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Top Stories in Science
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April 2004 Issue |
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| [D] Defence and security |  |
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NATO foreign ministers have agreed a series of measures to fight terrorism, including greater sharing of intelligence and more co-ordination of NATO assets to deal with nuclear, chemical and biological attacks. NATO will also provide surveillance and other security measures at international sports events that are likely to be terrorist targets. [D][R] European leaders have agreed a range of new security measures. These include an anti-terrorism co-ordinator to provide a central node for developing policy initiatives and for information sharing. Member states will increase security at EU ports and will implement counter-terrorism measures that have already been agreed, such as a pan-European arrest warrant. They will retain all telecommunications data, including mobile phone records, for an agreed minimum time to enable intelligence agencies to track calls. [D][R] Some experts fear that terrorists could develop or acquire thermobaric and fuel-air bombs. Existing fortifications designed to protect buildings from conventional vehicle bombs will not be effective against thermobaric or fuel-air blasts. Canadian defence researchers are developing software to predict how buildings would respond to such an attack and to help design fortifications. [D][M] DARPA has outlined its plans for new technology to respond to terrorism and unconventional threats. These include: sensors to find concealed targets and to locate and characterise underground structures; new concepts for more effective urban operations; robust secure self-forming networks, networked manned and unmanned systems, and cognitive systems that can reason about their environment; technology for assured, responsive and affordable use of space, anywhere in the world; biodefence including sensors, decontaminants, vaccines and therapies, notably against anthrax; enhancing system performance by copying living systems (biomimetics); ways to enhance human performance and battlefield medicine; and quick reaction projects to meet urgent needs. These follow closely the DARPA strategy published in 2003. [D][A][B][C][I][K][R][S][T][U][X] President Bush has indicated that US intelligence operations are facing massive reform. A report from the 9/11 Commission has said that the various US agencies responsible for intelligence "lacked the incentives to co-operate, collaborate, and share information". George Tenet, head of the CIA, has blamed outmoded technical equipment as well as lack of communication. [D][K] The Bush administration 2004-05 budget request includes $48 billion for nondefence R&D, which is $3 billion more than the year before. The military R&D budget rises to $69.9 billion, an increase of $4.4 billion. All of the Pentagon's increase goes to the development of weapons systems, mostly Missile Defense Agency development funding, which jumps 20 percent to $9.1 billion in preparation for deployment of missile defences beginning this year. [D][A] The UN Environment Programme is trying to find how to tackle environmental threats before they push neighbouring states into war. A project will study the interplay of factors such as mass migration, land degradation and water pollution in triggering breakdown of security. A key issue is to clarify the causes of the environmental problems in order to provide a better basis for trust, co-operation and effective action. [D][E][X] The question of whether globalisation and capitalism help or harm the Third World is clouded in uncertainty over what figures to measure and what they mean. There is no doubt that in India and China the average GDP per head is growing very fast thanks to globalisation. Overall, however, poor countries are not catching up, and surveys at the level of households rather than nations show relatively little reduction in poverty over recent decades. [D][T] The bacteria that cause anthrax, bubonic plague and typhoid fever are able to avoid detection and destruction by the body’s immune response. Research has now shown that they achieve this by producing a protein kinase, PKR, that triggers apoptosis in the macrophages that would normally detect, engulf and stop the invading bacteria. The hope is that by developing an inhibitor to PKR it should be possible to control these infections. A PKR inhibitor may also defend against "super-influenza", which involves the influenza virus in combination with a bacterial infection and is often fatal. [D][H] An experimental vaccine that prevents SARS replicating in mice has been produced by NIAID. The vaccine contains a small piece of SARS DNA that codes for a coat protein that is normally found on the outer surface of the virus and helps the virus gain access to living cells. The NIAID scientists modified the DNA so that it does not precisely match the virus' genetic sequence but is close enough to prompt an adequate immune reaction. They did this is in order to minimise the risk that it might combine with the genetic material of SARS or other coronaviruses. [D][G][H] |
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| [A] Aeronautics and space | |
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In its first successful flight test, NASA's X-43A scramjet hypersonic aircraft flew at more than Mach 7, smashing the previous record for jet-propelled flight of Mach 3.3, held by the US military's SR-71 Blackbird. The 3.6 metre by 1.5 metre experimental aircraft was flown by remote control from the ground. Following this success, a Mach 10 flight of another X-43A may take place in July. The X-43A uses hydrogen as fuel and has a flight time of 10 seconds. The X-43C version will use hydrocarbon fuel, giving it a flight time of 5 minutes. [A][P] Despite rising passenger numbers and the record profits by BA, the mainstream airlines generally remain in deep trouble as competition with low-cost airlines intensifies. The biggest difference between budget carriers and mainstream airlines is that the mainstream airlines run networked services, based around hubs, while low-cost airlines offer simple point-to-point services, with no guarantees about connections. This gives better aircraft utilisation. [A][T] To save space, it may be possible to print electronic circuits directly onto aerospace structures rather than having to use circuit boards. Devices such as strain gauges and temperature sensors could also be placed in more direct contact with the structures they are monitoring. [A][J][M][S] ESA's Technology Transfer Programme is to supply state-of-the-art technologies to assist adventurer Bertrand Piccard's flight around the world in a single-pilot solar-powered aircraft. The technologies may include batteries and solar cells, energy management systems, ultra-light composite structures and monitoring systems to check the health of the pilot. [A][M][P][S] The launch of NASA's Gravity Probe B, first proposed in 1959 but aborted and delayed many times by technical difficulties, is now close to finally happening. The satellite will test Einstein's prediction that the Earth's rotation drags space-time around with it. The measurement involves four spheres, more perfect than any previously made, chilled to near absolute zero inside the largest vacuum flask ever flown in space, and isolated from any disturbances in the quietest environment ever produced. [A][R] The observation of distinctively curved lines of sediment, the result of the gentle sweeping motion of a current of water, has shown conclusively that the landing site of the Mars rover Opportunity was once the shore of a shallow, salty sea. This is the first direct evidence that a body of standing, liquid water once existed on the surface of Mars. [A] The ESA Mars Express has found that Mars has vast fields of perennial water ice at both of its poles. [A] Mars-Express has confirmed the presence of methane in the Martian atmosphere. The concentrations are extremely low - about 10 parts per billion - but could indicate there is volcanic or hydro-thermal activity on Mars, or even some biological activity. The emissions must be recent because methane only lasts about 300 years in the Martian atmosphere. The molecules are split apart by sunlight, and the fragments are lost to space. [A] Amino acids come in mirror-image forms. Chemical reactions normally produce equal amounts of both, but biological processes on Earth use just the left-handed form, allowing proteins built from them to fold into useful shapes. On the assumption that any life on Mars would also be left-handed, researchers at UCSD have made a lab-on-a-chip that can detect the ratio of left- and right-handed forms in Martian soil. [A][G][J][S] |
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| [U] Unmanned vehicles and robotics | |
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The software on the two Mars rovers has been updated to provide better autonomous navigation, enabling them to drive greater distances each day. [U][A] Sony's QRIO humanoid robot has conducted the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra in a concert performance of Beethoven's 5th symphony. Four QRIOs have also performed a complicated dance routine, recorded in December 2003. However, humanoid robots in general still have great difficulty navigating rough or unpredictable terrain. [U][R] To be a useful tool at disaster sites, robots need to be able to work together as teams. Emergency response personnel do not have the time to control many robots directly. However, by focusing on the robot team leaders, a human operator could control dozens of robots indirectly. This means that the robots need software for collaborative sensing, for distributed exploration and mapping, for reliable team co-ordination independent of a human operator, and for effective communication with their operators. [U][D][I][R][T] A Canadian company has produced a robotic submarine for cutting down trees submerged after hydroelectric dams leave valleys flooded. The robot grasps the tree, attaches and fills a flotation bag, saws the tree off at its base, and releases it to float to the surface. [U][E] |
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| [P] Propulsion and energy | |
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Research at Penn State, funded by the US Air Force, has shown that it is possible to make a superior aviation fuel from bituminous coal. The new fuel will not decompose at high temperatures to create the deposits of carbon, which foul valves, nozzles and other engine parts. It also has better low temperature performance. [P][A][D] Attempts to make aviation fuel more environmentally friendly by blending jet fuel and biofuel have hit the problem that aviation fuel must stays liquid down to -40 degrees C. Vegetable oils generally freeze around zero degrees C. Now Purdue has developed a way to quickly fractionate vegetable oil to produce an aviation fuel blend that has 40 percent biofuel and yet remains liquid down to -40 degrees C. [P][A] Electricity grids must become smart, distributed networks in order to avoid massive blackouts as electricity demands increase. Visionaries imagine a “self-healing” grid with real-time sensors and “plug and play” software that can allow scattered generators or energy-storage devices to attach to the grid. For example, future hydrogen powered cars could function as backup local power generators if they are plugged into the grid when they are parked. [P][R][T][X] Hexavalent or superoxidised iron readily accepts three electrons per ion whereas nickel accepts only one. Hence cathodes made of nanograin superoxidised iron could give rechargeable batteries much more capacity. Superoxidised iron cathodes now achieve 200 recharging cycles and researchers believe there are no fundamental barrier to the technology. [P][M][N] Tidal power could become a very important renewable energy resource for the UK. A British company has invented a simple tidal power system that is relatively easy to install and has little impact on its environment. The TidEl system uses floating turbines that are anchored to the seabed by chains. The underwater windmills drift back and forth with the tide, so they point in the best direction to get power from the spinning blades. Importantly, using chains to anchor the turbines rather than solid masts greatly reduces the cost, particularly for use in deep water. [P][E] |
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| [M] Materials, structures and surfaces | |
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Hyperbranched polymers are tree-like molecules that do not entangle and therefore have little use as plastics. Virginia Tech researchers have now created segmented hyperbranched polymers, which do entangle. These produce high-performance plastics that have excellent stress and strain behaviour and are less resistance to flow under force or temperature compared to related linear polymers. Applications could include higher performance fuel cell materials, biocompatible elastomers, and rapid photo-curable adhesives. [M] If electronics could use conducting plastic rather than metal this would save weight and cost. Conducting polymers could also be manufactured in diverse forms such as fabrics that transmit data and very thin video displays. The problem has been to find a conducting polymer that is soluble in liquid. A water-soluble conducting polymer called PEDOT (polyethylenedioxythiophene) was recently discovered, but PEDOT is liable to be corroded by water. Researchers have now developed a highly conducting polymer that contains a PEDOT centre and is soluble in non-corrosive liquids. The new polymer easily accommodates chemical attachments opening the way to a host of new conducting plastics for displays, solar cells and other applications. [M][A][P][V][W] A new method of high growth-rate chemical vapour deposition (CVD) can produce gem-sized ultra-hard diamonds up to 100 times faster than other methods. This process could produce ultra-hard diamond crystals economically for electronics, cutting tools and other industrial applications. [M][J][W] Physicists at the Russian Academy of Sciences claim that by reacting boron carbide with graphitic carbon at around 8 gigapascals and 2500 degrees K for a few seconds they have create boron-doped diamond that exhibits superconductivity below 4 degrees K. They say that the material remained superconducting up to a magnetic field of 3.5 Tesla. They hope to find superconductivity in other group IV elements with a diamond crystal structure, including silicon and germanium. [M] Physicists in Greece, Australia and Russia have created a new form of carbon by bombarding a carbon target with a laser capable of firing 10,000 pulses a second. As the carbon reached temperatures of around 10,000 degrees C, it formed an intersecting web of carbon tubes. This nanofoam is spongy and extremely lightweight - only 2 mg/cc. Surprisingly, it is also magnetic for the first few hours after it is formed. The researchers have preliminary evidence that this novel magnetic behaviour also occurs in other nanostructured solids. [M][J][N][O] Researchers at Argonne National Laboratory have developed a practical method of generating large quantities of nanocrystals with precisely controlled shapes using electrodeposition. By controlling the applied voltages and the type of chemicals in the solution, the researchers were able to synthesise nearly 30 different nanostructures, including nanoparticles of various shapes, nanowires, nanobrushes and nanoscale tripods. [M][N] Researchers at Bell Labs have achieved electronically controlled wetting using a surface covered with a forest of nanofibres (nanograss). They have demonstrated that drops of liquid can be manoeuvred electrically around the surface. Applications include microfluidics, microbatteries and electronic switching of surface optical properties. [M][N][O][P][S] Heterocycles, the chemicals that bind strands of DNA, might be used to produce molecular zippers. These could be used to make strong, multilayered structures for body armour, as well as for releasable coatings and films. [M][G] |
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| [E] Environment, transport and marine | |
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Researchers have created a climate model that can successfully predict, in hindsight, the past 24 El Niño events with a lead time of two years. Having two years warning will provide much more time to prepare for the floods, droughts, heat-waves, cold spells and effects on fisheries. [E][C] The Greenland ice sheet is the second largest in the world. Modelling work at Reading University and the Free University of Brussels predicts that if the temperature of the ice cap rises by a further 3 degrees C it will enter into runaway unstoppable meltdown. This would eventually raise sea levels by 7 metres, flooding most of the world's coastal regions. At the current rates of global warming, the threshold for meltdown could be passed by 2050, and possibly as early as 2035. [E][C] The increase in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere may be accelerating according to NOAA scientists. They report that in the past two years it has been rising at 2.5% a year, compared to an average 1.5% a year seen over the past few decades. [E] A controversial technology being deployed in Mexico ionises air in order to produce rainfall. The proponents believe that the ions attract water in the atmosphere creating an aerosol that produces clouds. The ions also charge dust in the air, making these better nuclei for rain droplets. Tests so far have appeared to work, but sceptics believe this is fortuitous. [E] The calendar may be a day wrong, according to astronomers in Barcelona. They say that stronger trade winds, probably resulting from global warming, are causing the Earth to spin more quickly. [E] Globally, soils contain four times as much carbon as the atmosphere, and therefore improving carbon retention in the soil can help slow the increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide. Researchers at Pacific Northwestern National Laboratory have found that maintaining a proper alkalinity plus frequent wetting and drying cycles can help soil's natural "humification" process. This converts organic material into stable humus and at the same time improves the soil quality. [E] The evidence that human activity is causing the sixth mass extinction in the Earth's history has come mainly from declining populations of birds. However, a survey of British wildlife now suggests that insects, thought to be among the most resilient species, are suffering similar extinction rates to larger, better-studied animals. Insects comprise more than half of the Earth's species. [E][X] The Compact Low Emission Vehicle for Urban Transport (CLEVER) is a new type of vehicle designed to cut traffic congestion and emissions in cities. It combines the safety and weather protection of a traditional car with the manoeuvrability and small width of a motorbike, and has three wheels and a tilting mechanism for cornering at speed. It costs about a fifth as much as a conventional vehicle to run, and it is quieter and less polluting because it uses compressed natural gas fuel. [E][P][U] Britain is to ratify a global treaty to help reduce the 300,000 deaths of albatrosses and petrels caused every year by long fishing lines, often used to catch tuna. The Falklands, South Georgia and Tristan da Cunha are the birds' breeding grounds, and Britain must now ensure that all fishing vessels using these waters take measures to protect the birds. These include setting lines at night, using bird-scaring streamers and weighting lines to make hooks sink. [E][R] Most tsunamis are caused by earthquakes, and like many natural phenomena their size and frequency show power-law relationships. The death toll of the 141 damaging tsunamis that occurred during the 20th century exceeds 70,000. During the same period, however, at least 900 smaller tsunamis caused no damage whatsoever. New sensor networks together with computer simulation now enable the size and risk of each tsunami to be quickly estimated, predicting when it will arrive, when maximum flooding, if any, will occur, and when the waters will recede. [E][C][R][T] Taking a bout of intense exercise around 20 hours before a deep dive appears to dramatically reduces the risk of the "bends". Ultrasound imaging of the heart and arteries of divers doing simulated dives in a pressure chamber revealed that the average number of bubbles in their blood was 0.98 per cc of blood without exercise but was only 0.22 per cc with exercise, and that the bubbles were also much smaller. One possibility is that exercise eliminates nuclei that seed bubble formation. Exercise also releases nitric oxide (NO), which dilates blood vessels and makes them more slippery. The hope is that it will be possible to produce the same effects with drugs, enabling divers to go deeper and stay down longer. [E][D][H] |
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| [R] Remote sensing and sensor systems | |
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A vehicle system that alerts drivers to slow down without needing to brake hard at the last minute has been found in trials by DaimlerChrysler to achieve an average fuel saving of 11 percent. The system works by monitoring traffic, speed restrictions, junctions coming up and other conditions, and warns the driver to slow down by vibrating the accelerator pedal. [R][E][P][V] Vehicles equipped with GPS-based monitoring units provide a better way to monitor traffic than using roadside or in-road monitoring systems, which are expensive to maintain and have a high failure rate, according to Georgia Tech. A monitoring unit developed by Georgia Tech is being used to collect data on a million vehicle trips. This is providing the most comprehensive data set about traffic patterns and driving behaviour in the US in order to help reduce congestion and pollution. The concept could also be used for real time monitoring of the traffic using Wi-Fi and cellular networks to relay the information. This could enable much more sophisticated traffic flow management than is possible with present monitoring systems. [R][E][I][X] Image processing systems in cars can help reduce collisions and also counteract the mounting distractions that drivers now face. Lane-departure systems are being introduced this year in some luxury cars. These may be followed by blind-spot detection, lane-change assistance, object recognition, "cut-in" sensing and environmental sensing, in addition to existing adaptive cruise control technology. [R][E][X][T] A cheap 3D camera adapted from military range-finding technology could enable cars to park themselves. The QinetiQ device uses an array of light emitting diodes to project dots of infrared light. A standard camera based on a CCD picks up the dots as they intersect with objects in the scene. The system can produce 3D co-ordinates for each dot in each frame of the camera. [R][E][S] A multi-sensor system that fuses mm-wave radar, infrared and low light television has been developed by BAE Systems to enable helicopters to land safely in the zero visibility conditions created by the sand and dust of Iraq and Afghanistan. [R][A][D] Canadian scientists have developed a 'stealth buoy' that sits on the sea-bed until triggered by the sound of a passing ship or animal. The buoy then rises to the surface by pumping oil into a flexible balloon near one end. At the surface the buoy beams the information to a coastguard via satellite, and then sinks back to the ocean floor. The buoys are designed to work down to 300 metres. [R][D][E] Microlensing, where the gravitational field of a star focuses light from a more distant star behind it, as seen from Earth, can reveal if the foreground star has a planet orbiting it. This may enable astronomers to map planets widely across the galaxy. [R][A] Facial recognition systems can be fooled by wearing make-up or dark glasses. US researchers have developed a system that may be able to overcome this by measuring the characteristic muscle pattern beneath the skin of the face as a person smiles. [R][D][S] |
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| [S] Sensor devices | |
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New body scanner technology provides much more accurate and rapid measurements of body shape. The recent SizeUK project scanned more than 11,000 people, providing information to allow new clothes dummies to be created in the standard clothing sizes and to break down sizing information across various demographics. People today are taller and larger than they used to be, and clothing needs to adapt to changing shapes. Other uses include safer seat belts, more accommodating aeroplanes, more ergonomic offices, and monitoring body obesity and growth. Scanners will also be able to extract other medically and cosmetically useful information, such as skin colour. [S][A][H][T][V] Conventional MRI scanners use nuclear magnetic resonance of the hydrogen atoms in water. This does not work so well on relatively dry tissue such as the lungs. Instead patients breathe helium-3 or xenon-129, which give a much stronger signal than hydrogen. The scanner can then also use much lower magnetic fields of only around 10 milliTesla. This means that patients do not need to be tightly enclosed in the scanner and can be studied standing up or sitting down. [S][H] Physicists in France have developed a new ultrasonic imaging technique that generates supersonic sound waves in tissue. They focus an ultrasound beam in the tissue to produce a source of acoustic shear waves. By then rapidly changing the depth of focus they can move the source faster than the speed of sound, generating a Mach cone of propagating shear waves. Any inhomogeneities in the tissue distort this cone, and these distortions are analysed to produce an image. The method should complement conventional ultrasonic imagery, which uses longitudinal waves and megaHz frequencies. [S][H] Portable ultrasound machines can be used for telemedical care in space and in remote rural or military locations. A system developed by NASA for use on the International Space Station is now being evaluated for wider use. The system is easily used by non-physicians and sends images by internet, telephone or wireless transmissions to remote experts for accurate diagnosis. [S][H][I][K] The body is acoustically very inhomogeneous, and this restricts the usefulness of conventional ultrasonic imaging. However, this can be overcome using time-reversed acoustics, allowing ultra-precise medical imaging, diagnostic techniques using ultrasound, incision-free surgical techniques, and even the potential for a method of recharging the batteries of implanted devices like pacemakers without performing surgery. [S][H][R] Scientists at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory have found a way to sharply image DNA molecules optically by combining fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy (FLIM) with atomic force microscopy (AFM). [S][G][N][O] NEMS sensors can now weigh masses of an attogram (10-18 gm) giving them sufficient sensitivity to make molecular and biological sensors. The next stage could be zeptogram (10-21 gm) sensitivity. Eventually NEMS might provide a simpler alternative to mass spectrometers, which are able to distinguish ionised particles that differ by a single atomic-mass unit, about 1.66 yoctograms (10-24 gm). [S][N][T] MRI with 80-nm resolution has been achieved by combining an atomic force microscope (AFM) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). In the hybrid methodology, called magnetic resonance force microscopy (MRFM), a tiny magnetised particle is attached to a cantilever which is then brought near a sample. Resonant coupling between a tiny magnetic domain in the sample and the magnetic particle causes the cantilever to oscillate, and this is monitored with a laser beam. The cantilever is scanned from point to point, mapping the resonant interaction. [S][N][O] A large international trial has proved that a simple "awareness" device, called a BIS monitor, can cut by 80 percent the number of cases where a patient is insufficiently anaesthetised during surgery. The BIS monitor is a kind of electroencephalogram (EEG) that detects electrical activity in the brain via a single electrode on the forehead. This activity depends on metabolism, memory function and the state of consciousness, which are all affected by anaesthetics. [S][B][H] Light in the near-infrared can penetrated the skull, and near-IR imaging using a fluorescent dye that binds only to tumour cells may provide a way to detect tiny brain tumours that cannot otherwise be seen. [S][B][H] The teraHertz gap from 100GHz to 10THz is the last frontier of the electromagnetic spectrum. TeraHertz imaging promises to be one of the most exciting areas of technology over the next decade. Many companies are developing teraHertz sources, and teraHertz solid state emitters have been demonstrated in the lab. TeraHertz imagers should be able to provide not only a three-dimensional image of an object and its innards, but also a readout of the chemical composition. [S][J][O][R][T] |
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| [O] Optoelectronics, optics and lasers | |
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Scientists at IBM and Brookhaven National Laboratory have made an individual carbon nanotube to emit infrared light. [O][N] By confining light more tightly, photonic crystals can reduce the size of optical devices for telecommunications, but the challenge is to couple them efficiently into optical fibre. Two recent publications describe using the surface of the photonic crystal as a kind of antenna to beam the emitted light in a single direction. [O][M] The convergence of two realms of research - quantum gases and optical lattices - has made it possible to confine ultracold quantum gases in optical lattices. Bose-Einstein condensates in optical lattices offer great opportunities for studying quantum phases of many-body states. They also have potential for quantum information processing. A Mott insulator, formed by placing one atom at each site in the lattice, could work as a quantum register in which each qubit is represented by a single atom and quantum logic gates are formed between atoms trapped on different lattice sites. A major challenge is how to address single atoms on different lattice sites. [O][C][F][T] |
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| [I] IT, communications, networking and secure systems | |
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The 60 GHz band has been allocated worldwide for unlicensed wireless communications systems. The US, Europe and Japan have all allocated at least 5 GHz of contiguous bandwidth, which is nearly equal to the total for all other wireless communications. This could permit wireless data rates in the range of 1 Gbit/second. However, 60 GHz stretches CMOS to the limit and the path loss is 22db higher at 60 GHz compared with 5 GHz. For both reasons, adaptive antenna arrays will be needed rather than omnidirectional aerials. [I][J][T] Swedish physicists modelling the biological effect of electromagnetic radiation have found that the fields can align the dipoles of water molecules in cells, producing pressure between adjacent cells. Normally this is extremely weak. However, the model predicts that at the frequencies used by mobile phones the cells become completely polarised and the pressure increases by 11 orders of magnitude. If these predictions are confirmed experimentally, this might be a mechanism by which mobile phone transmissions could have a biological effect. [I][G][H] RFID tagging of animals and a "cattle telemedicine tracking system ” that monitors the health of animals while they are grazing could help prevent the spread of diseases such as BSE and foot-and-mouth. [I][R][T] Metro AG, one of Europe's largest retailers, has set up a "Future Store" to test new technologies including RFID tagging, scales which recognise what they are weighing, and multimedia kiosks that provide information about foods and wines. The shopping carts have a small computer and display with an integrated scanner that allows customers to call up the day's sales bargains and tally their purchases, and also helps them navigate the store. All the devices are networked by a wireless local-area network, based on the IEEE 802.11b Wi-Fi standard. [I][K] RFID is a disruptive technology but is still struggling to make an impact. The integration issues are complex and involve many parties including tag creators, reader manufacturers, software middleware developers and system integrators. [I][R][T][X] About four out of every five newly-disabled older people regain the ability to live independently within 6 months. However, they then have a high risk of recurrent episodes of disability. Hence it is important to prevent disability and recurrences. Smart homes exploiting embedded wireless chips can help achieve this. Tagging objects with RFID tags can enable an RFID reader to detect what objects a person touches and hence to infer by probabilistic reasoning what the person is doing, and what assistance or warning, if any, is needed. Intel has also designed an RFID system that tracks a moving robot. [I][H][K][R][T][U] Computer hackers are starting to use peer-to-peer networks to remotely take over hordes of "zombie" computers that they can then use to send spam and launch denial of service attacks. Peer-to-peer zombie networks could be more difficult to shut down because they have no central point of control. [I] Intel has launched a new family of microprocessors that can keep data locked within an encrypted vault. This will allow mobile phone makers to design programs that store valuable data, such as credit card information, and prevent other software programs including malicious code from accessing the data without express permission from the user. The chips support numerous different wireless standards including GSM, GPRS, 802.11b and Bluetooth. [I][J][K] |
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| [K] Knowledge, information and technology management | |
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Wikis offer a middle ground between e-mail and a conventional web page. This makes them useful for collaborative projects, particularly those involving far-flung teams. Rather than maintaining multiple copies of a document and sharing ideas by e-mail, wikis allows members of a team to pool their thoughts more easily. [K][T] Companies around the world are now busy developing low-cost devices and innovative business models to reach the world's poor and their huge buying power. Dispersed electronic databases can aggregate demand and create high volumes that can sustain low-margins. Also, information networks increase information transparency and can allow the poor to become wealthier by selling more profitably rather than just to the nearest market. [K][I][T] Engineers at Purdue are developing a system that will enable people to search huge industry databases by sketching a part from memory, pencilling in modifications to an existing part or selecting a part that has a similar shape. It works by converting a 3-D model of a part into small cubic volume elements (voxels). These are converted into a simplified "skeletal graph" based on "feature vectors" that represent a part's shape. The system can then search for clusters of similar parts. [K][W] Innovation depends increasingly on complex combinations of technology and knowledge. Hence, it is important to map the changing scientific landscape and clusters of related knowledge and endeavour. This requires large infrastructure handling terabytes of data in publications, patents, grants and other databases. It will also require scalable software and massive computing. [K][C] CORDIS, the European Community's Research and Development Information Service, has launched a new service on security research. [K][D] CORDIS has developed a new service to follow discussions on the EC Seventh Framework Programme (FP7). [K][T] ESA has launched the Innovation Triangle Initiative (ITI) to support the fast introduction of breakthrough innovations in the European space industry. The ITI combines the creativity and expertise of the research community, space customers and industry, and aims to explore technologies not already used in the context of space. The objective is to create a dynamic environment where innovative ideas can easily be validated, developed and used by the space industry. [K][A] |
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| [C] Computing, supercomputing, modelling and simulation | |
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The quest for quantum computing is focusing attention on understanding much better the processes of decoherence and disentanglement, and how to prevent these happening. For example, the application of very short pulses at regular intervals may serve to suppress decoherence and maintain entanglement. Quantum error correction codes can protect against spontaneous emission. [C][N][T] Researchers at the US National Security Agency and the University of Maryland are exploring the transition between quantum and classical behaviour mechanically using the vibrations of a tiny nanoelectromechanical arm cooled to a few milliKelvin where zero-point quantum fluctuations dominate. They were able to measure the displacement of the arm with a sensitivity that is only about a factor of 4.3 larger than the amplitude of zero-point fluctuations. They now aim to increase the sensitivity and further reduce the thermal vibrations in the arm. [C][F][N] A chaotic computer could be reconfigured so rapidly that it could perform entirely different functions with each tick of the clock. By cleverly designing the inputs, outputs and thresholds, such a system could perform many different logical operations simultaneously. [C][T] The pioneering European DataGrid (EDG) project has come to a successful conclusion and a new project, known as Enabling Grids for E-Science in Europe (EGEE), has begun. The EDG project built a test computing infrastructure capable of providing shared data and computing resources across the European scientific community. At peak performance, there were more than 1,000 computers on the EDG test bed, sharing more than 15 terabytes of data at 25 sites across Europe, Russia and Taiwan. Grid resources were provided to over 500 scientists. [C][I][K] |
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| [W] Whole life engineering, manufacture and testing | |
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Java is rivalling C for portability, speed of development and built-in run-time support for writing system-level software. [W][C][T][X] New sensors and simulation/visualisation systems are likely to transform assembly line operation. [W][S][T] According to a report from Gartner, India is still the location of choice for offshore software development and IT services, but China, Russia and countries in Eastern Europe such as Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary are rapidly emerging. [W][C][K][T] Sixty percent of the electronic industry's overall investment is now moving to Asia, while less than ten percent is spent in Europe. A third of Philips employees are now working in China, for example, and as production has moved to China, so has design and development. The consequences are particularly severe in Scotland. [W][K][T] |
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| [X] Systems, complexity and risk | |
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Belgian state railways, together with Alstom, ESA and the EC, are running a trial of satellite-guided trains on lines near Brussels. The locomotives receive data from the EGNOS system. EGNOS uses ground stations and geostationary satellites to improve the accuracy of the American GPS system, and gives precise high-integrity location of the train. The system guarantees that a certain distance of track ahead is clear. It controls maximum speeds and calculates the required amount of braking on arriving in stations. Central computers can supervise the entire traffic along the lines. [X][A][E][K][R] The introduction of the GSM-radio system for train drivers, recommended in the UK after the 1999 Paddington rail crash, has been delayed until 2013 because of the scale of infrastructure that needs to be installed. The network will require about 10,000 miles of cables to be laid and 2,000 masts to be erected. [X][I] The World Bank and the World Health Organisation (WHO) have published a joint world report on road traffic injury prevention. Of all the systems with which people have to deal every day, road traffic systems are the most complex and the most dangerous. Worldwide, an estimated 1.2 million people are killed in road crashes each year and as many as 50 million are injured. Projections indicate that these figures will increase by about 65 percent over the next 20 years unless there is new commitment to prevention. Road traffic accidents cost low and middle income countries more than the total development aid they receive. [X][E] |
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| [V] Virtuality and human-machine interface | |
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NASA has developed a computer program that can read silently spoken words by analysing nerve signals in the mouths and throat. Nerve signals occur when reading or speaking to oneself with or without actual lip or facial movement. As well as being useful in space, the system might enable people to "talk" to computers soundlessly in crowded or noisy environments or in meetings. [V][A][S] Cockpit instrumentation and display technology used in military aircraft and commercial airliners is now being adapted for use in small aircraft as well. [V][A][T] The Grating Light Valve (GLV) is a new contender for future large screen displays. It uses a linear array of 1080 MEMS light valves, made in conventional 0.6 micron CMOS technology, to control and direct light from red, green and blue semiconductor lasers, and projects a TV picture on a screen or wall. Each MEMS element consists of six flexible silicon nitride ribbons arranged in parallel like a tiny Venetian blind. When a voltage is applied these twist and form a small grating that diffracts the laser light so that it reaches the screen. GLVs are already used commercially in the printing industry and also have applications in telecommunications. [V][I][J][O][T] A new Japanese air-cannon can track an individual and shoot a spray of aroma directly at their nose from a range of 2 metres so precisely that someone only half a metre away will smell nothing. Synthesising a wide range of different smells, however, could prove problematic as there are no "primary" smells that can be used to generate all others. [V] |
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| [B] Brain research and human science | |
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Humans might owe their large brains to weak jaws. Humans everywhere share a defect in the gene that creates a protein called MYH16. This protein is a chief component of the powerful jaw muscles of many non-human primates such as chimpanzees and gorillas. The mutation occurred around 2 millions years ago, which is about the same time that early humans underwent rapid growth in the size of their brains. Some researchers are speculating that the loss of powerful jaw muscles led to the loss of the heavy skull crests to which the muscles attached, and that this then allowed rapid expansion of the skull and brain. [B] Neuroscientists at Northwestern University have shown using fMRI that when people solve problems with creative insight there is an increase in neural activity in the anterior superior temporal gyrus that is not present when they solve problems methodically. This demonstrates that insight relies on at least one distinct brain mechanism. The anterior superior temporal gyrus is part of the brain's right temporal lobe and is believed to play a critical role in bringing together distantly related information. This suggests there is a specific cognitive process that makes insight special. Using EEG measurement the researchers also found distinctive alpha-band activity. This was followed by a sudden burst of high-frequency activity just before the moment of insight. They interpret this alpha-band activity as a gating process that allows initially weak solution-related activity to gain strength and then burst into consciousness as an insight. [B] The capacity of working memory may be a bottleneck that limits certain kinds of human intelligence. Two research teams, one using EEG and one using fMRI, have found that the brain's ability to hold several things in the mind simultaneously depends on just one small brain area in the posterior parietal cortex. [B][K][V] According to US and Italian researchers, EEG scans show that the brains of migraine sufferers respond differently to those without migraine. The alpha waves in migraine sufferers are more tightly synchronised between different brain regions, possibly indicating that migraine is connected with some "hyper-synchronised" regulatory mechanism. [B][H] A company in California has developed a quick and cheap blood test that could soon help doctors tell if a patient is having a stroke. The test detects a combination of six specific proteins that together are strongly indicative of a stroke caused by a clot. Detecting a stroke quickly and determining that is not caused by a haemorrhage is vitally important, because clot busting drugs must be given very soon after a stroke occurs in order to alleviate brain damage. [B][H][S] Common pathogens are turning out to be the culprits behind several diseases that have not previously been thought of as infections. Helicobacter pylori, for example, is now believed to be the main cause of stomach ulcers and Chlamydia has possible links with heart disease. Research at Scripps Institute is now showing that mice infected with Chlamydia pneumoniae develop Alzheimer-like brain plaques and this strengthens previous indications this bacterium may play a part in causing Alzheimer's disease in humans. [B][H] A massive international project has been launched to probe the genetics of depression. The study, called NEWMOOD, should yield new drug targets, aid diagnosis and boost understanding of depression’s causes, perhaps helping the 120 million people worldwide who suffer from the condition. [B][G][H] |
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| [H] Healthcare and medicine | |
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Studies from all over the world have shown that moderate alcohol intake lowers the risk of coronary heart disease by 20-30 percent for older men and women. However, according to a new report from the World Health Organisation (WHO), the overall harm caused by alcohol nearly equals that from smoking. Even small amounts of alcohol increase the risk of injury and of developing about sixty diseases, including several cancers, liver cirrhosis and neuropsychological disorders. [H][T] A House of Lords report warns that the UK National Health Service is on the verge of a major staffing crisis, because of new EU rules on how long junior doctors can work and the recent European Court of Justice rulings that the time doctors spend "on call" in hospital must be counted as time worked. [H][K] Researchers have developed a test that will speed up the identification of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in hospitals, allowing quicker treatment for patients and curbing the spread of infections. The test identifies methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) bacteria by tagging them with luminescent enzymes and measuring the light they give off. It uses technology first developed at Dstl Porton Down to monitor airborne bacteria for bioweapon detection. [H][D][G][S] The Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits has developed a wireless wristband that can monitor heart rates and blood oxygen levels. It is part of a large Fraunhofer project called the Body Area Network, which aims to combine information from several sensors positioned around the body to automatically alert medical services if a patient or elderly person needed emergency help. [H][I][K][S] Cancer is probably an umbrella term for hundreds or thousands of different diseases and subtypes. Researchers are beginning to establish cancer subtypes based on their underlying molecular footprint. By combining gene expression data and the patients' clinical history, a new method identifies biologically significant cancer subtypes and provides a powerful predictor of patient survival. [H][G][K] Chemotherapy works by triggering cell suicide (apoptosis), but often some cancer cells survive because they have mutations that disable the apoptosis process. Research in mice has shown that giving a combination of two drugs, one to restore the apoptosis process and the other to trigger it, led to the complete remission of a mouse model of B-cell lymphoma in all of the treated animals. If this method is shown to be safe and effective in humans, it may provide a way to treat many cancers that do not respond to current therapies. [H][G] Detecting tell-tale cancer-metabolites using proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy and mass spectrometry of blood samples is a way to spot tumours at an early treatable stage. It may also be possible to use MRI to determine accurately if tumours have spread into the lymphatic system by engineering nanoparticle contrast agents to be small enough to enter lymph nodes but large enough not to leach out into surrounding tissue. [H][G][N][S] The power of adipose-derived adult stromal (ADAS) cells to transform into bone, cartilage and even neurones has been studied for years in test tubes. Now experiments in mice have shown that these cells can heal a skull fracture too large to mend by itself. The cells, purified from belly fat, were simply laid onto a biodegradable polymer that contained apatite, a compound that naturally occurs in bone. If human ADAS cells can build bone as effectively, they could be used to mend broken bones and correct other defects. [H][G][M] Super-antibodies that can bind to targets within cells, rather than on their surface, could be used to target bacteria and viruses (including HIV) inside cells or abnormal proteins that turn cells cancerous. In theory, they could do everything that the small molecules of most conventional drugs do, and more, because they are much more specific. A US company has found a way to enable super-antibodies to move in and out of cells, moving from cell to cell until they find their target. [H][G] The cyanobacterium Nostoc commune lives in limestone outcrops and survives rain and drought by excreting a substance called a glycan. In dry conditions this immobilises the cell and protect its fragile surfaces during dehydration. Researchers at Virginia Tech believe that glycan could also be used to protect and preserve human tissue. The have used it to dry and then rehydrate mouse cells and human kidney cells. The drying was done at room temperature, and the cells survived three weeks in suspended animation sitting on an ordinary laboratory shelf. [H][G] |
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| [G] Genomics, biotechnology and bioinformatics | |
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Proteomics has great potential for diagnosis as advances in instrumentation and computational methodologies enable researchers to sift through the protein constituents of blood, urine, seminal fluid, and nipple aspirate for patterns of proteins that may be new markers of disease. However, genetic heterogeneity between different population groups and within individual diseases means that what may indicate disease in one case may be statistically insignificant in another. Better data standards are also needed. Finding methods to detect and then identify proteins in very low concentrations represents a significant challenge. The concentrations are dynamic, sometimes markedly changing with diurnal variation, stress, or disease. [G][H][S][T] Anti-viral drugs normally work by blocking the function of proteins needed for the virus to replicate. Unfortunately viruses can mutate to find alternative replication pathways and then become drug-resistant. Researchers at the University of Wisconsin have demonstrated an alternative approach. Rather than blocking virus replication, they designed a molecule to hijack the reproduction mechanism in the cell and to churn out harmless products. This leaves no reproductive resources left for the virus to use. [G][H] When chromosomes in a cell divide, they can recombine in an incorrect way, creating so-called "fusion genes". Leukaemias normally develop from cells that contain fusion proteins created by such fusion genes, and it is believed that these fusion proteins somehow trigger a cell to become malignant. Now, Swedish researchers have now shown that fusion genes occur in a very similar way in solid tumours, suggesting that these also arise from fusion proteins and not from a failure of tumour suppressor genes, as generally supposed. Tumour-suppressor genes would still play a vital role in how solid tumours subsequently develop, but fusion proteins may be the initial trigger, both for leukaemias and for solid tumours. [G][H] Researchers at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory in Heidelberg have discovered a pair of mosquito genes that seem to control the insects' immune response to the Plasmodium parasite that causes malaria. This raises the controversial possibility of breeding and releasing genetically modified mosquitoes to create mosquito populations that cannot be malaria carriers. [G][H] Certain stem cells called mesenchymal progenitor cells (MSC) acts as the body's tissue repair system. They migrate to an injury and develop the kind of connective tissue that is needed to repair the wound. They also migrate to tumours, and experiments in mice indicate that when genetically engineered with a payload of therapeutic genes, they can seek out and destroy both primary and secondary tumours. [G][H] T cells play a key role in killing infected or cancerous cells, but are destroyed by chemotherapy or radiotherapy, or by the HIV virus. Canadian researchers have now discovered how to grow limitless supplies of T cells in the laboratory from embryonic stem cells. In theory, the lab-made immune cells could be used for any patient and might be genetically enhanced to fight HIV and cancer cells. [G][H] Embryonic stem cells have been used to produce reconstituted bone marrow and blood cells. The method worked even in genetically mismatched mice, and if the same is true in humans, this would remove the need to find genetically matched human bone-marrow donors for patients with leukaemia, immune deficiencies and autoimmune diseases. [G][H] An international team has completed a high-quality, draft sequence of the genome of the laboratory rat, and has used this to explore how the rat's genetic blueprint compares against those of mice and humans, the other two mammals whose genomes have so far been sequenced and described to high quality. The comparison shows that the rat genome contains about the same number of genes as the human and mouse genomes. Furthermore, almost all human genes known to be associated with diseases have counterparts in the rat genome and appear highly conserved through mammalian evolution. This confirms that the rat is an excellent model for many areas of medical research. [G][H] Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have developed software to quickly identify molecules that are good candidates as drugs. The software can calculate the electronic properties on the surface of a molecule very quickly. It then uses advanced pattern-recognition techniques, known as kernel methods, to analyse a small sample database in order to find molecules with the right chemical features and to identify from these which features are key. Once the key features are identified, the software can quickly screen large databases, accurately predicting the molecules that show potential. [G][C] Finding where a protein is localised in the cell gives a good indication of its type of role and hence of the function of its gene. [G][T] The DNA code is written with just the four nucleotide "letters" - the bases adenine, cytosine, guanine and thymine (A, C, G and T). This means that three nucleotides are needed to code for each of the 20 amino acids in natural proteins. The precise coding, which is the same in all lifeforms, has been refined and preserved by billions of years of natural selection. It is so designed that if an error occurs in one nucleotide the actual amino acid produced is similar to the intended one, so that the consequence is not catastrophic. By minimising the effects of a small mutation, the code maximises the likelihood that a gene mutation will lead to an improvement in the resulting protein, and hence it assists evolution. [G][T] |
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| [N] Nanotechnology and molecular technology | |
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As microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) scale down in size, forces such as surface tension and friction become more dominant, and additional adhesive forces also seem to occur, according to research at Sandia. These may be due to nanoscale asperities - high points where two surfaces actually touch, surrounded by gaps between surfaces as big as 100 to 200 nm. [N][M] Nanomotors and other nanoelectromechanical systems (NEMS) need low friction. Oils do not work as lubricants because their viscous drag is too high. Nanopowders are commonly used as lubricants, but these do not always give a complete coating and are non-replenishing. Research at Penn State has found that alcohols, which are not normally considered to be good lubricants, work well at the nanoscale. Thin films of alcohol can be condensed from vapour, allowing replenishment, and the hydrophilic end of the alcohol molecule mops up any condensed water so that its surface tension does not cause sticking. [N][M] Researchers at the University of Basel have shown that ultralow friction can occur between certain surfaces without the need for lubrication. This confirms theoretical predictions from the 1980s that if surfaces touch gently enough, atoms glide over each other smoothly rather than repeatedly sticking and slipping. [N][M] US and Italian researchers have made a molecular machine that acts as a nanoscale elevator able to move up and down controllably by 0.7 nm relative to the molecule acting as its support base. Applications for such machines include controlled drug release and the ability to manipulate the separations of other molecules. [N][G][M] Researchers in the US and Israel have made a molecular motor that can be made to rotate. This might be used to produce a nanovalve by physically blocking a pore opening, or to change the nature of a surface from hydrophobic to hydrophilic by exposing or hiding functional groups. The devices could also change surface roughness or expose charged or hydrogen bonding functional groups. [N][M] At the University of Illinois researchers are producing porous nanoparticles and nanocomposite materials by using an ultrasound generator to create a mist of fine droplets. These are carried by a gas stream into a furnace where the solvent evaporates and the chemicals coalesce into inorganic-organic composite nanoparticles. These are carried to a second, hotter furnace, where the organic part burns away, leaving behind porous inorganic nanospheres. Applications of the materials could include catalysis, drug delivery and molecular sieves. [N][M] Because nanoparticles will be widely used in the future it is important to understand their environmental and toxicological effects. Their small size could also permit them to interact with living cells in unanticipated, potentially hazardous ways, depending probably on their shape. Research has shown they can migrate from the nose to the brain, and from the lungs to other parts of the body. Now research has shown that carbon nanotubes dispersed in water are moderately toxic to fish and damage their brain cell membranes. [N][H] |
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| [J] Microelectronics, MEMS and spintronics | |
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The April issue of Scientific American reviews the many incremental improvements in silicon circuit fabrication that have now led to chip geometries in the nano regime. [J][N][T] Research at the University of Twente has shown that sound waves can be used to guide the movement of cells. This may enable cells, or parts of cells to be moved round a microfluidic chip. [J][G][N][S] The cost of large liquid crystal displays could fall dramatically if the thin-film transistor (TFT) circuits at each pixel could be deposited by wet spin-coating. Researchers at IBM have now succeeded in producing fast TFTs by spin-coating tin disulphide-selenide dissolved in hydrazine. The films were 5 nm thick and had mobilities ten times higher than any previous spin-coated semiconductors. [J][N][V] Spintronic transistors have so far been made of gallium or indium-based semi-conductors. If silicon could be used it would make spintronics much more attractive. Unfortunately, attempts to dope silicon with magnetic metals have disrupted its crystal structure, greatly reducing carrier mobility. An international team of scientists has now reported that a blend of silicon and iron doped with cobalt exhibits the required magnetic properties, and that the two different metals combine with silicon to form crystals of the same shape and size, preserving a uniform lattice structure. The material is only magnetic below 51 degrees K, but the hope is that other materials in the same family will prove much better. [J][M] Electronic chips might be cooled using local air currents generated by small electrical discharges. The technique, developed at Purdue, uses carbon nanotubes to ionise the air at 100 volts or less. The ionised air can then be pumped through the electronics by an electric field. [J][N][P] |
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| [F] Fundamental science | |
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The fundamental laws of physics depend on about 25 fundamental constants. One of these is the fine structure constant, which describes how electromagnetic forces hold atoms together and the way light interacts with atoms. Super-string theories predict that the fundamental constants will depend on energy and could also change with cosmological time and space. Particle physics experiments have shown the fine structure constant increases from 1/137 to about 1/128 at high collision energies, and spectroscopic measurement of light from very distant quasars has suggested that it has also changed significantly since the Universe's early epochs. However, using the UV and Visible Echelles Spectrograph at the European Southern Observatory, researchers have now found that it has changed by less than 0.6 parts per million over the last 10 billion years, disagreeing with the previous measurements. [F][R] It is commonly believed that dark matter may be made of so-called weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs). However, measurements using the ESA INTEGRAL satellite have found that 511kev radiation, created by electron-positron annihilations, is being emitted by a source that is evenly distributed throughout the central bulge of our galaxy. This is also where the dark matter is known to be concentrated from its gravitational effect. Researchers at Oxford have calculated that the amount of 511kev radiation is consistent with the electron positron pairs being created by dark matter particles that are many orders of magnitude lighter than WIMPs. An alternative explanation is that the electrons and positions may be created by super novas in the galactic centre. [F][A][R] Data from NASA's Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe may indicate that the cosmos is stretched out into a long funnel, called a Picard topology, with a narrow tube at one end and flaring out into a bell at the other, like a medieval horn. This model would mean abandoning the "cosmological principle" that all parts of the cosmos are roughly the same. At the narrow end of the horn, reality would be very strange, with two very small dimensions. [F][R] If life has evolved on Earth from RNA and DNA, the early Earth must have had some mechanism that enabled RNA or DNA to replicate by splitting apart and then reforming without the need for a biological cell. One theory is that this mechanism was a cyclical change in salinity caused by tidal action. The primordial Moon was much closer to the Earth than it is now and would have caused dramatic tides that swept back and forwards over hundreds of miles of land every few hours, creating the cyclical environment. If this theory is correct, life could not have originated in the same way on Mars. [F][A] |
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| [T] Technology reviews | |
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Despite big increases in R&D spending, the drug industry is not generating enough good drug candidates. Computational biology has great promise but so far it has led to few new drugs. So companies also want to improve conventional wet biology with new approaches that produce good candidate molecules faster. One promising approach is "click chemistry", which snaps carefully chosen molecular building blocks together in various combinations. Another is automated production of sugars and other natural molecules, which can cut synthesis times from months to hours. Automated x-ray crystallography can screen large collections of small molecules to determine how well each fits a particular target. Better ways to test potential drugs early for toxicity to humans can avoid expensive late stage failures. [T][C][G] The March issue of the Economist Technology Quarterly includes a case history of the development of DNA fingerprinting. [T][G] The US unemployment rate for electronics and electrical engineers averaged a record 6.2 percent in 2003, mainly as a result of the offshoring of jobs to China and India. Homeland security could provide a new high tech boom, particularly for California. However, overall the outsourcing, which does not show in measured US GDP, may mean that the true rate of growth of the US economy, following the collapse of the high tech bubble, is much lower than the official published figure of 3.6 percent per annum. [T][D][W] The UK Foresight Programme has published four state of science reviews from its current project on exploiting the electromagnetic spectrum. These reviews cover current world research, applications and commercial outlook in four areas: all optical data handling; photonics at the molecular level; the use of negative refractive index materials and other materials to exploit the near field; and, non-intrusive imaging including teraHertz security imaging, hybrid medical imaging, improved MRI, and lower cost technologies exploiting ultrasound, infrared and visible imaging. (To access, click on Reports and Publications on the web page). [T][H][M][O][R][S][V] The UK DTI has published is third annual value-added scoreboard. The number of UK companies in the European top 600 has fallen to 165 from 178 in 2003, but is still 27.5 percent of the total. UK companies in the European top 600 raised their total value added by 5 percent over the previous year and the UK top 800 companies show similar average growth of 4 percent. [T] |
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