The interest rate setting in the past 2-3 years has contributed to a strong development of the Norwegian economy. Now, the issue is when and by how much monetary policy should be tightened, concludes “Norges Bank Watch 2006”, published by BI The Norwegian School of Management.
The Centre for Monetary Economics (CME) at the BI Norwegian School of Management has for the seventh time invited a committee of leading economists for Norges Bank Watch with the objective of evaluating monetary polic
After a successful launch on 28 December 2005, GIOVE A began transmitting navigation signals on 12 January 2006. Work is currently being performed to check the quality of these signals.
In space, the success of a mission relies on the achievement of a series of milestones. This is especially true for a pioneering mission such as GIOVE A, the first Galileo satellite, launched late last year under the European Space Agency’s responsibility.
Manufacture, launch, reaching fi
Satellite images acquired by ESA’s ERS-2 revealed the recently discovered changes in Yellowstone’s caldera are the result of molten rock movement 15 kilometres below the Earth’s surface, according to a recent study published in Nature.
Using Synthetic Aperture Radar Interferometry, InSAR for short, Charles Wicks, Wayne Thatcher and other U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientists mapped the changes in the northern rim of the caldera, or crater, and discovered it had risen about 13
European researchers aim to map out a course of action to secure and sustain European food production.
The European Science Foundation has recently accepted a proposal for a new Forward Look that aims to create a broad research agenda focusing on all aspects of food systems. The objective is to address vital health and environmental issues, such as food security and sustainable development, primarily at a European level but also from a global perspective.
The leadin
One year from now the biggest internationally coordinated research effort for 50 years will begin as thousands of scientists from 60 countries focus their attention on the Polar Regions. Together they will tackle the urgent environmental issues facing society. Rapid climate change is already changing our planet affecting the Arctic’s native peoples. Today (Tuesday 14 March) at the launch of a major science initiative – International Polar Year – at the Wellcome Trust, leading scientists outline pl
Earth history has been punctuated by several mass extinctions rapidly wiping out nearly all life forms on our planet. What causes these catastrophic events? Are they really due to meteorite impacts? Current research suggests that the cause may come from within our own planet – the eruption of vast amounts of lava that brings a cocktail of gases from deep inside the Earth and vents them into the atmosphere.
University of Leicester geologists, Professor Andy Saunders and Dr Marc Reichow, are
For Europe’s 300 million drivers and other vulnerable road users, new Information and Communication Technologies-based technology cannot come fast enough. Concerted effort from researchers aims to fast track intelligent-car technology for improved road safety to ultimately save lives.
Although safety is improving on European roads, every year over 40,000 people die on Europe’s roads and 1.4 million accidents occur. Clearly, there is still plenty of work to be done if the EU is to
Complete description of pneumococcal vaccine targets
New tools in the fight against pneumococci – the bugs targeted by vaccines recently announced by the Department of Health – are described by a team led by scientists from the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute. They have put together a complete description of the targets of the vaccine that will help monitor the disease and provide new tools for rapid diagnosis.
Pneumococci (formal name Streptococcus pneumoniae) are wides
A shift toward a less-invasive endovascular procedure as an alternative to conventional surgery has reduced the risk of death for patients undergoing repair of dangerous abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAAs), reports a study in the March Journal of Vascular Surgery.
“Our results show that vascular surgeons are saving more lives through the increased use of endovascular AAA repair–even while operating on older and less-fit patients,” said Dr. Ellen D. Dillavou, Assistant Professor of
Researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies have identified an important circuit in the spinal cord that controls the speed with which our leg muscles contract and relax. Their findings mark an important milestone in understanding the neural circuitry that coordinates walking movements – one of the main obstacles in developing new treatments for spinal cord injuries.
“Knowing which circuits are important and understanding how they control the essential aspects of walking sh
Imagine seeing a former high school classmate you always wanted to know better. Then imagine seeing that kid who used to push you in the hallways. Do you react differently? What happens in your brain during these encounters?
In fact, different areas of the brain react differently when recognizing others, depending on the emotions attached to the memory, a team of Cornell University research psychologists has found. The team, led by professor of psychology Robert Johnston, has bee
It came from the edge of the visible universe, the most distant explosion ever detected.
In this week’s issue of Nature, scientists at Penn State University and their U.S. and European colleagues discuss how this explosion, detected on 4 September 2005, was the result of a massive star collapsing into a black hole.
The explosion, called a gamma-ray burst, comes from an era soon after stars and galaxies first formed, about 500 million to 1 billion years after the Big
Using makeup to cover a severe facial blemish may not improve the quality of a woman’s life, a new study suggests.
It did not matter how severe or what kind of blemish she had, whether it was a case of severe acne, a noticeable facial scar or pronounced dark spots covering the face.
“The women who used foundations to cover these kinds of marks reported having a lower health-related quality of life than did the women who didn’t wear the same kind of makeup,” sai
There is the heart of gold, and then there is the heart that glows. Literally.
Cornell researchers have genetically engineered mice whose hearts glow with a green light every time they beat. The development gives researchers insights into how hearts develop in living mouse embryos and could improve our understanding of irregular heartbeats, known as arrhythmias, as well as open doors to observing cellular processes to better understand basic physiology and disease.
Soy protein, almonds, plant sterol enriched margarines, oats and barley among most effective foods
Cholesterol-lowering foods such as soy protein, almonds, plant sterol enriched margarines, oats and barley may reduce cholesterol levels more effectively when eaten in combination, says a new University of Toronto study by Professor David Jenkins. The study, which appears in the current issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, also found that among the subjects who adhere
Texas biologists studying a poison dart frog mimicry complex find that predator learning can effect the evolution of mimicry
Studying neotropical poison dart frogs, biologists at the University of Texas at Austin uncovered a new way that the frog species can evolve to look similar, and it hinges on the way predators learn to avoid the toxic, brightly colored amphibians.
In the Mar. 8 issue of Nature, Catherine Darst and Molly Cummings show that a harmless, colorful fr
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