Search Results for: Research

BY PHILIP FINE

THE US government wants to limit pharmaceutical manufacturers to a one-month window in which to challenge a generic patent. Washington says multiple, consecutive patent challenges have been costing American billions of dollars in drugs costs. The Bush administration estimates that its planned regulatory changes will save consumers an estimated US$35 billion over 10 years.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE WIDESPREAD use of decentralised stand-alone fuel cell power and heat generating units could halve carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuel electricity production, claims research from the Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF) and the Fuel Cell Europe group.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission has announced its first Euro 166 million tranche of funding for food and food safety projects, via the EU’s Sixth Framework Programme on research. While not releasing individual budgets for successful projects, it highlighted funding a “key network of excellence” on prion diseases, including BSE.…

BY MARK ROWE
THE RUSSIAN and Iranian governments have signed a protocol to cooperate in developing Iran’s coal industry. Russia’s energy ministry said it would work to improve all aspects of the industry, from coal production to processing. The Russians will initially help develop operations in the southern Iranian city of Yazd, the centre of Iran’s major coal producing region.…

BY MATTHEW BRACE
SCIENTISTS from Australia’s CSIRO, (the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation), have developed technology to produce electricity from waste coal unsuitable for normal power generation, and methane gas that would otherwise pollute the atmosphere.

The CSIRO-Liquatech system burns coal and methane in a kiln producing hot air, which is passed through a heat exchange unit to drive a gas turbine and produce power, which can supply a mine’s own electrical needs or power the national grid.…

BY MATTHEW BRACE, in Brisbane
CUTTING edge research from Australia has developed a computerised welding system that analyses the quality of welds in mechanical engineering and identifies flaws instantly. WeldPrint, created by the University of Sydney and company WTi, offers the potential of increased safety for car users.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Union has struck a research cooperation deal with the United States over the development of hydrogen fuel cells. Both sides have agreed to pool efforts, including staging demonstrations of fuel cell vehicles and fuelling networks, writing codes and standards for the technology and assessing the economics of exploiting rare earth materials to build special high-temperature cells.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
WATER utilities need to guard against the leaching of marine pollution through porous aquifers into freshwater groundwater sources, a European Union funded research project has warned. The Euro 2.4 million SALTRANS study has dismissed earlier assumptions that toxic organic pollutants are not sufficiently soluble to flow into groundwater reserves.…

BY PHILIP FINE

A CANADIAN professor wants to know what makes the gecko stick to surfaces, research that will be used to promote the creation of artificial glues. In a series of experiments, University of Calgary’s Anthony Russell will try to capture the first close-up high-speed video footage of these reptiles’ footfalls, in order to see their unique stick-and-release dry adhesive system in action.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
ENVIRONMENTAL health authorities need to guard against the leaching of marine pollution through porous aquifers into freshwater groundwater sources, a European Union funded research project has warned. The Euro 2.4 million SALTRANS study has dismissed earlier assumptions that toxic organic pollutants are not sufficiently soluble to flow into groundwater reserves.…