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Top Stories in Science
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February 2004 Issue |
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| [D] Defence and security |  |
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The scale of the avian flu epidemic sweeping through chicken populations across the Far East is unprecedented. So far the virus, H5N1, has only infected humans who had close association with infected chickens, but two victims in Vietnam might have caught the virus from their family by human-human transmission. The virus is resistant to traditional anti-flu drugs that block virus replication, including amantadine and rimantadine, and most people known to have been infected have died. The great danger is that the virus may infect someone who also has human flu. It could then exchanges genes with the human virus and become capable of spreading easily by human-human transmission. This becomes more likely as the virus spreads more widely among chickens. The pattern of its spread suggests that chicken smuggling is the main cause. Better surveillance, border control and rapid response to new outbreaks are needed, and better anti-virus protection for those disposing of infected chickens. [D][H][R] The many months needed to produce a flu vaccine could mean that, in the worst case, if the 2004 H5N1 "bird flu" virus turns into a human pandemic the first wave might almost be over before a vaccine could be ready. The H5N1 virus kills chicken embryos. Hence a direct vaccine cannot be mass-produced in the normal way using eggs. WHO laboratories are using reverse genetics to lower the pathogenicity of the virus to chickens in order to make a mass-producible vaccine. Two laboratories, in the US and UK, also have prototype vaccines made from a H5N1 strain that killed one man in Hong Kong in 2003. Experts are testing whether animals inoculated with this produce antibodies that fight the 2004 strain. [D][G][H] Because of modern patterns of living, there is a growing risk that more viruses will jump the species barrier and infect humans, according to experts, and much more needs to be known about animal diseases and the risks they might pose. [D][G][H][X] The 1918 "Spanish" flu pandemic is estimated to have infected up to one billion people - half the world's population at the time - and to have killed 20-50 million people, making it the worst pandemic in human history. Two teams, one at NIMR in the UK and the other at Scripps Institute in the US, have determined the structure of the part of the virus - the hemagglutinin (HA) receptor - that it uses to infect cells. The NIMR team found that the 1918 virus required only minor changes in its HA to allow it to bind to human cells as well as to bird cells. They believe this may be the reason that the pandemic was so devastating. The evidence from both teams strongly indicates that the virus jumped directly from birds to man rather than through any intermediary animals. However, the results do not predict whether the 2004 bird flu could similarly jump to humans and how virulent it might be. The teams found that its HA receptor (type H5) is closer to the type H3 receptor of the virus that caused the less severe Hong Kong flu pandemic in 1968 than it is to the type H1 receptor of the 1918 virus. [D][H] A human antibody that powerfully blocks infection by the SARS virus has been identified. It appears to work by disabling the spike protein used by the virus to break into cells. The antibody was uncovered after researchers at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in the US screened 27 billion candidates in less than two months. This success is encouraging for responding to future emerging infectious diseases. [D][G][H][K] By comparing the genomes of SARS viruses isolated from early stages of the 2003 epidemic with those isolated from later victims, researchers have observed how quickly the virus increased its virulence, showing how vital it is to contain new disease outbreaks quickly. The evidence indicates that SARS made the initial jump to humans in late 2002. Two "genotypes" dominated the early phase of the epidemic. By January 2003, at the time of the "super-spreader" event in Guangzhou, the genetic makeup of the virus had already shifted. Within a month, another genotype had emerged, which persisted to the end of the outbreak in August 2003. One particular gene, thought to assist the virus to enter cells, mutated rapidly at the start of the outbreak as the virus, under selective pressure, refined its ability to infect humans. In the early cases, infection rates were low, with only about three percent of those in direct contact with infected patients coming down with the disease. Within a few months that rate increased to nearly 70 percent of direct contacts. [D][G][H] A report by the US Institute of Medicine (IOM) and the National Research Council (NRC) says that the current DOD approach to biowarfare countermeasures is failing woefully. It calls on the US Congress to set up a Medical Biodefense Agency in the DOD to oversee research and development efforts. [D] There are believed to be about 100 million unexploded landmines around the world, posing a daily threat to life. To completely clear a minefield costs an average of £400,000 a square kilometre. The mines are generally located using sniffer dogs, heavy machines or metal detectors. Danish scientists say they have now developed a biological method - a genetically modified form of thale cress (Arabidopsis thaliana) that changes colour from green to red after three to five weeks growth when its roots come into contact with nitrogen dioxide seeping from the explosive. To ensure they will not spread in the wild, the plants are genetically engineered to lack the gene for an important growth hormone, so that the plants need a specially designed fertiliser in order to grow. [D][G][S] Future UK passports will contain a biometric chip. Initially this will hold a digitised photo of the passport holder and a digitised signature of the Passport Agency in order to prevent counterfeiting. One other biometric identifier, iris pattern or fingerprints, will also eventually be stored on the chip. Trials are underway in the UK to decide which one to use. [D][I][S] Human error in x-ray baggage screening at Washington Dulles airport was probably responsible for allowing a man to board a flight to London carrying five bullets in his coat pocket. The ammunition was discovered when the coat was put through the hand-baggage X-ray machine at London Heathrow. QinetiQ Threat Image Projection software is used in British airports. This superimposes fake images of objects such as guns onto real X-ray scans of bags in order to keep x-ray security workers alert and to monitor their accuracy. [D][A][S][V] Clouds of artificial fog that could be released in seconds to envelop nuclear power stations might be a way to protect against airborne terrorist attacks, according to proposals currently being considered in Germany. The idea is that fog or smoke would disguise a power station's location from the air. Although radar can penetrate fog, commercial aircraft are not fitted with radar systems capable of identifying structures on the ground. A report commissioned by the German environment ministry concluded that even a small jet liner could cause enough damage to Germany's older plants to result in a disastrous dispersal of radioactive material, and that newer plants could be similarly damaged by a large passenger jet. [D][A][M][P][R] |
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| [A] Aeronautics and space | |
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NASA has pinpointed the location of the Opportunity rover. Data taken during Opportunity's descent to the Martian surface show the rover bounced 26 times after it touched down, rolling 200 metres until it came to rest. [A][U] After 9 weeks of no contact, the Beagle 2 lander has been officially declared dead. The scientists are convinced that Beagle hit its planned landing zone, but the orbiting Mars Global Surveyor saw no debris on the surface during a recent flyby. [A][U] NASA's Spirit and Opportunity rovers continue to send back photos from Mars. Both landers have been designed to keep on roving and taking photos for another two to three months. Opportunity landed in a good geological area with plenty of outcropping bedrocks. The first bedrock studied is very finely laminated. The thickness of the individual layers is a few millimetres at most. Embedded in the layers are little spherical grains. These could have been formed from dissolved material that has precipitated in the presence of water, which would indicate that Mars was once much wetter and perhaps sustained life. Alternatively, they could be droplets of molten rock spewed out by volcanoes or meteorite impacts and then frozen into glassy beads. [A][U] The new plan for the US space programme, announced by President Bush, is centred on building a new human-rated spacecraft that should initially ferry crews to the International Space Station (ISS), and then evolve after 2015 into an Apollo-like craft to carry astronauts to the Moon and subsequently to Mars. The ISS will proceed to completion, but its focus will be almost exclusively on learning how to enable long-duration human spaceflight. The initiative will involve extensive robotic exploration of the Moon and Mars as a precursor to human missions. [A][D][P][R][U] A spacecraft for future lunar missions might be launched in sections using existing rockets and self-assembled in orbit by docking with its component parts, according to Boeing. [A][P][U] ESA's Smart-1 spacecraft, which is en route to the Moon, has suffered a problem with its ion engine repeatedly switching off. The fault is not in the engine but in the spacecraft's circuitry making it sensitive to strikes from high-energy protons from the sun. These generate rogue voltage spikes that shut down the engine. ESA believes a software patch can solve the problem and rescue the mission. [A][P] ESA has now published details of the ambitious Aurora space plan first approved in principle in 2001. The plan includes creating a new vehicle by 2007 that can re-enter Earth's atmosphere at high speeds, and then in 2009 sending an orbiter and rover to Mars followed by launching a two-stage mission to return samples from Mars in 2011 and 2014. The plan also envisages making a manned mission to the Moon by 2025 and to Mars by 2033. Nine European countries and Canada currently participate in Aurora. [A] According to the International Space Business Council, the global space industry generated $96.9 billion in revenues in 2003 and is expected to reach $104.6 billion in 2004. A significant increase in US military contracts and continued expansion in commercial markets fuelled the growth. [A][D] Low earth orbit satellites and space junk are experiencing slightly less drag than in the past. This suggests that the thermosphere, which extends from 90km to 1000km above the Earth, is cooling and decreasing in density by two to five per cent per decade. This is attributed to the increase in greenhouse gases causing more heat loss to space at the top of the atmosphere. The effect is relatively small - the 11 year solar cycle changes the thermospheric density by a factor of five - but it may give a way to measure the effects of global warming at high altitudes. [A][E][R] |
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| [U] Unmanned vehicles and robotics | |
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Robot-assisted surgery is becoming more common in the US and UK, and may in future be used to carry out a range of operations, including heart by-passes. A US study on seven children who underwent robot-assisted heart surgery to correct heart defects found they suffered less complications and spent less time in hospital. Whether the technique would ever be appropriate for more complex heart surgery is not yet proven, but the researchers believe that in five years or so, most basic procedures will be performed with robot-assistance. [U][H] Recent agreements through the UN International Seabed Authority mean concessions can now be procured for mining the seabed. This opens the way to exploit sea bed resources using remotely operated vehicles. ROVs can now reach depths of 1.5km and plans are afoot for them to go down to 4.5km. The technological challenges in seabed mining are huge and diverse. The leading companies are in the US and UK. [U][E][M][P][R][T] Researchers at the University of Wales have developed a robot microbiologist that can formulate theories, carry out experiments and interpret results. The robot was designed to work out which genes in yeast are responsible for making vital amino acids such as phenylalanine and tyrosine. The robot did this by growing strains of yeast with some genes missing, and comparing their growth with normal yeast to try to determine the function of the missing genes. Trials to assess how effectively the robot could plan a series of experiments showed that its performance was not significantly different from that of a group of human scientists, and it was superior in planning for minimum cost. The hope is that the robot may not only be able to reduce the drudgery of genomics testing and systems biology but may also be able to discover new drugs. [U][G][K] US scientists have found evidence that plants may regulate their uptake and loss of carbon dioxide and water vapour by 'distributed computation' involving communication between many units interacting on a cellular-automaton model. The computation may be similar to that in an ant colony, where the signals that each ant sends out to other ants, by laying down chemical trails for example, enable the community as a whole to find the most abundant food sources. Distributed computing with swarms of simple robots might also carry out tasks, such as searching a landscape, more efficiently than a single, more sophisticated robot could manage. [U][C][D][R][X] |
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| [P] Propulsion and energy | |
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The unprecedented number of hybrid cars on display at the Detroit International Auto Show demonstrates how seriously the industry is now taking the technology. Sales of hybrid vehicles, such as the Toyota mark 1 Prius, have been surprisingly strong, particularly in the US and Japan. This enthusiasm has not yet spread to Europe, either among car makers or purchasers. The European green preference is still for diesel. [P][E] Despite the great promise of hybrid engines, it is estimated that up to 10 per cent of the engine power is generally lost as it is transferred through the gears and shafts to the wheels. Wheel hub motors present a tempting alternative for hybrid vehicles and electric bicycles. [P][M] It is predicted that the worldwide market for hydrogen generation, storage and delivery devices will grow from around £700 million now to around $1.5bn in 2008. Currently R&D dominates the market, but beyond 2010 vehicle and stationary hydrogen delivery are expected to dominate. [P][M][N] The world's only commercial magnetic levitation (maglev) train began operating successfully in Shanghai in December 2003. However, serious doubts remain about the cost of maglev and whether it has sufficient advantages over conventional high-speed rail. The US and China are the two big potential markets for maglev since they currently have no high speed rail network. Maglev installation is expensive because of having to place propulsion equipment all along the guideway rather than just on the train. However its power consumption and maintenance costs are lower and it should be cost-competitive with conventional rail in the long term. The Swiss are examining the potential for underground maglev or high speed rail running in partial vacuum to reduce resistance and with low oxygen concentrations to avoid the risk of tunnel fires. [P][E][T] According to the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA), wind power capacity in the EU increased by 23 percent last year to 28.4 GW, providing 2.4 percent of total EU electricity consumption. Wind power capacity in the US is now approaching 6.4 GW, with utility-scale wind turbines installed in 30 states. [P][T] The UK government's plans for offshore wind farms, with hundreds of turbines each and a total generating capacity of 5.4 - 7.2 GW, aim to put the UK on course to produce 10 percent of its electricity from renewables by 2010 and 20 percent by 2020, compared with 3 percent now. The new turbine towers will be about 80 metres tall and in three main areas: the Thames estuary; the Greater Wash, 30-40 kilometres off the Lincolnshire coast; and the North West, extending from the north Wales coast to the Solway Firth and out into the Irish Sea. Putting turbines on top of tall buildings is another possibility. In New York, officials have unveiled a concept for putting an array of around 25 wind turbines in a cagelike structure on top of the Freedom Tower, the main new building to be erected on the World Trade Center site. [P][E][T] Wind turbines can seriously threaten protected birds including bald and golden eagles, hawks, owls and other raptors, according to a US environmental organisation. It has filed a lawsuit against a US and a Danish wind power company for 'illegal ongoing killing of tens of thousands of protected birds' in the San Francisco area. Wind turbines are also killing large numbers of migrating bats in northern Appalachia. One theory is that the turbines may be emitting high frequency sounds that attract the bats. [P][E] Shell Solar and Gesellschaft für Solarenergie (GEOSOL) have announced that they are to build the largest solar power station in the world, south of Leipzig in Germany. It will have an output of 5MW. [P][J][O] The fine detail of the protein complex that drives photosynthesis has been mapped at Imperial College using X-ray crystallography. The structure gives strong hints about how the catalysis works and perhaps how it might be reproduced on an industrial scale. [P][G][M][N][O] The UK's nuclear industry and a number of universities have formed a national network to investigate new storage and testing technologies for the safer disposal of radioactive waste. The network has almost 300 members, including Imperial College, Sheffield, Cambridge and Leeds universities, plus BNFL, Nirex, the NII, AEA Technology and a range of other companies involved in the industry. [P][E][K][M][W] |
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| [M] Materials, structures and surfaces | |
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Porous materials with very large internal surface areas are important in many applications involving catalysis, chemical separation and gas storage. Researchers at Michigan University have made a new superporous crystal with an estimated internal surface area one and a half times the previous record. It is a type of Metal Organic Framework made of alternating organic molecules and metal-containing compounds, and its vast porosity comes from using a large triangular organic molecule called 1,3,5 benzentribenzoate. The crystal is very easy to produce and could have applications for hydrogen storage and fuel cells, and also for molecular separation in pharmaceutical manufacture. [M][G][N][P] Microwave heating can be used to smelt steel and it is claimed that it might cut production costs by 50 percent by simplifying the process, consuming less energy and avoiding the need for expensive coke. It could be a promising technology, particularly for helping reuse by-products that are currently being discarded. [M][E] Cracks in polymers are often invisible, and in applications such as electronic circuits, medical implants, and aircraft parts, they can cause major failures. Research at the University of Illinois has produced a prototype self-repairing material - an epoxy composite containing microcapsules of dicyclopentadiene (DCPD) and particles of a ruthenium complex known as Grubb's catalyst. When a crack opens, it travels towards a capsule and ruptures it, spilling liquid DCPD. This is polymerised by the catalyst particles to seal the crack. [M][A][H] A noise barrier for roads developed in France is at least 30 percent more effective than existing technology, its inventors claim. Its design is based on studies that show that irregularly shaped objects with jagged or ragged geometrical shapes are poor resonators and therefore better at deadening sound than barriers with smooth surfaces. [M][E] Antioxidants have many medical and dietary applications and are also routinely used to treat materals that can be damaged by oxygen, including plastics, rubber, fuels and lubricants, agricultural feed and cosmetics. An international team of chemists has developed a new family of antioxidants. These are up to 100 times more effective than vitamin E and could be important for dietary supplements. [M][H] |
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| [E] Environment, transport and marine | |
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Recent increases in the flows of Siberia's rivers, probably due to global warming, have raised fears that a less salty Arctic Ocean could shut down the Gulf Stream. Russian scientists are proposing diverting some of this water south where it could help parched former-Soviet republics in central Asia. The scheme would cost $40bn and would drive a canal 200 metres wide and 16 metres deep southwards for 2500 kilometres from the confluence of the north-flowing rivers Ob and Irtysh to replenish the Amudarya and Syrdarya rivers near the Aral sea. [E] Supervolcanoes erupt on average every 50,000 years, and there are fears that the next one could have a catastrophic "nuclear winter" effect on the Earth's climate. However, researchers in China and the US have concluded from studying past supervolcanic eruptions in Indonesia that they were not as environmentally devastating as had been thought, and did not cause ice ages. [E][X] Researchers at Reading and Surrey Universities are developing wind-tunnel tests and CFD modelling to understand how pollution and heat behave at street level so that more effective ventilation methods can be developed to prevent hot-spots of pollution and high temperature. [E][C][H] A computer model at Stanford has shown that if every vehicle in the United States ran on diesel the smog would increase over most of the country sufficiently to push air quality from "moderate" to "very unhealthy", according to standards defined by the Environmental Protection Agency. [E][C][H] Extremophiles comprise principally bacteria that have the ability to thrive in extreme environments. These include in hydrothermal vents on the deep-ocean floor, in rocks and springs hundreds of metres below the surface of the Earth, in the very cold, dry or salty conditions of Antarctica, and in high concentrations of toxic metals and of radiation. These bacteria have fundamentally different metabolisms to normal organisms and understanding how this works may lead scientists to tap new energy sources and make novel drugs. Practical benefits can also come from studying how higher life forms survive in harsh conditions. Glycoprotein that prevents Antarctic fish from freezing could also help fish farmers, extend the shelf life of frozen food, improve surgery and tissue transplants, and make plants more tolerant of freezing. Bioprospecting in extreme environments is becoming big business. However, in Antarctica this threatens to outpace environmental conservation and the capacity of national and international law to regulate the ownership of genetic materials and the issuing of patents. [E][D][G][P] Extremophile bacteria are hard to study genetically because 99 percent of them cannot be cultured sufficiently to extract their genome, and even if the genome of one microbe is determined this still does not reveal how it interacts with the other microbes in its environment. Now scientists at Berkeley have managed to simultaneously sequence the genomes of an entire community of extremophile bacteria living in a deep mine. The new technique works because speciation means that the individual organisms differ enough that their individual genomes are easy to tell apart. The bacteria are of practical importance because they cause water pollution by converting iron pyrite in mines into sulphuric acid. [E][G][X] Fertilising the ocean with iron to stimulate the growth of phytoplankton might be a way to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. So far the idea has only been tested on a small scale. Now a research team has set sail to dissolve an iron sulphate solution in a 150-200 square-kilometre patch of the Southern Ocean, near Antarctica, where currents are expected to keep the iron within a limited area. The team will then monitor the growth of phytoplankton from a helicopter, and examine which kinds of algae and other creatures flourish for a period of eight to ten weeks. To remove carbon dioxide permanently the phytoplankton needs to die after blooming and sink to the ocean bottom rather than entering the marine food chain. [E][R] Scientists in Australia have warned that fish piracy is damaging the Southern Ocean to such an extent that time is running out to save it. Illegal fishermen, primarily on the hunt for the prized Patagonian toothfish (Dissostichus eleginoides), are wiping out both fish stocks and bird species that live in the ocean. Australia's fisheries minister has said a unified international response is the only way to combat the pirates. It is estimated that 100,000 seabirds breeding on the sub-Antarctic islands are killed every year as a result of feeding on the long-line hooks used by illegal trawlers. Albatross and petrels are now highly endangered. [E][D][R] It may be possible to raise Venice by up to 30 cm to protect it against the encroaching sea. The proposal is to use oil-well technology to pump carbon dioxide or water into a sandy layer 600-800 metres below the Venice lagoon. The layer is sandwiched between clay below and 25 metres of relatively impermeable cap rock above. Pumping to this depth and slowly over a 10 year period should achieve uniform lifting of the city. [E][P] |
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| [R] Remote sensing and sensor systems | |
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Freighters, cruise liners, marine rescuers and coastal managers are among those who could benefit from prototype three-dimensional, three-day ocean condition forecasts created with the assistance of NASA satellite data, computer models and on-site ocean measurements. Scientists hope to forecast ocean conditions several days ahead, much like regional weather. The end product from the 3-D ocean model includes temperature, salinity and current. [R][C][D][E] A system designed to predict the size of waves heading for offshore vessels is being developed in the UK with support from Shell. It uses radar to measure the height and spatial profile of waves about 1km away from the rig or ship, and calculates the wave's size when it reaches the vessel, providing operators with around 30 seconds of warning. This is important for improving safety and efficiency in the oil and gas industry as offshore oil and gas explorations move into increasingly deeper seas and more extreme conditions. It could also be useful for naval operations. [R][D][E][P][X] The Northern Lights, volcanoes, avalanches, earthquakes, meteorites, explosions, ocean storms, air turbulence, and large animals and birds all produce infrasound, which can be used to detect and study them. [R][T] Very gradual ground shifts often over periods of months are known to precede major landslides. Often these shifts are on a scale of millimetres - too slight to be noticed by local observers, but enough to be detected via satellite using radar interferometry. ESA has launched trial landslide monitoring services in Italy and Switzerland that include mapping of landslide susceptibility. [R][X] The US and EU have been unable so far to agree on what standard should be used for the Galileo system. The EU would like the standard, publicly available signal to use a modulation known as Binary Offset Carrier (BOC) 1.5, 1.5. However, the US is concerned that this would prevent the US from jamming all GPS in a conflict to deny it to an enemy. Jamming Galileo would also jam the M-code that the US wants to deploy for its military GPS beyond 2012. [R][D][I] Determining the three-dimensional position of Mars Express in space with as much precision as possible and at a distance of 155 million kilometres from Earth is quite complex. The spacecraft's velocity is constantly measured using Doppler shift. Time of flight ranging can determine its distance from earth. Differential one-way ranging can allow triangulation measurement by acquiring a signal from Mars Express at two separate ground stations located on either side of the Earth. Errors due to differences in the two stations' clocks as well as atmospheric effects are cancelled out with calibration measurements of quasars whose positions are extremely well known. These methods, together with models of the effects of gravity and solar wind on the spacecraft, can fix its 3-dimensional position to a few kilometres or better. [R][A] Spectacular images of Mars are being sent back by European and US spacecraft. The main camera on NASA's Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity is a stereo panoramic camera on top of a long mast that can move up or down and rotate through 360 degrees. ESA and NASA may combine image data from Mars Express, Mars Global Surveyor, Mars Odyssey and the two rovers to produce a seamless 3D "journey" around Spirit and Opportunity's landing sites. [R][A] |
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| [S] Sensor devices | |
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The detection of cracks is particularly important for safety in the aviation and nuclear industries. However normal methods of inspection are difficult for surfaces that require non-invasive analysis, surfaces that are unsafe to humans (e.g. nuclear vessels), or where surface roughness can lead to a high risk of false crack measurement. In these cases, research shows that cracks can be detected remotely using a photothermal camera. The surface is heated by scanning with a CO2 laser and measurement of the IR emission can then reveal surface flaws. [S][A][M][R] A new silicon chip could enable patients to be tested for a multitude of different viral infections in just a few minutes, according to a US company. The chip has a microscopic array of different antibodies printed onto the silicon with a "nano-arrayer". This places a few thousand antibody molecules on each dot in the array. When the chip is dipped into a small blood sample, any viruses present are captured by the relevant antibodies and create telltale ridges that can be detected using an atomic force microscope. Putting 50 different antibodies onto the chip is feasible. [S][G][H][N] Silicon on sapphire sensors can be used to measure vibration, torque, force or pressure in extreme temperatures over long periods of time. [S] Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have developed a compact, solid-state refrigerator capable of reaching temperatures as low as 100 milliKelvin for on-chip cooling of cryogenic sensors. The refrigerator is made from a sandwich of normal metal / insulator / superconductor junctions. When a voltage is applied across the "sandwich," high-energy (hot) electrons tunnel through the insulator from the normal metal to the superconductor, thereby cooling the normal metal. [S][J][M] Medical X-rays are to blame for many thousands of fatal cancers every year, according to the most comprehensive analysis to date that has been made by a team at Oxford University. Medical experts stress that X-rays and CAT scans can be very beneficial, but believe the new work shows that they should be used as sparingly as possible. The authors found substantial world-wide variations in the numbers of cancers attributable to X-rays. The UK had the lowest, with 0.6 percent of all cancers attributable to medical X-rays. About 0.9 percent of all cancers in the US are caused by X-rays. But in Japan, they estimated the figure was 3.2 percent. [S][H] |
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| [O] Optoelectronics, optics and lasers | |
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A new endoscope, made of a single optical fibre half a millimetre wide, could help doctors see round obstructions in the inner ear that prevent successful cochlea implant surgery in 10 percent of cases. The endoscope could also be used to peer inside other narrow structures such as blood vessels. It exploits "holey fibres", a technology that could provide critical connectors in the optical computers of the future. These are single fibres with microscopic holes running right through them, like the lettering in a stick of seaside rock. Light channelled down each hole is kept separate until it reaches the end of the fibre where it can be used to form an image. [O][C][H][S] Biochemists at Indiana University are hoping to use viruses to transport gold nanoparticles inside cells. Electrons on the surface of the gold particles will act to boost Raman scattering and enable the Raman signal is to be used to map the movement of the viruses in the cell and also to map cell chemistry. The Raman signals vary depending on the pH or ionic strength of the virus's environment. The maps will have an astonishing resolution of about 30 nanometres - the diameter of the virus. The researchers have already shown that they can use the Raman scattering to detect individual viruses in a medium simulating the cell cytoplasm. [O][G][N][S] High-order harmonic generation in argon can produce soft x-rays with 250 eV photon energy. This has potential for x-ray lithography and for efficient, compact x-ray sources at higher energies than was previously possible. [O][J] |
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| [I] IT, communications, networking and secure systems | |
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During the Olympic Games in Athens this summer, smart cellphone antennas will be tested that reduce the number of masts needed for 3G broadband networks and also minimise "dead" spots in coverage. The antennas use a technique developed at London University that allows antennas in any wireless network to communicate automatically and divert their resources to where they are needed most. [I][U] A new low-profile antenna can track a geo-stationary satellite from a moving passenger vehicle. It integrates into the vehicle roof without affecting headroom or modifying the vehicle's contours. The beam steering is mechanical rather than electronic, but the developers say that this does not add any perceptible noise into the passenger compartment or electromagnetic interference to other vehicle systems. [I] Press-to-talk mobile phone services, which work like a walkie-talkie and are popular in the US, are now being introduced into Europe. Because they allow immediate one-way-at-a-time contact they are useful for managing teams of people in real time. [I][K][W] The first in a series of nationwide studies has indicated that mobile phones pose no increased risk of brain tumours - at least not for the first 10 years of use. The study covered Denmark's entire population of 5.3 million people over a two year period and examined as far as possible every new case of a rare brain tumour called an acoustic neuroma. This is a rare benign tumour that forms between the brain and the inner ear, and is located where the radiation is most intense. Comparison with a matched control group showed that there was no correlation between the tumour incidence and mobile phone use. The study is part of the huge INTERPHONE study, organised by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). INTERPHONE involves 13 different countries and aims to determine definitively whether mobile phone use is safe. The full study should provide enough data to detect if there is any risk beyond 10 years. [I][H] A 5.6 million Euro project led by York University and involving 14 partners from across Europe and Japan aims to make Broadband available to remote rural areas and even moving trains by deploying High Altitude Platforms (HAPs). The project will deliver broadband connections which are 2,000 times faster than via a traditional modem and 200 times faster than today's 'wired' ADSL broadband. [I][A] The digital divide is still severe for the Third World. The International Telecommunication Union has rated all 178 nations in the world for their internet access. Sweden, Denmark and Iceland came top, with the US in 11th place and the UK in 12th place. Central African countries came largely at the bottom. Their telecom infrastructure is under-utilised because people cannot afford to use it. In Nigeria, for example, a year of internet access of the sort taken for granted by most of the developed world costs more than three times the average Nigerian's total income. [I][D][K][T] The technical team responsible for the smooth running of the internet is working on a set of standards to combat the growing tidal wave of spam threatening to overwhelm email users. The regulations should make it possible to verify whether the address an email appears to have been sent from is genuine. This is to prevent spammers using faked addresses that pretend to come from respectable domains such as hotmail.com. [I] Two software companies, SCO and Microsoft, targeted by the MyDoom virus have offered £500,000 reward for information leading to the conviction of the hackers responsible. In November 2003, Microsoft also offered two $250,000 rewards for information about the authors of the viruses SoBig and Blaster. However, nobody has so far claimed these rewards. Mydoom.A has overtaken SoBig to become the most active virus of all time. [I] Software engineers in Massachusetts have developed a program to predict likely future virus and hacking attacks by "evolving" from past attacks. The system takes known hacking and virus software and systematically mutates it to find the most deadly permutations. The mutations are kept simple so that the code still runs. The aim is to generate these novel attack strategies centrally and then remotely update the intrusion-detection software protecting PCs and networks around the world to recognise attack patterns before hackers have even developed them. [I][D][X] A new device that quarantines different portions of a computer network could stop worms and viruses infecting an entire company once they have breached its perimeter defences. [I] Microsoft has warned that a "critical" flaw in Windows versions NT, 2000, XP and Server 2003 could allow hackers to access a person's computer and quietly steal files, delete data, or eavesdrop on what that user is doing. The problem software is "an extremely deep and pervasive technology in Window" and it is one of the most serious Microsoft vulnerabilities ever released. [I] Plans for absentee election-voting via the internet have suffered a set back. Cyber-security experts have reported that a US federally-funded system about to be introduced has insurmountable security vulnerabilities that could jeopardise voter privacy and allow votes to be altered. [I] The US Department of Homeland Security has launched a "National Cyber Alert System." This is intended to centralise and integrate virus warnings and suggestions of proactive protective actions that computer end-users can take. [I][D][K] |
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| [K] Knowledge, information and technology management | |
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Researchers at IBM and the University of Illinois have developed a system called Mercury that tracks where users are at work, at home, in the street, and plugs them automatically into the communication medium they prefer in that location. This could be cellphone, email, instant messaging, pager or landline phone. Mercury also exploits the IBM Intelligent Notification System (INS) to glean information about the user's needs by monitoring which software is running and the events in their electronic calendar. [K][I] A computer programme designed to scan medical research papers could help find new uses for existing drugs by scanning thousands of medical papers in minutes and looking for hidden patterns and links. Researchers say the software has already found that a drug chlorpromazine, which is used to treat psychoses, could be used as a treatment for people with an enlarged heart. The US National Library of Medicine receives 0.5 million new abstracts in a year, and its database now holds more than 12.7 million individual papers from more than 4,600 journals. [K][C][G][H] Analysis of patterns of collaboration between scientists shows that most researchers produce few papers and have few collaborators. However, a small proportion of scientists collaborate with many others - up to thousands in some cases - and produce huge numbers of papers. Researchers that are well-connected also tend to be better known in their fields. Clustering, where two people are more likely to be connected if they are both linked to a third individual, was highest for physics (43%) and lowest for biology (7%). [K][X] A holistic approach is needed for healthcare and health research that links biomedical and clinical research and breaks down the barriers between disciplines, according to an international meeting on medical research funding. [K][H][X] Teams from six UK universities - Birmingham, Cambridge, East Anglia, Leeds, Manchester and York - are forming a distributed institute for research on atmospheric pollution. It will draw together several disparate strands of work already in progress in order to provide a comprehensive science base to tackle issues of pollution and climate change, and related health issues. The distributed institute will also study how air quality, particulate emissions from cars and industrial emissions are affecting global warming. [K][E][H][X] A long-term plan for science funding will be a key component of Britain's spending review for 2004 according to the Chancellor of the Exchequer. The UK government aims “to make Britain the best location for R&D and for innovation.” Since 1997, UK productivity has increased by only 1.7 percent per annum against a historical norm of 2.1 percent. In contrast, US productivity has grown rapidly since the mid-1990s as businesses used information and communications technology (ICT) to become more efficient and innovative. Factors holding back UK productivity growth may include deficiencies in skills, poorer public sector productivity, and increased regulation. [K][X] UK universities have major problems keeping up with those in the US. However, the situation is even worse in Europe according to a recent European Commission ranking of the world's best universities. Of the top 50, all but 15 were American. From Europe, only Oxford and Cambridge were rated in the top 10; from other EU countries, no university ranked higher than 40. Funding is a key difference. The US spent 2.7 percent of GDP on tertiary education in 2000 compared with 1.1 percent of GDP in France, Germany and Japan, and 1 percent of GDP in the UK. [K][T] The IEEE has surveyed a sample of its working and student members to find out why people become engineers and technology professionals, and whether they like what they are doing. More than three-quarters of the 830 respondents were motivated by a desire to "invent, build, or design things" and, of almost equal importance, to "solve real-world problems" For 71% of respondents the most rewarding factor was "designing, building and influencing new technologies". Money was the "most rewarding" factor for only 3 percent of respondents and social status for only 1 percent. [K][T] According to Le Monde, France has a serious decline in science students. In 1998/99 about 133,000 students over the age of 18 were enrolled in scientific studies during their first and second years of university, but only 100,000 are so enrolled today. In the life sciences, there was a 27 percent drop in enrolment between 1995 and 2000, with the trend continuing over the past 3 years. [K] The UK Royal Society has reported that lack of internal scientific knowledge is severely hampering the UK Department of International Development, particularly in its development policies and in using scientific research to help poor countries overcome development obstacles. [K][D][E] Intelligence in the workplace is not that different from intelligence at school, according to the results of a meta-analysis of over one hundred studies involving more than 20,000 people. The findings contradict the popular notion that abilities required for success in the real world differ greatly from what is needed to achieve success in the classroom. [K][B] |
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| [C] Computing, supercomputing, modelling and simulation | |
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The coming era of ubiquitous, autonomous, utility computing is driving research in IBM, Microsoft, HP and the other large IT companies. For computing to be sold as a utility, firms must be able to switch vendors, to do it for all their computing functions, and have meter-based pricing. [C][I][K][T] Researchers are simulating nanoscale materials and devices down to the level of atoms and even electrons. Modelling is vital for finding structures that may have useful properties, given the virtually infinite number of possible structures. Carbon nanotube and nanotube electronics were first predicted using computer simulation, and modelling has been used to compare many different carbon nanotube structures for their capacity to store hydrogen. Modelling has also been used to design nanovalves for controlling the flow of fluids, to reveal how lab-made nanostructures work, to design molecular electronic switches, and to develop catalytic nanomaterials. Simulating more complex structures requires vast computing resources, and this is one of the most important applications driving the quest for quantum supercomputers. [C][M][N][T][W] A mathematical theory of drapery has been developed by mathematicians at Harvard. The equations predict the number and shape of folds in a draped sheet and can be applied to anything from skirts to curtains. The equations can improve animation in movies and computer games, and give online shoppers a better indication of how a garment will look on them personally as they move about. For complicated folds a particular drapery usually has several stable states that it can switch between, and it may be possible to engineer garment effects as a wearer moves. [C][M] Researchers at the University of Illinois have developed a geometric cluster algorithm that enables fast and accurate simulation of complex fluids. These are difficult to simulate conventionally by either atomic level simulation or Monte Carlo methods. Many complex fluids contain particles of widely different sizes, which move on very different time scales making accurate simulation computationally impractical. The new approach identifies "natural" groups of particles on the basis of the elementary forces that act between the particles. [C][M][N] Rapid progress in understanding the microscopic processes behind cancer is allowing useful mathematical models of the disease to be developed. This includes models of how tumours acquire blood vessels (angiogenesis), of their interaction with the immune system and immunotherapy, and of the biochemical kinetics of drug action. [C][G][H][T] A computer model developed at UCL and Cambridge University may provide a new way of controlling the mites that can cause asthma and other allergies. Mite numbers are heavily influenced by environmental conditions in homes, and by the heating regime, ventilation and humidity. The model predicts how different building features and patterns of occupant use affect these conditions, and therefore house dust mite numbers. [C][H] As part of the EC Road and Tyre Interaction Noise project (RATIN), researchers at Southampton University are modelling the tyre-road interaction to examine the trade-offs. The main source of noise pollution from road traffic is no longer the engines or exhaust systems but the road-tyre noise from rolling and slipping. Road roughness causes tyres to vibrate producing a roaring or rumbling sound. Smooth roads produce hiss from air trapped by the advancing tyre, and very smooth roads also increase tyre screeching and have a high accident rate from skidding. The optimum is likely to involve a combination of improving tyres and road surfaces. Recent research shows that it is possible to make road surfaces that are smooth but also porous. [C][E][M][P] |
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| [W] Whole life engineering, manufacture and testing | |
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More developers of embedded systems are starting to use real-time embedded Linux. Pratt & Whitney has revealed that it used a Linux-based software kernel to test its new F135 engine, which will power the Joint Strike Fighter. [W][A][P] Agile methodologies such as eXtreme Programming (XP) have advantages for complex embedded systems, particularly for iterative development, keeping project requirements more fluid and evolving them as a regular and periodic activity throughout the project. [W][T] In a bid to establish a common platform for internet accessibility for home electronics, 14 Japanese companies have launched the "Ubiquitous Open Platform Forum". They are opening this also to companies outside Japan. [W][I] First generation e-commerce proved disappointing. In the US in 2002, e-commerce only accounted for an estimated $72 billion out of a total of $2.25 trillion transactions (3.2 percent). Second-generation e-commerce is unlocking the value of data using web services to link databases across the web and to automatically put together optimised services for customers. XML and Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) give web services unparalleled interoperability. Universal Discovery, Description, and Integration (UDDI) lets Web services search the web for databases. The Web Services Description Language (WSDL) provides a universal way to describe what is there. Delayed binding provides the flexibility to change one part of an application without having to revalidate the whole system, allowing companies to gradually replace older software and interfaces without the disruption of massive software upgrades. [W][C][I][K][T][X] |
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| [X] Systems, complexity and risk | |
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A Chicago-based consulting firm has estimated that uncertainty surrounding terrorism, globalization and other risk factors is turning the world into a relatively unstable place to do business. It estimates that political risk could cost the world economy $1 trillion this year in reduced corporate spending, investments and growth, and may have cost more than $800 billion in 2003. [X][D][K][W] Researchers at Penn State have modelled the US electricity grid to investigate how best to protect against power blackouts. They have found that the network is very vulnerable to failure of a few hubs that connect the network together. The cheapest option, they conclude, would be to add more connections between substations, so that there are more alternative routes when some lines fail. However, this would increase the network's vulnerability to induced currents created by geomagnetic storms from the Sun. Upgrading the US grid to prevent future blackouts could cost $100 billion. [X][C][I][P] The UN Environment Programme has begun an attempt to improve its scientific knowledge about the planet's systems and risks. Issues include: links between global warming and heavy metal pollution, and between microbial life in the soil and good crop yields; how far environmental degradation can trigger political instability; health effects of chemical hazards; the impacts of urbanisation and megacities on the wider world; scientific understanding of biodiversity and assessments of biodiversity in marine and fresh water; how fertilisers and traffic fumes disturb the global nitrogen cycle; the wider impacts of land cover as a result of forest loss and farming; the health and environmental effects of a build-up of toxic chemicals. [X][E][D][H][P][T] Researchers from Penn State have used molecular dating methods to create a new timeline of the evolution of eukaryotic organisms. By adding information about the numbers of different cell types possessed by each group of organisms, the researchers reconstructed how the complexity of life has increased over time. The study showed that organisms containing more than two or three different cell types appeared soon after the surface environment became oxygenated around 2,300 million years ago. This was around the same time that cells became able to extract the energy from oxygen, thanks to the emergence of mitochondria. [X][F][G] |
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| [V] Virtuality and human-machine interface | |
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Philips researchers have unveiled a new 'organic' e-paper that can be switched at up to 75 times per second. The paper is thin and flexible because it uses inexpensive and light-weight organic materials rather than silicon chips used for most previous e-ink displays. The product uses a form of electronic ink devised in 1998 by a team at MIT, consisting of hollow, transparent plastic capsules containing black and white pigment powders. The grains have electrical charges, and either the black or the white can be pulled to the 'front' of the capsule by switching electronic devices embedded in the back of the 'paper'. The organic switching electronics is made from pentacene, which can act as a semiconductor. The thin films of pentacene can be laid down on flexible plastic backing by simply spreading a solution of the organic material over the plastic. [V][I][J][M][O] Intel microdisplays based on liquid crystal on silicon chips (LCOS) could transform projection displays such as large-screen, rear-projection TVs. LCOS can provide the HD-1 resolution with displays of 1280 by 720 pixels, and the HD-2 resolution, of 1920 by 1080 pixels, is also possible. Intel believes that LCOS can create a whole new economy of consumer electronics. [V][J][O] Thick-film inorganic electroluminescent displays may be finally emerging as a winning technology for flat panel television and other large area colour displays. [V][J][O] Multiplayer online computer games are predicted to generate more than $1 billion in revenue for the first time in 2004. The virtual communities built within these complex artificial worlds may also provide a unique new way to study social, economic and legal phenomena by enabling an outside observer to see clearly how communities act. [V][B][C][K][X] Using virtual reality as a distraction can help women with breast cancer cope better in chemotherapy sessions so that they are less fatigued and suffer less adverse effects. The researchers believe that virtual reality makes for an excellent distraction intervention because it is interactive, engages several senses simultaneously and immerses participants in a new world, thereby blocking out their current and often stressful environment. Trials show that this reduces the distress symptoms, such as nausea and vomiting, inability to concentrate and fatigue. [V][H] |
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| [B] Brain research and human science | |
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Research at Harvard and St Andrews University shows that monkeys can understand simple language patterns but cannot comprehend recursion. Recursive ability affects much of human behaviours and may be the key cognitive skill that allowed human beings to become the only animals using language. [B][K] According to the theory of “deep grammar”, people are born with an innate linguistic template in their brains that allows children to learn a language quickly, but also imposes constraints and structure on what is learnt. However, some of the basic constructs of Indo-European grammar are missing in other languages, such as Indonesian, which instead uses tones to change the meanings of words. Language may also deeply affect the way people think, what they focus on, and their concept of time. [B][D][K][T] The key to the evolution of the human brain may lie in the ASPM gene. Researchers compared the sequence of the human ASPM gene to that from six other primate species shown genetically to represent key positions in the evolutionary hierarchy leading to Homo sapiens: chimpanzee, gorilla, orang-utan, gibbon, macaque and owl monkey. They found that the APSM gene shows an outstandingly strong and unambiguous signatures of adaptive evolution through this primate hierarchy. This accelerated evolution of APSM seems to be unique to primates. Significantly, loss of function of the ASPM gene is linked to human microcephaly – a severe reduction in the size of the cerebral cortex, the part of the brain responsible for planning, abstract reasoning and other higher brain function. [B][G] The brain can combine visual and auditory information to produce a better judgement of motion that when only one sense is used. They brain weights visual information more highly when this is sharp and weights audio information higher if the visual information is blurred. [B][V] Researchers have surprisingly created a mouse with a superior sense of smell by genetically engineering it to lack a protein called Kv1.3. The protein is used in nerve communication and in odour-related regions of the brain and it may be involved in controlling the amplification of smell signals. [B][G] MIT neuroscientists have discovered a new brain mechanism controlling the formation of lasting memories. This mechanism explains how signals between neurones stimulate production of the protein building blocks needed for long-term memory storage. [B][G] Experiments at the University of Lübeck in Germany have confirmed that sleeping on a problem does stimulate lateral thinking and boost creativity. Power napping may also be beneficial, but the experiments did not test this. [B][K] By exposing rats to novel objects and measuring their brain signals, Duke University researchers have detected "reverberations" of distinctive brain wave patterns in wide areas of the brain for up to 48 hours after the novel experience. Based on all the results and their previous work, the researchers propose that sleep consolidates memory in two stages: slow-wave sleep produces a recall and probably amplification of memory traces, and the ensuing REM sleep triggers the expression of genes to store what was processed during slow-wave sleep. [B] Fractal analysis can be used to measure the degree of irregularity and complexity in human gait. Researchers have found that the fractal measure for Parkinson's disease patients is about 1.48 whereas healthy elderly subjects have a fractal measure nearer 1.3. This provides a way to quantify the severity of walking symptoms and measure changes in their severity in response to drugs and as the disease progresses. Parkinson's and other coordination disorders, called ataxias, may actually be ragbags of different diseases lumped together because of similar symptoms. [B][H][S] At present, Alzheimer's disease can be confirmed only after a patient has died. Cognitive tests and brain scans on living patients can only diagnose the disease with about 85 percent accuracy. Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh have now developed an imaging agent that enables the plaque characteristic of Alzheimer's disease to be seen on brain scans. Patients are injected with a tiny amount of a harmless, radioactive molecule called Pittsburgh Compound B (PIB). This binds to the amyloid plaques enabling them to be detected with a positron-emission tomography (PET) brain scan. The should enable Alzheimer's to be diagnosed earlier, when potential treatments may work better. [B][H][S] Myelin is a fatty substance that covers nearly all the nerve cells in the body as a form of electrical insulation. When the myelin breaks down, as in multiple sclerosis, the electrical signals degrade. Researchers at the University of Rochester have succeeded in restoring myelin throughout the brains of mice by injecting the mice with highly purified human "progenitor" cells. These evolve into the glial cells, called oligodendrocytes, that make myelin. In addition to MS, many other diseases affect myelin, including diabetes, heart disease and high blood pressure. [B][G][H] |
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| [H] Healthcare and medicine | |
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Scientists at Northwestern University have designed synthetic molecules that promote neurone growth, a promising development that could lead to the reversal of paralysis due to spinal cord injury. The nerve cells grow along a scaffold made up of nanofibres formed by peptide amphiphile molecules. The scientists' key breakthrough was designing the peptide amphiphiles so that, when they self-assembled into the scaffold, a specific sequence of five amino acids known to promote neurone growth was presented in enormous density on the outer surfaces. This drives neural progenitor cells to become neurones and not astrocytes, which are a major problem in spinal cord injury because they lead to scarring and act as a barrier to neurone repair. [H][B][G][M] Prions cause vCJD when they take on a misshapen form, accumulate in the brain and kill off nerve cells. Some research groups are trying to prevent this by using antibodies that grab hold of normal prions and prevent them from transforming into the harmful configuration. However, researchers at Scripps Institute have found that such antibodies can kill nerves themselves when injected into the brains of healthy mice. Abnormal prions may destroy the brain in BSE and vCJD patients by binding to normal prions in the nerve cell membrane, somehow triggering signals that cause cell death. The antibodies may mimic this process. [H][B] Stroke is the third leading cause of death in Europe and the US, and is usually caused by a blood clot travelling to the brain and blocking one of the small blood vessels. Treatment to dissolve the clot must currently be given within three hours of the onset of stroke symptoms. Unfortunately, most patients cannot get treatment this quickly. A new drug has been developed, derived from the saliva of vampire bats, that can dissolve clots up to nine hours after symptoms appear. It may also be possible to extend the time window by cooling the brain using a cooling helmet, exploiting space technology. If clot busting fails, a mechanical device like a very long wire corkscrew has been developed that can be inserted into an artery in the groin, guided to the clot in the brain and then used to pull the clot out. In patients who are particularly likely to get a stroke, it is also possible to prevent clots reaching the brain by inserting a fine-mesh cylinder into the carotid arteries on each side of the neck. This allows blood to flow normally to the brain but deflects any significant clots so that they go instead to the face, where they cause no harm. [H][B][M][S] Cataracts account for nearly half of all blindness in the world. What causes cataracts is not certain, but research on the genes expressed in the eye suggests that the lens may need a very low oxygen environment and that oxygen may be toxic to the lens. Normally the vitreous gel that fills the eyeball acts as a seal to prevent oxygen from the retina reaching the lens. However, as the eye ages this gel can become leaky causing a high incidence of cataracts in elderly people. [H] A US study has found that infants who experience fevers before their first birthday are less likely to develop allergies by ages six or seven. Less than a third of children who suffered two or more fevers showed allergic sensitivity by ages 6 to 7 compared with half of the children that experienced no fevers. In particular, fever-inducing infections involving the eyes, ears, nose or throat appeared to be associated with a lower risk of developing allergies. These results lend support to the well-known hypothesis that better hygiene is the reason for the increase in asthma and other allergies in recent decades. [H][E] Minor manipulations of a mother's diet might substantially affect the lifespan of her children according to the results of a study on mice at Cambridge University. At the two extremes of the range of 144 diets studied, the lifespans differed by more than 50 percent. The pups that lived longest were well fed in the womb and had mothers whose diets were relatively low in protein during lactation. Their lifespans were further enhanced if they were not given a "junk food" type diet, rich in sugar and fat. [H][X] A novel wound dressing made of genetically engineered human collagen that will enable faster and improved healing of injuries has been developed by researchers at the Hebrew University Faculty of Dental Medicine. [H][D] A system using an MRI scanner to located and diagnose tumours and focused high power ultrasound to cook and kill them may enable breast cancer to be treated quickly as an outpatient procedure without surgery or the need for chemotherapy and radiotherapy. The technology, which could be modified to treat other small and localised tumours, is being developed using space technology at ESA's European Space Incubator. [H][A][S] Europe is falling behind the US in pharmaceutical R&D. A decade ago, Europe and America each spent roughly $10 billion a year on drug R&D. Now, America spends almost $30 billion annually and Europe a little more than $20 billion, and a growing number of firms now base their R&D efforts in America. In 1993-97, Europe launched 81 so-called new molecular entities (NMEs) and America 48. But in 1998-2002, the respective figures were 44 and 85, almost reversed. A decade ago, Germany boasted two of the world's top ten drug firms - Bayer and Hoechst. Now it has none. [H][G][K] A Nottingham University spinout company has developed a drug delivery capsule for treating bowel cancer. The capsule can be swallowed and tracked through the intestines using a radioactive signature until it reaches the target location where it can be triggered to discharge its payload. [H][S] Applying nanosecond-pulsed electric fields with gradients of tens of megavolts per metre to biological cells can stimulate cellular changes including apoptosis (cell suicide). US researchers have shown that nanopulsing kills tumour cells in culture and also fat cells, providing a possible treatment for both cancer and obesity. Using needle-like electrodes to generate pulses near tumours in mice, researchers found that nanopulsing slowed the growth of tumours in four mice by 60 per cent compared with tumour growth in five untreated mice. [H][G] |
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| [G] Genomics, biotechnology and bioinformatics | |
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A Japanese-U.S. team has reported the successful creation of transgenic animals using sperm genetically modified and grown in a laboratory dish. The animals created from the cultured sperm carry the inserted, foreign gene in every cell of their bodies, including their germ cells. In contrast, conventional techniques of producing transgenic animals, such as microinjection of genes into eggs and the retroviral transduction of genes into embryos, often produce many animals that are mosaic, which means they do not contain the foreign gene in all their cells. The new techniques could speed the production of many different types of transgenic animal models. This includes speeding the use of targeted gene knockout to understand the functions of individual genes and their combinations. [G] Researchers have genetically engineered mice to make omega-3 fatty acids. If the same feat can be achieved in farm animals, it could mean that meat, milk and eggs could all be directly enriched with omega-3 oils. This would not only benefit human diet but also keep the livestock healthier. At present, meat and dairy produce from farm animals only contains the omega-3 oils if farmers feed them with fishmeal. This is costly and uses scarce marine resources. [G][E][H] Scientists have used gene therapy in rats to turn fat-storing cells into fat-burning cells. The cells shrank in size and developed more mitochondria. Levels of enzymes known to promote fat metabolism increased while those that impede fat metabolism decreased. The fat loss in the rats was far more rapid and profound than can be induced by caloric restriction. The hope is that eventually this could lead to a treatment for obesity. [G][H] Research at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory has shown in mice that stem cells can be summonsed from all over the body and migrate long distances to effect major tissue repair. They have also found that the cells go through all of the typical steps of specialisation to the appropriate role before becoming fully integrated into the new tissue. Summoning the stem cells is triggered by a protein called mIGF-1. Normally the production of mIGF-1 ceases almost totally after birth. Boosting mIGF-1 levels in adults might provide a way to reverse muscle deterioration caused by ageing or diseases such as muscular dystrophy. [G][H] Researchers have unlocked at least part of the mystery of how a tumour can avoid being detected by the immune system. They have found that tumours activate Stat3, which is one of the proteins that controls the immune system. This stops dendritic cells from maturing and also blocks the inflammatory mediators needed to alert the immune system. [G][H] A team from the Max-Planck Institute for Developmental Biology and Nottingham University has mapped the genome of Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus. This bacterium preys on other bacteria. It swims at high speed, senses the presence of its target bacterium, attaches to it, punctures its membrane and consumers it from the inside. Understanding how Bdellovibrio invades bacteria could lead to new drugs. Bdellovibrio might also be used as an alternative to antibiotics for combating bacterial infections. Because it cannot infect mammalian cells and does not tend to produce a powerful immune response in mammals it could be safe to use in humans. [G][H] Researchers at NYU have found that the Sindbis virus, a mosquito-borne virus common in many parts of Asia and Africa, automatically targets and kills tumour cells in mice, whilst leaving healthy cells alone. They found the virus was effective at killing tumours in mice at every location tested, whether the growths occur under the skin, in the pancreas, in the main body cavity, or in the lungs. At least 10 oncolytic viruses are already in clinical trials for treating some forms of cancer in humans. However, Sindbis is different because it does not require genetic manipulation to target the cells and can apparently be injected anywhere into mice and still find its way through the bloodstream unscathed to the target area. Other oncolytic viruses have to be injected directly into tumours, which therefore need to be located first. [G][H] Wound healing is a process that allows cells to break normal constraints on their growth and cross boundaries, and some cancers exploit wound-healing genes in order to spread more aggressively. Because wound healing is a well-understood process, researchers may be able to disrupt the process and slow the cancer's spread. By understanding what processes a particular cancer is hi-jacking to enable it to spread it will be possible to tailor drug therapies much more precisely. [G][H] |
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| [N] Nanotechnology and molecular technology | |
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Physicists in the US have developed a new technique for making nanostructures that have both ferroelectric and ferromagnetic properties. So-called ferroelectromagnetic materials could be used to help convert electric energy into magnetic energy, and vice versa, in devices such as transducers, sensors and actuators. The material consists of a self-assembled hexagonal array of CoFe2O4 nanopillars in a ferroelectric BaTiO3 matrix. The researchers believe that many other systems may show similar self-assembly, and that it may be possible to create magnetically and electronically tuneable photonic structures if the nanopillars can be made to assemble with long range order. [N][J][M][O][S] A new paint can absorb noxious gases from vehicle exhausts so that buildings can help to clean up their environment. The paint's base is polysiloxane, a silicon-based polymer that is porous enough to allow NOx to diffuse though it and adhere to titanium dioxide nanoparticles in the paint. The particles absorb ultraviolet radiation in sunlight and use this energy to convert NOx to nitric acid which is then washed away by rain. [N][E] Methods similar to photosynthesis can be used to produce platinum nanostructures in an aqueous solution of ascorbic acid at room temperature. The new method uses porphyrins - the active part of photosynthetic proteins - to repeatedly change a platinum ion to the neutral metal atoms, allowing metal to be deposited as desired at the nanoscale. Micelle and liposome microstructures, created using detergents, trap the porphrins, and exposure to light then causes the platinum to be deposited in the microstructures. The platinum nanostructures take on a different form when they are prepared under different conditions, and can be produced with a uniform and selectable nanostructure size. [N][M] Chemists at Northwestern University report they have discovered ways to construct nanoscale building blocks that assemble into flat or curved structures with a high level of predictability, depending on the architecture and composition of the building blocks. [N][M] Weizmann Institute scientists have created a new type of nanotube built of gold, silver and other nanoparticles. The new type of tube lacks the mechanical strength of carbon nanotubes, but using nanoparticle mixtures as building blocks enables the tube's properties to be tailored for diverse applications. Nanoparticle mixtures can create composite tubes, and the nanoparticle building blocks can serve as a scaffold for various add-ons, such as metallic, semiconducting or polymeric materials. [N][M] Carbon nanotube gel, the first example of a liquid crystalline material consisting of single-walled nanotubes, has been made by physicists at the University of Pennsylvania. The gel exhibits hallmark properties of a nematic liquid crystal including optical anisotropy and topological defects. [N][M] Virtual photons may be able to impart motion to matter in a high electric and magnetic field. Calculations suggest that at attainable fields of 100,000 volts per metre and 17 Tesla an object as dense as water would move at around 18 centimetres per hour. If confirmed the effect might prove useful at nano-dimensions in moving liquids around microarray chips, for example. [N][F][J][S] |
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| [J] Microelectronics, MEMS and spintronics | |
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Researchers at Harvard have made a nanotube double quantum dot by gating a carbon nanotube in a number of places. The strength of the tunnel coupling between the dots was tuneable, which means that the device could be used for quantum computing. Double quantum dots are a natural basis for realising the two-qubit XOR gate, and the long spin lifetimes in nanotubes and their smallness make quantum effects accessible at room temperature. [J][C][N] Researchers at NIST and Cornell have demonstrated the practical feasibility of a very high-Q oscillator using a nanomagnet driven by a spin-polarised current and small enough to be put onto a microchip. The oscillator frequency is adjustable from 5 to 40 GHz by varying a magnetic field. A Q-factor of 10,000 or higher may be possible. [J][N][S] The ability to deliver tiny and precise quantities of reagents is of crucial importance for "lab-on-a-chip" technology of the future, in which micron scale devices would perform multiple chemical analyses, such as in genetic screening. Researchers at Harvard have developed a method that uses T-junctions in 30 micron wide channels to split droplets of liquid flowing single-file in the channels into different but precisely controlled sizes. [J][C][M][N][S] Danish scientists claim to have made the first electronic hybrid nanotube-semiconductor devices. They encapsulated single-walled carbon nanotubes in epitaxially grown semiconductor heterostructures such as GaAs/AlAs and (Ga,Mn)As. Single-walled carbon nanotubes may be used as interconnects and active devices in Si and GaAs electronic and optic circuits. [J][N] Physicists in California are closer to making a Bose-Einstein condensate in a semiconductor. They have demonstrated the existence of distinct regions of confined degenerate excitons in a semiconducting material. It should be easier to create a Bose condensate with excitons compared with atoms, because excitons are lighter, and therefore condense at a significantly higher temperature. [J][F] |
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| [F] Fundamental science | |
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Scientists at University of Colorado have won the race to be the first to create a fermionic condensate. The researchers cooled a gas of 500,000 potassium atoms in a vacuum chamber to a billionth of a degree above absolute zero, and used magnetic fields and laser light to manipulate the atoms into pairing up and forming the fermionic condensate. The ability to create new forms of matter by simply tuning a magnetic field presents a powerful new tool to study basic physics. It could enable other types of matter to be forged including condensates formed from linking three or more particles. The pairing of the potassium atoms occurred at the same physical separations as pairing of electrons in high temperature superconductors. The hope therefore is that studying fermionic condensates may lead to being able to create room temperature superconductors. [F][M] Researchers at Penn State claim to have turned frozen hel | |||