently passed a restrictive act that prohibits the advertising and displaying of tobacco products in retail outlets where people under the age of eighteen are allowed on the premises.

Shopkeepers are forced to hide cigarettes from patrons by enclosing them in non- transparent cabinets, behind curtains or blinds or selling them from under the counter.…