Information Policy

Wi-Fi makes trees sick, study says

Radiation from Wi-Fi networks is harmful to trees, causing significant variations in growth, as well as bleeding and fissures in the bark, according to a recent study in the Netherlands. All deciduous trees in the Western world are affected, according to the study by Wageningen University. The city of Alphen aan den Rijn ordered the study five years ago after officials found unexplained abnormalities on trees that couldn't be ascribed to a virus or bacterial infection. Additional testing found the disease to occur throughout the Western world. In the Netherlands, about 70 percent of all trees in urban areas show the same symptoms, compared with only 10 percent five years ago. Trees in densely forested areas are hardly affected. Besides the electromagnetic fields created by mobile-phone networks and wireless LANs, ultrafine particles emitted by cars and trucks may also be to blame. The study exposed 20 ash trees to various radiation sources for a period of three months. Trees placed closest to the Wi-Fi radio demonstrated a "lead-like shine" on their leaves that was caused by the dying of the upper and lower epidermis of the leaves. This would eventually result in the death of parts of the leaves. The study also found that Wi-Fi radiation could inhibit the growth of corn cobs. The researchers urged that further studies were needed to confirm the current results and determine long-term effects of wireless radiation on trees.

http://www.ejc.net/media_news/wi-fi_makes_trees_sick_study_says/

R&D and the economic crisis: top EU firms cut investment less than US rivals, but Europe still well behind

The European Commission's 2010 "EU Industrial R&D Investment Scoreboard" shows that R&D investment by top EU companies fell by 2.6% in 2009, even though sales and profits fell much more, by 10.1% and 21.0% respectively. The fall in R&D investment by leading players in the US, at 5.1%, was twice as sharp as in the EU, but the worldwide reduction was lower, at 1.9%. Japanese firms maintained their level of investment. Companies based elsewhere in Asia - China, India, Hong Kong, South Korea and Taiwan - continued the high R&D growth seen in previous years. Japanese car maker Toyota is the world's biggest R&D investor (EUR 6.8bn) for the second consecutive year. Three EU companies feature in the top ten: Volkswagen, the biggest investor based in Europe with EUR 5.8bn, Nokia and Sanofi-Aventis. The Scoreboard covers the top 1400 companies worldwide.

2010 "EU Industrial R&D Investment Scoreboard":

http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=MEMO/10/522&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en

ZTE Procures US$3 Bil. in Equipment from Qualcomm and Texas Instruments

ZTE has announced that it will procure US$3 billion in equipment from Qualcomm and Texas Instruments among others.

The announcement comes as Chinese vendors are facing more political obstacles to doing business in the United States and elsewhere. Earlier this month a number of politicians grouped together to demand that the U.S. FCC investigate any security risks from procuring equipment from Huawei or from ZTE. Both vendors have also been adversely affected in 2010 by regulatory problems in India, one of their largest markets. ZTE has said that it has acquired some US$4 billion in IP and hardware from U.S. vendors in the past, and the most recent announcement reflects its desire to emphasise its contribution to the U.S. economy.

https://communicationsdirectnews.com/do.php/150/42066?7649

EU R&D Investment: Three European Companies Make It To The Top 10 List But European Investment Lags Behind Global Average

Volkswagen, Nokia and Aventis are the only three European companies in the top 10 list of R&D investors globally. Toyota, the Japanese car maker is the global leader for the second year in a row, with €6.8bn investment in 2009, the European Commission's "EU Industrial R&D Investment Scoreboard" revealed today.

Microsoft, Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson are the three representatives from the US who made it to the top list. However, the overall trend is US is far less positive - there has been a 5.6% reduction in investment in R&D in the US in 2009.

The top 50 companies on the scoreboard includes 16 EU companies, 19 US firms and 12 from Japan. 30 of the top 50 cut R&D investment in 2009.

European companies reduced their investment in R&D activites by 2.6% in 2009 lagging behind the global average of 1.9%.

Asian economies have continued to invest heavily in Research and Development with growth recorded in many countries. Investment in India increased by 27.3% while China saw a growth of 40%.

Corporate Japan has continued to invest in research and development despite significant fall in profits. South Korea and Taiwan have also reported positive growth.

Within Europe, Germany recorded a 3.2% reduction while French corporate investment in R&D dropped by 4.5%. On the other hand, Switzerland's grew by 2.5% along with Spain which recorded a 15.4% growth despite drop is sales of 6.4%.

The alternative energy sector continues to see significant investments in research & development - 15 companies have made it on the scoreboard, which made investments of more than €500 million in R&D in 2009, an increase of 28.7%.

"The fact that major EU firms have largely maintained their R&D investment shows that they recognise R&D as key to emerging stronger from the crisis." Máire Geoghegan-Quinn, Commissioner for Research, Innovation and Science said.

"But the wide gap with the top US companies in areas like software and biotechnology and the continuing rapid rise of Asian-based companies highlight the innovation emergency Europe is facing.," she added.

"We urgently need heads of state and government at the December European Council to back the Innovation Union proposals that Antonio Tajani and I announced on 6 October."

http://www.egovmonitor.com/node/39153

Improving Internet Access on Trains

Giving reliable, fast and low cost Internet access to passengers on both commuter and long-distance trains has been an elusive goal. But electronics researchers at England's University of York say they have overcome two of the major technological challenges that severely the limit the level of Internet service currently provided on trains.

The researchers claim that their work could soon transform on-board entertainment and Internet access services. "Our research should make it far easier for train operators to offer a broader range of Internet and live media services in many more locations and at a lower cost," says research team leader John Thornton, a research fellow at the University of York.

In order to offer Internet services in any location, trains need to be equipped with a dish, or "reflector," that both transmits to and receives signals from an orbiting satellite. This is currently only possible on a relatively small number of routes where there is sufficient headroom between the train cars and tunnels or overhead cables. Using alternative technology to satellites results in reduced bandwidth and patchy geographical coverage.

A dome-like "lens" structure, which is much lower in height, is an alternative to a dish, but the technology's use is limited by both its cost and reduced effectiveness at receiving signals. Thornton claims that his team has developed a much simpler lens model that uses common plastics and outperforms existing versions. He adds that the team has also devised a system that will allow a single lens to track a variety of satellites simultaneously, giving train operators increased reliability and the opportunity to offer passengers a much broader range of services.

"There is a growing expectation among consumers that they should be able to enjoy access to the Internet and other media wherever they are," Thornton says. "Providing these services on a moving vehicle such as a train ... is a huge technological challenge and that is reflected in the limited number of routes where they are currently enjoyed by passengers." Thornton adds that the team's research should make it far easier for train operators to offer "a broader range of Internet and live media services in many more locations and at a lower cost."

The research conducted at the University of York has been supported by a grant from the European Space Agency. The school is now looking for a commercial partner to move the project forward.

http://communicationsdirectnews.com/do.php/150/34187?7649

"Towards a more research-intensive and integrated European Research Area" - Science, Technology and Competitiveness key figures report 2008

This memo provides the main data and detailed analysis of EU's performance in Science, Technology and Competitiveness compared with its main competitors. This Key Figures report is prepared and published by the Directorate-General for Research of the European Commission. The 2008 report present an overview of the progress in both EU investment and in implementing the European Research Area from 2000 to 2006. This MEMO only focuses on the first part of the report. For more information on progress of the European Research Area, please refer to the report: http://ec.europa.eu/research/era/

http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=MEMO/09/19&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=nl

Internet car radio a world first

Australian technology is powering the world's first internet car radio, which will soon provide drivers worldwide with access to 30,000 stations including online broadcasts and AM and FM stations from around the globe. The technology was developed by Melbourne-based online radio aggregator miRoamer, which has inked a deal with one of the largest producers of car radios in the world, German-based Blaupunkt. The technology, unveiled in prototype form at the 2009 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, poses a significant threat to traditional terrestrial broadcasters because it opens them up to competition from tens of thousands more radio stations from around the world. Blaupunkt will produce the radios, which should soon be integrated into the latest models by car manufacturers such as Ford, Holden, Mercedes, BMW and Audi. The product will also be sold separately for those who want to install it in their cars. George Parthimos, CEO of Doncaster-based miRoamer, said in an interview his company had signed agreements with internet radio stations from all over the world and brought them together so they could be accessed through miRoamer.com and on devices including car radios and mobile phones. The product is expected to be launched in the US and Europe in the second half of this year, before coming to Australia next year as a stand-alone product and built into new cars from the factory.

http://www.ejc.net/media_news/internet_car_radio_a_world_first/

Opening up the last part of the spectrum

Also possible applications in livestock sex detection. © Muro - Fotolia.com New European research on the last, hidden part of the electromagnetic spectrum is producing new, safe and non-destructive tests for medicine, security and industrial quality control.

Terahertz waves occupy the part of the spectrum between light and radio, specifically between infrared and millimetre waves. With wavelengths of 0.1-1mm, THz waves can be used like light or x-rays to create detailed images of solid objects. They have the useful property of passing easily through packaging and clothes, and since they are non-ionising they are safer than x-rays.

But THz waves can probe the content of objects as well as their shapes, thanks to their ability to respond to chemical properties. This is because their frequency range of 0.3-3THz matches the natural molecular vibrations of many common substances and biological materials.

Add these two properties together and you have a scanner that can not only detect a hidden package, but also show what is inside. New European research on THz waves could enable applications that include detecting tumours beneath the skin, a new and powerful kind of microscope for biological research, and quality control in semiconductor and pharmaceutical factories, as well as smart security scanners.

http://cordis.europa.eu/ictresults/index.cfm?section=news&tpl=article&ID=90252

A Wireless Network Based on Visible Light

Researchers at several educational institutions are working on a next-generation wireless communications technology that's based on visible light rather than radio waves. The Boston University, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and University of New Mexico (UNM) researchers want to piggyback data communications capabilities onto low-power light emitting diodes (LEDs) in order to create "Smart Lighting" that would be both faster and more secure than current network technology. The project promises to make an LED device the equivalent of a WiFi access point.

"Imagine if your computer, iPhone, TV, radio and thermostat could all communicate with you when you walked in a room just by flipping the wall light switch and without the usual cluster of wires," says Thomas Little, a Boston University engineering professor. "This could be done with an LED-based communications network that also provides light--all over existing power lines with low power consumption, high reliability and no electromagnetic interference."

The researchers are developing smart lighting devices and systems applications, as well as the various materials needed for wireless devices to interface with a network. Boston University's research efforts will focus on developing networking applications, notably the solid-state optical technology that will form the network's backbone. The three partners combined will have 30 faculty researchers plus students, postdoctoral researchers and visiting industry engineers working as regular contributors.

"This is a unique opportunity to create a transcendent technology that not only enables energy efficient lighting, but also creates the next generation of secure wireless communications," Little says. "As we switch from incandescent and compact florescent lighting to LEDs in the coming years, we can simultaneously build a faster and more secure communications infrastructure at a modest cost along with new and unexpected applications."

Little envisions the creation of indoor optical wireless communications systems that use white LED lighting within a room to provide Internet connections to computers, ordinary and mobile smart phones, TVs, radios and thermostats. With widespread LED lighting, a vast network of light-based communication is possible, Little states. A wireless device within sight of an enabled LED could send and receive data though the air--initially at speeds in the 1 to 10 megabit per second range--with each LED serving as an access point to the network.

"The innovative LED-based networking research ... has the potential to be extremely positive and disruptive to the market," says Inder Monga, a project leader in advanced networking research at Nortel. "Nortel believes the era of hyperconnectivity is upon us and the potential new applications that this visible light-based networking could enable with its energy efficient qualities, privacy and its ubiquitous nature is very exciting."

http://communicationsdirectnews.com/do.php/150/33620?7649

Opening the door to Europe’s archives

Portal making it easier than ever to find documents, old and new. © Stuart - Fotolia.com Historical archives can be difficult to search, especially when relevant documents are held by institutions in different countries. A European project has shown how a single online portal with a simple graphical interface can speed cross-border searches.

Most people have used a library but very few will have visited historical archives. Unlike libraries, archives are primarily concerned with conserving records rather than being accessible to visitors. Even with online search facilities, locating archival material is an art best left to specialist researchers who know their way around.

“Archival structures are complex,” says Fredrik Palm of Umeå University, assistant coordinator of the QVIZ project co-funded by the EU. “Archivists have a duty to maintain the provenance of their records – this is the most important thing they do. And if you keep that structure it doesn’t make it easy to find the right information.”

In Europe, researchers have the added headache of dealing with dozens of national archives, not to speak of thousands of private collections all over the continent. And shifting borders over the centuries make it even harder to track down all records about a person or event.

QVIZ was launched in 2006 to find ways to make Europe’s digital archives more accessible. Collaborators in five countries have created an online portal that makes it easier than ever to find documents quickly and accurately.

http://cordis.europa.eu/ictresults/index.cfm?section=news&tpl=article&ID=90195