Will the oilfields of the future be full of sunflowers? They could be if Leeds fuel and energy researchers succeed in producing hydrogen from sunflower oil.
Hydrogen is seen as the fuel of the future – able to create electricity with no harmful emissions – to power everything from cars, portable generators to flashlights and even homes and factories.
But where is the hydrogen to come from, and can we mass-produce it without creating more pollution problems? Researchers Valerie Dupont (
Rare images of the Himalayan snow leopard in its natural habitat are expected to help improve the survival chances of the world’s elusive and little-known fifth-largest big cat. A research expedition backed by the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) used remote camera technology to record some of the first-ever photos of this endangered animal’s behaviour in the wild.
The innovative experiment, high in the Indian Trans-Himalaya, is encouraging for snow leopard conservation and demonstrates
Pregnancy prevention programmes for adolescents do not delay sexual intercourse, improve use of birth control among young men and women, or reduce the number of pregnancies in young women, finds a study in this week’s BMJ.
Researchers in Canada reviewed 26 trials of adolescents (aged 11 to 18 years) that evaluated pregnancy prevention programmes including sex education classes, abstinence programmes, family planning clinics, and community based programmes.
The prevention strategies
Durham University scientists have successfully carried out a basic computer operation using a magnetic microchip – a major step along the way to establishing a new generation of electronics and computer technology.
They are working in the rapidly growing field of nanotechnology, harnessing the magnetic properties of electrons, rather than their electrical charge on which conventional electronics is based. Magnetic microchips could, in the future, offer a range of benefits over standard chips
Violence, bereavement, debt and other stressful experiences do not increase the chances of breast cancer returning in a woman who has been treated for the disease.
The good news was announced today in a new study by Europe`s largest cancer charity, Cancer Research UK, and published in the British Medical Journal.
The study, headed by Professor Amanda Ramirez at Cancer Research UK`s London Psychosocial Group, looked at more than 200 women with operable breast cancer and followed thei
Australian scientists have developed a permanent contact lens to improve poor vision.
The synthetic lens can be surgically implanted to provide permanent, but reversible, correction of refractive error.
The CRC for Eye Research and Technology believe the new lens will enable some people to do away with the need to wear glasses.
The lens is designed to fit just under the top surface of the cornea, the clear covering at the front of the eye.
The synthetic materi
Australian scientists are investigating new ways to mass-produce the active ingredients found in the herbal medicines – Echinacea, Ginseng and Gynostemma.
Extracts from these plants are commonly used to stimulate the immune system, alleviate cold and flu symptoms and boost energy levels.
“During winter many people will take herbal medicines to fight off colds and flu. There is an increasing demand for traditional sources of some popular medicinal herbs. Some of these plants grow very s
Researchers at the University of Michigan’s Center for Optical Coherent and Ultrafast Science (FOCUS) and Department of Physics have reported the first demonstration of laser-cooling of individual trapped atoms of different species. This may be an important step in the construction of a future “quantum computer,” in which quantum superpositions of inputs are processed simultaneously in a single device. Trapped atoms offer one of the only realistic approaches to precisely controlling the complex
Smithsonian scientist shows pollination by exotic honeybees increases coffee crop yields by more than 50 percent
Debunking the widely held belief that the self-pollinating shrub that produces the popular Arabica coffee bean has no use for insects, David W. Roubik of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) in Panama has demonstrated that pollination – particularly by naturalized, non-native African honeybees – dramatically boosts the yield from shade-grown coffee plants.
Research at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia may advance treatment of the blood disease thalassemia
Hematology researchers at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia have discovered a gene and its associated protein that may have major implications for red blood cell formation, specifically for hemoglobin, which carries oxygen in red blood cells. Understanding how this protein functions may eventually lead to novel treatments for the hemoglobin-related blood disease, thala
The body is an extremely complex puzzle in which every piece plays a critical role. Should pieces disappear harmony is compromised. Such is the case with certain neurodegenerative diseases; when neurons suddenly die, the body’s ability to function properly is jeopardized.
CNRS (1) and INSERM biologists from the Curie Institute are working to understand how neurons die in one specific neurodegenerative disease: Huntington’s disease.
They have just announced the discovery of two new fact
Researchers at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth (UWA) have developed a new rapid procedure which will enable food producers to detect the bacterial contamination of their meat products.
Their findings, published this week in Applied and Environmental Microbiology1 (Vol. 68, No.6 June 2002, p.2822 – 2828) demonstrate a novel analytical approach that can enhance and accelerate the detection of microbial spoilage, providing rapid, accurate and quantitative results in real time so that appr
Stem cells have enormous potential for repairing damage to the body caused by disease, injury, or aging. When introduced into an injured area of a patient, a stem cell could survive and repopulate the region with different types of cells, forming normal tissue.
Stem cells also offer the prospect of treating many inherited diseases caused by a single, defective gene. Though other treatments are available, such as gene therapy, the longevity of benefits from stem cell treatment provides a tant
Three small, faint stars, apparently locked in the gravitational embrace of much larger and brighter companions, have been discovered in the first light from a new infrared camera with innovative optics on the 100-inch telescope at the Mount Wilson Observatory in Pasadena, California.
“This is the first time the historic Mount Wilson telescope has looked at the universe through this new infrared eye, and already it is making new discoveries,” says Jian Ge, assistant professor of astronomy an
Loughborough University’s Centre for Mobile Communications Research (CMCR) has made some major breakthroughs in its antenna technology that could enable safer communication for all.
Using their work associated with GPS (Global Positioning System) technology, researchers have managed to reduce emissions into the body by as much as 85%. The CMCR achieved its breakthrough in antenna designs through innovative laser technology and super computing modelling techniques. This puts the University i
Universities, companies and research centres have sent more than 15,000 ideas for European research projects to the European Commission. More than 100,000 groups and institutions were involved in drafting the ideas; the proposed teams involve potentially several hundreds of thousands of researchers across Europe and beyond. In a radical departure from previous programmes and for the first time, on March 20, 2002, the Commission asked the scientific community to say what they see as the most promising
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