This white paper examines the current challenges for clean energy infrastructure and identifies solutions that industrial clusters, transport and logistics industries, and the wider clean energy value chain can jointly explore in order to accelerate its deployment. Thirteen new industrial clusters from Australia, Brazil, Colombia, India, the Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, …
britain's governing Labour party's abrupt volte-face on November 5 on the plan to ban Formula One racing sponsorship by tobacco companies has become as a major embarrassment. This was one of the electoral promises of the party before the general elections in May, which it won by a landslide. Recently, …
when a population is exposed to the same infectious agent, not all individuals show susceptibility to the infection. To find out the reason, M J Stear and colleagues of the Glasgow University Veterinary School, uk , investigated the basis of resistance to nematode infection in sheep. Nematode worms are major …
Burning and recycling of waste is contaminating the environment with the lethal chemical dioxin, according to a three-year study conducted for Britain's Environment Agency by AEA Technology in Oxfordshire, UK. A 1991 European Union directive on waste management had led to the promotion of incinerators across Europe. But it overlooked …
a report recently published by the Scottish Natural Heritage ( snh) , a government conservation organisation, natural bonsai in Scotland may be lost forever. However, conservationists are campaigning to bring back the stunted trees that once used to cloak the Scottish Highlands. This montane scrub, which grows between forested foothills …
two separate studies reveal that hepatitis virus may lead to liver cancer. Randy Jirtle and his colleagues at the Duke University Medical Centre, Durham, uk , have found that hepatitis b and c viruses damage genes in liver cells, making them susceptible to cancer ( Proceedings of National Academy of …
An electronic nose would sniff whether tea is being spoiled in the drier, tomatoes have lost flavour or mangoes are about to ripen. Researchers at the University of Greenwich and the Natural Resources Institute of Chatham, UK, have developed the device that has sensors for carbon monoxide, ethylene, hydrogen sulphide, …
A fuel-efficient car has been deve loped in the UK that would run 2,500 km to a litre of petrol. Graham Paul and his colleagues at King's college, London University, have used a carbon fibre to design the chassis of the car. Carbon fibre is used to produce light and …
A scientist in the US envisions that owners of tomorrow's electric cars would not only buy electricity for their vehicles but they could also be able to sell it back. Willett Kempton at the University of Delaware, Newark, usa, believes that these cars could replace many power-generating plants. Electric cars …
Researchers in the UK say that age difference between couples decides the sex of their first child. John Manning and his colleagues at the University of Liverpool, say women with partners 5 to 15 years older than them are twice as likely to have a boy than a girl. They …
can icebergs from the Arctic solve the uk's water crisis? A British water company is examining whether it can tow giant icebergs from the Arctic circle to bring water to Britain's drought-stricken south. Essex and Suffolk Water, which provides water to about 1.4 million consumers in eastern uk , is …
Tiny nanotubes (a billionth part of a tube) can be used to make materials with fewer defects compared to their larger counterparts. E W Wong and his colleagues at Harvard University, Cambridge, UK, have explored the strength of nanotubes. They determined mechanical properties of nanorods and carbon nanotubes. It was …
a ground penetrating radar (gpr) developed at the Natural Environment Research Council (nerc), Wiltshire, uk, is finding diverse applications in environmental sciences. The radar transmits radio waves to build up a picture of structures underground. These waves detect echoes in the ground with the help of a receiver antenna and …
A device would quickly detect and shut down faulty power lines. Raj Aggarwal and his colleagues at the University of Bath, uk, have developed a detector that picks up uncontrolled jump of electricity to the Earth, originated from a fault. Faults in power lines may result in power cuts and …
do plants flourish after a storm or do they simply look fresher and greener because they have taken a shower? Since this look of plants cannot be achieved with a sprinkler, the implication is that something more dramatic happens during thunderstorms. Botanists now offer scientific evidence to support this assertion …
A computerised stethoscope would help detect heart defects that may not be picked up by an ordinary stethoscope. Researchers at the Sussex University's heart sound group, UK, have developed the low-cost diagnostic tool that listens to the heartbeats of a patient and then digitises the sound. The digital data is …
the harvest mouse, one of the world's smallest mammals, is on the verge of extinction. It is disappearing from large parts of the uk as farmers and developers clear rough ground and drain ditches. A survey conducted by the uk 's Mammal Society shows that harvest mice has vanished from …
the uk has more cases of asthma than any other country in Europe and is among the worst affected in the world. According to a report by the uk 's National Asthma Campaign, at least one in seven children aged under 16, and one in 25 adults suffer from asthma, …
Household wastes that cannot be recycled are best disposed when buried instead of incineration or composting. This was concluded in a study conducted by the Centre for Social and Economic Research on the Global Environment at the University of East Anglia, Norwich, the UK, and the London-based firm Coopers and …
saving species: UK-based Glaxo Wellcome will help save the endangered medicinal Leech from extinction. The blood sucking creature is used by doctors to prevent blood clotting. The pharmaceutical company is the latest to sign up for the UK's government's initiative to find private sector companies toprotect 116 endangered species. A …
