Search Results for: Research

BY KEITH NUTHALL
STUDIES into the environmental conditions sparking asthma and allergies in Europe are to be carried out by an expert network (GA2LEN) funded by Euro 14.4 million in EU research grants. The initiative involves 650 researchers in 16 countries and will investigate national contrasts in allergy rates.…

KEITH NUTHALL
GREEK and American researchers say they have developed a fuel-cell reactor which can produce hydrogen from ethanol. Scientists from the universities of Patras and Minnesota claim that the invention could be a major advance in creating viable hydrogen-based energy systems, because the technology could be used in small fuel cells generating 350 watt-hours of electricity.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
TWO Australian drugs based on the human flu virus have proved effective against bird flu (H5N1 virus) in the laboratory, claims the country’s leading science body, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO). It said in tests (including pre-clinical trials), flu drug Relenza and Tamiflu have shown effectiveness against the disease.…

BY PHILIP FINE

THE US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) could see its financial resources shrink under the recent Bush Administration annual draft budget. If Congress passes the proposal currently being discussed, total federal investments in environmental protection would decrease by US$1.9 billion (GBPounds 920 million) or nearly six per cent, claims pressure group Environmental Media Services (EMS).…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
INITIAL results from the world’s largest ever study into whether mobile phone use causes cancer suggest that the technology is safe. The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) says that research carried out in Denmark, forming part of the global INTERPHONE study, has concluded: “Use of a cell phone for 10 years or more did not increase acoustic neuroma risk over that of short term users.…

BY MATTHEW BRACE
A NEW volcanic gas and ash detector created by Australian scientists could enable the airport and airline industries to save both money and lives. The ‘Ground-based Infra-Red Detection’ (G-bIRD) system is being developed by Australia’s CSIRO (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation) and the country’s Tenix Defence Electronic Systems division.…

BY MATTHEW BRACE
AUSTRALIAN researchers are exploring the future use of waste plastics to help create fuel when combined with coal. The project at the Cooperative Research Centre for Coal in Sustainable Development might be a solution to ridding the world of tonnes of plastic waste.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
AN INTERNATIONAL study involving 40 research facilities is trying to discover whether there is one key cause of all degenerative neurological diseases, such as Alzheimer’s. The APOPIS (abnormal proteins in the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative disorders) project has received Euro 9 million in European Union research funding.…

BY PHILIP FINE

GRAZING cattle beef is leaner and more tender than their feed-lot counterparts, with half the saturated fat and higher levels of the more healthy types of fat, according to preliminary American research. The US Agriculture Research Service is conducting a study that will help eventually market to natural food market niches the mostly grass-fed cattle of the Appalachian mountain range in the American South.…

BY PHILIP FINE

THE US Agriculture Research Service is investigating the extent to which grass-fed free range cattle produce meat that is leaner and more tender than beef from feed-lot fattened animals. Its initial aim is to help market the mostly grass-fed cattle of the Appalachian mountain range in the American South, with farms exploiting the "natural beef" market niche, selling directly to retail outlets and wholesalers.…