Press Releases - February 2007
Archive
February 2007
Recent RTD Info about EIROforum English French
Magazine on European Research published by the European Commission
28 February 2007 - CERN
Giant magnet goes underground at CERN
At 6:00 am this morning the heaviest piece of the Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) particle detector began a momentous journey into the experiment's cavern, 100 metres underground at CERN. Using a huge gantry crane, custom-built by the Vorspann System Losinger Group, the pre-assembled central piece, containing the magnet and weighing as much as five Jumbo jets (1920 tonnes) is being gently lowered into place. The entire process is expected to take about ten hours to complete.
26 February 2007 - ESA
Official opening of the Soyuz launch base construction site in French Guiana
The construction site of the Soyuz launch base in French Guiana was officially opened today by Jean-Jacques Dordain, ESA Director General, Yannick d'Escatha, President of CNES, Jean-Yves Le Gall, Director General of Arianespace, and Anatoly Perminov, Head of Roscosmos. The ceremony took place in the presence of many French authorities and representatives of all the European and Russian entities contributing to the startup of the project.
25 February 2007 - EMBL
A first glimpse of the influenza replication machine
In 1918, 50 million people died during a worldwide influenza pandemic caused by mutation of a bird-specific strain of the influenza virus. Recently H5N1, another highly infectious avian strain has caused outbreaks of bird flu around the world. Researchers from the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Grenoble and Heidelberg, the Institut de Biologie Structurale (IBS) and the Unit of Virus Host Cell Interactions (UVHCI), both in Grenoble, have now produced the first 3-dimensional image of part of this key protein.
25 February 2007 - ESA
Rosetta comet-chaser takes a close look at planet Mars
There was considerable relief today at ESA's space operations centre (ESOC) in Darmstadt, Germany. In the early hours, spacecraft controllers, orbital mechanics experts, engineers and scientists were able to witness a spacecraft playing 'cosmic billiards'. Between 03:13 and 03:40 CET, ESA's comet chaser, Rosetta, swung by Mars at a distance of only 250 kilometres and then whooshed away from the Red Planet, on a brand new path, continuing on a journey that will ultimately take it beyond Jupiter's orbit.
24 February 2007 - ESO
SN1987A's Twentieth Anniversary
The unique supernova SN 1987A has been a bonanza for astrophysicists. It provided several observational 'firsts,' like the detection of neutrinos from an exploding star, the observation of the progenitor star on archival photographic plates, the signatures of a non-spherical explosion, the direct observation of the radioactive elements produced during the blast, observation of the formation of dust in the supernova, as well as the detection of circumstellar and interstellar material.
16 February 2007 - ESA
Media event at ESOC: closest encounter between ESA's comet chaser Rosetta and Mars
On Sunday 25 February, ESA's probe Rosetta, currently on a ten-year journey to comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko, will make its closest approach to the planet Mars, coming within 250 kilometres of its surface.
13 February 2007 - ESA
ESA astronaut Léopold Eyharts assigned to European Columbus laboratory mission to the ISS
ESA astronaut Léopold Eyharts of France has today been assigned to fly onboard the International Space Station for the delivery and commissioning of the European Columbus laboratory currently planned for this autumn.
12 February 2007 - EMBL
A signal that protects the liver from hepatitis and cancer
Liver cancer is one of the deadliest cancers worldwide; every year sees more than 400,000 new cases, and most of the victims die in less than one year. Despite extensive research, the underlying molecular mechanisms of the disease are poorly understood. A new study by researchers from the Mouse Biology Unit of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory [EMBL] in Monterotondo, Italy, and the University of Cologne, Germany, now reveals that a cellular signalling pathway protects the liver from developing cancer.
11 February 2007 - EMBL
Putting an old drug to a new use
We all know that iron deficiencies are dangerous, but also too much iron is bad for our health. Our body stores excess iron in various tissues, where it can lead to organ failure and even death if not treated before irreversible damage has occurred. Researchers from the Innsbruck Medical University, the University of Heidelberg, Germany, and the European Molecular Biology Laboratory [EMBL] now made a surprising discovery that may lead to new therapeutic approaches to treating such disorders.
2 February 2007 - EMBL
Investigating the invisible life in our environment
Microorganisms make up more than a third of the Earth's biomass. Still, we know surprisingly little about the smallest beings that colonise Earth. A new computational method to analyse environmental DNA samples, developed by researchers at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory [EMBL] in Heidelberg, now sheds light on the microbial composition of different habitats, from soil to water.
1 February 2007 - EMBL
New Facility for Structural Biology to investigate the molecules of life with powerful synchrotron radiation
The German Federal Ministry for Education and Research [BMBF] has awarded 8.8 Million Euro to the Hamburg Outstation of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) for the construction of an Integrated Research Facility for Structural Biology at the new PETRA-III storage ring of the German Synchrotron Research Centre (DESY), named EMBL@PETRA-III.