Articles
Natural-capital-based societies in the tropics: Harnessing forest function to combat climate change
Natural capital – assets derived from the natural world – forms the basis of national economic systems. When natural capital is depleted without reinvestment, there is a net reduction in national wealth, resilience, and living standards. This issue blights the Global South. Professor Mitsuru Osaki of Hokkaido University, Japan, a COP26 symposium leader, studies natural-capital-based societies in the tropics. Natural-capital-based […]
Exploring neutrinos: Entanglement, entropy, and fractional calculus
Neutrinos are elusive, strange particles that are produced in the nuclear reactions that power stars. As such, the study of neutrinos from the Sun gives us a window directly into the Sun’s core, as well as telling us more about these fundamental particles. However, neutrinos are notoriously hard to detect, so detectors like the Super-Kamiokande and Homestake solar neutrino experiments […]
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How mini refineries create business opportunities in developing economies
Petroleum refineries are a huge source of transportation fuels, lubricants, and the starting blocks for chemical synthesis. Even as alternative renewable sources for energy start to replace some demand for petroleum, it is unlikely our dependence on petroleum products and petroleum as a chemical feedstock will be broken any time soon. Dr Himmat Singh, former Chief Scientist at the CSIR–Indian […]
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Why aren’t more human resource leaders champions of diversity?
Significant global groundswells of social activism over the last few years have highlighted the issue of diversity. There is now increasing pressure on organisations to address diversity, especially among leadership. Within such organisations, managing this process usually falls within the ambit of the human resource leader, so their sensitivity to issues of culture and diversity is key. Dr Lauren Turner […]
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Protecting Israel’s freshwater: Phosphorous outsourcing in Lake Kinneret
Freshwater is such a scarce commodity in Israel that taking the salt out of seawater is routinely used as a way of supplying the population with drinking water. Lake Kinneret is the only natural freshwater lake in the whole country. Dr Moshe Gophen and his collaborators at MIGAL Galilee Research Institute have assessed the importance of different potential sources of […]
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Turning salt water into fresh water with capacitive deionization cycling
Fresh water is one of the key ingredients for sustaining human life. Obtaining sufficient quantities of safe and drinkable water remains a challenge, however. One important approach is to make use of salt water from our unusable water through a process known as desalination. Professor Matthew Suss at the Technion Israel Institute of Technology, with his PhD candidates Mr Eric […]
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A new generation of wearable devices for telemedicine
Wearable gadgets such as smart watches, or wristbands, represent a user-friendly and cost-effective platform for the tracking of physiological parameters, such as heart rate and blood pulse oxygenation levels. However their rigid and opaque nature hinder the development of skin-conformable sensors that provide continuous and accurate data for telemedicine. Dr Emre Ozan Polat and his team from Kadir Has University […]
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Technology-facilitated sexual assault of children and adolescents: A retrospective audit
Dr Jo Tully and Dr Janine Rowse of the Victorian Forensic Paediatric Medical Service (VFPMS) have undertaken a vital retrospective audit of what they have termed technology-facilitated sexual assault (TFSA) of children, where a sexual assault occurs following initial online contact. They found that TFSA forensic caseload has increased over the last 14 years. Victims were most likely to be […]
Using genetic signatures to better classify spinal neurons
Professor Samuel Pfaff at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies builds on previous work revealing important principles related to neural development, gene regulation, axon guidance and connectivity, and spinal motor circuit function. Spinal neurons were traditionally grouped into around 12 cardinal classes – but this doesn’t describe their full diversity. Now, the Salk Institute for Biological Studies team has developed […]
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Hearing loss: who gains the most from cochlear implants?
Hearing loss can cause severe disabilities and impair daily life. Cochlear implants may be an option for those who experience extreme deafness, but there are long waiting lists for potential recipients in countries with limited healthcare options. Paula Greenham of Greenham Research Consulting has investigated what factors are most likely to result in improved quality of life for individuals requiring […]
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