Flexible solar strips light up campus bus shelter

Tweet

There won't be anymore waiting in the dark at this campus bus shelter. New flexible solar cell technology developed by a group of engineering researchers at McMaster University has been installed to power lighting for night-time transit users.

The researchers are also hoping that the prototype will help boost efforts to commercialize the new technology. The bus shelter is located on the west side of University Avenue between the John Hodgins Engineering Building and the Life Sciences Building.

Rainforest rehab in every sense

Tweet

Sophisticated sensors that measure leaf wetness, soil moisture and temperature are helping rehabilitate rainforest in the Springbrook World Heritage precinct in south-east Queensland.

The CSIRO sensors are being used to uncover the microclimatic conditions favourable for rapid natural regeneration of degraded rainforest environments.

A network of ten sensor nodes, connected wirelessly, has been sampling parameters such as rainfall, humidity, temperature, soil moisture and the amount of available light inside the forest every five minutes since May 2008.

Maple seeds and animals exploit the same trick to fly

Tweet

This use of a leading-edge vortex to increase lift is remarkably similar to the trick employed by insects, bats, and hummingbirds when they sweep their wings back and forth to hover. The finding means that plants and animals have converged evolutionarily on an identical aerodynamic solution for improving their flight performance.

Individuals who apply pesticides are found to have double the risk of blood disorder

Tweet

RA individuals from lower GDP countries keep working despite worse symptoms than richer countries

Tweet

Copenhagen, Denmark, Friday 12 June 2009: Individuals diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in lower gross domestic product (GDP) countries (GDP below $11,000) are more likely to continue working despite higher disease activity and functional disability scores compared to their counterparts in higher GDP countries (GDP >$24,000) according to a new multinational study presented today at EULAR 2009, the Annual Congress of the European League Against Rheumatism in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Robotic ferret will detect hidden drugs and weapons

Tweet

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

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

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

Better access to info and dialogue with HCPs on sexual issues for rheumatology patients

Tweet

Copenhagen, Denmark, Friday 12 June 2009: Patients with rheumatic diseases want more information and better communication with healthcare professionals on the sexual issues related to their conditions, according to the results of a new study presented today at EULAR 2009, the Annual Congress of the European League Against Rheumatism in Copenhagen, Denmark.

3 studies confirm the value of etanercept therapy in treating juvenile idiopathic arthritis

Tweet

Efficiency is poor at Spanish airports

Tweet

Researchers from the Canary Islands, basing their work on an analysis of 37 Spanish airports, have shown that the economic inefficiency of most of these is due to excessive decentralisation of airport services. "The majority of airport operators are more concerned with security parameters than with economic efficiency", Juan Carlos Martín, a professor in the Department of Applied Economic Analysis at the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and one of the authors of the study that has recently been published in the Journal of Productivity Analysis, tells SINC.

Moderately reduced carbohydrate diet keeps people feeling full longer

Tweet

A modest reduction in the amount of carbohydrates eaten, without calorie restriction and weight loss, appears to increase a sense of fullness, which may help people eat less, a preliminary study found. The results were presented at The Endocrine Society's 91st Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C.