Tag: economics
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Project Seeks Potatoes Resistant to Climate Change
Spain’s Basque Institute for Agricultural Research and Development (Neiker-Tecnalia) is leading an international project to find potatoes tolerant of climate change and develop new potato varieties as needed. The potatoes should be suitable for growing under adverse environmental conditions, and help ensure their supply in the least favorable regions of the world. The potato is…
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Court Rules for Companies in University Collaborations
Bloomberg News reports that the Supreme Court ruled today in favor of the Swiss pharmaceutical company Roche, against a suit filed by Stanford University in Palo Alto, California that contended Roche violated the university’s patent rights under the 1980 Bayh-Dole Act. The 7-2 vote affirmed a lower court decision that Roche became co-owner of the…
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U.S. Cosmetics Company Opens China R&D Center
Estée Lauder Companies Inc. in New York (ELC) is opening its Asia Innovation Center in Shanghai, China. The new center expands on the company’s research lab that opened in China in 2005. ELC has been doing business in China since 1993. The company says the center will help develop products tailored to the needs of…
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Study Highlights Crop Regions At Risk from Climate Change
A study by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) identifies food production regions in the world most at risk from disruption due to climate change. Some of these populations, in Africa and South Asia for example, are already facing food shortages, while other food-producing regions including China and Latin America run the risk…
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Farmer Networks Key to Agricultural Innovation in Mexico
Researchers at Stanford University in California have documented the vital role played in Mexico by farmers’ support networks in encouraging agricultural sustainability. Ellen McCullough, now at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and Pamela Matson of Stanford’s Program on Food Security and the Environment, published their findings online in the Proceedings of the National Academy…
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Hybrid Construction Vehicles in Development Cut Fuel Use
Engineers at Aalto University in Finland are developing hybrid combustion/electric versions of heavy off-road work vehicles that can cut the amount of fuel they consume by half. This new technology, says the university, captures energy, which up to now has been lost by the machinery when working, and uses it instead of fuel. The engineering…
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Global Entrepreneurship Week to Recognize 50 New Start-Ups
Startup Open has launched its search for the 50 most promising new start-ups around the world as part of Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW) 2011. Winners of the competition will be announced on 15 October 2011, with those companies then competing for the top honors. The competition, now in its second year, is open to entrepreneurs…
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State, Industry Funding Support University Solar Center
The State of Ohio and several companies are contributing funds for an R&D center at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland to boost the lifetime of solar energy technologies. The Solar-Durability and Lifetime Extension (S-DLE) Center at Case Western Reserve will have labs and test facilities to evaluate materials and components under extreme conditions. The…
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Challenge Seeks Faster, Simpler Crop Analysis Methods
A new challenge on InnoCentive seeks better tools for farmers to evaluate their management practices and improve the use of fertilizer and other crop inputs. The competition, sponsored by the Environmental Defense Fund and the Iowa Soybean Association, will award a $15,000 prize to the winning entry. The deadline for the challenge is 13 August…
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Hydrogen for Energy Generated from Ethanol, Sunlight
A team of researchers from Scotland, New Zealand, and Spain have developed a simpler and less expensive technology to generate hydrogen for energy. Their findings appear online in the journal Nature Chemistry (paid subscription required). In this process, a solid photocatalyst is placed in a container with ethanol and exposed to ultraviolet light, part of…