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TOMORROW’S GREEN NANOFACTORIES
Nanotechnology researcher Angela Belcher, from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), is working with viruses to make them do good things.
By exploiting a virus’s ability to replicate rapidly and combine with semiconductor and electronic materials, she is coaxing them to grow and self-assemble nanomaterials into a functional electronic device.
Through this marriage of nanotechnology with green chemistry, Belcher and her team are working toward building faster, better, cheaper and environmentally-friendly transi
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UNIVERSITY STUDENTS’
TRANS-ATLANTIC SUBMARINE
Inspired by penguins’ swimming technique, University of Bath students recently created a submarine called the ‘SeaBomb’, powered by a ‘pilot’ who pedals on a machine similar to an exercise bike.
Woodland International shipped the vessel to the USA in June where it participated in the 9th International Submarine Races, at the Naval Surface Warfare Centre’s Carderock Division in Bethesda, Maryland.
Believed to be the fastest of its type in the world, the SeaBomb took second place for ‘top speed by a non-propeller dri
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‘REALITY CHECK’ NEEDED ON BIOFUELS, SAYS NEW REPORT
The rush for biofuels is already causing serious damage, according to a new report by 11 civil society organisations from around the world.
‘Agrofuels – towards a reality check’ in nine key areas sets out considerable evidence that the spread of what are more accurately called agrofuels – liquid fuels produced from biomass grown in large-scale monocultures, mostly in the global south – is compromising biodiversity and fuelling human rights violations.
The report finds that agrofuels threaten to greatly accelerate cli
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GLOBAL CARBON NANOTUBES MARKET MAY EXCEED $1.9BN
Demand for carbon nanotubes is increasing rapidly in electrical, mechanical and health and medical applications due to their thermal, electrical conductive and other properties.
The global carbon nanotubes market is projected to exceed US$1.9bn by 2010.
Carbon nanotubes already play a significant role in the nascent nanotechnology industry. Development of cost effective production methods and quality improvement are the factors that are expected to drive the carbon nanotubes market forward over the coming years. A r
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LOW MORALE IN JAPAN
Japanese manufacturers grew slightly more optimistic in August but the service sector’s business morale hit a two and a half year low. Many companies, particularly non-manufacturers, said their profits are being squeezed because they could not pass on rising costs of oil and raw materials to customers. Most manufacturers however are still relatively optimistic as evidenced by one manufacturers statement: “Our customers, such as semiconductor industries and electronic part makers, are still aggressive in capital spendi
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LIBYA’S GAS OFFER
Harsh commercial terms when Libya last offered up oil acreage to international firms deterred some players, but the country’s first gas-focused licensing round, presented recently, is expected to attract greater interest. At a well-attended road show in London, Libya gave technical details of 41 onshore and offshore blocks on offer. The North African country aspires to become a major gas producer and aims to increase production to 3 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) by 2010, with a potential for 3.8 bcfd by 2015, comp
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NEW DAM FOR SUDAN
Sudan’s Merowe Dam will start generating power next year, and will eventually increase the vast African nation’s electricity supply by 150 percent, officials said recently. Power being Sudan’s major holdback, signs are pointing to the country moving forward with the government encouraging investment.
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GM INVEST IN BRAZIL AND ARGENTINA
General Motors Corp said recently it would invest $500m in its operations in Argentina and Brazil for developing small vehicles for Latin America and other emerging markets.
“We have been growing our engineering resources in key emerging markets like Brazil, China and India - not only for development of vehicles for their own markets, but for other emerging markets as well,” Chief Executive Rick Wagoner said.
“This investment will enable us to take full advantage of the expertise we have in Brazil and support our
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BETTER EUROPEAN GDP, HIGHER
OUTPUT TO BOOST ECB RATES
First quarter euro zone growth was stronger than previously estimated and May industrial output picked up from April, pointing to more European Central Bank rate rises and euro strength ahead.
The EU statistics office said gross domestic product in the 13 euro zone countries rose 0.7 percent quarter-on-quarter in the first three months of the year, revising its earlier estimate of 0.6 percent. That compares with a 0.9 percent expansion in the last quarter of 2006.
Separately, the European Commission raised slightl
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RUSSIA GROWTH SLOWS
Russia’s industrial output growth rate fell to 7.8 percent year-on-year in July from 10.9 percent in June, but manufacturing sectors ensured the expansion remained strong according to recently released data. Analysts had expected an annual increase of 8.5 percent for July however, they said the lower-than-expected July number was still strong and showed the economy was on the growth path. 6.4 percent industrial output growth is predicted in 2007.
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| Brains and beauty |
Furness and West Cumbria’s West Coast is about to experience a major investment that will strengthen the tourism and industry s ...
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| National Stadium, Beijing |
At the pinnacle of its construction, the National Stadium in Beijing had 7,000 workers toiling over the infrastructure. ...
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No smoke without fire
It seems that commentators, industry heads, central bankers and, dare I say it, Industrial Focus’s own journalists have made so ...
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Innovation for the nations
Hope for the future has arisen from the turmoil of the last few months, as industrial technologies have spun out some marvels o ...
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Supposedly the construction
materials of the future, composites are increasingly seen in
applications where optimum efficiency is paramount including
aircraft construction and renewable energy. As two research
examples show in this video, composites really are the future
for efficiency.
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