Search Results for: Research

BY MONICA DOBIE
CHILDREN as old as 12 lack the cognitive ability to safely cross streets on their bicycles, according to a University of Iowa study published in the American journal Child Development. Researchers used virtual reality technology to allow participants to ride stationery bicycles through a residential neighbourhood, where cars were travelling between 50 and 70 kilometres per hour.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE UNITED Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has called for human flu vaccines to be given to all poultry slaughterhouse workers, following the reemergence of bird flu in three Asian countries: Vietnam, China and Thailand. The FAO said research showed the virus was more widespread than previously thought and was unlikely to be “eradicated soon”.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
A EUROPEAN Union (EU) research project examining human health damage caused by endocrine-disrupting trace chemicals in food, is now operational. The CASCADE network hopes to increase public awareness and promote better decision on the subject. Endocrine-disrupting chemical residues disrupt hormone distribution and are linked to cancer, cardiovascular disease, obesity and diabetes.…

BY MONICA DOBIE
BACTERIA in the digestive tracts of cows and other herbivores, that help break down the tough fibre in their diets, could be used as the base for a biological wood glue. Scientists from the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) in the United States have discovered that the microbes secrete a sticky outer coating that allows them to cling to a surface, similar to how cavity-causing bacteria adhere to teeth.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE COUNCIL of Europe’s committee of ministers has adopted the “first international text harmonising ethical and legal standards in biomedical research”. Once ratified, the protocol will cover the non-EU council’s 45 council member countries, including Russia. It sets standards concerning acceptable risks for research participants, and details information they should receive before giving their consent.…

KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission is preparing to launch a large study into the future development of hydrogen and fuel cell technologies. Brussels wants an assessment of the most promising key technologies that could be widely marketed within less than 15 years.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
A EUROPEAN Union (EU) research project designed to examine the effect on human health of endocrine-disrupting chemicals in food, is now up and running. The CASCADE (chemicals as contaminants in the food chain) network hopes to use its discoveries to increase public awareness of the problem and “promote better decision making among both consumers and policy makers regarding food” said a European Commission note.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
FOLLOWING the success in collecting data about prehistoric climate changes from polar ice cores, the European Union (EU)-funded PROMESS1 project has collected 500,000-year-old sediment samples from the Mediterranean floor. These, said a European Commission note, “will allow researchers to reconstruct climate variations since pre-historic times, thus providing keys for understanding what is happening to Earth’s climate now…holding (geological) archives of past developments”.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
A JOINT European research project has been given Euro 12 million in European Commission funding to perfect techniques for producing antibodies and vaccines from plants to prevent and treat major human diseases, such as AIDS, rabies and TB.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
A NEWLY launched European Union (EU)-funded research project will uncover genetic factors linked to depression, helping to develop new drug treatments over the next five years. The NEWMOOD project has received Euro 7.2 million in EU funding. It will help researchers “revolutionise antidepressant drugs, which have not changed much over the past 30 years,” claimed the European Commission.…