Ireland has one of the highest incidence of asthma in the world, and the problem shows no signs of going away. So, why is it that asthma is increasing everywhere in the developed world, and Ireland in particular? Meanwhile, in less developed countries, such as many African nations, asthma is rarely seen. Professor Padraic Fallon, [...]
Archive for the ‘TELEVISION’ Category
23 Mar
Better test for lung cancer at St James’s Dublin
Lung cancer is the biggest among men with cancer in Ireland each year, and the second biggest killer of women. There are approximately 1,800 cases of lung cancer each year in Ireland. At St James’s Hospital in Dublin about 450 cases of lung cancer are seen each year. Dr Joe Keane, Respiratory Consultant at St [...]
23 Mar
Are Irish people eating themselves to death?
Experts estimate that 2,500 Irish people per year die as a result of being obese. Shockingly, 24 per cent of Irish adults are now obese, while 20 per cent of 5 to 12 year olds are either obese or overweight. Despite this huge and growing threat to public health problem, there is only one clinic [...]
30 Dec
‘Space Junk’: A Growing Problem Ireland’s Helping to Solve
Since the launch of the the world’s first satellite, Sputnik, by the Soviet Union in 1957, there have been an estimated 600,000 pieces of space debris, of varying sizes, transported and dumped in space by mankind. These pieces of ‘space junk’ no longer serve any useful purpose, but they have the potential to cause serious [...]
13 Apr
Astronauts perform tasks using Irish 3D training videos
The European Space Agency has contracted Irish firm, Cortona 3D, to provide 3D training videos to help its astronauts perform difficult tasks in space. Astronauts are less likely to make mistakes, it is believed, when following video prompts rather than reading manuals, as was the case up to now. Specifically, the Irish training videos will [...]
8 Apr
Cork’s Tyndall on a mission to Mercury
Relatively little is known about Mercury, one of our nearest planetary neighbours, but the European Space Agency is aiming to address this with a spaceprobe mission to Mercury set to launch in 2013. One of the major problems for any probe getting close to Mercury is the extreme heat, with temperatures rising to 350C even when [...]
8 Apr
Irish scientist predicting ‘solar storms’
Solar storms, caused by eruptions of charged particles from the Sun can threaten the lives of astronauts working on the International Space Station as well as disrupt telecommunications and power systems on Earth. The impacts can be dramatically reduced if such storms can be predicted and prepared for. That is exactly what Peter Gallagher, astrophysicist, [...]
7 Apr
UCD team to keep astronauts fit on future missions
Future missions to Mars may take up to three years to complete, and during this time astronauts will be subject to the bone and muscle wasting pressures that come from living in the zero gravity, or close to zero gravity, of space. It is imperative that a way is found to keep astronauts fit and [...]
7 Apr
Irish ‘Atomic Clock’ guides Europe’s satellites
An Irish company, Eblana Photonics, has developed ultra-accurate atomic clocks, that will provide positioning information for Europe’s new Gailileo satellite system. Europe is developing Galileo has a rival to the US GPS system, and to provide Europe with its own independent satellite navigation system that is not under the control of the US military. WATCH: [...]
