Search Results for: Research

BY MONICA DOBIE
AMERICAN scientists from the USA’s Agricultural Research Service (ARS) have designed a new way to produce mannitol, a low-calorie mint-tasting sweetener. The “biobased” method involves feeding high-fructose corn syrup to bacteria Lactobacillus intermedius in a fermentation tank. After several hours the bacteria converts 72% percent of the syrup into mannitol.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE ECOLOGICAL havoc that could be wreaked by careless undersea mining operations at the fringes of Europe’s continental shelf is to be assessed by a Euro 15 million international study. The European Commission is funding the HERMES project, which involves consortium of 36 research institutes and nine small companies from 15 countries, led by Britain’s Southampton Oceanography Centre.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission has launched a Euro 1.01 million research project to develop guidelines on producing food for elderly people. Researchers in the NUTRI-SENEX scheme will consider the loss of smell and taste of older consumers, which sparks a loss of appetite.…

KEITH NUTHALL
OBESE shoppers are routinely treated with rude and dismissive behaviour from shop assistants according to a study performed by graduate students at Rice University in Texas. Conducted in a large Houston shopping mall, 10 medium-built Caucasian women aged between 19 and 28 played the role of customer in four different scenarios: an average-weight shopper in casual attire, an average-weight shopper in professional attire, an obese shopper (the result of a size 22 obesity prosthetic worn under the clothing) in casual attire and an obese shopper in professional attire.…

BY MONICA DOBIE
SCIENTISTS from the USA’s Agricultural Research Service have found that altering a cows diet can make their dung smell sweeter. They discovered that feeding cattle high-moisture corn instead of the traditional dry-rolled corn significantly reduced the odours that can spark complaints from residential areas near livestock farms.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
A STUDY by American and Japanese scientists says that meat products derived from cloned cattle are not only safe, they are almost identical to those derived from cattle reproducing normally. Published in the USA’s Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, research coordinated by the Center for Regenerative Biology, at the University of Connecticut, focused on two beef and four dairy cattle clones.…

BY LIZ HALL
A PROFUSION of family-run businesses, corrupt and under-resourced authorities and low wages has traditionally meant much commercial crime goes undetected in Latin America. But the tide is turning, with more and more companies unwilling to turn a blind eye to fraud, bribery and counterfeit goods production.…

BY MONICA DOBIE
STRESS levels in pigs increase in temperatures of 19C or above, resulting in them eating and growing less, according to research from the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research. Pigs with cooling systems, such as floor cooling, sprinkling or water baths, remained cool and grew better.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE BIGGEST obstacle faced by Europe promoting its economic growth is its failure to draw more women, young people and workers aged above 50 into its workforce, an official at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said. Its deputy research director David Robinson, speaking at the Brussels Economic Forum, said national governments rather than EU institutions should encourage the employment of these groups.…

BY JONATHAN THOMSON
ASK the average motorist to identify which automotive technologies have advanced the most in recent years, and very few would mention coatings and finishings. Certainly, when it comes to innovation, carmakers are eager to promote new developments in performance, economy and safety.…