Genetically engineered adult stem cell cultures will be accompanying Israel’s first astronaut, Col. Ilan Ramon, on his mission aboard the U.S. space shuttle Columbia, as part of research being carried out at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

The research focuses on building new, specialized cells through the use of adult stem cells, using techniques of genetic engineering. The technology is based on isolating adult stems cells taken from bone marrow and converting them into bone, cartilage

For the first time, engineers have enabled paralysed people to stand up and balance for significant periods without holding an external support. This is an important breakthrough in helping individuals with spinal cord injuries to start standing again for useful lengths of time – up to seven minutes have been achieved in experiments.

The cutting-edge research project that achieved this advance was carried out by the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Glasgow with fund

2% of buildings capable of having solar air-conditioning installed, could stop emitting 27,000 tons of CO2 into the atmosphere

The Basque Energy Authority (BEA) has been participating in the European ALTENER programme for the encouragement of renewable energies since their creation in 1992. Along these lines, the BEA has been chosen to develop a project involving the air-conditioning of buildings using renewable energies as an alternative to the traditional systems based on energies

The cosmetic, textile, and food industries and even the construction industry use starch, the main energy reserve of plants, as a biodegradable and renewable substance for a variety of applications. To get to know the metabolism of this carbohydrate better and thus facilitate its industrial use and application, Milagros Rodríguez López proposed, in her PhD thesis, the identifying and isolating of the enzyme (or enzymes) responsible for the degradation activity of the precursor molecule for starch: A

Two University of York graduates have found and preserved the giant tusk of the largest elephant fossil of its type ever to be found in the Middle East.

The tusk, two-and-a-half metres long and thought to be between six and eight million years old, was discovered by Dr Mark Beech, who finished his PhD at York recently and is now senior resident archaeologist for the Abu Dhabi Islands Archaeological Survey (ADIAS).

Mark discovered the tusk in Abu Dhabi’s Western Region last October

European scientists will be ‘turning off’ the effects of gravity during the STS-107 Space Shuttle research mission this month in order to gain a better understanding of processes in medicine, technology and science.

Their investigations will be among some 80 experiments performed during a 16-day mission in Earth orbit to be launched from Cape Canaveral tomorrow.

Seven of the 31 payloads are sponsored by ESA, and the crew will work 24 hours a day in two alternating shifts on experi