European researchers hope to take news agencies into the internet age by commercialising a platform of integrated Web services that can automatically classify, annotate and analyse news stories.
It will mean stories can be defined, on the fly, with a precision greater than a library’s card catalogue.
The News Engine Web Services (NEWS) platform is aimed at news agencies, governments and large enterprises and will enable them to develop highly advanced analysis to r
A group of researchers of the University of Granada (UGR) is leading an excellence project funded by the Andalusian Ministry of Innovation, Science and Enterprise with 105,900 Euros whose objective is to apply mathematics to the study of tumours and cell mobility. With their project called ‘Biomat: estudio de modelos de desarrollo y movilidad celular y tumoral’ (Biomat: study of models of cell and tumour development and mobility), these Granada-based scientists, led by Juan Soler Vizcaíno, wil
The research group GMBM (Biomimetic and multifunctional materials) of the University of Seville is working on the creation of fuel batteries with protonic conductor membranes. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is funding this line of research.
The director of GMBM, Julián Martínez Fernández, has been collaborating with the NASA-Glenn Research Center (in Cleveland, Ohio) for thirteen years. The University of Seville’s project, funded with 200,000 €Euros, consi
Huge Astronomical Image of ’Empty Space’ Obtained with ESO Telescope
An image made of about 300 million pixels is being released by ESO, based on more than 64 hours of observations with the Wide-Field Camera on the 2.2m telescope at La Silla (Chile). The image covers an ’empty’ region of the sky five times the size of the full moon, opening an exceptionally clear view towards the most distant part of our universe. It reveals objects that are 100 million time
ESA’s Venus Express has returned the first-ever images of the hothouse planet’s south pole from a distance of 206 452 kilometres, showing surprisingly clear structures and unexpected detail. The images were taken 12 April during the spacecraft’s initial capture orbit after successful arrival on 11 April 2006.
Engineers have lost no time in switching on several of the instruments and yesterday the VMC (Venus Monitoring Camera) and VIRTIS (Visible and Infrared Thermal Imagin
Toxic beans normally used in cattle feed could form the basis of the perfect scoop for curry, the nation’s favourite food. Scientists have discovered the best way to treat these beans for use in food stuffs.
Scientists in Pakistan used vetch flour, made using treated beans, to create a protein-enriched chapatti with the perfect characteristics for scooping up curry. By supplementing chapatti dough with vetch flour they produced a bread that is tearable and pliable enough to fo
Veterinary scientists in Liverpool have found that some African cattle have natural immunity to a parasite, similar to that which causes river blindness in humans.
These new findings, by scientists at the University’s Faculty of Veterinary Science and the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, indicate that it may be possible to vaccinate humans against River Blindness. The disease causes blindness in thousands of people in some of the poorest countries in the world, partic
Millions of Britons may be reeling from hosepipe bans this summer, but one UK university has come up with a novel way to help plug the water crisis – by recycling plastic milk cartons.
Energy savers at Sheffield Hallam University have won a national award for their innovative and low-cost method of conserving water, in the same week it was revealed insufficient amounts of water were being collected and used in Britain.
The University took first spot in the energy and wat
Nearly half of health workers surveyed would not go to work during an influenza pandemic. The results of a survey of health workers in Maryland, USA, published today in the open access journal BMC Public Health reveal that the staff’s perceived importance of their role in the response to a pandemic is the most important factor influencing willingness to come to work during a pandemic. This is lowest among technical or support staff. These results highlight the need for increased training and sup
New initiative is an alternative to destruction of their forests in order to develop economically
In an article this Friday (April 14) in the international magazine New Scientist, a leading rainforest biologist from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama argues that a new initiative by developing nations offers great promise to help reduce the rampant rate of tropical forest destruction.
William Laurance, a Smithsonian scientist who is also president of t
Chimpanzees and humans have gene variant, for different reasons
Gene variants determine which humans and which chimpanzees can taste bitter substances. For humans, this taste sensitivity may influence nutritional choices and ultimately their health, as well as behaviors, such as smoking. For chimpanzees, it provides a way to live safely in their environments by avoiding toxic plants and other harmful compounds.
Research conducted more 65 years ago by a team of scienti
Tired of fluorescent tubes? Imagine your ceiling — or any surface — as a giant light panel, thanks to research from the University of Southern California and Princeton University
Scientists studying organic light-emitting devices (OLEDs) have made a critical leap from single-color displays to a highly efficient and long-lived natural light source.
The invention, described in the April 13 issue of Nature, is the latest fruit of a 13-year OLED research program led by M
Scientists at Yale and the University of Rhode Island report the development of a peptide that can specifically and directly deliver molecules to the inside of cells like a nanosyringe, creating a new tool for drug delivery, gene control and imaging of diseased tissues.
Their “cargo carrier” peptide called pHLIP, for pH (Low) Insertion Peptide, accumulates in the membranes of cells in acidic environments and spontaneously transfers attached molecules across the membrane. The c
Bacterial adhesive is 2-3 times stronger than common commercial glues
The glue one species of water-loving bacteria uses to grip its surroundings may be the strongest natural adhesive known to science. If engineers can find a way to mass-produce the material, it could have uses in medicine, marine technology and a range of other applications.
Researchers at Indiana University in Bloomington and Brown University in Providence, R.I., studied how much force they needed to
Yale School of Medicine researchers have new data showing chloride ions are critical to hearing in mammals, which builds on previous research showing a chemical used to keep barnacles off boats might disrupt the balance of these ions in ear cells.
“Our data are the first to directly show that chloride ions are crucial for our exquisite sense of hearing,” said Joseph Santos-Sacchi, professor in the Departments of Surgery and Neurobiology and first author of the study in the Journal
A study in the June issue of the Journal of Consumer Research reveals that some people don’t go for products marketed as better or more effective than its rivals. Individuals who focus on potential gains will go for a product advertised as far superior to its competitors. However, those concerned with potential losses will disregard such campaigns in favor of comparisons that claim a product is similar to or just as good as established brands.
“Our results are novel in suggesting
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