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From Outlook 2005 Report |
Tomorrow
in Brief
edited by Cindy Wagner
Child's Play and World Problems
Specially designed board games are teaching children how to solve world problems.
"The Road to Peace" game created by the United Nations is being used in
Afghanistan to raise children's awareness of the peace and reconstruction processes,
covering the steps needed to improve education and health services. Players are rewarded
or penalized for the choices they make in the game's scenarios. |
© IRIN
| Afghan youngsters play with peace, using a scenario-based
educational board game. |
|
| The "Keep Cool" game
developed by the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research is being used to show the
impacts that our choices have as global temperatures rise. The player who most effectively
reconciles climate protection with special interests wins the game. Because the games are
interactive and don't require high levels of literacy, they are ideal for reaching
children in rural or impoverished regions. Sources: United Nations Assistance
Mission in Afghanistan, www.unama-afg.org. Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact
Research, www.pik-potsdam.de.
Information about the Keep Cool game: www.spiel-keep-cool.de. |
Skin Cancer Increases among Young People
Non-melanoma skin cancer, which most commonly occurs after age 50, has increased
significantly among young adults in the last three decades, according to the Mayo Clinic.
Earlier, longer-term, and more-intense exposure to the sun and the use of tanning beds are
among the reasons for the increase of basal cell and squamous cell carcinomas among
younger people. Other factors contributing to the problem are exposure to UV light and
ozone depletion. Prevention efforts thus need to begin at earlier ages, including limiting
sun exposure, using protective sunscreens, and immediate dermatological examination of
unusual spots on the skin.
Source: Mayo Clinic, 200 First Street, SW, Rochester, Minnesota 55905. Web site www.mayoclinic.org.
Flower Power
Plant researchers at the Max Planck Institute believe they have pinpointed the molecule,
called FT, that induces the flowering process in plants. Plants use environmental
information to "decide" when to flower, so they are geographically limited in
where they can be grown. This discovery might thus lead to the creation of plant varieties
that could grow in places they would not normally be able to. Flowering is part of the
creation of seeds, fruits, and grains, so the ability to stimulate that process has been
long sought for its potential benefits to agriculture. Source:
The Max Planck Society for the Advancement of Science, Web site www.mpg.de.
|
 |
Mustard plant Arabidopsis
grown in laboratory, before (left) and after flowering. Researchers may have unlocked the
secret of inducing plants to flower.
KIRSTEN BOMBLIES / COURTESY OF MAX PLANCK SOCIETY
|
Car-to-Car Talk
Wireless technologies will soon enable motor vehicles to communicate with each
other, exchanging such information as proximity and speed. The idea is to prevent
accidents: For example, the system could warn other nearby vehicles when a car is braking
in order to prevent rear-end collisions, according to DaimlerChrysler's CarTalk 2000
coordinator Christian Maihofer. The data exchange would occur through ad hoc networks of
short-distance connections, spontaneously created as vehicles come near each other.
Potentially, lane changing could be safer and easier as the vehicles communicating via
these networks cooperate to facilitate everyone's movements.
Source: IST Results, http://istresults.cordis.lu. For more information, contact
DaimlerChrysler AG, Technologietransfer Telematic, Benzstrasse, D-71063 Singelfingen,
Germany. Web site www.cartalk2000.net.
Nanotubes May Deliver Drugs
Smart drug-delivery systems that release medicines into the body at a precise
location could come soon thanks to nanotech research. Bio-nanotubes developed at the
University of California, Santa Barbara, are "smart" because they can respond to
electrical charges from cells telling them to close or open and release the drugs. The
chemotherapy drug Taxol is one potential candidate for the smart bio-nanotube capsules,
according to the researchers.
Source: University of California, Santa Barbara, Public Affairs Office, Santa
Barbara, California 93106. Web site www.ia.ucsb.edu/pa/news.aspx.
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