Search Results for: Research

BY MONICA DOBIE
AMERICAN scientists have developed a new hybrid nanotechnology material made by combining clay with cotton, producing a substance that they claim has strong heat resistance ability, durability and suppleness. Researchers mixed microscopic montmorillonite clay particles into cotton fibres dissolved by a recyclable solvent that was later removed.…

Keith Nuthall
AVITRACK, a three-dimensional monitoring system allowing airport managers to check all groundhandling movements on aircraft runways, taxiways, aprons and parking zones, is being developed by a European Union (EU) research consortium. Coordinated by French IT firm SILOGIC, it involves cameras creating digital images that identify individuals, objects and vehicles, whose movement can be interpreted by computers.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
A EURO 11.7 million grant has been awarded by the European Commission to a European Union (EU) research project that will try to identify novel approaches for preventing HIV-1 transmission. The European Microbicides Project (EMPRO) involves 29 institutions from Europe and developing countries and is coordinate by King’s College, London.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE WORLD Heath Organisation has released a report detailing new developments in neuroscience research regarding craving, compulsive use, tolerance and dependence related to psychoactive substances, such as nicotine. The paper discusses how genes interact with environmental factors to sustain psychoactive substance-using behaviours, suggesting novel diagnostic tools and behavioural and pharmacological treatments.…

BY MONICA DOBIE
SCIENTISTS have discovered that proteins from a harmless microorganism can reduce the presence of campylobacter and other pathogenic bacteria in poultry intestines by 99.9 per cent. In small trials, the proteins, called bacteriocins, almost wiped out campylobacter, reducing their presence to a millionth when fed to chickens.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
A KEY link in the European Union’s (EU) European Research Area (ERA) is being developed this month (April), with the launch of the SARNET network of excellence on nuclear accident research. It is one of the largest ERA initiatives, involving 18 research organisations, 11 private companies, ten universities, four utilities and six safety authorities.…

Keith Nuthall
A BRITISH research project is developing a three dimensional airport detection system to pick out concealed objects using harmless microwaves, instead of the harmful x-rays traditionally used in terminals. The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council-funded Northumbria University project is developing a two-stage system using conventional detectors to measure two-dimensional microwave patterns caused by hidden objects and then computer software constructing 3-dimensional images from this data.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Investment Bank (EIB) is planning to lend Spanish utility Enagás SA up to Euro 450 million to reinforce and extend the country’s gas transmission network and reserve facilities. These improvements would cover most of the country and are included in the 2002-2011 Spanish National Energy Plan.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
AN ONLINE tool has been released by a European Commission-funded research project allowing local authorities to assess their sustainable development, measured across a wide range of activities. The Local Evaluation 21 system will allow councils for the first time – claim its developers – to compare their record with all other local authorities in Britain and those of a similar size from other European Union (EU) countries.…

BY MONICA DOBIE
CANADA’S Petroleum Technology Research Center has concluded that empty wells in the Weyburn oil field, Saskatchewan, can hold an estimated 21 million tons of carbon dioxide. In an experiment to determine whether the greenhouse gas can safely be buried under land, researchers have been checking well vapours, groundwater and conducting seismic tests.…