Developing ways to connect homes and businesses to the internet without using wires is the aim of a new project announced today. The research at Imperial College London could help users across Europe to access the internet, by removing the need to lay out connecting phone lines or other cables between the public internet and a user’s building or network.
At present, although it is possible to make use of wireless technology within homes and office buildings, the connection from th
In response to concerns from hospitals to prepare for eventual pandemic flu outbreaks, the French company AirInSpace, with support from ESA’s Technology Transfer Programme, has successfully adapted technology developed to protect astronauts for use in critical care centres to protect immune-deficient patients against airborne pathogens such as the avian flu virus.
Independent tests conducted at the Laboratory of Virology and Viral Pathogenesis in Lyon, France, by Professor Bruno Li
A gamma-ray burst (GRB) occurring in our own galaxy could decimate life on Earth, destroying the ozone layer, triggering climate change and drastically altering life’s evolution. However, the good news is that results published online today in the journal Nature show that the likelihood of a natural disaster due to a GRB is much lower than previously thought.
Long-duration GRBs are powerful flashes of high-energy radiation that arise from some of the biggest explosions of extremely
Deep observations of two X-ray bright clusters of galaxies with ESA’s XMM-Newton satellite allowed a group of international astronomers to measure their chemical composition with an unprecedented accuracy. Knowing the chemical composition of galaxy clusters is of crucial importance to understanding the origin of chemical elements in the Universe.
Clusters, or conglomerates, of galaxies are the largest objects in the Universe. By looking at them through optical telescopes it is possible t
With the ever more pervasive emphasis today on results, benefits and profits, research and science are under increasing pressure to show an impact. Investments made out of the public purse are expected to pay back. Although funding for research has increased considerably, competition for that funding has increased even more. This is seen both within the field of science and in the interaction and exchange between science and other spheres of life. Whenever questions are asked about the allocation
Scientists at UCL (University College London) have discovered that even wasps are driven by their status. The study, published today in Nature, shows that lower-ranked female wasps work harder to help their queen than those higher up the chain because they have less to lose, and consequently are prepared to take more risks and wear themselves out.
The study, funded by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), reveals that those higher up the chain and therefore with a gr
It sounds like one of those curiosities which pops up in wildlife documentaries, but the African clawed frog could prove a powerful ally for scientists working in the key area of stem cell research. Researchers at the University of Edinburgh have discovered that the distinctive species – which has become popular in recent years as a domestic pet – shares with humans the same genetic mechanism that enables embryonic stem cells to divide without limit. This process, which gives embryonic stem ce
Leukemia – or cancer of the bone marrow – strikes some 700 Belgians each year. Chronic Eosinophilic Leukemia (CEL), a specific form of leukemia, is currently treated with Glivec. However, recent research has shown that prolonged usage can cause resistance to Glivec, rendering this chronic form of leukemia untreatable. Researchers from the Flanders Interuniversity Institute for Biotechnology (VIB) connected to the Catholic University of Leuven have now discovered that another drug, Sorafenib (Nexav
Scientists at The University of Manchester have uncovered the first evidence of seawater deep inside the Earth shedding new light on the fate of the planet’s oceans, according to research published in Nature (May 11, 2006).
For years geologists have debated whether seawater is subducted (absorbed) into the deep Earth or whether there is a ‘subduction barrier’ blocking its absorption.
For the first time scientists at The University of Manchester have positively identified
UK scientists have cracked one of the key biological processes used by viruses such as HIV and SARS when they replicate according to a paper published in the journal Nature tomorrow (11 May). Viruses are able to interfere with the host cell processes that our bodies use to replicate cells, and protein synthesis is often one of their targets. For the first time, researchers at the Universities of Cambridge and Oxford have witnessed virus-induced “frameshifting” in action and have been able to iden
In isolated environments, astronauts, flight crews, offshore workers and military forces must maintain vigilance and work together to ensure a safe and successful mission.
Between daily living, telemedicine activities and moon-walking simulations, participants in the NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations (NEEMO) 9 project helped National Space Biomedical Research Institute (NSBRI) researchers study performance ability, problem-solving and team cohesion issues that could aff
Florida State University sociologists in Tallahassee, Fla. have found that some South Floridians who survived 1992’s Hurricane Andrew suffered mental health problems many years later, a finding that has led the researchers to predict even more dire consequences for those who lived through last year’s devastating Hurricane Katrina.
The researchers, sociology doctoral student and lead author David Russell and professors John Taylor and Donald Lloyd, presented their findin
Scientists verify that ionic and other air purifiers add to pollutants already in a room in levels that can exceed health standards
In a small, poorly ventilated room, an indoor air purifier that produces even a few milligrams of ozone per hour can create an ozone level that exceeds public health standards, researchers at UC Irvine have found.
Scientists also discovered that ozone produced by air purifiers adds to ozone already present in any room – a prediction that had
Most people who are visually impaired could see better if they had the proper eyeglasses or contact lenses
A National Institutes of Health (NIH) study has found that although 94 percent of Americans aged 12 and older have good vision, the remaining six percent, or 14 million, are visually impaired. Of these, more than 11 million have uncorrected visual impairment, such as nearsightedness. They need eyeglasses or contact lenses to improve their vision. Teenagers, people with d
Technique Could be Applied to All Nitrogen-Poor Ecosystems
A new method to calculate the transfer of nitrogen from Arctic mushrooms to plants is shedding light on how fungi living symbiotically on plant roots transfer vital nutrients to their hosts. The analytical technique, developed by John E. Hobbie, MBL Distinguished Scientist and co-director of the laboratory’s Ecosystems Center and his son, Erik A. Hobbie of the University of New Hampshire, may be applied to nearly all con
Despite research efforts to find modern factors that would explain the different life expectancies of men and women, the gap is actually ancient and universal, according to University of Michigan researchers.
“Women live longer in almost every country, and the sex difference in lifespan has been recognized since at least the mid-18th century,” said Daniel J. Kruger, a research scientist in the U-M School of Public Health and the Institute for Social Research. “It isn’t a recent t
Feedback
