A major advance in nanotechnology with far-reaching potential benefits in medicine and other fields is to be announced at this year’s BA Festival of Science in Dublin.
Scientists have built molecules that can, for the first time ever, move larger-than-atom-sized objects. Constructing molecular machines capable of performing relatively large-scale mechanical tasks has never been achieved before.
Now, in an unprecedented breakthrough, chemists at Edinburgh University have
A key technological breakthrough led by the University of Edinburgh suggests that a futuristic world where people can move objects about ‘remotely’ with laser pointers could be closer than we think. Chemists working on the nanoscale (80,000 times smaller than a hair’s breadth) have managed to move a tiny droplet of liquid across a surface – and even up a slope – by transporting it along a layer of light-sensitive molecules.
Scientists at Edinburgh, Groningen and Bologna are the first to ma
Why do people prefer to put their money into closed, interest-bearing bank deposits, when they could invest it in liquid, higher-yielding government treasury bills (T-bills) at no greater risk?
It’s all because of what Hebrew University of Jerusalem researchers Prof. Dan Galai and Dr. Orly Sade call the “ostrich effect” – that is, investors “burying their heads in the sand” like ostriches so as to ignore what they perceive as a risky situation.
Galai, the Abe Gray Pr
One in seven businesses in Tayside, Scotland, have employed migrant workers in the past two years, and a similar proportion say they could or will do so again in the next two years.
These are among the initial finding of the first full-scale survey of migrant labour in Tayside, currently being carried out by Scottish Economic research, based at Abertay University’s Dundee Business School.
Six hundred local employers have responded to an initial survey, and SER is now con
Flavour, texture and shelf life of wheat bread improved
Recent research carried out at the Technical Research Centre of Finland (VTT) indicates that sourdough, which is traditionally used for baking rye bread, can also be used for making tasty, high-fibre wheat bread with a prolonged shelf life. A seven-year research project conducted at VTT shows that optimising the sourdough process by fermenting bran with yeast and lactic acid bacteria makes it possible to produce mildly sour w
ESA’s Integral space observatory, together with NASA’s Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer spacecraft, has found a fast-spinning pulsar in the process of devouring its companion.
This finding supports the theory that the fastest-spinning isolated pulsars get that fast by cannibalising a nearby star. Gas ripped from the companion fuels the pulsar’s acceleration. This is the sixth pulsar known in such an arrangement, and it represents a ’stepping stone’ in the evol
The University of Manchester and the University of Manchester Intellectual Property Limited (UMIP) in partnership with Mowlem plc and Royal Haskoning, are developing an innovative and patented new wave energy device known as the ‘Manchester Bobber’.
The device will be showcased at the New & Renewable Energy Centre (NaREC) in Blyth, Northumberland, on September 19th (Press Invitation below).
The Manchester Bobber’s inventive features utilise the rise and fall (or ‘bobbi
EXPWAY of France has launched FastEPG™ v1.5, an enhanced multi-media Electronic Program Guide (EPG). It is an application that can be used with digital video recorders, set-top boxes, and the latest TV sets. Viewers can use EPG to find, book, view and review content; it will also be an essential differentiator element for operators, helping them to strengthen their brand. EXPWAY will be showcasing its technology at the IBC trade show in Amsterdam in early September 2005.
As the main
eDevice of France has developed IDeMS, a completely new gateway for M2M fleet management that is accessible via a standard internet browser. It uses eDevice M2M modules to manage a fleet of systems connected via TCP/IP. IDeMS (Intelligent Device Management System) network and fleet-management services provide an immediately operational turnkey solution to maintain, supervise and run a complete M2M fleet.
The IDeMS fleet-management service can be used to recover, consolidate, archive and
Warming in the Arctic is stimulating the growth of vegetation and could affect the delicate energy balance there, causing an additional climate warming of several degrees over the next few decades. A new study indicates that as the number of dark-colored shrubs in the otherwise stark Arctic tundra rises, the amount of solar energy absorbed could increase winter heating by up to 70 percent. The research will be published 7 September in the first issue of the Journal of Geophysical Research-Bi
Researchers in Norway determined that stroke severity measured by the Scandinavian Stroke Scale is a statistically significant predictor for epilepsy after stroke. Data shows that more than 20,000 Americans will develop epilepsy due to stroke each year. This research is published in the August issue of the journal Epilepsia.
In one of the longest follow-up studies performed with data from almost 500 patients, researchers found that 3.1% of people who suffered a stroke developed ep
Children who use community health centers may be at a particularly high risk of being obese, according to a new study. This association between obesity and the type of health delivery system used was present regardless of race, ethnicity or geographic characteristics.
Researchers studied nearly 2,500 children aged two to 11, in medically underserved areas of the mid-Atlantic states, West Virginia, and Puerto Rico. These medically underserved areas, mainly inner-city and rural
Randomized trial finds reduced spread of GI infections in families with children in day care
Using an alcohol-based hand sanitizer gel significantly reduces the spread of gastrointestinal infections in the home, according to a study in the September issue of Pediatrics. In a study of 292 Greater Boston families — half of which were given hand sanitizer — those that used the gel had a 59 percent reduction in the spread of GI illnesses.
“This is the first randomized trial
Parents urged to turn off the tube, encourage outdoor play
If mothers of preschoolers perceive their neighborhood as unsafe, their children tend to watch more television, but differ little in amounts of outdoor play or overweight, compared to peers in safer neighborhoods. Drawing from a study of three-year-olds in 20 U.S. cities, researchers reported these findings in the September issue of Pediatrics.
“This is the first study to examine, in a national sample, the relati
March of Dimes calls on FDA to increase fortification levels to save more babies
Folic acid fortification of grain foods has produced a one-third decline in serious birth defects of the brain and spine, but the March of Dimes urged federal officials to help spare a greater number of babies from these devastating conditions by requiring higher levels of the B vitamin.
The March of Dimes restated its longtime position in response to two articles published today in Pediatrics.
Chronic heart failure (CHF) is a frequent syndrome with an increasing prevalence. It is a frequent cause of impeding symptoms, has a negative prognosis and absorbs about two percent of the budgets of health-care systems in the industrialized nations.
Optimal management of patients with chronic heart failure has to detect emerging symptoms of a beginning hemodynamic imbalance in time and to administer an appropriate therapy in order to avoid decompensation and hospital admission. T
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