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OPEN PACKAGES WITH ELECTRICITY
In the future, packages may be opened with electricity. Stora Enso is launching an extensive cooperative project with Helsinki University of Technology with the aim of developing new packaging solutions that utilise CDM technology. CDM (Controlled Delaminating Materials) is a solution based on a special adhesive which enables opening packages with the help of an electric current.
In the future, CDM technology may result in ground-breaking solutions for distribution and packaging of consumer goods. The invention can
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SCAN THE HEART IN TWO BEATS
At the 93rd annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) in Chicago, Philips Electronics unveiled its latest innovative healthcare products and technologies that seek to make a difference in how radiologists can prevent, diagnose, treat and monitor disease, and allow them to focus more on their patients.
The flagship product, the 256-slice Brilliance iCT scanner, allows radiologists to produce high-quality images with exceptional acquisition speed. The technology can provide detailed and clear 3
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CHINA SAYS MOON PICTURES NOT FAKED FROM NASA
China has dismissed internet gossip that its first photo of the moon taken from a lunar orbiter might have been plagiarised from NASA.
The country launched its first lunar probe, the Chang’e 1, in October and later released a photo featuring a patch of grey moon surface splotched with craters, hailing the mission as a “complete success”.
But some Chinese Internet users have questioned its originality after comparing it with an almost identical lunar image from the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administrati
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UK’S FUTURE IN SPACE – A NEW BEGINNING?
The UK should have involvement in both human and robotic elements of space exploration if it wants to play a full and active role in the unique opportunities that will define space exploration during this century.
This is one of several recommendations made in a report published in September by the UK Space Exploration Working Group [SEWG], an advisory committee established by the UK Government’s British National Space Centre [BNSC].
The SEWG was tasked in January this year to review current worldwide plans for spac
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$30M PURSE FOR MOON RACE
The X Prize Foundation and Google Inc. have announced a robotic race to the moon to win a remarkable $30m prize purse. Private companies from around the world will compete to land a privately funded robotic rover on the moon that is capable of completing several mission objectives, including roaming the lunar surface for at least 500 metres and sending video, images and data back to the earth.
The Google Lunar X Prize is an unprecedented international competition that will challenge and inspire engineers and entrepren
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WASTE REDUCTION IS A TOP ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERN FOR MANUFACTURERS WORLDWIDE
Waste reduction is the most important environmental issue facing manufacturing businesses today, according to an international study on sustainability and environmental trends conducted by Harris Interactive for Dow Corning Corporation. Eight out of ten managers and professionals in the USA; Brazil; Italy and Germany rank it as a higher priority than other environmental factors: such as increasing energy efficiency or; developing green (environmentally friendly) products.
But the study of more than 1,000 people also
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PENTAGON REVS UP ITS DRIVE
FOR WEARABLE POWER PACK
The U.S. Defense Department recently fielded questions from the public about a $1m contest to build a lightweight, wearable battery power system for U.S. forces.
Those attending the event in Washington were able to prod Army and Marine Corps officers for more information about technical requirements and specifics on “battery burden,” a department statement said.
The Defense Department announced in July it was seeking a prototype system that can be attached to a vest and produce an average of 20 watts for four full
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BUSINESSES WASTING WATER LIKE ... WATER
British businesses are pouring profits down the drain by wasting water, according to the government’s business environmental advisory agency Envirowise.
A relatively modest water saving investment of just £25,000 can yield actual savings of around £90,000 a year, it calculates.
In total it estimates that British businesses are wasting 1.3 billion cubic metres of water every year - a total the country can ill afford given that some areas are already relatively short of water.
Turning off taps and reducing toilet
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EXTRA £1.2M TO TURN WHITE VAN MAN GREEN
Secretary of State for Transport, Ruth Kelly, has announced an extra £1.2m to train van drivers in greener, safer driving techniques.
The Safe and Fuel Efficient Drivers (SAFED) scheme aims to encourage driving techniques that save fuel, thereby cutting costs and CO2 emissions. Since its launch, the Department for Transport has already invested nearly £2.2m in the scheme.
The training has been immensely popular and so far the programme has trained nearly 7,800 drivers. Drivers who completed the training found they
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BRITAIN APPROVES HUMAN-
ANIMAL EMBRYO RESEARCH
British regulators recently decided to permit, in principle, the creation of hybrid human-animal embryos to enable research into illnesses including Parkinson’s, Motor Neurone Disease and Alzheimer’s.
The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) agreed to allow a specific kind of inter-species hybrid, where human DNA is injected into a hollowed out animal egg cell, a spokeswoman for the regulator said.
The resulting “cytoplastic hybrid” embryo, or “cybrid” would be 99.9 percent human and 0.1 percent anima
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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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