Search Results for: Research

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE UNITED Nations’ International Seabed Authority has launched its eighth decision-making session at its headquarters in Kingston, Jamaica, a meeting which will see discussions on harvesting minerals from the deep sea. A technical workshop meeting is expected to propose specific international research projects on how mineral extraction might harm the deep ocean environment.…

BY JONATHAN THOMSON
BMW is developing a new high-tech system to prevent drivers falling asleep at the wheel, after research by the German Insurance Association (GdV) revealed that tiredness caused a quarter of all fatal accidents on autobahns.

BMW’s “driving alertness assistant” operates using a small camera fitted inside the car, which examines eye blinking patterns to assess how watchful or tired the driver is.…

BY ALAN OSBORN
AN INTERNATIONAL team of scientists based at Galway, in Ireland, has made a surprising discovery that could have significant consequences for future climate change.

The EU-sponsored Parforce research project, led by the National University of Ireland, has found that iodine vapours released by marine algae can help thicken haze and cloud layers, blocking sunlight and thereby partially offsetting global warming from greenhouse gases.…

BY DEIRDRE MASON
EASTERN European countries that built nuclear power plants while under the communist system never thought they would face deadlines for closing them down as a prerequisite for joining the European Union. Neither had they built in the next stage – decommissioning – into the prices charged for electricity in the way that the western European nuclear plant operators had done from the start.…

BY SWINEETHA DIAS WICKRAMANAYAKA
THE EXPORT Development Board of Sri Lanka has been publicising good practice from research projects designed to reduce energy consumption by the island’s ceramics industry, to cut its costs and improve competitiveness on global markets. The board estimates that energy bills account for 20 to 30 per cent of Sri Lankan ceramic company production costs.…

BY JONATHAN THOMSON
RESEARCHERS in Ireland have developed a system that allows farmers to remotely monitor the temperature of cattle using a mobile phone. The Grange Research Centre, part of the Irish Agriculture and Food Development Authority (Teagasc), have recently completed tests using an electronic bolus (a kind of pill) placed in the cow’s rumen, (one of its stomachs).…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission has proposed the creation of a new Euro 13 million per annum scheme to monitor the health of Europe’s forests. The programme would run from January 2003 until December 2008. The Commission would establish a Scientific Co-ordination Body within the EU’s Joint Research Centre to collect and assess data on forest health and pollution.…

KEITH NUTHALL
A DYNAMIC online forum on European energy policy has been launched by an international consortium; the European Union-funded INTUSER website contains information about current energy issues and questionnaires allowing specialists and the public to contribute to policy debates. The three year project’s website includes special sections on alternative, renewable, fossil and nuclear energy.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Investment Fund has agreed to invest Euro 25 million in “Merlin Biosciences III,” a pan-European scheme investing on infant companies that develop human healthcare products or allied technologies. Merlin Biosciences III will exclusively focus on biosciences, with particular attention to post-genomics, cell therapy, computational approaches to biosciences, bionics, nano-technology and system biology.…

BY MATTHEW BRACE
A PIONEERING Australian stem cell company is teaming up with an international Japanese biopharmaceutical firm to build Japan’s first dedicated embryonic stem cell company. The expansion into Japan is part of Melbourne-based Stem Cell Sciences’ strategy to create a global cell therapy company.…