Science So What

The Britsih Science Festival

2009-08-27T17:48:00.001+01:00

The British Science Festival is one of Europe's largest science festivals, taking place each September. The Festival is in a different location in the UK each year, bringing you the latest in science, technology and engineering.

The week long, jam-packed programme has loads of events for everyone. Each year thousands of people join us for talks, plays, debates, hands-on activities and more. This year the Festival is hosted by the University of Surrey in Guildford from 5-10 September with events taking place across Surrey.

The Science: [so what? so everything] team will doing science demonstrations and handing out goodies on 5th and 6th September, at the family weekend.

Please visit The Britsih Science Association for more.

Study: Monkeys share human preference for imitation

2009-08-21T10:18:00.001+01:00

A new study shows capuchin monkeys prefer humans whose behavior mimics theirs, a trait they share with humans, scientists say.

This capuchin monkey lives in the Amazon rain forest of northern Brazil.

Research conducted by the National Institutes of Health in cooperation with two Italian institutions examined how monkeys reacted to two types of humans -- ones who copied their actions and ones who didn't.

"If one person imitates what a monkey does, and the other person does not imitate, the monkey prefers to spend more time in front of the person that imitated them," said Dr. Annika Paukner at the National Institutes of Health offices in Poolesville, Maryland.

Research has shown for some time that humans prefer to interact with others who act like them, and people have a subconscious tendency to imitate others. Paukner told CNN the new study shows it is more than just a human trait.

"It's something that's quite old and something very, very basic. It's not just for us sophisticated humans," she said.

In the study, a capuchin monkey was given a wiffle ball and was allowed to interact with a pair of researchers -- one who, using another ball, attempted to mimic the action of the monkey, and one who deliberately acted in a different way.

Monkeys in the study consistently spent more time interacting with the imitators. They also more readily accepted food and trinkets from the mimicking humans, even when the non-imitators offered the same rewards.

According to the report, the new findings indicate an evolutionary link to the way humans form friendships and create social connections. It also eventually may help people who struggle in social situations, including those suffering from autism.

"Observing how imitation promotes bonding in primates may lead to insights in disorders in which imitation and bonding are impaired," Dr. Duane Alexander of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development said in a written statement.

Autism spectrum disorders are often marked by an inability to recognize and process social cues that are clear to others.

The National Research Council in Rome and the University of Parma conducted the research along with the National Institutes of Health.

The full report appears in this week's edition of the journal Science.

Visit CNN for more.

Fabricated genetic fingerprints and the limits of forensic science

2009-08-20T10:58:00.000+01:00

In CSI, the phenomenally successful television show about forensic science, DNA evidence is usually presented as something of a clincher. It's often said that a crime-scene sample that matches a suspect's genetic fingerprint leaves only a one in a million chance that he or she is innocent, and this sort of evidence is often among the most likely to convince judges and juries.

The police and the Home Office see it as so valuable and reliable that they want the Police National DNA Database to retain samples from people who are arrested but never convicted, even though the European Court of Human Rights has ruled this unlawful.

Since it was developed by Sir Alec Jeffreys in 1984, DNA fingerprinting has indeed helped to solve thousands of crimes, both convicting the guilty and exonerating the innocent. But valuable as it is, it is no more infallible than any other investigational tool. A fresh reason why has been highlighted this week by the New York Times, with a story suggesting that genetic evidence can easily be faked.

A team from an Israeli company called Nucleix, led by Dan Frumkin, has fabricated samples of blood and saliva that were provided by one person, but which carry the DNA of another. The scientists, whose work is published in the journal Forensic Science International: Genetics, also showed they can build DNA samples to match anybody whose genetic code is recorded in a database, without even obtaining any tissue.

The implications sound pretty worrying. An enterprising criminal could cover his tracks, and frame someone else, by collecting cells from a glass they had used and turning it into a saliva or blood sample carrying the innocent person's DNA. An unscrupulous policeman with access to the DNA database might even be able to use its contents to create evidence that would implicate a suspect. The techniques involved, Frumkin claimed, are not particularly complicated. "You can just engineer a crime scene," he told the NYT. "Any biology undergraduate could perform this."

It's quite true that DNA evidence is potentially open to manipulation in this manner. I'm not entirely convinced, though, that this paper undermines its value in criminal investigations quite as extensively as it might seem.

For a start, as The Register notes, it's already perfectly plausible for a criminal to plant hair from another person at a crime scene, without recourse to a laboratory. Frumkin's claims about the simplicity of making DNA evidence notwithstanding, few criminals will have the resources or know-how to do it. And in many cases, their own DNA will be more abundant than the evidence they plant -- a rapist, for example, will still be vulnerable from the semen he leaves behind him.

Frumkin's company, incidentally, is trying to sell police forces a system it has designed for telling manufactured DNA apart from the real thing, by analysing methylation patterns (which are involved in switching genes on and off). It clearly has an interest in promoting the idea that this is going to be a major problem.

What this research does highlight, however, is the danger of treating DNA evidence as something special. Important as it can be, it can only ever be one element of the evidence that builds a case beyond reasonable doubt -- and that applies whether or not it is easy to fake.

The one-in-a-million probability of a chance match is a good place to start. The basic maths are correct enough, but that doesn't mean that the chances that a suspect who matches that sample is innocent are also one in a million. All that a match does is to place that person at the crime scene -- and most crime scenes will be littered with DNA from perfectly innocent people. Absent further evidence pointing to guilt, that should never be sufficient to convict.

What matters is the context in which DNA is found, and the supporting evidence. DNA from semen found on a rape victim, or skin cells under the fingernails of a murder victim, is one thing. A few hairs on the floor of a corner shop that has been robbed are quite another.

However simple it is to fabricate DNA evidence, it should never be trivial to plant it in a properly convincing way. So long as we see genetic fingerprints as one tool among many for solving crimes, and do not exaggerate what they can tell us, we should be reasonably safe from miscarriages of justice.

Visit Times online for more information

Coordination Needed to Support Green Fingered Youths

2009-08-19T14:38:00.000+01:00

Young people working on conservation projects are often coerced into "grunt" activities like digging holes or picking up litter and gain little from environmental volunteering, according to research at the University of Exeter.

The project, which was funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), found that many young volunteers travelled long distances from cities to short-term projects in rural areas and felt they were being punished for being disruptive or naughty at school. They saw the conservation work as having no relevance to their future employment, or educating them on green issues.

'The problem lies in the mismatch between youth services and environmental education,' says Dr Michael Leyshon, who led the project. 'Environmental conservation is largely organised by people with a background in environmental science, but no training in youth work and youth workers have no training in conservation. The result is that young people and the environment both lose out. We need more coordination in the voluntary sector and an effective interface with youth services.'

Dr Leyshon acknowledges that many young people do volunteer because they enthusiastic about conservation, but he says that environmental skills should not be seen in isolation. 'There is a need for more certificated courses, in a variety of 'rural' skills, such as those run by the National Trust. But we also need to think more holistically, and try to connect skills-building with supporting local transport, training and business support as part of an overall regeneration policy.'

The report says that properly managed volunteer work in conservation could offer young people the opportunity to live and work locally. Latest figures suggest that each year 100,000 young people are leaving rural areas of England.

'Managing the countryside for the purposes of environmental sustainability is one of the few sectors of the rural economy that can offer the soft skills, like the ability to work in a team as well as the practical skills that could be useful in many other kinds of jobs,' Dr Leyshon explains. 'Environmental projects should be part of mainstream education, not somewhere for excluded kids and youth offenders to take a bit of exercise in a "green gym".'

Visit ESRC for more information

World's smallest laser unveiled

2009-08-18T10:42:00.002+01:00

Gold nanoparticles (left) have been used to produce laser light (right).Noginov, M. et al.

The world's smallest laser, contained in a silica sphere just 44 nanometres across, has been unveiled. At about 10 times smaller than the wavelength of light, however, this is no ordinary laser, it is the first ever 'spaser'.

Whereas a laser amplifies light, using a mirrored cavity to intensify it, a spaser amplifies surface plasmons — tiny oscillations in the density of free electrons on the surface of metals, which, in turn, produce light waves.

The spaser could be used as a light source for scanning near-field optical microscopes, which can resolve details beyond the reach of standard light microscopy, and in nanolithography, to etch patterns much smaller than the width of a human hair. The device also opens the door to nanoscale circuits that could process information thousands of times faster than the microelectronic chips inside today's computers.

"This work has utmost significance," says Mark Stockman of Georgia State University in Atlanta, who with David Bergman of Tel Aviv University in Israel proposed the spaser concept in 2003¹. "The spaser is the smallest possible quantum amplifier and generator of optical fields on the nanoscale — without it, nanoplasmonics is like microelectronics would have been without a transistor."

Go to Nature.com for the full article

Mars, Methane And Mysteries: Red Planet May Not Be As Dormant As Once Thought

2009-08-14T08:38:00.005+01:00

ScienceDaily (Aug. 13, 2009) — Mars may not be as dormant as scientists once thought. The 2004 discovery of methane means that either there is life on Mars, or that volcanic activity continues to generate heat below the martian surface. ESA plans to find out which it is. Either outcome is big news for a planet once thought to be biologically and geologically inactive.The methane mystery started soon after December 2003, when ESA’s Mars Express arrived in orbit around the red planet. As the Planetary Fourier Spectrometer (PFS) began taking data, Vittorio Formisano, Istituto di Fisica dello Spazio Interplanetario CNR, Rome, and the rest of the instrument team saw a puzzling signal. As well as the atmospheric gases they were anticipating, such as carbon monoxide and water vapour, they also saw methane.

“Methane was a surprise, we were not expecting that,” says Agustin Chicarro, ESA Mars Lead Scientist. The reason is that on Earth much of the methane in our atmosphere is released by evolved life forms, such as cattle digesting food. While there are ways to produce methane without life, such as by volcanic activity, it is the possible biological route that has focused attention on the discovery.

Please visit Science Daily for the full article

So why do flamingos stand on one leg?

2009-08-13T16:24:00.002+01:00

It is one of the simplest, but most enigmatic mysteries of nature: just why do flamingos like to stand on one leg?

The question is asked by zoo visitors and biologists alike, but while numerous theories abound, no-one has yet provided a definitive explanation.

Now after conducting an exhaustive study of captive Caribbean flamingos, two scientists believe they finally have the answer.

Flamingos stand on one leg to regulate their body temperature, they say.

Matthew Anderson and Sarah Williams are comparative psychologists based at Saint Joseph's University in Philadelphia, US who are interested in the studying the evolution of behaviour.

"Flamingos captured my attention for a variety of reasons," says Anderson.

"Scientifically speaking, their highly gregarious nature makes them an ideal species for investigating social influences on behaviour."

"Aesthetically speaking, they are large, beautiful, and iconic."

"Perhaps most importantly, I was very surprised to discover how little systematic, hypothesis-driven empirical research had been conducted on flamingos."

Visit BBC Science for more

Questions kids ask

2009-08-13T11:56:00.001+01:00

Why is the sky blue? Where do bees go in winter? What makes waves?

Are you sometimes stumped by the questions that your children ask you? Well, you are not alone. We at Science: [So what? So everything] found that a whopping 80% of parents have been baffled by the questions their children ask about the way things work.

But help is at hand. This website arms parents of young children with the science facts they need to answer their children’s tricky questions. There are also ideas for days out across the country and different activities families can do, to help both children and their parents to understand more about the science behind the way things work.

Please send your suggestions for fantastic science resources to help answer kids' questions, or ideas for “days out in your area” to ScienceSoWhat@bis.gsi.gov.uk. We will place the best examples on the website.

Visit the Science: [so what? so everything] site to find out more

Battery Free Soldiers Power their own Equipment

2009-08-10T11:28:00.001+01:00

EPSRC funded research aims to capture energy in soldiers march and use it to power their equipment.

Engineers at the University of Leeds are developing a new system designed to convert foot power into battery power which could reduce the weight of troop’s packs by up to 10kg. The devices will use high tech piezoelectric transducers to convert mechanical stress into electricity.

The project has been developed to help address the needs of soldiers serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. Heavy packs which typically weigh as much as 75kg can severely limit a soldier’s mobility and lead to health problems.

Professor Andrew Bell, Director of the Institute for Materials Research who is leading the project at the University of Leeds says: “As well as the obvious green issue of using so many batteries, it could also significantly reduce a soldier’s pack weight. And this technology could potentially have lots of applications in civvy street too.”

The research project came about following an EPSRC Sandpit in April 2009 which considered the various problems faced by modern soldiers due to carrying heavy equipment such as batteries and telecommunications equipment. Participants of the Sandpit included chemists, electrical engineers, materials specialists, designers and energy experts. Serving soldiers were also involved to give first hand accounts of the problems they face.

For further information and media coverage:

£25M Trial Puts Electric Cars on UK Streets

2009-08-07T16:34:00.000+01:00

Eight new low carbon vehicle projects are set to benefit from a share of £25 million of Government funding to run ‘real life' trials, Science Minister Lord Drayson and Transport Secretary Lord Adonis announced today.

The project will be the biggest of its kind and accelerate the availability of innovative low carbon cars to consumers. The successful bids, which bring together car manufacturers, power companies, RDAs, councils and academic institutions will operate ‘real life' trials in eight locations across the UK.

Government investment will support the investment already made by the consortia themselves and is the most significant step in the UK to date of a co-ordinated move towards low carbon transport.

Lord Drayson, Science Minister in the newly formed Department for Business Innovation & Skills, said:

"Low Carbon doesn't mean low performance. Modern electric cars offer power and bucket loads of torque.

"Today's announcement signals our intent to reduce our dependence on petrol- and diesel-based engines, and determine the best practical alternatives.

"Government and consumer demand for more environmentally-friendly vehicles is already creating business opportunities for established industry players and innovative new entrants."

Transport Secretary Andrew Adonis said;

"We want Britain to be at the forefront of ultra-low carbon automotive technology, blazing a trail for environmentally friendly transportation.

"Central to our plans is the stimulation of demand for low carbon cars through projects like this to test the technology and give motorists the opportunity to feedback the information needed to make greener motoring a reality

"Our aim is for ultra-low carbon vehicles to be an everyday feature of life on Britain's roads in less than five years. This is a challenging target and there is still a long way to go. However, if we continuing to work closely with motorists and the industry with initiatives like the demonstrations project, I believe it is achievable."

It is planned that approximately 340 vehicles will begin trials on UK roads within the next six to eighteen months, the biggest project of its kind. The majority of the vehicles are electric, with a small number being plug-in petrol/electric hybrids. The information gained from this project will make an important contribution to the future plans of manufacturers and their partners, to develop low carbon vehicles for the mass market.

The Technology Strategy Board created the Low Carbon Vehicle Demonstrator competition to act as a catalyst for industry, the public sector and academia to come together to create low emission vehicles and provide solutions to powering them.

The winning consortia showcase new and emerging low carbon vehicle technologies in real world situations - many of the electric cars will be recharged via plug-ins around cities across the UK, as well as at home.

Motoring journalist Quentin Wilson supporting the launch, said:

"For me this announcement signals the start of an exciting journey that will see a radical change in the type of cars that we see on the UK's roads in the next half century. The fact that there will be a move towards making these cars as appealing and as powerful as petrol consuming vehicles makes the next few decades a very interesting time for the environmentally conscious UK car driver.

For further information on the Technology Strategy Board

Spaced out comets

2009-08-06T16:34:00.002+01:00

So what do we do if a comet is likely to hit the earth?

Jurassic bully: Pick on someone your own size...

2009-08-06T16:14:00.002+01:00

Scientists says the T.rex has been rongly portrayed as an aggressive giant that stalked similar-sized beasts, such as the Triceratops

It was the biggest-ever carnivore to stalk the land and with banana-sized teeth and a set of jawbones that could swallow a kitchen table, Tyrannosaurus rex truly earned its name as king of the dinosaurs. But now scientists may have uncovered T.rex's dirty secret – it was a prolific baby killer.

A study into the predatory habits and diet of the biggest and most ferocious of the dinosaurs has concluded that T.rex and the other members of its carnivorous theropod family preferred to dine on juvenile prey, preferably small enough to eat whole.

The Hollywood image of T.rex – epitomised in Steven Spielberg's 1993 hit movie Jurassic Park – is of an aggressively agile giant that stalked and killed herbivorous animals of a similar or even larger size, such as the three-horned Triceratops or the long-necked Diplodocus.

These bloody encounters between lumbering giants may have made for dramatic imagery but the reality was probably far different, according to two palaeontologists who believe that T.rex and the other massive meat-eating dinosaurs that hunted on two legs preferred to pick on animals far smaller than themselves.

Titantic struggles between consenting adults may well have happened on some occasions but a far more likely scenario is that the Tyrannosaurs preferred to tuck into small and unwary juveniles rather than their fully-grown and dangerously armoured parents, explains David Hone, a British-born palaeontologist working in China.

"Modern predators mainly attack vulnerable, young animals as they are inexperienced in evading predators, and this was probably the same in dinosaurs," said Dr Hone, who works at the Institute of Vertebrate Palaeontology and Palaeoanthropology in Beijing.

"Young prey are easier to bring down and the risk of injury to the predator is much lower," he said.

Working with Oliver Rauhut of the Bavarian State Collection for Palaeontology and Geology in Munich, Dr Hone has reviewed the evidence suggesting that T.rex and its family went in for baby-eating in a big way. The two scientists also suggest that baby-eating was such a common behaviour among the large predatory dinosaurs that it could explain why the remains of so few juvenile dinosaurs have been found in the fossil record.

"We conclude that, like modern predators, theropods preferentially hunted and ate juvenile animals leading to the absence of small, and especially young, dinosaurs in the fossil record," the scientists conclude in their study published in the journal Lethaia.

"The traditional view of large theropods hunting the adults of large or giant dinosaur species is therefore considered unlikely and such events rare," they add.

It is known from preserved dinosaur nests that they produced many offspring and it is highly likely that most of them did not reach adulthood, with many of them falling prey to predators in their first few years of life

"Finds of dinosaur nesting sites indicate that dinosaurs laid large number of eggs and thus had very high numbers of offspring but little of this is reflected in the numbers of young in the fossil record," said Dr Rauhut.

But the two scientists also believe that eating baby dinosaurs whole or in large pieces by digesting them with the help of their stomach acids gave T.rex the added advantage of being able to utilise the minerals and nutrients stored in the bones of their small prey.

This could also explain why scientists have found so few bite marks on fossilised dinosaur bones, if it was indeed the case that T.rex and its ilk preferred to eat the bodies of juveniles whole or in large pieces –just like modern crocodiles and birds of prey such as eagles.

What little evidence there is from the fossil record supports this, said Dr Hone. "Although there are few records, where we do have the bones of prey species preserved in the stomachs of carnivorous dinosaurs they are from juveniles," he said.

Studies of dinosaur stomach contents and coprolites – fossil faeces – also suggest that prey was indeed swallowed whole, Dr Hone said. "Juvenile animals may have been systematically the primary prey of choice for the majority of theropods," he said.

Source: The Independant, written by Steve Connor, Science Editor.

Replacement teeth grown in mice

2009-08-04T11:29:00.003+01:00

The researchers used a fluorescent protein to track gene expression

Researchers in Japan have successfully grown replacement teeth in mice, according to a report in PNAS journal.

Tissue containing the cells and instructions for building a tooth was transplanted into the jawbones of mice.

They report that these tissue "germs" regularly grew into fully functional teeth with a hardness comparable to that of the natural variety.

The work illustrates a technique that could lead to engineered organ replacements, according to the authors.

They found that nerve fibres were able to grow throughout the teeth and respond to pain stimulation.

The researchers also tracked gene expression in the engineered tooth "germ" with a fluorescent protein.

This revealed that genes that were normally activated in tooth development were also active during growth of the engineered replacement.

The study was led by Etsuko Ikeda from the Tokyo University of Science, Japan.

Source: BBC News

Careers in Engineering – Guardian Forum live discussion: Wednesday August 5th, 1-4pm

2009-08-03T16:54:00.000+01:00

Following the success of the Guardian Online Careers in Science forum last month, the Science: [So what? So everything] campaign has sourced some experts in the field of engineering to help answer your questions about entering a career in this field.

A panel of engineer professionals will be taking part in a live Q&A on The Guardian Careers forum from 1-4pm on Wednesday August 5th. The panel will be available to answer questions and offer advice on the job opportunities available in engineering and give guidance to those wanting to enter this exciting and varied field.

For a list of who will be available to answer questions and to take part in the forum, please click here.

Monkeys live longer after eating lighter: study

2009-07-31T13:32:00.001+01:00

A 20-year study on rhesus monkeys suggests that slashing calorie intake slows the aging process and leads to longer life spans, possibly in humans also, researchers say.

Previous studies with yeast, worms, flies, and rodents have suggested that this kind of “caloric restriction” – a reduction of about 30 percent, and very different from malnutrition – can lead to such health benefits in some mammals. But given the many parallels between rhesus monkeys and humans, this study suggests that these benefits might occur in humans as well, according to the scientists.

Calorie-restricted monkey "Canto." (Courtesy Science)

Ricki Colman at the Wisconsin National Primate Research Center and colleagues began the study in 1989 by assigning adult rhesus monkeys, each between age seven and 14, to either a caloric restriction group or a control group.

Once the monkeys were assigned, the researchers began reducing the diets of monkeys in the caloric restriction group by 10 percent every three months until they reached the desired 30 percent cutback.

At the end of the study, 37 percent of the control group had died of age-related causes while only 13 percent of the caloric-restriction group had, they found. This finding means that the control monkeys experienced a death rate from age-related conditions such as diabetes, cancer, cardiovascular disease, and brain atrophy three times that of the caloric restriction group.

Any monkey that died during the study underwent a complete necropsy by a board-certified pathologist, so that age-related deaths could be distinguished from other unrelated conditions, the researchers noted.

The findings are to appear in the July 10 issue of the research journal Science.

A study in the November 2007 issue of the journal Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences reached similar conclusions about the benefits of caloric restriction by comparing Americans with some Japanese populations with traditionally spare diets.

Please visit World Science for more information

Bloodhound diary: speed record

2009-07-31T13:21:00.002+01:00

RAF fighter pilot Andy Green intends to get behind the wheel of a car that is capable of reaching 1,000mph (1,609km/h). Powered by a rocket bolted to a Eurofighter-Typhoon jet engine, the Bloodhound car will mount an assault on the land speed record.

Wing Cmdr Green is writing a diary for the BBC News Website about his experiences working on the Bloodhound project and the team's efforts to inspire national interest in science and engineering.

He says the latter presents "a huge task", but is worth the effort. He adds: "If we want to live in a high technology low-carbon world in the near future, then someone is going to have to build it for us, and that someone needs to be inspired now".

for more information on the Bloohound including Wing Cmdr Green's diary and video interview visit the BBC news site.

News Release - heic0909: Hubble captures rare Jupiter collision

2009-07-30T16:23:00.002+01:00

24-Jul-2009: The checkout and calibration of the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has been interrupted to aim the recently refurbished observatory at a new expanding spot on the giant planet Jupiter. The spot, caused by the impact of a comet or an asteroid, is changing from day to day in the planet’s cloud tops.

For the past several days the world's largest telescopes have been trained on Jupiter. Not to miss the potentially new science in the unfolding drama 580 million kilometres away, Matt Mountain, director of the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, Maryland, allocated discretionary time to a team of astronomers led by Heidi Hammel of the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colorado.

The Hubble picture, taken on 23 July, is the sharpest visible-light picture taken of the feature and is Hubble's first science observation following its repair and upgrade in May. Observations were taken with Hubble's new camera, the Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3).

"This is just one example of what Hubble's new, state-of-the-art camera can do, thanks to the hard work of the astronauts and the entire Hubble team", said Ed Weiler, associate administrator of NASA's Science Mission Directorate. "Fortunately, the best is yet to come!"

"Hubble's truly exquisite imaging capability has revealed an astonishing wealth of detail in the 2009 impact site", said Hammel. "By combining these images with our ground-based data at other wavelengths, our Hubble data will allow a comprehensive understanding of exactly what is happening to the impact debris. My sincerest congratulations and thanks to the team who created Wide Field Camera 3 and to the astronauts who installed it!"

Discovered by Australian amateur astronomer Anthony Wesley on Sunday, July 19, the spot was created when a small object plunged into Jupiter's atmosphere and disintegrated. The only other time in history such a feature has been seen on Jupiter was 15 years ago.

"This is strikingly similar to the comet Shoemaker Levy 9 that impacted Jupiter in July 1994", said team member Keith Noll of the Space Telescope Science Institute.

"Since we believe this magnitude of impact is rare, we are very fortunate to see it with Hubble", added Amy Simon-Miller of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. She explained that the details seen in the Hubble view show a lumpiness to the debris plume caused by turbulence in Jupiter's atmosphere. The spot is presently about twice the length of the whole of Europe.

Simon-Miller estimated that the diameter of the object that slammed into Jupiter was at least twice the size of several football fields. The force of the explosion on Jupiter was thousands of times more powerful than the suspected comet or asteroid that exploded over the Tunguska River Valley in Siberia in June 1908.

The WFC3, installed by astronauts on the Space Shuttle in May, is not yet fully calibrated. So while it is possible to obtain celestial images, the camera's full power cannot yet be realised for most observations. The WFC3 can still return meaningful science images that will complement the Jupiter pictures being taken with ground-based telescopes.

Source: Spacetelescope.org

Museums and TV have dinosaurs' posture all wrong, claim scientists

2009-07-30T10:15:00.008+01:00

Photograph: Getty

The popular depiction of sauropod dinosaurs such as Camarasaurus, above, as lumbering creatures with outstretched necks may be wrong.

The staid and scholarly world of palaeontology was thrown into rare turmoil yesterday following the latest salvo in an argument that dates back to Jurassic times.

The row erupted after a team of British fossil experts published a fresh analysis of animal bones in an arcane academic journal. In their paper they challenge a view of dinosaurs that is so familiar it has almost become the accepted truth.

The controversy goes to the heart of our perception of the largest of the dinosaurs, the sauropods, which became widespread 150m years ago in the late Jurassic. According to the researchers, the beasts did not stick their necks out in front of them as so often depicted, but held their heads high on majestic, curving, swan-like necks.

The claim overturns the popular impression of the lumbering creatures given by museum exhibits and TV series like the BBC's Walking with Dinosaurs. The sauropods include many of the most well known prehistoric beasts, such as diplodocus and apatosaurus, the dinosaur formerly known as brontosaurus. Some sauropods were more than 40m long and weighed over 100 tonnes.

"Unless sauropods carried their heads and necks differently from every living vertebrate, we have to assume that the base of their neck was curved strongly upwards," said Mike Taylor, a palaeontologist at Portsmouth University in the UK, who led the study. "In some sauropods this would have meant a graceful, swan-like S-curve to the neck, and a look quite different from the recreations we are used to seeing today."

In their study, Taylor and his team examined the natural neck posture of a wide range of land vertebrates, such as cats, rabbits, turtles and crocodiles. They found that almost all of them hold their necks in an upright, S-shaped curve, even though analysis of the bones alone would suggest the neck should stick out horizontally. His report appears in the journal Acta Paleontologica Polonica.

"The burden of proof is very much on people who want to argue for a different posture," he said. "They are arguing that sauropods are doing it differently to everything else that's alive today."

Dave Martill, another palaeontologist at Portsmouth, said it was easy for fossil hunters and museum staff to get the posture of dinosaurs wrong. But he added: "In this case it is shocking, because our perception of these animals is ingrained, then someone comes along 50 years later and says it doesn't look like this at all."

The comments triggered an immediate response from the Natural History Museum in London, where dinosaur experts were keen to point out that it is almost impossible to be sure how the beasts carried themselves in their natural environment.

"The criticisms that various museums have their dinosaurs in the wrong positions are just nonsense," said Paul Barrett, one of the museum's dinosaur researchers. "I suspect no museum has a sauropod mounted in a position it couldn't achieve. Their necks may have been vertical from time to time, but they were still able to come down low to drink."

There is more to the debate than academic pride. If sauropods walked with their necks upright, it would change palaeontologists' understanding of their behaviour. Their ability to spot predators and potential mates would be dramatically different. It would also change experts' view of their ecological role as the animals would be able to feed on food that was out of reach of many other dinosaurs.

The idea that sauropods held their necks upright is not new. Until the 1950s, most dinosaur experts considered this to be their natural posture. That view changed when scientists suggested that an upright neck would raise the animals' blood pressure catastrophically.

In a study published only last month, the Australian palaeontologist Roger Seymour calculated that if a saurpod held its head upright, it would use half of its energy pumping blood to its brain, requiring a two-tonne heart that would hardly fit inside its ribcage.

But Taylor said the estimates of blood pressure were based on extrapolations from smaller animals, which he doesn't believe are valid for larger creatures.

"It might be that the sauropods found a similar way around the problem as giraffes, but we have no way of knowing. We just can't tell with the sauropods, because they're all dead," said Barrett.

Source: Guardian science

Bang Goes The Theory Free Science Roadshow

2009-07-28T18:22:00.003+01:00

Bang Goes The Theory is BBC One's exciting new series that looks at how science shapes the world around us. From climbing a building using a vacuum cleaner to trying to enter the space race, Bang Goes the Theory discovers and challenges the astonishing scientific principles that shape our world.

This summer BBC Learning is giving everyone the opportunity to get involved with the thrills and spills of the programme with an exciting. Bang Goes The Theory roadshow currently touring the UK with live science shows, interactive exhibits and your chance to meet the Bang Goes the Theory presenters. For more information go to bbc.co.uk/bang where you'll also find experiments that you can try out yourself and more information on the programme.

Brendan Walker shows us how we can be thrilled

2009-07-23T11:38:00.004+01:00

Science: [so what? so everything] case study Brendan Walker shows us the science behind thrills and puts some Bankers through their paces on a bucking bronco.

The bankers are hooked up to a telemetry system which includes a heart-rate monitor, accelerometer and video camera. Physiological data and facial expressions are captured and beamed live into the control station where a member of the public is controlling the ride, making it more or less intense.

Brendan uses this data to helop develop the rides of the future. Foe more information on Brendan visit Science: [so what? so everything].

DART trial finds HIV therapy could be given safely without routine laboratory tests to save more lives in Africa

2009-07-22T11:50:00.002+01:00

The largest clinical trial of anti-retroviral therapy (ART) for people with HIV infection ever run in Africa has found that regular laboratory tests offer little additional clinical benefit to populations when compared to careful clinical monitoring.

The results suggest that many more people with HIV in Africa could be treated for the same amount of money as is currently spent if lab tests are not routinely used to monitor the effects of ART.

The evidence from the Development of Anti-Retroviral Therapy in Africa (DART) clinical trial will be of value to low income or resource poor countries that are prioritising ART access over investment in expensive laboratory facilities.

The DART trial aimed to find out whether the lab-based strategies used to deliver ART to people with HIV infection in resource rich countries were essential in Africa, where around 4 million people still need ART urgently and resources are limited...

Please visit MRC for more information.

Meet your virtual twin

2009-07-20T12:12:00.002+01:00

Personalised simulations used to test treatments could soon be integrated into an entire virtual human:

Careers in Science – Guardian Forum live discussion: July 16, 12-3pm

2009-07-14T17:34:00.006+01:00

The Science: [So what? So everything] campaign is encouraging people to find out more about the variety of exciting job opportunities available in science.

To tie in with the campaign, a panel of science professionals will be taking part in a live Q&A on The Guardian Careers forum from 12-3pm on Thursday July 16th. The panel will be available to answer questions and offer advice ranging across the job opportunities available in science, technology, engineering and maths and give help for entering this vast and assorted field. Even if you don’t have any science qualifications, log on to find out more about what opportunities may be available to you.

For a list of who will be available to answer questions and to take part in the forum, please click here.

Science communicator position

2009-07-08T09:36:00.002+01:00

“Science: So What? is a Department of Business Innovation and Skills campaign to encourage wider public engagement in science at all levels - from casual interest to education and employment opportunities - as well as promoting greater understanding of why science is important to the UK.

As part of refreshing the campaign we are now looking for a science communicator to find, create and edit online content and manage dialogue across the web and social media.

We’re looking for people that have a track record as a science writer, the ability to write for diverse audiences (including young people) and excellent working knowledge of online science content, social media etiquette, and the principles of good science communication.

We imagine this to be a part-time role in the first instance, but we are open-minded as to how the role will develop and would hope that you would want to be a part of that ongoing development.

If you would like more information please contact us with your name and contact details and a brief paragraph describing your experience at email address: sciencesowhatcommunicator at googlemail dot com .”

UK Sport: Garage Innovators Award

2009-06-30T10:13:00.002+01:00

OBJECTIVE: To provide an avenue for British people to submit their ideas for innovation which, if explored, have the potential to improve the performance of British Olympic and Paralympic athletes.

The award is primarily aimed at those individuals with a passion to see the Great Britain team succeed, as the prize will enable the inventor to realise their idea, whilst enabling UK Sport to utilise any outcomes prior to 2012 during a period of exclusivity. £25,000 is on offer for an idea that has potential, and can be used to further the concept. If the inventor is unable to resource the idea development within their everyday business then UK Sport will find appropriate resources from the established Innovation Partner network and retain the inventor as an advisor. The Inventor will retain the Intellectual Property Rights of the invention.

JUDGING PANEL: Members of the UK Sport Innovation Partnership Network and other leading experts in the field of elite sport performance, including Olympic gold medallist Jason Queally, will scrutinise applications during the initial review.

PRIZES: Three finalists will be chosen by the UK Sport assessment panel and will each receive £500 for presenting their ideas at the awards event later in the year. The awards event judging panel will decide which idea has greatest potential to improve Olympic and Paralympic performance.
APPLICATION PROCEDURE: We have devised a simple application form. We are asking for an overview of your research, an explanation of the benefits to Olympic and Paralympic sports and how you would use up to £25,000 to further your idea.

IMPORTANT DATES: Applications for the 2009 Garage Innovators Award are NOW OPEN. Applications for this year's award must be submitted by 10 July 2009. Finalists will be notified in writing within two weeks of the closing date.

ENQUIRIES: Any enquiries about applying for the Garage Innovators Award, or the Ideas 4 Innovation programme as a whole, should be directed to Alison Neall. Email: Alison.Neall@uksport.gov.uk

TERMS AND CONDITIONS: The judging panel reserves the right not to award the £25,000 research funding if it feels there are no projects that warrant further investigation. Please see below for full terms and conditions.

To find out more visit UK Sport

Medicine and Engineering unite to create 21st Century healthcare technology

2009-06-29T11:12:00.001+01:00

The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and Wellcome Trust and have announced joint funding for four new Centres of Excellence in Medical Engineering to transform the future of healthcare.

Engineers have been at the forefront of medical innovation throughout the history of medicine, benefiting millions of people with tools such as implants and prosthetic limbs, devices to monitor the physiological state of patients, and instruments to maintain bodily functions, such as the implantable pacemaker. As both medicine and engineering continue to advance at great pace, it is crucial that the links between these disciplines are maintained, especially with the potential for groundbreaking advances in fields such as imaging and genetics.

In the UK, the population is ageing – people are living longer thanks to modern medicine. But as we get older, our bodies need more help to support us. Medical engineering will play an important role in meeting this growing demand.

Four interdisciplinary research teams – at Imperial College London, King’s College London, University of Leeds and Oxford University – will receive a combined total of £41 million over the next five years. The funding will help to develop integrated teams of clinicians, biomedical scientists and world-class engineers with the capacity to invent high-tech solutions to medical challenges, potentially improving thousands of patients’ lives.

Imperial College – Osteoarthritis: £10,951,487
Professor Ross Ethier said: “Around 8.5 million people in the UK have osteoarthritis. It is the most common cause of chronic pain and costs the country an estimated £5.5 billion every year directly and indirectly. Our Centre will develop technologies to improve the lives of patients with osteoarthritis. For example, we will create the next generation of hip and knee replacement implants that will last longer and require less invasive surgery to fit. Tissue engineering will also contribute hugely in this area, using patients’ own cells to grow new cartilage for osteoarthritic knees. A better understanding of the disease will also lead to new technologies to diagnose and treat osteoarthritis at a much earlier stage.”
KCL – Medical Imaging: £10,200,355
Professor Reza Razavi said: “Our Medical Engineering Centre will break down the barriers between engineering, the physical sciences, and biology and medicine. We will conduct world-class clinical trials to show the benefit of new discoveries in imaging technology that the centre will produce. I see patients in my clinic every day, so I have a very clear understanding of what they need to make their lives better. Medical imaging has the capacity to give my patients access to new tools for earlier and more precise diagnoses of cancer and heart disease, better targeted therapies, less invasive surgery, and improved techniques for rebuilding tissue after surgery.”
Leeds – “50 more years after 50”: £11,184,754
Professor John Fisher said: “While more of us are living longer, our bones, joints and cardiovascular systems continue to degenerate as we age. At Leeds, we are looking how to help the skeleton, muscles and cardiovascular system support our bodies as we get older, through improved prosthetic implants and technologies to help our tissues regenerate. We are also looking to understand the process of degeneration so we can accurately diagnose its early stages and deliver appropriate and timely interventions. Our work is all driven by the concept of 50 more years after 50 – making our second 50 years as healthy, comfortable and active as our first.”
Oxford – Personalised healthcare: £8,002,101
Professor Lionel Tarassenko said: “Much of the 20th Century was devoted to developing treatments that are broadly effective in most people. However, it has become clear that long-term conditions such as asthma, diabetes and cancer are best managed by taking into account how the individual is responding to their particular therapy. We will be developing techniques and strategies to precisely measure individuals’ response to their condition and therapies, and use those measurements to adjust and improve the way the person is being treated. This approach could have real impact on survival rates and improve the quality of life for people living with long-term conditions, from birth through to old age.”

Professor David Delpy, Chief Executive of EPSRC, said: “The Medical Engineering funding scheme has resonated with existing research programmes across the UK, but it has also stimulated new research teams to consider medical applications of emerging technology. This proves the value of the joint initiative in fostering highly potent partnerships and the new inventions that will result, which could have massive benefit for patients.”

Sir Mark Walport, Director of the Wellcome Trust, said: "Research in medical engineering has been responsible for major advances in healthcare, ranging from ultrasound scanning in pregnancy to hip and knee replacements. The opportunities for engineers and medical scientists to collaborate are endless but all too often are missed because each community operates in its own siloed compartment. I am delighted by this collaboration between the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council and the Wellcome Trust, which will fund four interdisciplinary teams to work on major medical unmet needs."

For more information please visit EPSRC

Fishing puts a third of all oceanic shark species at risk of extinction

2009-06-25T10:01:00.007+01:00

The first World Conservation Union (IUCN) red list of oceanic sharks names 64 species as endangered. Sharks are vulnerable because they take decades to mature and produce few young.

Overfishing threatens to drive a third of the world's open-ocean shark species to extinction, say conservationists. Hammerheads, giant devil rays and porbeagle sharks are among 64 species on the first ever red list for oceanic sharks produced by the World Conservation Union (IUCN).

Sharks are vulnerable because they can take decades to mature and they produce few young. The scalloped hammerhead shark, which has declined by 99% over the past 30 years in some parts of the world, is particularly vulnerable and has been given globally endangered status on the red list, which means it is nearing extinction. In the Gulf of Mexico, the oceanic whitetip shark has declined by a similar amount.

Scientists estimate that shark populations in the north-west Atlantic Ocean have declined by an average of 50% since the early 1970s.

Announcing the red list of open-ocean or "pelagic" sharks and rays today, scientists called on governments to set limits for catching the animals on the high seas and to enforce strict bans on "finning" – the practice of catching sharks, cutting off their fins and throwing the bodies back in the water.

"Despite mounting threats, sharks remain virtually unprotected on the high seas," said Sonja Fordham, deputy chair of the shark specialist group at the World Conservation Union and policy director for the Shark Alliance. "The vulnerability and lengthy migrations of most open-ocean sharks call for coordinated, international conservation plans. Our report documents serious overfishing of these species in national and international waters, and demonstrates a clear need for immediate action on a global scale."

Pelagic sharks are usually caught on the high seas in tuna or swordfish fisheries. In 2007, 21 shark-fishing nations reported catching more than 10,000 tonnes of shark. The top five – Indonesia, India, Taiwan, Spain and Mexico – accounted for 42%.

At one time, sharks were considered worthless bycatch, but they are increasingly being fished on purpose to serve emerging markets for their meat and fins, which are used in soups and can fetch more than £100 per kilogram. In places such as China, shark-fin soup could once only be afforded by the elite, but the growing numbers of middle-class people in the country has driven up demand.

To satisfy the growing market, some fishermen have taken to finning sharks. There are bans on this practice in operation around the world, but Fordham said the coverage is patchy and, in any case, enforcing the bans is difficult due to a lack of policing on the high seas.

"The overarching problem for sharks is that, for a variety of reasons, they've been considered low priority and they're traditionally low value compared with something like the tuna," said Fordham. "Also public image feeds into that – I don't know if there are people clamouring for their conservation."

Most species of pelagic shark take many years to mature and have relatively few young when they do reproduce. The IUCN's report highlights a study by scientists in Canada which showed that the population of porbeagle sharks, classified as vulnerable in the red list, has been so affected by fishing that it will take at least 100 years to recover. Yet the government still allows the animal to be fished in its waters.

The global dusky shark popualtion, also classed as vulnerable by the IUCN, could take up to 400 years to recover because the animals are not sexually mature until around 20 years of age and usually raise only one offspring at a time.

Fordham said that because many of the sharks on the red list are at the top of the food chain, their extinction could also cause major local ecological problems. "We know that most of these species are top predators and we know that removing the top predators usually has negative consequences to the system as a whole."

In 2007, Julia Baum of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in California, who is also a member of IUCN shark specialist group, published a study showing how a major decline in the numbers of predatory sharks in the north Atlantic after 2000 had allowed populations of cownose rays, which are their prey, to explode. The rays in turn decimated the populations of bay scallop off North Carolina. "There was a fishery for bay scallops in North Carolina that lasted over a century uninterrupted and it was closed down in 2004 because of cownose rays," she said last year.

Conserving threatened shark species might not be difficult. Last year, Peter Klimley of the University of California, Davis, found that scalloped hammerhead sharks migrate along fixed "superhighways" in the oceans, speeding between a series of "stepping stone" sites near coastal islands ranging from Mexico to Ecuador. Focusing marine reserves around these hotspots might be a cost-effective way to conserve the species.

The IUCN sharks red list is published a few days before Spain is due to host an international meeting of the managers of tuna fisheries, where many of the sharks are caught. Scientists are also meeting in Denmark this week to produce advice for authorities on how to manage populations of Atlantic porbeagle sharks. "The completion of this global assessment of pelagic sharks and rays will provide an important baseline for monitoring the status of these keystone species in our oceans," said Roger McManus, vice-president for marine programmes at Conservation International.

Source: Guardian

Design and technology teams win national Challenge to design ‘crime proof' mobile phones

2009-06-25T09:51:00.002+01:00

Some of the UK's top designers and technology experts have been announced as winners in the £400,000 Mobile Phone Security Challenge, a national competition to create ‘crime proof' mobile phones.

The winning teams are; Proxama with Minima Design, Therefore Product Design with Imagination Technologies Limited, Rodd Design with TTP (The Technology Partnership) and Data Transfer Communications and PDD Group Limited with You Get It Back.

The four winning teams are each made up of a design and a technology lead and were selected on the strengths of their credentials. The teams will be tasked with developing new ways of securing mobile phone handsets, the data they contain, and their future use as electronic ‘wallets' when m-commerce (mobile-commerce) technology is introduced in the UK. Their innovative ideas and concepts will now be developed and refined over the coming months in steering meetings with an expert panel from across the mobile, technology and design industries.

The winning teams will aim to produce market-ready solutions which may include hardware and software for handsets, new services and other innovations, which will be showcased and promoted in early 2010, with a view to widespread and rapid take-up by the market.

The Challenge is part of ‘Design Out Crime', an initiative from the Home Office's Design & Technology Alliance Against Crime and the Design Council. The Mobile Phone Security Challenge is supported by the Technology Strategy Board. Over 50 teams applied to the complex Challenge, setting out how they would tackle making mobile phones less attractive to thieves and fraudsters while developing real market solutions.

The applications were judged by a panel of the UK's most respected experts in the fields of design and mobile telecommunications and included representatives from Vodafone and Nokia. The four winning teams will be allocated £100,000 each for research and development, and will spend the next six months developing their solutions with access to advice from a panel of experts in the mobile, technology and design industries.

According to the British Crime Survey, a mobile phone is stolen in half of all robberies. Another recent survey found that 80% of people carry information on their mobile phone handsets that could be used by criminals to commit fraud - and 16% keep their bank details saved on their phone, yet only 4 in 10 people currently lock their mobiles using a PIN. Such sensitive data includes website passwords, bookmarks, emails, personal security data and locations/addresses on map applications.

Alan Campbell, Home Office Minister said: " We have already introduced strong measures to make mobile phone theft unattractive to thieves - around 90 per cent of handsets reported stolen are now blocked within 24 hours reducing their value and the incentive to steal. However, the rapidly developing nature of mobile technology means safeguards must be incorporated at the drawing board stage if we are to stop criminals from profiting from this type of crime. I look forward to seeing the innovative solutions these teams will create in order to improve mobile phone security."

Joe McGeehan, Design and Technology Alliance Against Crime, Director of Centre for Communications Research, Bristol University said: "We've had a great response to the Challenge from some really high calibre teams. Designing out crime from mobile phones is a complex problem. I think we have selected four very able teams that will deliver a range of potential solutions over the coming months, all of them innovative and practical."

David Kester, Chief Executive of the Design Council said: "This Design Out Crime project has big social and economic relevance right now. If these top winning design and technology teams can bring innovative crime-busting solutions to the international market, that will be good for business and jobs in the UK. It could also represent another important step forward in reducing the risk and fear of modern crimes."

Iain Gray, Chief Executive, Technology Strategy Board said: "This Challenge is the first example of our partnership with the Design Council, which aims to harness the full potential of the UK's design and technology base for economic and public good. In this case, it's good news for industry and even better news for tens of millions of honest mobile phone users. I'm looking forward to seeing some exciting prototypes in early 2010."

Other activity in the Design Out Crime programme, an initiative from the Home Office's Design and Technology Alliance Against Crime and the Design Council, includes using design to tackle crime reduction and anti-social behaviour issues across business crime, housing related crime, schools and alcohol related crime.

Source: Innovate UK

Fine our more about: Designing Out Crime

Need Hydrogen Storage? Think Poultry

2009-06-24T17:28:00.003+01:00

Here's a case for which solving an energy problem could ease a challenging environmental problem as well. Researchers have discovered that carbonized chicken feathers could provide an inexpensive, environmentally friendly way to store hydrogen fuel for future motor vehicles. If the concept is proven--and perhaps a bigger if, accepted by the automobile industry--it could go a long way toward helping to dispose of the 2.7 billion kilograms of chicken feathers generated each year by commercial poultry operations.

Hydrogen is a leading alternative fuel for vehicles. The byproducts of its combustion are nonpolluting, and its source--water--is superabundant. One hitch is the amount of energy required to manufacture it, and another is storing enough of it onboard to give vehicles a cruising range that approaches that of gasoline or diesel fuel. Hydrogen has proven notoriously difficult to store in sufficient quantities without placing it under enormous pressure, something that greatly adds to the weight of a vehicle and adds a serious explosion hazard. The best idea so far has been carbon nanotubes--microscopic structures that can pack away large quantities of hydrogen at normal pressure within a relatively small space. But a storage tank made of the nanotubes would cost millions of dollars.

Now a team at the University of Delaware, Newark, says it has an unlikely candidate: chicken feathers. It turns out that the feathers, which are made of keratin--the same protein in fingernails and beaks--comprise strong, hollow tubes. The team, led by chemical engineer Richard Wool, had been investigating the feathers' potential for improving the performance of electronic microcircuits. The air inside the tubes helps to speed electrons along the printed wiring, but the feathers weren't stiff enough to hold the circuit boards together very well. So the team tried a heating technique to strengthen the bonds between the carbon atoms in the keratin.

As the team reported today at the 13th Annual Green Chemistry and Engineering Conference in College Park, Maryland, carbonizing the feathers gave them a strength approaching that of the nanotubes. They could also store up to 1.7% of their weight as hydrogen, about as much as carbon nanotubes could store. Moreover, the feathers cost virtually nothing to produce. "They're a nuisance commodity," says Wool.

The researchers estimate that a hydrogen-storage tank using the carbonized feathers would cost only about $200 when mass-produced. It's a major step forward, but the U.S. Department of Energy has set a target capacity for hydrogen-storage techniques of 6% of weight, so the carbonized feathers need improvement. Still, Wool is confident that the goal can be achieved. "There are all kinds of next steps," he says.

Even if hydrogen doesn't become the next primary transportation fuel, finding a safer and economical way to store the gas would still be of great value, says chemical engineer John Dorgan of the Colorado School of Mines in Golden. Hydrogen has several important nontransportation uses, he explains, such as a cooling medium in electricity generation. So the innovative storage technique developed by Wool and his team could be much less hazardous than pressurized tanks. In addition, he says, "it simply makes sense to use renewable materials to build the renewable energy infrastructure."

Source: Science Now

'Lightbulb' molecule has a bright future

2009-06-24T17:03:00.000+01:00

A single molecule that reliably emits white light could speed the development of low-energy LEDs for the next generation of light sources and displays, say chemists.

Energy-efficient LEDs are widely tipped to become the predominant lighting source of the next decade and beyond, replacing the fast-disappearing incandescent bulb, as well as the compact fluorescent lights that are replacing them.

Likely to become the standard in this area are organic LEDs – thin films made from organic polymers that can be coated onto large areas at low cost. But generating white light from OLEDs is difficult as organic compounds within the films generate light only at very specific colours. Making white involves mixing two or more compounds to create a white light balance, and that drives up the price.

Jekyll and Hyde

Soo-Young Park at Seoul National University, South Korea, and colleagues at the University of Valencia in Spain, have created a molecule able to behave like two separate light-producing molecules. When stimulated with a voltage it produces orange and blue light that mix to create white.

Previous attempts using the same basic concept involved linking together two separate molecules into one. But, because energy is able to flow between the two molecular sub-units, one unit typically emits more light than the other, resulting in an unwanted tint.

The new molecule does not suffer that problem, and only contains one light-emitting chemical group. When connected to a voltage, this group switches to a high-energy form that emits blue light as it reverts to its original state.

Roughly half the time, though, the high-energy form picks up extra oxygen and hydrogen atoms, becoming a short-lived form that produces orange light before reverting to the original state.

A large population of the molecules reliably produces equal quantities of orange and blue light that mix to produce an even white.

Efficiency boost

"This allows us to create white emission in much the same way as creating white light from independent [lights]," says Park, potentially saving money and increasing efficiency.

"The science is excellent and very impressive," says Colin Humphreys who works on LEDs at the University of Cambridge in the UK. But, he adds, it needs an efficiency boost before it can be used in commercial lighting and displays.

Currently, the molecule converts electrons into photons at least 30 times less efficiently than commercial LEDs. Park responds that the study was more about proof of principle and that the efficiency figures will rise as the method is optimised.

Journal reference: Journal of the American Chemical Society (DOI: 10.1021/ja902533f

Source: Planet Earth

Unhealthy diets make cockroaches fat

2009-06-24T16:53:00.001+01:00

Cockroaches get fat and unhealthy if they have an unbalanced diet while they are young. The effects of unbalanced nutrition cannot be compensated for later in life and lead to less reproductive success and shorter life as adults.

While most people try desperately to get rid of cockroaches, Dr Patricia Moore, from the University of Exeter, has been studying the bugs for the past decade.

'It's important to have biodiversity in the lab as well as in the wild,' Moore says. 'Cockroaches are unusual lab animals, but they are very different from white mice and zebra fish and we can learn different things from their development and behaviour.'

As part of her long-term project, Moore looked at how female cockroaches change their mating behaviour. 'We already knew that what they eat as adults influences reproductive decisions,' Moore says. But what about the effects of diet early in life?

To find out, Moore and colleagues from Exeter picked young female cockroach nymphs and divided them into two dietary groups. Half were fed on a good-quality balanced diet of protein-rich fish food and high-carbohydrate oatmeal, while the rest was raised on fish food only. Both groups were allowed to eat as much as they wanted. The difference in diets 'was not quantity but variety,' explains Moore.

After the last moult, when the nymphs became adults, the team switched the diets of some animals. Half of the cockroaches raised with good quality diet lost their oatmeal, while half of the bugs fed on poor standards were promoted to a good-quality diet. Eighteen days after the switch, the diet control ended and some of the surviving cockroaches were dissected. The rest were allowed to live on and reproduce.

Cockroaches get fat with unhealthy diets

The results show that the type of diet has a strong effect on cockroach development and body mass. Overall life span did not change much between groups, but cockroaches fed on poor-quality diets as nymphs took longer to mature and spent less of their lives as adults. They were also fatter than nymphs raised with good-quality diets.

Moore suggests that the cockroaches fed on poor diets meals delayed their growth and stored excess fat as an insurance against further decreases in food quality. 'This was a surprising result,' says Moore, 'but it shows the importance of a balanced diet for healthy development.'

The effects of unbalanced meals continued throughout the cockroaches' lives, even for the few that were switched to good-quality food. Females that ate a poor-quality diet were less willing to mate and less likely to produce offspring. They were also more picky and spent more time considering possible mates, write the authors on the report published today in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

Perhaps if the cockroaches 'are not particularly healthy, they might be waiting for better conditions to mate,' Moore suggests. But regardless of the reasons behind their behavioural change, this paper shows that 'poor diets [during early life] have an effect on the way cockroaches respond to their environment and cannot be reset later on,' she adds.

Source: Planet Earth Online

Plant leaf pores co-evolved with carbon dioxide

2009-06-18T15:22:00.001+01:00

cientists have found that the size and number of pores in plants' leaves depends on how much carbon dioxide (CO₂) was the atmosphere when those plants first appeared.

Single pore in fern leaf.

Plants that evolved during warm periods with high CO₂ have larger but fewer leaf pores than species that first appeared during cooler times.

Leaf pores, called stomata, are microscopic structures that control the exchange of water and carbon dioxide between the plant and the atmosphere. Stomata evolved when plants colonised land about 400 million years ago and have kept the same general shape ever since. But their size and number has changed quite considerably throughout their history.

'This variation was well known from the fossil record of plants, but it was never explained,' says Dr Peter Franks, from the University of Sheffield and lead author of the paper co-authored with Professor David Beerling.

To make the connection between pore size and CO₂ levels, Franks and Beerling combined data from fossils, climate models and physiology. It's an 'unusual set of resources to gain a completely new insight into when, why and how modern plants evolved to grow much faster than their ancestors,' says Franks.

Change in pore size

Franks and Beerling found that variation in pore size through time is related to changes of CO₂ in the atmosphere. At times when the Earth is warm and CO₂ concentrations are high, new plants species evolve with large stomata, sparsely distributed through the leaf. But when the temperature is cooling down and the CO₂ in the atmosphere is relatively low, new plants emerge with numerous but tiny leaf pores.

This correlation exists because lots of small stomata promote a more efficient gas exchange between leaves and the atmosphere than few bigger pores. 'Grasses are a good example,' says Franks. With small yet plentiful pores, they are a successful and relatively recent plant group, perfectly adapted to make the most of a CO₂-poor atmosphere.

On the other hand, club mosses first appeared during the Devonian, about 400 million years ago, when the Earth was going through a greenhouse climate with high CO₂ concentrations in the atmosphere. Nowadays, 'club mosses are remnants of an ancient flora typical of warm climates, with large but few stomata,' says Franks.

The findings, published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, show for the first time that long-term changes in atmospheric CO₂ are able to steer the evolution of plants.

Source: NERC

Robotic ferret will detect hidden drugs and weapons

2009-06-18T15:19:00.001+01:00

A new type of robot being developed will make it easier to detect drugs, weapons, explosives and illegal immigrants concealed in cargo containers.

Dubbed the ‘cargo-screening ferret’ and designed for use at seaports and airports, the device is being worked on at the University of Sheffield with funding from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC).

The ferret will be the world’s first cargo-screening device able to pinpoint all kinds of illicit substances and the first designed to operate inside standard freight containers.

It will be equipped with a suite of sensors that are more comprehensive and more sensitive than any currently employed in conventional cargo scanners.

Recent advances in both laser and fibre optic technology now make it possible to detect tiny particles of different substances. The EPSRC-funded project team is developing sensors which incorporate these technologies and that are small enough to be carried on the 30cm-long robot, in order to detect the specific ‘fingerprint’ of illegal substances at much lower concentrations than is now possible.

When placed inside a steel freight container, the ferret will attach itself magnetically to the top, then automatically move around and seek out contraband, sending a steady stream of information back to its controller.

Current cargo-screening methods rely on a variety of separate methods, such as the use of sniffer dogs and external scanners for detecting explosives and drugs and carbon dioxide probes and heartbeat monitors to detect a human presence.

Cargo scanners currently in use at seaports and airports only generate information on the shape and density of objects or substances. The ferret, however, will be able to provide information on what they actually consist of as well.

“It’s essential we develop something which is simple to operate and which Border Agents can have total confidence in,” says Dr Tony Dodd, who is leading the project. “The ferret will be able to drop small probes down through the cargo and so pinpoint exactly where contraband is concealed.”

Working prototypes of the cargo-screening ferret could be ready for testing within two years, with potential deployment within around five years.

Source: EPSRC

UK Chemistry “World Leading” says Independent Panel

2009-06-18T15:08:00.001+01:00

Chemistry research in the UK is world leading, internationally recognised, and well placed to tackle society’s greatest challenges according to a panel of eminent overseas researchers who have compared the strength of UK research activity with world competitors.

The International Review of Chemistry 2009, comprising of academics and industrialists from outside the UK, visited a number of UK research groups in April 2009 and had access to a wide pool of experts and supporting data to help them reach their conclusions.

Chair of the Review Panel, Professor Michael Klein from the University of Pennsylvania, said:

“There are examples of truly outstanding, world-leading and world-class work. The community is aggressively utilising all of the funding streams available through the Research Councils, charities, Europe and industry. Importantly, the top-level research is not confined to just one location. There are excellent examples of international collaboration, especially via EU programmes and a number of good examples of co-operation with industry. Multi-disciplinary research efforts are expanding.

Examples of excellent multidisciplinary research are emerging from the new Doctoral Training Centres (DTCs) and chemists in the UK are better prepared than in the past to tackle society's challenges. The panel was impressed with the calibre and intellectual strength of some of the ‘Early Career’ Scientists they met.

EPSRC Chief Executive, Professor Dave Delpy said:

“This is the second International Review of Chemistry and reflects the important contribution of this subject to the UK. This contribution enables progress by bringing a fundamental knowledge and understanding of chemistry which drives advances in many areas. Chemistry research underpins a wide range of activities that benefit society including discoveries that lead to new industries, materials and technologies as well as helping to conquer diseases. Chemistry will be indispensable in attacking the challenges of climate change, energy, and sustainability.”

The panel also found:

Numerous examples of vigorous and successful spin out companies, with academic-industry collaboration - a positive and distinguishing feature in the UK.
Outstanding facilities and equipment levels comparable with the best in Europe.
Good examples of local and regional university interactions and funding.
That the UK is seen as an attractive venue by chemists around the globe.

Chemistry is a key enabling central science - addressing issues of societal concern and contributing to economic development.

The findings of the review panel were announced at the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA) on Friday 12 June.

This review was part of a series of international reviews organised by EPSRC in partnership with learned societies to provide an independent assessment of the quality and impact of UK research.

Notes to Editors:

Press Release Issued by the EPRSC (Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council) on behalf of the International Review of Chemistry 2009.

The International Review of Chemistry was held during the period 20 – 24 April 2009.

A Town Meeting was held on Friday 12 June 2009 at the RSA, 8 John Adam Street, London, WC2N 6EZ. The meeting included a presentation of the report of the Review Panel and a discussion of the findings, in order to begin development of an action plan to take recommendations forward. The full report will be published following this activity.

For further information go to the 2009 International Review of UK Chemistry Research page.

The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) is the UK’s main agency for funding research in engineering and the physical sciences. The EPSRC invests more than £850 million a year in research and postgraduate training, to help the nation handle the next generation of technological change.

Behind the scenes at the Evolution MegaLab

2009-06-18T15:07:00.000+01:00

To commemorate the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin, researchers are conducting the largest evolutionary survey undertaken in a wild species. Two types of banded snails, Cepaea nemoralis and C. hortensis, are being studied by a team of collaborators in 14 countries who are asking the public across Europe to help them find out whether the snails have evolved in response to changes in their environment. The data collected will be compared with historical samples, some of them collected over 100 years ago.

"Most banded snail populations display easily identifiable differences in shell colouring and banding" says Professor Jonathan Silvertown from the Open University. "The Evolution MegaLab involves the general public in a project to discover what effect climate change and changes in bird predation are having upon the evolution of these two species."

Banded snails occur in many parts of the UK and continental Europe. The Evolution MegaLab allows members of the public to participate in the study by uploading data to the research website. The website has a variety of resources including background information on banded snails and full instructions on how to participate in the project. Participants are provided with personalised, informative feedback and can see their contribution on the website.

"Evolution MegaLab is providing the public with the opportunity to contribute to a unique scientific study," says Jonathan.

The exhibitors

Dr Mike Dodd, Professor Jonathan Silvertown, Dr Peter Skelton and Jenny Worthington, The Open University
Dr Mark Beaumont, University of Reading
Professor Robert Cameron, University of Sheffield
Professor Laurence Cook, University of Manchester
Professor Steve Jones, University College London

Explore further

Royal Society Climate change information

Source: Royal Society

Do I know you from somewhere? How humans recognise kin

2009-06-18T15:02:00.000+01:00

Humans can tell if two strangers are related, even if they are generations apart, just by looking at their faces. So say scientists writing today in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B , who believe this ability helps us to interpret situations and understand the motives of others in a social setting.

It is well documented that humans have the ability to recognise their own relatives an important tool if we are to promote our genes whilst avoiding the damaging impacts of incest. But this is the first study to actually show that humans are capable of indentifying which individuals are related, even in cases where they are more than a generation apart and have presumably not lived together.

The team of researchers from Grenoble University asked 59 subjects to look at pairs of images of faces and decide whether or not they are related. The pairs we made up from a database of images collected from 32 different families. They also timed how long it took the subjects to make the decision, as this indicates how hard they find the task.

The results showed that people can tell that even distant relatives have family ties for example a grandparent and grandchild yet we tend to find it harder to spot relatives the more distant they get.
The similarities in peoples' faces that help us to make a link between relatives can come from genetic makeup and also from environmental factors which are common to people who live together. Siblings raised on the same diet might have a similar complexion, for example.

Because people are more likely to help relatives than those who aren't kin, there is an evolutionary advantage to being able to tell if strangers are related, say the authors. The knowledge can help us to resolve or avoid problems in a range of social contexts: "Anticipating hostile alliances, enlisting aid, pacifying conflicts amongst kin, forming coalitions, punishing people or eliciting sexual favours&even trying to flatter someone may be indirectly achieved by addressing a related individual," they add.

Source: The Royal Society

The search for ET just got easier

2009-06-16T10:22:00.000+01:00

Astronomers using the Science and Technology Facilities Council’s (STFC) William Herschel Telescope (WHT) on La Palma have confirmed an effective way to search the atmospheres of planets for signs of life, vastly improving our chances of finding alien life outside our solar system.

Artist’s concept of sunlight glowing through Earth's atmosphere
Credit:Gabriel Perez Diaz, SMM,IAC

The team from the Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias (IAC) used the WHT and the Nordic Optical Telescope (NOT) to take the first transmission spectrum of the Earth - information about the chemical composition of the Earth’s atmosphere from sunlight that has passed through it. The research is published today (11th June) in Nature.

When a planet passes in front of its parent star, part of the starlight passes through the planet’s atmosphere and contains information about the constituents of the atmosphere, providing vital information about the planet itself. This is called a transmission spectrum and even though astronomers can’t use exactly the same method to look at the Earth’s atmosphere, they were able to gain a spectrum of our planet by observing light reflected from the Moon towards the Earth during a lunar eclipse. This is the first time the transmission spectrum of the Earth has been measured.

The spectrum not only contained signs of life but these signs were unmistakably strong. It also contained unexpected molecular bands and the signature of the earth ionosphere.

Enric Palle, lead author of the paper, from the Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias, said, “Now we know what the transmission spectrum of a inhabited planet looks like, we have a much better idea of how to find and recognize Earth like planets outside our solar system where life may be thriving. The information in this spectrum shows us that this is a very effective way to gather information about the biological processes that may be taking place on a planet.”

The Moon during a lunar eclipse
Credit:Daniel Lopez, IAC

Pilar Montañes-Rodriguez, from the Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias, added, “Many discoveries of Earth-size planets are expected in the next decades and some will orbit in the habitable zone of their parent stars. Obtaining their atmospheric properties will be highly challenging; the greatest reward will happen when one of those planets shows a spectrum like that of our Earth.”

The past two decades have witnessed the discovery of hundreds of exoplanets (planets beyond our solar system). Ambitious missions, ground and space based, are already being planned for the next decades, and the discovery of Earth-like planets is only a matter of time. Once these planets are found, techniques like transmission spectra will be invaluable to their further exploration.

Professor Keith Mason, Chief Executive of the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), said, “This new transmission spectrum is good news for future upcoming ground and space based missions dedicated to the search for life in the universe. The UK is committed to cutting edge science and UK owned facilities like the WHT are helping to make many groundbreaking discoveries and expand our knowledge of the Universe. Not only do these results improve our knowledge of our own planet but we now have an effective way to search for life on the increasing number of exoplanets being found by astronomers.”

Evolution of swine flu mapped by scientists

2009-06-12T14:55:00.001+01:00

Funding from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) has played an important role in enabling the rapid analysis of genetic data from the ongoing Influenza H1N1 outbreak attributed to Swine flu.

The analysis, published online (11 June) in the journal Nature, found that transmission to humans occurred several months before recognition of the existing outbreak and suggests that there is a need for systematic surveillance of influenza in pigs.

Using evolutionary analysis, scientists from the Universities of Arizona, Edinburgh, Hong Kong and Oxford, looked at the timescale of the origins and early development of the virus responsible for the current swine flu outbreak.

Dr Samantha Lycett, from the University of Edinburgh, who worked on the project and who is carrying out research into Avian influenza, funded by BBSRC, explained: "From my ongoing research into Avian influenza, I already had analysis programs set up to prepare and select downloaded virus sequences for further analysis, so was able to rapidly generate a good data set covering about 800 complete genome sequences leading up to current H1N1 outbreak."

Commenting on the research, Professor Douglas Kell, BBSRC Chief Executive said: "The ability to respond quickly and accurately in crisis situations is crucial. This research illustrates how ongoing basic bioscience research provides transferable techniques, knowledge and skills and places UK scientists at the forefront of tackling global challenges. This is a particularly nice example of the importance of the methods of genomics and bioinformatics in the solution of complex problems of biology with immediate social applications."

Visit BBSRC for more information

Science museum's top 10 objects

2009-06-10T13:01:00.012+01:00

Which was the more important invention - the railway revolution ushered in by Stephenson's Rocket or the life-saving achievements of penicillin?

The Science Museum in London has chosen a top 10 list of its most significant objects, as part of events marking its centenary.

The public will be invited to vote on this list of scientific breakthroughs.

These "icons" of science will become part of a centenary trail for visitors to the South Kensington museum.

There have already been expressions of support for particular objects.

Best inventions

Trevor Baylis, the inventor, says he would vote for the V2 rocket engine.

SCIENCE MUSEUM TOP 10

Steam engine

V2 rocket engine

Electric telegraph

Stephenson's Rocket

X-ray machine

Model T Ford

Penicillin

Pilot ACE Computer

DNA double helix

Apollo 10 capsule

"It's one of the greatest achievements of our time because it led to space exploration, and then satellite development, which then led to mobile phones and the astounding communication services we enjoy today," he said.

Alice Roberts, television presenter and doctor, says she would vote for the invention of the X-ray machine.

"X-rays provided the first possibility of looking inside someone's body without cutting them open, a massive medical advance."

The museum's chief curator, Tim Boon, wants the top 10 to spark debate about the value of inventions and discoveries.

The hands of George V and Queen Mary in an X-ray

"What did we miss, is there an alternative top ten? Some of the objects may divide opinion. Would we be better off if some of the icons, which have had negative consequences, had not been invented?"

The Science Museum's origins lay in the Great Exhibition of 1851, with funds from the industrial showcase being used to begin a network of museums and libraries in South Kensington.

The first building, known as the South Kensington Museum, was opened to the public in 1857.

The centenary being celebrated this year is the creation in 1909 of a separately administered museum in a new building, which formally adopted the title "Science Museum".

Source: BBC

For more information on the top ten visit the Science Museaum

Early rocks to reveal their ages

2009-06-08T17:27:00.000+01:00

A new technique has been helping scientists piece together how the Earth's continents were arranged 2.5 billion years ago.

The novel method allows scientists to recover rare minerals from rocks.
By analysing the composition of these minerals, researchers can precisely date ancient volcanic rocks for the first time.

By aligning rocks that have a similar age and orientation, the early landmasses can be pieced together.

This will aid the discovery of rocks rich in ore and oil deposits, say the scientists. The approach has already shown that Canada once bordered Zimbabwe, helping the mining industry identify new areas for exploration.

Dr Wouter Bleeker, from the Geological Survey of Canada, explained that much of the geology that exists today formed around 300 million years ago when the supercontinent Pangea existed.
"We really don't understand the [Earth's] history prior to Pangea," he told a recent meeting of the American Geophysical Union in Toronto.

Early landmasses
Analysis of rocks that formed when continents drifted apart can help geologists reconstruct early landmasses.

Dr Richard Ernst, a geologist from the University of Ottawa, explained that molten magma fills the cracks formed by shifting continental plates.

The magma cools to form long veins of basalt - a volcanic rock - that has a "distinct magnetic signature" revealing the rock's orientation and latitude when it formed.

By combining this "magnetic signature" with the ages of these rocks, researchers can tell whether rocks on different continents were once part of the same volcanic up-welling.
But until now, researchers have been unable to determine the ages of many of these ancient rocks because of the difficulty in extracting the minerals used to date them.

The researchers are dealing with such small mineral crystals - typically much less than 100 microns long - that grains are far smaller than the width of a human hair.
But with the development of new techniques, minerals - such as baddeleyite - can now be successfully recovered.

Baddeleyite is useful because it incorporates large amounts of uranium into its crystal-structure, and because uranium naturally decays to lead.
Scientists also know the rate at which this happens, so they can use these minerals as radioactive "clocks".

They then need to measure the amounts of uranium and lead very precisely.
In a large, international project, researchers hope to collect and date 250 rocks from around the world, and use this information to reconstruct how these continental fragments were once together to form giant landmasses that existed 2.5 billion years ago.

Source: BBC

Brain training, chimp chat and the dark side of the Universe…

2009-06-08T13:52:00.003+01:00

This September, the British Science Festival will be regaling Surrey with the latest exciting and thought-provoking science. Among the anticipated highlights are the British Science Association Award Lectures, which will be presented at the University of Surrey, Guildford.The Award Lectures are coveted prizes for talented communicators with an interesting story to tell about their research.

The Association has identified five early stage scientists and engineers who have demonstrated exceptional skills in communicating to non-specialist audiences to give these prestigious lectures.

The winners will present diverse subject matter - from a look at how working memory, the brain’s ‘post-it note’, is at the centre of a new scientific revolution in understanding how the brain works, to insights into dark matter. The lunchtime lectures are open to all.

For more information visit: The British Science Assoction

Innovation: Behind Microsoft's full-body gaming interface

2009-06-08T02:03:00.003+01:00

At the E3 2009 gaming conference in Los Angeles, California, this week, Microsoft unveiled a new hands-free, full-body-control system for its Xbox 360 console, codenamed Natal. Using it, players can interact with games simply by talking and moving their body.

Microsoft also claims that it can recognise emotions, and Natal has impressed game players, developers and movie mogul Steven Spielberg alike.

It is undeniably impressive. And you have to wonder: how does Natal actually work? Microsoft is remaining tight-lipped. But we've talked to industry insiders and pulled together some material from the New Scientist archive to suggest how it could live up to the high expectations generated by partially enhanced concept videos like this one.

Camera capture

Although techniques to capture a person's movement using cameras have been in development since the 1970s, doing so without attaching markers to the person's body as Natal does is a more recent possibility.

Organic Motion is one of the few commercial companies currently offering markerless motion capture technology. Andrew Tschesnok, the firm's CEO, says his system uses as many as 14 cameras positioned around an actor to get a 3D picture of their movement in real time.

But Natal comes equipped with just two cameras. So how can it work with such a limited input?
In-depth view

A year ago, Israeli firm 3DV Systems unveiled a system that uses an infrared depth-sensing camera. The ZCam is said to be able to pinpoint the depth of an object to within 1 to 2 centimetres, and capture the information at a rate of 60 frames per minute for very smooth motion. A second, full colour camera in the device records textures and colours.

In March of this year, the company sold its assets to a third party, reportedly Microsoft. Many people have concluded that Natal's motion capture system owes a lot to the ZCam. When New Scientist asked 3DV System's CEO Zvika Klier about the possibility this week, he had no comment.

Tschesnok says the results from ZCam-like systems fall short of what he'd call true markerless motion capture – Natal can't see what's going on behind a gamer's back – but it is still an improvement over other games consoles' interfaces and will work well for Natal's needs. "In a way, it's the same effect as having a Wiimote in each hand, one on each foot and one on your head," he says.

But more is yet to come: Tschesnok predicts that the games consoles due out early in the next decade will use his multi-camera system, built into the widely used "surround sound" speaker systems to provide users with a truly immersive experience.

Voice in the crowd

People are also understandably excited about Natal appearing to recognise and respond to voices and emotions. However, while speech recognition software may be increasingly common, it still suffers from the "cocktail party" effect; where background noise and multiple voices can cause errors.

Finding a way round this issue is vital for gaming. Microsoft is targeting Natal at social and casual gamers who are likely to play in the company of others, yet few, if any, voice recognition systems have been created capable of following a single voice in a noisy room.

IBM has shown that a system that can read lips provides one way around that. That could help Natal, but would need to be tuned separately to different languages.

Research that enabled one of Honda's Asimo humanoid's to understand three voices all speaking at once even suggests that multiplayer voice control could be possible one day.

Face reading

Speech software could also feasibly be used to recognise emotions from stresses and emphasis in a player's voice. For example, software called Emotive Alert is able to classify voices into one of eight basic emotional states.

We are told, though, that Natal will use facial recognition, so it may read emotions that way too. Earlier this year, artist Tina Gonsalves teamed up with neuroscientist Chris Frith at University College London, UK, to develop an art installation that responds to the emotion of visitors, using an algorithm Frith created to read faces.

Frith told New Scientist that getting such systems to perform reliably is difficult, but not impossible. However, it is unlikely that Natal will detect more than a handful of basic emotions.

Emotional connection

Even with that limitation, a console able to sense emotions and respond to them has the potential to make gaming a much richer experience.

In 2005, an "emotionally aware" virtual fitness trainer, name Laura, was tested on groups of volunteers. Her friendly gestures and sympathetic body language were found to genuinely foster a better connection with users. This positive influence significantly increased the participants' exercise levels compared to a control group interacting with a version of Laura that didn't recognise emotions.

The Natal concept videos may seem on first viewing to show technology bordering on the fictional, but it's clear that many of the basics are within our technological reach. How many of these features gamers will see when Natal finally hits shelves, though, is unknown.

Source: New Scientist

Cheltenham Science Festival blasts off!

2009-06-03T11:48:00.005+01:00

It has been a hive of activity at Cheltenham Town Hall over the past two days. Preparations have busily been made for what promises to be an astounding 8th The Times Cheltenham Science Festival! With a theme of Heresy, the festival will challenge your thinking, whatever your age, on all things science.

Today gets off to an explosive start, as children will experience Chemistry with a Bang in Science for Schools. Meanwhile, explosions of a more biological kind could be on the cards for those who choose to attend The Science of Curry in the evening. But it’s not all about loud noises and smells — topics as diverse as how to be a winner, climate change and a debate about how science can help to build a better future, ensure that there is something for everyone.
Come along and join the party!

The festival runs 3rd - 7th June, to find out more visit: http://cheltenhamfestivals.com/

Gene Doctors Milk Mice; Yield Human Breast Milk Protein

2009-06-03T10:09:00.003+01:00

An experimental farm in Russia could soon be producing human breast milk substitutes following successful milking trials on mice, scientists report.

Thanks to human genes spliced into their genome, the mice are the first genetically modified animals to produce lactoferrin. This human breast milk protein protects babies from viruses and bacteria while the infants' immune systems are still developing.

The ultimate aim of the Russian team, and of similar research projects in other countries, is to extract lactoferrin from the milk and use the protein to create healthier baby formula.
"Mouse milk is very protein-rich, and this can also translate into very high concentrations of transgenic protein," Patrick van Berkel, a senior director at the Danish biotech company Genmab, wrote in an email.

Breastfeeding mothers typically produce 4 to 5 grams (0.1 to 0.2 ounces) of lactoferrin per liter (about a quart) of milk.

The modified mice churned out maximum concentrations equal to 160 grams (6 ounces) per liter, said team member Elena Sadchikova of the Institute of Gene Biology at the Russian Academy of Sciences in Moscow.

But that doesn't mean the mice themselves are about to become biotech dairy animals, Sadchikova cautioned.

To milk mice, the research team had to anaesthetize the rodents and use specially adapted pumps fitted to their tiny teats.

If attempted commercially, "the scale at which this would have to happen would be a logistic and technical nightmare," van Berkel said. "Larger animals such as rabbits, goats, or cows are required for commercial application."

Rabbit-Milk Drugs

Rabbits bred with human genes are already being milked commercially by Netherlands-based biotech company Pharming.

The rabbit milk contains a human protein used in a new drug treatment for hereditary angioedema, a rare blood disorder that can lead to severe swelling of body tissues.

"When you make a medicine, the volumes [of protein] you need are relatively limited," noted Pharming CEO Sijmen de Vries.

"Whereas if you're going to make human lactoferrin, which eventually you want to use, say, in infant formula, then you need very significant volumes."

De Vries predicts that human lactoferrin from cow milk will be available for commercial use in two to three years.

The Russian team, however, favors transgenic goats, according to the Institute of Gene Biology's Sadchikova.

"The most attractive advantage of a goat is that its pregnancy period is twice [as short as] that of a cow," she said, which means a herd could be established fairly quickly.

"A goat also reaches breeding age three times faster than a cow … has good resistance to illnesses, and does not share any diseases with a human being."

Source: National Geographic

Scientists Recreate Bach’s Forgotten Horn

2009-06-02T10:08:00.006+01:00

Cutting-edge computer modelling software has enabled a long-lost, trumpet-like instrument to be recreated – allowing a work by Bach to be performed as the composer may have intended for the first time in nearly 300 years.

The software was originally developed by a University of Edinburgh PhD student, funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), with the aim of optimising the design of modern brass instruments.

Computer modelling is an emerging technology in instrument manufacture, but the new software offers unprecedented accuracy in terms of ensuring a brass instrument’s design delivers the required shape, pitch and tone.

Following its use to improve trombone design, the software has been deployed to help the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis (SCB), who asked the University to recreate the instrument, which is called the Lituus – even though no-one alive today has heard, played or even seen a picture of this forgotten instrument.

The SCB are a Swiss-based music conservatoire specialising in early music, they gave the Edinburgh team their expert thoughts on what the Lituus may have been like in terms of the notes it produced, its tonal quality and how it might have been played. They also provided cross-section diagrams of instruments they believed to be similar to the Lituus.

“The software used this data to design an elegant, usable instrument with the required acoustic and tonal qualities,” says Dr Alistair Braden, the software’s designer. “The key was to ensure that the design we generated would not only sound right but look right as well.”

Professor Murray Campbell, who supervised the software’s development, adds: “Crucially, the final design produced by the software could have been made by a manufacturer in Bach’s time without too much difficulty.”

SCB has now used Edinburgh’s designs to build two identical examples of the long-lost instrument. Two and a half metres long, made from pine and with a mouthpiece made of cow horn, the instruments are thin, completely straight and have a flared ‘bell’ at the end.
Both were used in an experimental performance of the cantata ‘O Jesu Christ, meins lebens licht’ in Switzerland earlier this year. Written by Bach in the 1730s, it is thought that this is the only piece of music still existing that specifies the use of the Lituus – and has almost certainly not been performed using the Lituus since Bach’s time.

“Sophisticated computer modelling software has a huge role to play in the way we make music in the future,” comments Professor Campbell.
Hear the horn being played

Listen to the researchers (on the YouTube website) talking about this work and hear Bach’s forgotten horn in action.

Completed mouse genome sequencing project will improve research

2009-06-01T12:24:00.003+01:00

The mouse has become only the second mammal after the human to have its entire genome laid bare. Knowledge of the full mouse genome will now allow scientists to neatly separate the biology humans share with mice from biology found in one species only. This will enhance scientists’ ability to select the genes most applicable to human disease when developing mouse models.

The findings are reported in a landmark publication describing the finished mouse genome sequence in the May 26, 2009 issue of PLoS Biology.

The sequencing project began in 1999 using DNA from one strain of laboratory mouse. Teams from around the world completed the marathon task of sequencing the mouse genome, passing on their new data to Dr Deanna Church of the National Center for Biotechnology Information in Maryland, who neatly pieced it all together. It was then up to Dr Leo Goodstadt and Professor Chris Ponting at the MRC Functional Genomics Unit, University of Oxford, to figure out which genes which genes were present as single copies in the genomes of both mouse and human, and are most likely to have the same function in both species.

The mouse, Mus musculus, is the animal model most often used to better understand human diseases and how they develop. Commenting on completion of the sequencing project, Professor Ponting said:
"Completion of the genome is extremely important in helping us to identify the genes that underpin biology that is the same across all mammals, and to separate the genes in common from those that make humans and mice so different from one another." By filling in the gaps left by the previous version of the mouse genome, a vast treasury of new genes has been revealed. Many of these newly discovered genes are evolving at an unusually rapid pace.’’

The genome described in the PLoS Biology paper provides a more complete picture than past attempts to sequence the genome because it includes many more mouse-specific stretches than previously had been available. Dr Leo Goodstadt explained:
"In retrospect, our previous picture of the mouse genome was incomplete. Only when all the missing pieces of the genomic puzzle had been filled in did we realize that we had been missing large numbers of genes found only in mice, and not in humans."

Dr Deanna Church, staff scientist at the National Center for Biotechnology Information at the US National Institutes of Health, added:

“The painstaking work of the genome centers in completing it has been well worthwhile. The new findings will allow us to dismiss some commonly held misconceptions and, more importantly, to reveal many previously hidden secrets of mouse biology”.

Dr Goodstadt concluded:
‘‘Despite 90 million years of independent evolution the mouse remains an excellent model for many human conditions and so is crucial to the study of human disease and mammalian development. An improved understanding of the mouse genome, and so mouse biology, will enhance the utility of the mouse as a model for human disease.’’

Source: Medical Research Council

Scientist's discover route to increase crop harvest 25%

2009-05-28T13:06:00.004+01:00

Oilseed rape is grown for its tiny black oil-containing seeds, prized for cooking oil and margarines low in saturated fat, and increasingly for biodiesel. The meal that remains after oil extraction is also used as a high protein animal feed.

Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike Author: Rror

Known as a 'brassica', these plants normally disperse their seeds by a pod-shattering mechanism. Just before harvest, oilseed rape pods can shatter causing a 10-25% loss of seeds and up to 70% in some cases.

Although this mechanism is an advantage in nature, it is one of the biggest problems in farming oilseed rape. As well as losing valuable seeds, it results in runaway ‘volunteer’ seedlings that contaminate the next crop in the rotation cycle. If rape seeds are harvested early to get round the problem, immature seeds may be collected which are of an inferior quality.

Scientists at the John Innes Centre have discovered that by artificially introducing a hormone into the plant, they can prevent the pod-shattering process taking place. The scientists discovered that the absence of the hormone auxin in a layer of cells in the fruit is necessary for the fruit to open. Two stripes of tissue form where no auxin is present, and these separate to open the pod.

Dr Lars Østergaard from the John Innes Centre: “We need to refine the process for use in agriculture to reduce seed loss but still allowing them to be easily harvested.”

The John Innes Centre is an institute of the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC). Professor Janet Allen, Director of Research, BBSRC said: “With a growing global population we must increase food production significantly within 20 years. With current yield improvements beginning to plateau, the value of this kind of fundamental research is becoming even more significant. Knowledge gained in this way will underpin future technological developments, but it takes time to do this; 20 years from lab to field is not an unreasonable expectation in terms of time scale.”

Read more: John Innes Centre

Rooks using tools

2009-05-27T16:24:00.004+01:00

This BBC video shows that rooks have a remarkable aptitude for using tools.

Tests on captive birds revealed that they could craft and employ tools to solve a number of different problems.

The findings, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, came as a surprise as rooks do not use tools in the wild.

Here, the rook choose the appropriate stones to release a tasty snack from a trapdoor.

Environment YES

2009-05-27T16:03:00.002+01:00

Environment YES (Young Entrepreneurs Scheme) is an innovative scheme to raise levels of entrepreneurial awareness, that is targeted at PhD students and post doctoral researchers working in the environmental sciences.

Environment YES will run as a 3-day residential workshop in Oxford with participants split into teams. They will attend presentations from leading figures in industry on all aspects of technology transfer and the commercialisation of science ideas. This knowledge is then used by participants to prepare an oral business plan presentation for an "imaginary" environmental or environmental technology start-up company. On the final afternoon the participants make a formal oral presentation of their business plan to a panel comprised of business, financial and academic experts taking the role of venture capitalists.

Teams taking part compete against each other for a prize which is awarded to the winning Environment YES team at the London Final.

This is an opportunity to investigate a career path you may not have considered before.
You will have the opportunity to network with a variety of professionals who will be happy to talk about their career routes with you.

Read more here

Famous Ida fossil cast to go on display at Natural History Museum

2009-05-27T15:29:00.003+01:00

Ida’s life-size fossil cast is on display at the Natural History Museum from today: Ida at the Natural History Museum. The 47-million-year-old fossil caused a sensation last week when researchers from the University of Oslo suggested Darwinius masillae could be our earliest human ancestor. Museum palaeontologists are excited about the fact that the fossil is so complete - the fur impressions and remains of its last meal in its gut let scientists reconstruct its lifestyle as well as learn much more about a very early stage in primate evolution.

However, that the fossil has been the subject of much media attention has also raised eyebrows. The fossil was actually discovered two years ago and has been the subject of a high-profile media campaign that includes documentaries and a website to accompany the official celebrity 'unveiling' in New York. The Times this week published an article criticising the hype: The dangerous link between science and hype. And the Guardian similarly highlights the auspicious occasion: To get a glimpse of Ida fossil, the media make monkeys of themselves.

What are your thoughts? Has the science been eclipsed by the media machine? Or has it been great publicity for palaeontology and science research in general?

Surprise innovation could cut 20% off aircraft carbon emissions

2009-05-21T11:01:00.002+01:00

The UK aviation industry has previously announced targets to reduce emissions per passenger km by 50% by 2020. Part of these savings will be made from lighter aircraft and improvements in engine and fuel efficiency. However, friction is also a major factor in fuel consumption during flights.

Photo credit: National Air Traffic Services Ltd

Engineers have known for some time that tiny ridges known as ‘riblets’ - like those found on sharks bodies - can reduce skin-friction drag, (a major portion of mid-flight drag), by around 5%. But the latest innovation, a micro-jet system being developed by Dr Duncan Lockerby and his colleagues at the University of Warwick, could reduce skin-friction drag by up to 40%.

The new approach uses tiny air powered jets which redirect the air making it flow sideways back and forth over the wing. Dr Lockerby said: “This has come as a bit of a surprise to all of us in the aerodynamics community. It was discovered, essentially, by waggling a piece of wing from side to side in a wind tunnel.”

“The truth is we’re not exactly sure why this technology reduces drag but with the pressure of climate change we can’t afford to wait around to find out. So we are pushing ahead with prototypes and have a separate three year project to look more carefully at the physics behind it.”

Read more here: http://www.epsrc.ac.uk/PressReleases/wagglewings

Steve Leonard - Save Our Bees

2009-05-19T17:42:00.001+01:00

A TV vet whose veterinary practice is in Whitchurch is calling on the public to save the bees.

Steve Leonard supports the So What? So Everything national campaign to show people how science benefits them in their everyday lives and how it is vital to meeting some of the major challenges of our time.

Part of this is using scientific knowledge to protect the dwindling bee population.

The dramatic decline in honeybee populations in the UK means the UK imports 80% of our honey.

Without beekeepers there would be no honeybees in the UK.

In the UK there are approximately 44,000 beekeepers managing around 274,000 hives, each worth about £600 to the UK agricultural economy.

Steve, who runs his practice with his brother Tom, said: “There are 250 species of bees in the UK, and they are all at risk of being lost.

“One of the reasons is that some of the bees have got a mite, a little creature living within the bee that kills it off. Another reason is the loss of habitat.

“It is such a priority to sort this out. If the bee population dies out we will be facing major problems to our agricultural economy.

“What people can do is create an environment and habitat for the bees in their own back gardens. Just let a little area grow wild. This will encourage wild flowers and be the perfect habitat for the bees.

“Also bees need places to create their nests. Tie together some snap canes, create little gaps between them and put them in the wild area.

“And I ask people to consider bee keeping. I know in Whitchurch a bee keeping group meet up in the Civic Centre once a month.”

Source: White Church Herald

Sport England - Innovation challenge

2009-05-19T17:37:00.002+01:00

Sport England today challenged innovators – both within and beyond the sport sector – to come forward with ground-breaking concepts and solutions that will shape community sport over the next decade.

This is the opportunity to unearth the ideas that will transform grassroots sport and help create a lasting sporting legacy from the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The best innovations, and the people who can turn them into reality, will benefit from expert support and investment through Sport England’s new Innovation Fund. £5 million of National Lottery funding is available each year, through a highly competitive process, with up to 20 projects expected to secure investment.

Sport England wants to hear about innovations that will:

Unlock a major barrier to participation in sport
Exploit technology to deliver sport at new times, in new settings or to new audiences
Inspire more people to take up a sport by creatively adapting an existing game.

Sport England’s Chair, Richard Lewis, said:

“Great ideas are priceless, so we need to do all we can to encourage innovative thinking if we’re to achieve a genuine breakthrough in growing sports participation.”

Applications to Sport England’s Innovation Fund will be assessed on a competitive basis by a panel of experts in sport and innovation, including a representative from the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills.

The Secretary of State for Innovation, John Denham MP, said:

“In a tough economic climate, it’s more important than ever to innovate, whether you want to improve profit margins or attract more people to sport. By supporting innovation and reaching out beyond the world of sport for ideas and expertise, Sport England will ultimately secure a better return on its investment.”

Sport England will only invest in innovations which, if successful, could be rolled out across the country in a way that is both cost-effective and sustainable. This will ensure that the benefits of the Innovation Fund are felt across the sporting landscape.

Scientists find evidence for potential green tea effect on osteoarthritis

2009-05-19T11:24:00.008+01:00

In the UK, green tea is fast becoming as ubiquitous as builder's brew with supermarket shelves devoted to various flavours and varieties. Much of this growth has been down to a belief in the health benefits to be derived from drinking it. Unfortunately, evidence from scientific studies has been thin on the ground.

However, a study published this week in the journal Arthritis Research & Therapy (doi:10.1186/ar2700) has shown that a compound present in green tea may inhibit a mechanism through which osteoarthritis develops. Osteoarthritis is a degenerative joint disease that results in the painful loss of cartilage that cushions our joints.

Scientists from the University of South Carolina, examined the effect of a compound called epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), found in green tea, on a class of molecules implicated in osteoarthritis, called advanced glycation end products (AGEs). It is possible that in cartilage cells, AGEs activate a protein that causes inflammation and a gene that stimulates breakdown of the cartilage.

The study found that the compound present in green tea significantly reduced the effects of the AGEs on the cartilage cells used in the laboratory.

Although the study is not a clinical trial that tested the effect of green tea on osteoarthritis in real people, it is still exciting research that should be of interest to tea-drinkers everywhere.

Air: energy source of the future?

2009-05-18T11:57:00.005+01:00

Two exciting research projects have highlighted the potential of air to play a key role in a renewable energy future.

Last week saw the press reporting on a new air-powered car that instead of being powered by an internal combustion engine, uses compressed air technology to drive pistons in the engine. Of course an external energy source is still needed to compress the air, but with the possibilty of this being achieved using renewable sources, and with CO2 emissions a fraction of petrol engines, it is still an exciting breakthrough.

A similar breakthrough has been unveiled today by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC): a new air-fuelled battery that may be able to give out ten times more energy than conventional designs. Oxygen drawn from the air reacts with material inside to release the electrical charge in the lithium-air battery. Not having to carry traditional chemicals around inside the battery offers the potential for more energy for the same size of battery. Reducing the size and weight of batteries has been a long-running battle for developers of electric cars.

The STAIR (St Andrews Air) cell should be cheaper than current rechargeable batteries too. The new component is made of porous carbon, which is far less expensive than the lithium cobalt oxide it replaces.

Principal investigator on the project, Professor Peter Bruce of the Chemistry Department at the University of St Andrews, estimates that it will be at least five years before the STAIR cell is commercially available.

Read more:
http://www.epsrc.ac.uk/PressReleases/oxlithbattery
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/may/14/air-powered-car-hybrid-france

£155,000 Brian Mercer Award for Innovation

2009-05-15T13:15:00.000+01:00

From the Royal Society:

A new sensor that will allow engineers to rapidly identify blockages and damage to sewer pipes has today won a £155,000 Brian Mercer Award for Innovation from the Royal Society. Professor Kirill Horoshenkov is developing an airborne acoustic sensor that can objectively measure in-pipe condition. It will offer a 100-fold improvement in the productivity of sewer inspection.

The UK's 300,000km sewer system is ageing and poorly monitored. Furthermore, it faces increasing capacity demands because of increased urbanisation, more stringent environmental regulation and the possible consequences of climate change in the form of more frequent and intense rain events. The sensor, being developed at the University of Bradford, will offer a new and effective way to monitor the condition of this system.

Professor Horoshenkov said:

"Water companies in the UK are legally required to maintain the conditions of their sewer systems and to reduce flooding incidents. Consequently, monitoring pipes for obstructions and defects forms an important part of the operational and maintenance costs. Existing sewer survey methods are limited to the interpretation of CCTV and LightLine images which are relatively slow - less than 2% of the UK network is surveyed every 5 years.

This award will allow us to develop a prototype of our sensor and ultimately provide an efficient solution to what is at the moment a very costly but neccessary operation."

The prize will be presented at the annual Royal Society Labs to Riches event tonight in London. £185,000 will also be awarded to Dr Andrew Nelson from the University of Leeds who is developing a sensor to continuously monitor levels of toxins in water. The awards are given to encourage innovation in science and technology and promote the commercial application of research.

Sir Peter Williams, Vice-President of the Royal Society said:

"Science has the potential to solve some of the greatest challenges facing the world at the moment but only if we continue to invest in good ideas. We need to be on a constant look-out for the next big thing and then willing to support it when it comes along.

Monitoring pipes for obstructions and then removing them could form an important part of an effective programme to reduce sewer flooding. Professor Horoshenkov and his team are working on a truly novel technology which may a very positive impact on the condition of our sewer systems. The Royal Society is pleased to help move this technology a step closer to reality."

Science and Innovation Minister Lord Drayson, who will be presenting the award, said:

"It is great to see the Royal Society giving such a high profile to applied research. This sensor demonstrates the fundamental importance of basic acoustic research to developing tomorrow's tools for the benefit of society and the economy. Both the projects will prove crucial to guaranteeing and improving environmental health. And personally, as an engineer, I am very excited to see engineering doing so well at these awards."

The Labs to Riches event will also see the award of 9 Brian Mercer Feasibility Awards of up to £30,000 each to projects including a sensor for detecting hydrogen gas on the ocean floor and a new low-energy natural ventilation system for buildings. Six of the awards are funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and a further award in electrotechnology is supported by the ERA Foundation.

Herschel and Planck ready to launch

2009-05-14T11:07:00.002+01:00

In preparation for what the BBC describes as the biggest European spaceflight launch in history, the two satellites Herschel and Planck are on the launch pad ready for lift off today at 1312 GMT.

Carrying the largest telescope to be flown in space, the Herschel Space Observatory will view the Universe at far infrared wavelengths. The Planck satellite will study the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) - the relic radiation from the Big Bang. Its mission is to understand the origin and evolution of our Universe and look for the seeds of modern day structures, such as galaxies and galaxy clusters, in the subtle variations in the CMB.

Photo credit: ESA

The satellites are at the launch site in French Guiana ready to be taken into space by the European Space Agency rocket Ariane 5, used for launching satellites into geostationary orbit, medium and low-Earth orbits and sun-synchronous orbits.

Photo credit: ESA S. Corvaja, 2009

Like NASA's recent shuttle launch, the ESA will be broadcasting the launch live online for free. To watch click here.

More info see the European Space Agency website

UK awards £16m for research into future health care solutions

2009-05-13T22:46:00.001+01:00

Ten research grants to help solve some of the biggest health problems facing the UK have been awarded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC)

The projects focus on developing new techniques for screening and treating major public health issues such as cancer, stroke, AIDS, influenza, MRSA and dementia.

The grants, worth £16.5m, have been given by the EPSRC, acting as the lead Research Council in a cross Research Council Programme called “Nanoscience through Engineering to Application.”

• Scientists at Swansea University are leading a project with Boots the chemist to produce the first affordable home based stroke detector. 750,000 people in the UK are currently on anti-coagulant drugs due to risk of stroke. The new device will be first tested by the NHS and could then be available to the public within five years time.

• Middlesex University are developing an affordable cancer screening device for use in local health clinics. The scanners could be a cheap and accurate alternative to expensive MRI scanners which often have a long waiting list.

• Newcastle University has a team working on a hand-held sensor system to test people for infectious microorganisms such as MRSA.

John Wand, EPSRC Head of Nanotechnology & Next Generation Healthcare, said: “The research we are funding is about using nanotechnology to develop healthcare solutions for the future. It’s about working in partnership towards cheaper, more effective treatments, when you need them.”

Further additional funding for three years has been earmarked for the most successful projects with the expectation that the technology will be sufficiently advanced to secure further finance to advance application of the new technologies.

Nanotechnology became a key strategy for the EPSRC in 2006. The EPSRC Nanotechnology Grand Challenge, under which these grants have been made, is part of the Research Council UK’s (RCUK) broader nanotechnology programme aimed at realising a transformational impact in areas that are important to society such as energy, healthcare and the environment.

The Nanotechnology Grand Challenge was developed in close consultation with members of the public and took account of their aspirations and concerns relating to potential nanotechnology applications for healthcare.

The EPSRC is working closely with other Research Councils and the Technology Strategy Board to ensure the delivery of this important programme.

£6.7m was allocated as part of the Energy Nanotechnology Grand Challenge in May 2008. The third EPSRC Nanotechnology Grand Challenge, with £5m to look at how nanotechnology can help the environment, will be announced later in 2009.

EPSRC website

Science festivals and fairs are a great way to engage people of all ages in the value of science and technology

2009-05-12T15:34:00.008+01:00

The British Science Festival is one of Europe's largest science festivals, taking place each September. The festival is in a different location in the UK each year and their week long, programme offers thousands of people the opportunity to join in talks, plays, debates, hands-on activities and more.

The Times Cheltenham Science Festival 2009, which will take place from 3-7 June 2009, will see some of the world’s top leading scientists answering some of the most press science questions. The festival features a sparkling line up of leading scientists in their fields, well-known science figures including Professor Lord Winston and Alice Roberts and celebrities with a passion for science and engineering, such as Heston Blumenthal, James Cracknell and Richard Hammond.

And smaller organisations are also realizing the potential; Dalziel High School in Scotland ran their first science fair last June 2008 and are currently planning their second fair, scheduled for next month. As part of the event, pupils will research areas of science and technology then build a device to demonstrate how these items work. The students then get the chance to display these devices to the local community. The school was overwhelmed with the positive response from both the community, parents and the pupils, all of whom were excited by the fair. To see their Science Fayre 2009 website: click here

So whether large or small, science festivals and fairs give a great opportunity for people of all ages to get stuck in to learning more about science in a fun and engaging way. Why not look out for a science festival near you using the Science: So What? So Everything calendar.

NASA space shuttle mission photos

2009-05-12T15:19:00.002+01:00

Here are some of the latest photos from NASA's current space shuttle mission STS-125 on its way to service the Hubble Space Telescope:

In the White Room on Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Mission Specialist Andrew Feustel, left, is helped by the closeout crew putting on his harness.
At right is Pilot Gregory C. Johnson. They are preparing to enter space shuttle Atlantis through the open hatch in the background.

Photo credit: NASA/Sandra Joseph-Kevin O'Connell
May 11, 2009

Photo credit: NASA/Fletcher Hildreth
May 11, 2009

Image credit: NASA television May 11, 2009

To follow the progress of the mission visit: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/index.html

Glasgow University Science Festival 2009

2009-05-08T17:45:00.002+01:00

Running from the 2nd May until 18th June 2009, the University of Glasgow's science, arts and learning festival offers a huge range of lively and interactive activities for adults and children.

For adults there are a series of free weekly public lectures which kicked off this week with Dr Roger Wardman talking about 'Smart fabrics and interactive textiles'. Future lectures include 'A history of Astrophysics in Scotland' and 'Science is Fun'. There are also many other short courses, exhibitions and special events over the next six weeks.

Youngsters will have the chance to build their own solar car, view the stars inside an inflatable planetarium and take part in a rocketry session in the Children's Garden at the Botanic Gardens.

Dr Rebecca Crawford, of the festival team, said: "The Science Festival is about showcasing the everyday applications of science and engineering, especially cutting-edge research, and making it understandable and fun for children and adults.

"Hopefully, we might inspire the next generation of scientists."

Indian and UK students team up for bio-science project

2009-05-07T08:33:00.002+01:00

Scientists and Phd students from the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), University of Leeds and the Indian Agriculture Research Institute have received a one-million pound grant from the UK government to develop sustainable, anti-parasitic crops through new bio-technologies. The crops will have to be new, parasite-resistant, sustainable and ecologically safe.

The Indian Institute of Science. From hindu.com

The programme is important as global crop losses to parasites are huge, estimated at potentially $125billion. UK and Indian scholars say the research will have great value for farmers in semi-arid peninsular and western India, where climate change is likely to have its largest impact.

Crops dying due to parasites affects farmers and ultimately consumers as it hits at growth, livelihood and food supply. Dryland farmers are the worst hit in India as unfavourable conditions sometimes don't permit them even hand-to-mouth living, let alone taking supplies to the market. Researchers from the three institutes will look at developing technologies that will help crops grow and sustain, particularly in dry areas where there is no other source of livelihood.

Throughout the research, there will be movement of Phd students between UK and India via projects. Students registered in the UK will gain first-hand insight and awareness of the need for translational and strategic research, and students from Indian institutes will benefit from training in the UK. This interaction will also help them develop their academic career.

Read more: Times of India

UK scientists set sights on Universe

2009-05-06T15:50:00.002+01:00

On May 14th, ESA's Herschel and Planck satellites will be launched together into space where they will collect the most detailed information yet about the birth and evolution of our Universe and its stars and galaxies. The UK is playing major roles in both missions, with funding from the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC).

Artists impression of Herschel (credit ESA) from www.stfc.ac.uk

Carrying the largest telescope to be flown in space, the Herschel Space Observatory will view the Universe at far infrared wavelengths. It will peer through obscuring clouds of dust to look at the early stages of star birth and galaxy formation; it will examine the composition and chemistry of comets and planetary atmospheres in the Solar System; and it will be able to study the star-dust ejected by dying stars into interstellar space which form the raw material for planets like the Earth.

UK participation in Herschel includes leadership of an international consortium that designed and built the SPIRE instrument. The UK SPIRE team is also responsible for the development of software for instrument control and processing of the scientific data, and will lead the in-flight testing and operation of SPIRE.

Artists impression of Planck (credit ESA) from www.stfc.ac.uk

By studying the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) - the relic radiation from the Big Bang - the Planck satellite will allow us to travel back in time, nearly 14 thousand million years, towards the beginning of space and time as we know it. Its mission is to understand the origin and evolution of our Universe and look for the seeds of modern day structures, such as galaxies and galaxy clusters, in the subtle variations in the CMB.

The information gathered could also tell us more about the nature of the mysterious dark matter and dark energy, which constitutes most of the Universe, and help us understand more about the future of our Universe and whether it will continue its expansion forever, or collapse into a Big Crunch.

UK groups are involved in building the two focal plane instruments for Planck and UK astronomers are also posed to work on the scientific observations that Planck will make.

Natural Capital Initiative launched

2009-05-05T13:52:00.002+01:00

As climate change and population growth force us to consider how best to use and preserve the dwindling services provided by the environment, the Natural Capital Initiative believes there is a need to start understanding the value of all the services the environment provides us with. The UK Government is therefore developing frameworks that consider whole ecosystems, and has recently commited to implementing the 'ecosystems approach'.

The Natural Capital Initiative aims to help inform Government’s implementation of this new approach by identifying the gaps in science, policy and its implementation that are preventing an ecosystem approach being applied – and encouraging them to be filled. To achieve this aim they are working with government departments and agencies, NGOs, the private sector and scientific bodies.

The first meeting of the Natural Capital Initiative heard from speakers setting out their vision for a truly holistic ecosystem approach to managing our natural resources. Speakers including the Rt Hon Eliot Morley MP, Lord May of Oxford and Professor John Beddington, Government Chief Scientific Advisor, took to the stage to urge policy-makers, natural and social scientists to work far more closely together to tackle climate change and biodiversity loss.

Presentations from Tesco, Eurostar, Centrica, Water UK and the National Farmers Union highlighted private sector action towards improving its impact on the environment. Business responds to consumer demand, but Richard Brown, CEO of Eurostar, stressed that business should also be leading the way and not waiting for legislation to force companies to take action.

The organising partners of the Natural Capital Initiative are the Institute of Biology, Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, British Ecological Society and the Science Council.

Read more here:
Natural Capital Initiative
and
British Ecological Society

Spiders’ extreme mating caught on camera

2009-05-05T00:17:00.002+01:00

A male spider that injects sperm straight into a female's body after piercing it with his fangs has been discovered in Israel. The mating technique, called 'traumatic insemination' (TI), has never before been seen in spiders, and is every bit as gory as it sounds. Below is one of three videos of insemination in action. See the rest of the videos on the Royal Society's website.

Video courtesy Milan Rezac from www.royalsociety.com

New digital technology research centres launched

2009-04-30T12:26:00.002+01:00

Three new centres to develop digital technology to transform the lives of the elderly, disabled, and people in rural communities have been announced by Lord Drayson, Minister for Science and Innovation.

Building on plans to provide universal connectivity to broadband in the UK, the new research ‘hubs’ will be based in Nottingham, Newcastle and Aberdeen universities and are the biggest investment ever made by the research councils in creating a Digital Britain.

Lord Drayson at the press briefing, 28th April

Digital hubs

The centres' mission will be to connect people with digital technology to radically improve the way we live, work, play, and travel to ensure that everyone is included in our digital future. They will also develop new ways to utilise digital technologies to help business and stimulate economic growth.

The three hubs will each have a different focus: University of Aberdeen - transforming rural communities; the University of Nottingham - developing business opportunities; and Newcastle University - new technology for social inclusion.

Read More here

BBSRC Innovator of the Year

2009-04-28T09:44:00.005+01:00

The inaugural BBSRC Innovator of the Year title has been awarded to Professor Stephen Jackson from the University of Cambridge. The award, organised by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), honours the UK bioscientist who has been best at turning world-class research into a product, company, service or advice to have an impact on our lives.

Alvin Hall, Dr Luke Alphey, Professor Steven Jackson, Professor Jeff Errington and Professor Douglas Kell

Prof Stephen Jackson was named as the first Innovator of the Year at an awards ceremony and gala dinner at Banqueting House in London last night (24 March) and was presented with the trophy and prize cheque for £10,000 by the well-known finance and television personality Alvin Hall. An independent judging panel had earlier selected Prof Stephen Jackson as the 2009 Innovator of the Year for his work to turn research on DNA damage and repair into cancer therapies that are now saving the lives of breast and ovarian cancer sufferers.

Two runners-up, Dr Luke Alphey and Prof Jeff Errington, were recognised for their work on spin out companies that have developed new ways to defeat disease carrying mosquitoes and crop pests, and new approaches to tackling superbugs like MRSA respectively. They each received £5,000.

Prof Stephen Jackson, said: "It's a tremendous honour to receive this prestigious award. It really reflects that science, like that funded by BBSRC in my group over the years can yield both exciting science and commercial and social applications.

"I think this award is a showcase for how funding of science by BBSRC is able to provide major tangible benefits not only the UK science base but also the biotech and pharmaceutical industries."

Alvin Hall, highlighting the importance of innovation in a downturn, said: "It was a total pleasure to attend the Innovator of Year ceremony, to meet the inspiring finalists and to present the prizes. I work with companies on both sides of the Atlantic to help them to develop and grow - and at the moment how to get through the downturn. One thing all organisations need is bright people prepared to take a great idea and run with it. In the finalists of Innovator of the Year the UK has seven individuals who have already done this."

The Innovator of the Year Award is an annual competition designed to recognise and reward those bioscientists who are taking steps to transfer the UK’s world beating bioscience research base into impacts that positively affect quality of life for UK citizens. The award aims to build a culture amongst the research base where all scientists consider the potential of their research and the steps that could be taken to maximise its social and economic impact.

Professor Douglas Kell, BBSRC Chief Executive, said: "The group of finalists the judges had to select the winner from was absolutely fantastic and everyone at BBSRC congratulates Professor Stephen Jackson on being named 2009 Innovator of Year.

"The finalists represent both the pinnacle of bioscientists who are turning their research into impact and, at the same time, just the tip of the iceberg. UK bioscience is world beating and BBSRC is striving to help translate this into economic and social benefits to create world beating companies and products. From tackling superbugs and developing new drugs to higher yielding crops and new animal vaccines, bioscience research generates millions of pounds for the UK economy and saves billions of pounds through policy advice every year. When the world emerges from recession it will be these high-tech, knowledge intensive areas that will help to power the UK economy."

visit the BBSRC for more information

Climate change and extinction

2009-04-27T15:45:00.002+01:00

Tonight at the Royal Society, Dr Richard Leakey, Chairman for Transparency International Kenya, Chairman of WildlifeDirect and Professor of Anthropology at Stony Brook University in the USA will be giving a public lecture on climate change and extinction. The lecture is free to attend and can also be watched live online (see links below).

Lecture Summary:
Over one hundred years ago the first national parks were established in order that nature might be preserved for the enjoyment and benefit of the current and future generations. Today countless protected areas' for biodiversity are maintained at huge public and private expense. The question we must consider is whether our protection' strategies actually protect when the real threats are related to the current climate change.

Mounting evidence suggests that the parks are in fact very vulnerable and mass extinctions may be the consequence.

This lecture is free - no ticket or advanced booking required. Doors open at 5.45pm and seats will be allocated on a first-come-first-served basis. Lecture starts 6.30pm.

This lecture will be webcast LIVE at royalsociety.org/live and available to view on demand within 48 hours of delivery.

Address:
The Royal Society
6-9 Carlton House Terrace
London
SW1Y 5AG

More info: Royal Society website

UK school children celebrate science

2009-04-24T16:26:00.003+01:00

It is always great to see young people embracing science and this week two news stories highlighted the ways in which UK school children are getting in on the action.

In Bristol, a new £36 million secondary school celebrated its official opening with a science fun day. The Redland Green School hosted Professor Sykes, presenter of BBC TV's Rough Science and Professor of Science & Society at Bristol University, along with the university's ChemLabS presenters, who led a series of science-related events that included explosions and a workshop covering the physics of ice cream.

Redland Green School head teacher Sarah Baker said: "The whole RGS community is very excited about officially marking our opening and we're especially delighted to welcome Professor Sykes and the University of Bristol ChemLabS team. Their input will make an important day for everyone here fun as well as memorable."

Image from http://www.starchaser.co.uk

Whilst over in Norfolk, a 58ft Starchaser Nova 2 rocket, the UK's largest ever space rocket was sent by lorry to Acle High School. Pupils were shown the rocket and were given a talk about Britain's space industry as part of the school's celebration of the International Year of Astronomy 2009. The rocket will tour 100 schools before being launched.

Around 30 of the students will join children from 99 other schools throughout the country in November to watch its test launch at Morecambe Bay.

Head of Science Helen Banfill said: “We had the rocket here on the back of a lorry for the children to have a look at and there were quite a lot of kids standing round in the playground just staring at it - it's massive and silver.

“We had a member of the Starchaser company here and Years 7, 8 and 9 gave talks about the history of the company and its aims for the future.

“A lot of the students have been inspired to consider working in the space industry - a lot of them didn't know that the industry was alive and kicking in this country.

“Hopefully it will encourage more students to study maths and physics, because at the moment a lot of them tend to think they are hard and so choose softer options.”

Read more: Bristol Evening Post and Norwich Evening News

More on Starchaser

Science Beyond Fiction

2009-04-22T15:44:00.004+01:00

The European Commission has announced a large initiative to fund high-risk information and communication technology (ICT) research.

The commission believes such blue-sky research has in the past proven to be a significant economic boon.

The European Future Technologies Conference and Exhibition is a new European forum dedicated to frontier research in future and emerging information technologies. Leading scientists, policy-makers, industry representatives and science journalists will convene over 3 days to discuss today's frontier science, tomorrow's technologies and the impact of both on tomorrow's society.

The conference, dubbed Science Beyond Fiction, focuses on emerging technologies such as quantum computing, artificial intelligence, and robots.

The website describes how this initiative will target open-minded scientists and thinkers - young and established - who are willing to think out of the box of established disciplines, technologies, practices or theories. "Whether you're a scientist, a policy maker, an industry representative or a journalist, the multidisciplinary creative process will challenge conventional boundaries and take you beyond them."

Read more here: http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/events/fet/2009/index_en.htm

and here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8010075.stm

The Model Gut

2009-04-21T12:53:00.002+01:00

The IFR Model Gut is a “state of the art” in-vitro system that simulates human digestion for the first time from a true physiological perspective. It is the only model developed to combine emerging knowledge of the physical, mechanical, and biochemical environments experienced during digestion.

The model is built on a modular design and includes a simulation of the main body of the stomach, a region with a specific inhomogeneous mixing behaviour, followed by a unique emptying routine. Digesta from the main body of the stomach ‘empties’ into a model of the antrum (the lower part of the stomach). Here the digesta is subjected to high shear, forcing mechanical breakdown of the food structure. The final stage of the model is designed to simulate the conditions found in the duodenum (the first section of the small intestines).

IFR model digestive system innovations are:

Able to process both real foods and pharmaceutical preparations under conditions based on current knowledge of human digestion
Access for sampling digesta at all stages allowing real time collection at any point during digestion
Modular design and construction of the technology provides the opportunity of easy adaptation of The Model for specific customer needs
Integration of gastro-intestinal mixing dynamics, hydration patterns, breakdown forces & diffusion profiles all validated against measured in vivo human data
Physiologically relevant additions of digestive enzymes, acid, bicarbonate, phospholipids and bile
Computer control by state-of-the-art software which includes monitoring of all parts of The Model in real time

The IFR model Gut offers a physiologically relevant screening tool that will provide valuable data for evaluating novel and existing foodstuffs, diets and pharmaceutical preparations. The Model provides an accurate and meaningful method for predicting the fate of compounds, nutrients and formulae prior to absorption and therefore will become an invaluable tool for mechanistic, stability and bioaccessability studies during product development in the following fields:

Food safety
Oral drug development
Novel, functional & specialist food characterisation
Screening of active components
Food structure studies

For More information visit the Institue for Food Research

Save Our Bees!

2009-04-21T10:25:00.002+01:00

Up to £10million is to be invested to help identify the main threats to bees and other insect pollinators, under a major project announced today.

Pollinators – including honey and bumble bees, butterflies and moths – play an essential role in putting food on our tables through the pollination of many vital crops. These insects are susceptible to a variety of disease and environmental threats, some of which have increased significantly over the last five to ten years. Climate change, in particular warmer winters and wetter summers, has had a major impact on pollinators.

As a result, the numbers of pollinators have been declining steadily in recent years, with the number of bees in the UK alone falling by between 10 and 15 per cent over the last two years.

To gain a better understanding of why this is happening, some of the UK’s major research funders have joined together to launch an important new research programme.

The biggest challenge will be to develop a better understanding of the complex relationships between biological and environmental factors which affect the health and lifespan of pollinators.

The funding will be made available to research teams across the UK under the Living With Environmental Change (LWEC) partnership, the major initiative by UK funders to help the UK respond effectively to changes to our environment. This is a joint initiative from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), Defra, the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), the Wellcome Trust and the Scottish Government.

Environment Secretary Hilary Benn said:

"Aristotle identified bees as the most hard working of insects, and with one in three mouthfuls coming from insect-pollinated crops, we need to support bees and other pollinators.

"I announced in January that Defra would put an extra £2M into research funding, and I am delighted our partners have agreed to boost this to up to £10M.

"This funding will give some of Britain’s world-class researchers the chance to identify the causes of the decline we’re seeing in bee numbers, and that will help us to take the right action to help."

UK 'superscope' gets first signals from space

2009-04-20T11:56:00.010+01:00

A super-powerful new radio telescope network - which will allow astronomers to carry out three years worth of observations in a single day - has received its first signals from space at the University of Manchester's Jodrell Bank Observatory.

Engineers and astronomers at the famous Cheshire site have seen 'first light' with e-MERLIN, successfully processing signals from two of the telescopes in the seven-telescope network.

e-MERLIN is designed to make detailed radio images of stars and galaxies using seven telescopes spread up to 217 km apart across the UK.The radio signals collected by the telescopes are brought back to Jodrell Bank using 600 km of high-speed optical fibre cables laid by Fujitsu UK and operated by Global Crossing.

Professor Simon Garrington, Director of e-MERLIN, said:

"The new optical fibre network, together with new electronics at each telescope and a powerful new 'correlator' which combines the signals at Jodrell Bank, will make the telescope one of the most powerful of its type in the world.

"The e-MERLIN fibre network will carry as much data as the rest of the UK Internet combined, enabling astronomers to see in a single day what would have previously taken us three years of observations."

e-MERLIN is the UK's national facility for radio astronomy. Its combination of widely separated telescopes provides astronomers with a powerful "zoom lens" with which they can study details of astronomical events out towards the edge of the observable universe.

Once fully functional in early 2010, e-MERLIN's unique combination of sharpness of view and sensitivity will allow astronomers to address key questions relating to the origin and evolution of galaxies, stars and planets.

For more information visit the Jodrell Bank website

Cool pictures of Mars

2009-04-16T17:09:00.002+01:00

Thanks to the Bad Astronomy blog for posting these.

These images were taken by a camera called HiRISE, on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. This picture shows a huge impact depression 2700 km across.

Helping the UK cope with climate change (in the countryside)

2009-04-15T16:20:00.002+01:00

Research supported by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) and Defra is helping the UK to meet the challenges of climate change.

The latest research from scientists funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council at North Wyke Research has found for the first time that the rate at which a dried soil is rewetted impacts on the amount of phosphorus lost from the soil into surface water and subsequently into the surrounding environment.

Crop growth, drinking water and recreational water sports could all be adversely affected if predicted changes in rainfall patterns over the coming years prove true, according to the research publishd this month in Biology and Fertility of Soils.

Some of the other research carried out by scientists to tackle climate change requires the study of fundamental processes in the life of plants. Under even mild environmental stress, plant cells may stop dividing, so the plant stops growing.

Research on the regulation of cell division, at the University of Cambridge, together with studies on plant growth at Rothamsted Research, is revealing how this response works. Once scientists can identify the genes that equip plants to tolerate and continue to grow under extreme climates, they can begin to breed them into commercial crop varieties. This approach is being used in East Anglia where drought is likely to be a worsening problem for sugar beet growers. Yields of sugar beet are predicted to decline by half in areas that are already experiencing difficulties. Scientists at Broom’s Barn are working with an international seed company to develop drought-resistant varieties.

Warmer wetter winters in the UK will make cereal crops more prone to fungal diseases such as Fusarium ear blight. At Rothamsted Research, scientists are exploring new crop management systems, including using natural predators, to control the fungus. They are also trying to find genes that confer natural resistance, so that these could be bred into wheat to make it less susceptible to Fusarium.

Using controlled environment chambers at the NERC Centre for Ecology and Hydrology at Bangor, scientists from the Institute of Grassland and Environmental Research (IGER) have modelled how temperature, atmospheric carbon dioxide and management practices affect grass yield and composition. They can predict grass growth and quality under different conditions, including the climate change scenarios identified by the UK Climate Impacts Programme.

For more info on this topic check out this pdf report: http://www.bbsrc.ac.uk/publications/corporate/bioscience_behind_climate.pdf

and: http://www.bbsrc.ac.uk/media/releases/2009/090415_changing_climate_phosphorus_soil.html

Satellites show how Earth moved during Italy quake

2009-04-15T16:05:00.002+01:00

Studying satellite radar data from the European Space Agency’s Envisat and the Italian Space Agency’s COSMO-SkyMed satellites, scientists have begun analysing the movement of Earth during and after the 6.3 earthquake that shook the medieval town of L’Aquila in central Italy on 6 April 2009.

Image from European Space Agency (www.esa.int)

Italian scientists are studying data from these satellites to map surface movements after the earthquake and the numerous aftershocks that have followed.

The scientists are using a technique known as SAR Interferometry (InSAR), a sophisticated version of 'spot the difference'. InSAR involves combining two or more radar images of the same ground location in such a way that very precise measurements – down to a scale of a few millimetres – can be made of any ground motion taking place between image acquisitions.

The InSAR technique merges data acquired before and after the earthquake to generate 'interferogram' images that appear as rainbow-coloured interference patterns. A complete set of coloured bands, called ‘fringes’, represents ground movement relative to the spacecraft of half a wavelength, which is 2.8 cm in the case of Envisat's ASAR.

"We produced an interferogram just a few hours after the Envisat acquisition by combining these data with data acquired before the earthquake on 1 February. We were pleased that we were able to immediately see the pattern of the earthquake," said Riccardo Lanari of IREA-CNR in Naples, Italy.

The Envisat interferogram shows nine fringes surrounding a maximum displacement area located midway between L’Aquila and Fossa, where the ground moved as much as 25 cm.

You are only 10% human...

2009-04-14T11:11:00.001+01:00

This is a great video of a lecture about bacteria.

(link to video: http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/509 )

UK drug shows early promise against Alzheimer's

2009-04-14T11:00:00.002+01:00

A new drug which shows promise as a treatment for Alzheimer's disease has been developed by UK scientists.

The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences reports the drug, CPHPC, removes a protein thought to play a key role in Alzheimer's from the blood.

A team at the University College London found the small molecule drug caused the disappearance of a protein called SAP, thought to be involved in the disease, from the brains of five Alzheimer's patients who took it for three months. Longer and larger scale clinical studies are now being planned.

The results were published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Science.

Britain's Alzheimer's Research Trust, which helped fund the research, said the results with the drug, CPHPC, were cause for "cautious optimism," but it was too soon to know for sure if removing SAP from the brain would provide clinical benefit.

"New treatments for Alzheimer's disease are desperately needed, and it's possible that this small molecule could be a future candidate," said Trust Chief Executive Rebecca Wood.

Given the world's aging population and the lack of an effective treatment, new medicines for Alzheimer's are seen as a major untapped opportunity for the pharmaceutical industry.

From BBC and Reuters

£1.8m funding for green car trial

2009-04-09T11:33:00.002+01:00

A scheme to trial electric cars in Glasgow has been awarded £1.8 million in Government funding.

Workers from a number of public-sector organisations in Scotland's biggest city will be among the first to test the fleet of green vehicles over the next two years.

The Technology Strategy Board – part of the UK Government's Department for Business – awarded the grant to a consortium led by Glasgow-based Allied Mobility.

The car manufacturer will work alongside Glasgow City Council, ScottishPower, Strathclyde University and Scottish Enterprise to produce 30 Peugeot 207s and 10 Peugeot Eurobus models.

Dundee firm Axeon has been tasked with developing the batteries for the scheme. The firm is one of Europe’s largest independent supplier of lithium-ion battery systems and specialises in providing power sources for electric and hybrid electric vehicles.

The Technology Strategy Board says its role is to stimulate technology-enabled innovation in areas which offer the greatest scope for boosting UK growth and productivity. This is done by promoting, supporting and investing in technology research, development and commercialisation.

The £1.8 million is coming from the board's low-carbon vehicle programme.

Paul Nelson, managing director of Allied Mobility, said: "It is great to have been awarded this funding for a project that will make Glasgow a centre for green transport.

Full story click here

Technology Strategy Board

Royal Society TV

2009-04-09T11:15:00.002+01:00

The Royal Society is the national academy of science of the UK and the Commonwealth and is at the cutting edge of scientific progress.

They support many top young scientists, engineers and technologists, influence science policy, debate scientific issues with the public and much more. They are an independent, charitable body which derives its authoritative status from over 1400 Fellows and Foreign Members.

Now after 350 years, you can watch and listen to Royal Society events online, at home, in the office, or on the move.

At royalsociety.tv you can watch live webcasts and online videos of public events and prize lectures feature cutting-edge science, revealing history of science, and the exploration of science and culture. Or you could listen to podcasts on history of science, or review the latest discoveries from our discussion meetings.

Check out the latest video:

Mathematics in the real world: From brain tumours to saving marriages

UK-based research finds common infection role in childhood leukaemia

2009-04-06T15:28:00.000+01:00

UK researchers have for the first time identified the molecule that stimulates leukaemia to develop in children. Scientists at The Institute of Cancer Research found pre-cancerous cells multiplied when exposed to a molecule produced in the body as a response to infection.

The molecule, TGF, is triggered as a normal response to infection and so the new finding provides the first experimental evidence as to how common infections might trigger childhood leukaemia.

Dr Shabih Syed, Scientific Director at Leukaemia Research says: “Before this study, there had been only circumstantial evidence to implicate infections in the progression from a child carrying pre-leukaemic cells to actually having leukaemia. There was no evidence of the mechanism by which this might happen. While infection is clearly only one factor in triggering progression, this study greatly increases the strength of evidence for its role in the commonest form of childhood leukaemia.”

The research was funded by Leukaemia Research, The Kay Kendall Leukaemia Fund, The Institute of Cancer Research and the Medical Research Council.

http://www.icr.ac.uk/press/press_archive/press_releases_2009/12176.shtml

Robot scientist becomes first machine to discover new scientific knowledge

2009-04-03T09:57:00.002+01:00

Scientists funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) have created a Robot Scientist which the researchers believe is the first machine to have independently discovered new scientific knowledge. The robot, called Adam, is a computer system that fully automates the scientific process. The work will be published tomorrow (03 April 2009) in the journal Science.

Adam the robot scientist (photo from www.bbsrc.ac.uk)

Prof Ross King, who led the research at Aberystwyth University, said: "Ultimately we hope to have teams of human and robot scientists working together in laboratories".

The scientists at Aberystwyth University and the University of Cambridge designed Adam to carry out each stage of the scientific process automatically without the need for further human intervention. The robot has discovered simple but new scientific knowledge about the genomics of the baker’s yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, an organism that scientists use to model more complex life systems. The researchers have used separate manual experiments to confirm that Adam’s hypotheses were both novel and correct.

"Because biological organisms are so complex it is important that the details of biological experiments are recorded in great detail. This is difficult and irksome for human scientists, but easy for Robot Scientists."

Using artificial intelligence, Adam hypothesised that certain genes in baker’s yeast code for specific enzymes which catalyse biochemical reactions in yeast. The robot then devised experiments to test these predictions, ran the experiments using laboratory robotics, interpreted the results and repeated the cycle.

Adam is a still a prototype, but Prof King’s team believe that their next robot, Eve, holds great promise for scientists searching for new drugs to combat diseases such as malaria and schistosomiasis, an infection caused by a type of parasitic worm in the tropics.

Prof King continued: "If science was more efficient it would be better placed to help solve society’s problems. One way to make science more efficient is through automation. Automation was the driving force behind much of the 19th and 20th century progress, and this is likely to continue."

Prof. King and Adam (photo from www.bbsrc.ac.uk)

UK-based research brings underground carbon capture a step closer

2009-04-02T11:17:00.004+01:00

New research shows that for millions of years carbon dioxide has been stored safely and naturally in underground water in gas fields saturated with the greenhouse gas. The findings - published in Nature yesterday - bring carbon capture and storage a step closer.

Chaffin Ranch geyser, Utah - this geyser erupts from an aquifer naturally saturated with carbon dioxide (picture from www.nerc.ac.uk)

In research funded by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) and the Natural Sciences & Engineering Research Council of Canada, scientists from the University of Manchester measured the ratios of isotopes of carbon dioxide and noble gases like helium and neon in nine gas fields in North America, China and Europe. These gas fields were naturally filled with carbon dioxide thousands or millions of years ago.

They found that underground water is the major carbon dioxide sink in these gas fields and has been for millions of years.

Dr Stuart Gilfillan, the lead researcher who completed the project at the University of Edinburgh said, "We've turned the old technique of using computer models on its head and looked at natural carbon dioxide gas fields which have trapped carbon dioxide for a very long time.

"By combining two techniques, we've been able to identify exactly where the carbon dioxide is being stored for the first time. We already know that oil and gas have been stored safely in oil and gas fields over millions of years. Our study clearly shows that the carbon dioxide has been stored naturally and safely in underground water in these fields."

Professor Chris Ballentine of the University of Manchester, the project director, said, "The universities of Manchester and Toronto are international leaders in different aspects of gas tracing. By combining our expertise we have been able to invent a new way of looking at carbon dioxide fields. This new approach will also be essential for monitoring and tracing where carbon dioxide captured from coal-fired power stations goes when we inject it underground this is critical for future safety verification."

Read more: click here

New national Genome Centre to underpin food security and animal health

2009-04-02T11:09:00.000+01:00

A new national centre to analyse plant, animal and microbial genomes has been announced today by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC).

The Genome Analysis Centre (TGAC) will be based on the Norwich Research Park and will provide genome sequencing to underpin advances to improve food security, to protect UK agriculture from exotic animal disease and exploit weaknesses in microbes to develop new ways to kill superbugs. It will also be a centre of excellence in bioinformatics to ensure that the data generated by its genome analysis, and that of other facilities, can be effectively collected and analysed.

TGAC will become operational over the next two months and will be formally opened in June. It will be a BBSRC national centre in partnership with EEDA, Norfolk County Council, South Norfolk Council, Norwich City Council, and the Greater Norwich Development Partnership. BBSRC is providing the majority of the £13.5M investment in the Centre and will underwrite its running costs for several years but the partners are all making significant contributions.

Lord Drayson, Minister of State for Science and Innovation, said: "Genomic technology has enormous promise. The new Genome Analysis Centre will help to develop UK capacity in this area, where we are already a world leader.

"I am delighted that the centre will work closely with industry to develop our economic potential in such disciplines as bioinformatics and metagenomic sequencing."

Read more: click here

Kavli Royal Society International Centre for the Advancement of Science

2009-03-31T11:23:00.002+01:00

The Royal Society, the UK's national academy of science, is to open a new centre for the advancement of science at Chicheley Hall, outside Newport Pagnell. The Royal Society has purchased the historic stately home and will be developing it to establish a new residential centre where scientists from all over the UK and the world will be able to meet to discuss and develop their work.

Stephen Cox, Executive Secretary of the Royal Society said: "The Kavli Royal Society Centre will gather some of the world's greatest scientific minds. In bringing these people together in a residential atmosphere we hope to create the sort of intense thinking and activity that gave rise to major breakthroughs such as the Apollo project or the decoding of the human genome."

"The Kavli Royal Society Centre at Chicheley Hall will be the new 'home of science' where scientists, technologists and engineers from all over the UK and the world will be able to meet in a residential setting to discuss and develop their work. The Centre is a new venture for the Royal Society and represents a long term investment in UK science by the Society and the Kavli Foundation.

The Royal Society has received significant support from the Kavli Foundation and others, to assist in the purchase and development of the Grade 1 listed early Georgian Country House, Chicheley Hall. Chicheley Hall is located in North Buckinghamshire, just outside of Milton Keynes. Work has started on the renovation and is due to be completed in early summer 2010.

http://royalsociety.org/page.asp?id=8401

Royal Society call for public dialogue about nanotechnologies and food

2009-03-31T10:36:00.002+01:00

The Royal Society has responded to the House of Lords Science and Technology Select Committee call for evidence on nanotechnologies and food.

The Society agreed with the Committee that the use of nanotechnologies and nanomaterials in the food sector requires investigation. Nanoscience is likely to bring benefit to manufacturers and consumers of foodstuffs and related products. However they noted there is a lack of information on the current state of commercial development, and that there are technical and social uncertainties that need to be addressed.

The Royal Society believes nanotechnologies and food is an area that now needs public dialogue and opportunities should be sought for the findings to feed into policy and innovation processes. Open dialogue between the science, policy, commercial and public communities will be an important part of realising the potential benefits of nanoscience applied to food.

What is nanoscience?

Image of nanotube from www.royalsociety.org

Nanoscience and nanotechnology involve studying and working with matter on an ultra-small scale. One nanometre is one-millionth of a millimetre and a single human hair is around 80,000 nanometres in width. Nanoscience and nanotechnology encompass a range of techniques rather than a single discipline, and stretch across the whole spectrum of science, touching medicine, physics, engineering and chemistry.

What is nanoscience and nanotechnology?

http://royalsociety.org/document.asp?tip=0&id=8422

British scientists offer stem cell hope for deafness

2009-03-30T17:44:00.002+01:00

Researchers at the University of Sheffield have created the complex hair cells and the neurons needed for hearing from human stem cells.

They found they could encourage stem cells from the inner ears of human foetuses to grow into these highly specialised hearing cells.

The scientists hope they will eventually be able to use the cells to perform cell transplants in deaf patients to replace the hair cells and neurons that are damaged in a form of deafness known as sensorineural hearing loss.

Sensorineural hearing loss one of the most common forms of deafness, accounting for 90 per cent of cases and affecting more than 6 million people.

The only treatment currently available is cochlear implants, but these electronic devices can never restore the full range of hearing.

Read more from the Telegraph: http://tinyurl.com/d8uf84

Government launches new national centre of expertise in chemistry

2009-03-30T11:26:00.002+01:00

The Science & Technology Facilities Council Daresbury Laboratory is playing a key part in driving growth and innovation in the UK chemicals industry as part of a new centre launched by John Denham, Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills.

The Knowledge Centre for Materials Chemistry (KCMC) brings together leading edge knowledge and capabilities in applied materials chemistry from Daresbury Laboratory and the universities of Bolton, Liverpool and Manchester. It will provide a national centre of expertise to drive innovative, multi-disciplinary research and knowledge transfer for companies of all sizes by providing a ‘one stop shop’ for companies to access a substantial range of world class facilities and expertise in materials chemistry.

With an initial investment of £15 million from the North West Regional Development Agency and academic partner institutions, the centre will drive industrial growth for the UK chemistry-using industries through the coordination, development and exploitation of leading edge materials chemistry research.

John Denham said:

“It is highly appropriate for this new chemistry hub to include Daresbury. It fits well with our ambition for the campus to be a major science and innovation centre of national and international importance.

The Daresbury heritage is synonymous with some of the very best science that has been carried out here and across the world. I believe that by working together we can ensure its future can be equally bright and strong.”

Read more:

http://www.stfc.ac.uk/PMC/PRel/STFC/kcmc270309.aspx

and

http://www.dius.gov.uk/news_and_speeches/press_releases/daresbury

and

http://www.materialschemistry.org/kcmc/index.html

Scientists film HIV spreading

2009-03-27T10:40:00.005Z

The Telegraph today reports on a US study where experts created a molecular clone of infectious HIV and inserted a protein into its genetic code which glows green when exposed to blue light.

This allowed scientists to see the cells on digital video, and capture the way HIV-infected T-cells interact with uninfected ones:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/scienceandtechnology/science/sciencenews/5058131/Scientists-film-HIV-spreading-for-first-time.html

How green is the music industry?

2009-03-25T11:31:00.002Z

Thanks to the research and campaigning being undertaken by Julie's Bicycle, the UK music industry is tackling climate change head on.

Julie’s Bicycle is a not-for-profit coalition of industry, science and energy experts who are working to create a low carbon future for the music, and creative industries.

Research underpins all of Julie’s Bicycle’s strategic and practical programmes – ensuring they can identify achievable and measurable carbon emission reduction targets.

In August 2007 Julie’s Bicycle commissioned the Environmental Change Institute, Oxford University, to

- estimate annual greenhouse gas emissions of the UK music industry.
- identify the key constraints and opportunities for reducing emissions.
- make initial recommendations for specific actions and priorities for the medium term.

Researchers worked with over 100 companies across the music business supply chain - limited to UK decision control. The report is the most extensive and rigorous research yet to examine a creative industry supply chain in the UK.

The indicative total shows that the UK music market is responsible for approximately 540,000 tonnes CO2e per annum. While this is not as intensive as many industries, it is a significant challenge to reduce CO2e emissions by 80% by 2050.

Current research projects include:

- An analysis of the climate impacts associated with touring designed to inform artists, tour/production managers, and audiences. This research spans the super band through to the chamber orchestra.

- An analysis of the climate impacts of the digital revolution. Is the assumption that digital is really less carbon-intensive than physical borne out by fact?

Read more at: http://www.juliesbicycle.com

UK funding for Caribbean climate change project

2009-03-25T11:20:00.002Z

A project to save hundreds of Caribbean islands from the impacts of climate change has been given a boost with seed funding of £240,000 from the UK government.

The project called CARIBSAVE, led by the University of Oxford and the Caribbean Community Centre for Climate Change, aims to raise US$35 million over the next 3-5 years to tackle the challenges of climate change and its effect on tourism in the Caribbean region.
Part of the seed funding from the UK Department for International Development (DFID) will be spent on a six-month pilot study of two Caribbean destinations, Eleuthera in the Bahamas and Ocho Rios in Jamaica. Eleuthera is famed for its coral reefs and pink sandy beaches; while Ocho Rios attracts visitors keen to experience the island's lush, verdant scenery and tropical waterfalls. In a matter of weeks, climate change scientists will start monitoring the islands as test cases for the entire region's tourism industry.

By analysing destinational climate models of data collected between 1961 and 2008, the researchers will calculate the islands' likely climate until 2100. They will predict likely levels of rainfall, wind-speed, the rate of rising sea temperatures and sea levels, as well as the frequency of extreme weather events like hurricanes or monsoons. They will also assess the particular vulnerabilities of each island to physical impacts, such as coral bleaching or beach erosion. The climate science and physical impacts will be linked with socio-economics and other factors such as health, for instance whether rising sea levels could contaminate water supplies, and the increased risks of dengue fever and malaria posed by more frequent flooding.

Professor Linda Partridge: Woman of Outstanding Achievement

2009-03-24T17:38:00.003Z

Professor Linda Partridge (UCL Genetics, Evolution & Environment) has been named a Woman of Outstanding Achievement 2009 for discovery, innovation and entrepreneurship by the UK Resource Centre for Women (UKRC) in Science, Engineering and Technology.

Professor Partridge is a leading evolutionary biologist who specialises in ageing research; she holds the Weldon Chair of Biometry at UCL and is the Director of the UCL Institute of Healthy Ageing.

On receiving the commendation, Professor Partridge commented: “I am delighted to be chosen as one of the UKRC’s Women of Outstanding Achievement 2009. Young female scientists and engineers need senior females to relate to, especially at the difficult beginning of their research careers. What I try to do is show that you can be a successful scientist and have a rounded life.”

Professor Partridge has also recently won a grant from Research into Ageing, the biomedical research arm of Help the Aged, to advance knowledge on why bodies age. The findings of the study will be used to promote health and independence in later life.

The project will aim to gain a better understanding of the process of autophagy, the mechanism which cells use to remove damaged components from within themselves. The research will determine whether speeding up the rate of autophagy in fruit flies extends a healthy life span. Knowing why the organs, cells and molecules of the body age is vital in helping to combat diseases such as stroke, osteoporosis and dementia, where the single biggest risk factor is age.

http://www.ucl.ac.uk/news/news-articles/0903/09031102

Ada Lovelace Day

2009-03-24T17:28:00.002Z

Today is an international day of blogging to draw attention to women excelling in technology.

Women’s contributions often go unacknowledged, their innovations seldom mentioned, their faces rarely recognised. We want you to tell the world about these unsung heroines. Entrepreneurs, innovators, sysadmins, programmers, designers, games developers, hardware experts, tech journalists, tech consultants. The list of tech-related careers is endless.

Recent research by psychologist Penelope Lockwood discovered that women need to see female role models more than men need to see male ones. That’s a relatively simple problem to begin to address. If women need female role models, let’s come together to highlight the women in technology that we look up to. Let’s create new role models and make sure that whenever the question “Who are the leading women in tech?” is asked, that we all have a list of candidates on the tips of our tongues.

http://findingada.com/

UK-funded study shines light on sun's million-degree corona

2009-03-24T11:54:00.001Z

The increase in temperature from approximately 6000 degrees on the visible surface of the Sun (photosphere) to well over a million degrees in the higher overlaying solar corona, has remained at the forefront of astrophysical research for over half a century. However, new observations of the lower atmosphere made with the Swedish Solar Telescope in the Canary Islands by scientists from Queen's University Belfast, the University of Sheffield and California State University Northridge.reveal the process behind this phenomenon.

Scientists have observed giant magnetic solar twists that reach from the surface of the sun to the corona carrying huge amounts of energy.

Prof. Mathioudakis, the leader of the Queen's University Belfast Solar Group, said, "Understanding solar activity and its influence on the Earth's climate is of paramount importance for human kind. The solar corona, visible from Earth only during a total solar eclipse, is a very dynamic environment which can erupt suddenly, releasing more energy than 10 billion atomic bombs."

Professor Keith Mason, CEO of the Science and technology Facilities Council which funded the study said, "These are extremely interesting results. Understanding the processes of our Sun is incredibly important as it provides the energy which allows life to exist on Earth and can affect our planet in many different ways. This new finding of magnetic waves in the Sun's lower atmosphere brings us closer to understanding its complex workings and its future effects on the Earth's atmosphere."

http://www.scitech.ac.uk/PMC/PRel/STFC/solartwists.aspx

Students inspired into careers in science by Particle Physics Masterclasses

2009-03-23T16:18:00.003Z

Image source: Science & Technology Facilities Council website

Seventy percent of students attending this year’s Particle Physics Masterclasses at the Science and Technology Facilities Council’s Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in Oxfordshire have said they would consider a career in science after being inspired by the activities.

The National Particle Physics Masterclass is a popular series of one day events for sixth form students and their teachers, run by practicing particle physics researchers at various institutes all over the country and co-ordinated through the Institute of Physics. They form part of the government’s campaign to try and increase the number of people studying science, technology, and engineering subjects and entering related careers.

The sessions at the world famous laboratory last week included interactive workshops, where students simulated the large particle collider experiments at CERN. They also had lectures from physics experts and tours of some of key physics facilities including ISIS (the world-leading neutron and muon source) and Diamond (a giant electron synchrotron the size of five football pitches).

http://www.stfc.ac.uk/PMC/PRel/STFC/PPMasterclass.aspx

£18 million towards UK energy research

2009-03-23T16:00:00.005Z

The UK Energy Research Council (UKERC) has secured £18.5million towards the search for future energy solutions and reductions in carbon emissions.

The UKERC is a key part of the UK Research Councils' Energy Programme which brings together engineers and physical, natural, social and economic scientists, not just to create the technologies but to examine their social and economic consequences. This April it will present the results of UKERC Energy 2050 - a key project showing how the UK can meet its goal to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 80% by 2050 while dealing with anxieties about energy security.

Lord Drayson, Minister for Science and Innovation, said:

"This funding will help our drive to build a thriving, low carbon economy – one that allows us to compete in a changing world and deliver our climate change commitments."

"Climate change is the biggest challenge of our generation. We can rely on science to find solutions to the complex environmental challenges that lie ahead, but one of the real strengths of the UK Energy Research Centre is that it will bring together scientists from a variety of disciplines, to find these solutions faster".

http://www.nerc.ac.uk/press/releases/2009/07-ukerp.asp

Are scientists confusing politicians about climate change?

2009-03-19T11:24:00.003Z

An opinion piece written in New Scientist this week claims that the hundreds of scientists gathered at the recent climate change conference in Copenhagen failed to make clear exactly what policy changes needed to be made by governments.

Catherine Brahic writes that "some delegates worry the meeting has only created more confusion, leaving policy-makers even less clear about where to set their emissions targets." She describes how the conference "appeared to satisfy the needs of scientists but not the policy-makers present."

John Ashton, the UK government's special representative on climate change, says it's "wrong and dangerous" for scientists to confuse politicians and it "will make it harder to get the intensity and urgency of effort required".

The problem, says Martin Parry of the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment in London, is that such a large and short meeting was never going to deliver a consensus on climate change. "If you had put another group of scientists on the panel of the plenary sessions, you would have had a different picture," says Parry.

Parry believes that politicians should ignore the indecision of scientists at the meeting and stick to their targets. "Studies continue and there isn't time to take a careful evaluation of all these, let alone get government agreement so science is working back-to-back with policy," says Parry.

Within the scientific community there is little disagreement about the threats that climate change pose, but questions are being raised about the extent that scientists need to work even more closely with policy-makers and frame their research in terms that politicians can understand and use quickly and effectively.

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20127004.200-did-climate-conference-just-confuse-the-politicians.html?DCMP=OTC-rss&nsref=online-news