Tue, Jun 21, 2005 page16

• A Brief Look at Science

  • AGENCIES
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  World Bank helps out China
  

  The World Bank said last week it would lend China US$87 million to help expand the supply of renewable electricity in Asia's economic powerhouse and giant energy consumer. "China's abundant undeveloped resources of small hydropower, wind, biomass, geothermal and solar energy ... could help the country reduce some of the environmental damage from its overwhelming dependence on coal for large-scale, grid-based power generation," the global lender said.

  Africans flood to cities

  Sub-Saharan Africa's traditionally rural-based society is fast disappearing, with more than half its roughly 700 million people seen living in urban areas by 2030, the United Nations said Friday. The head of the UN housing project Habitat said Africa's "chaotic urbanization" was -- together with the HIV/AIDS pandemic -- the biggest threat to the world's poorest continent.

  More tsunamis predicted
  

  Scientists are convinced another giant tsunami will one day sweep across the Indian Ocean -- what they are not sure about is when. Almost six months after the deadly Dec. 26 tsunami, triggered by a magnitude 9.15 earthquake, scientists are keeping a close eye on aftershocks and the increased earthquake activity around Indonesia as they try to work out when the next big one will hit.

  Blair caught in climate dilemma
  

  British Prime Minister Tony Blair is trapped in a dilemma of his own creation over saving the planet from global warming, analysts say. Blair has put climate change at the heart of his year-long presidency of the Group of Eight industrial nations, but his efforts to get action agreed at next month's G8 summit in Scotland are being repeatedly torpedoed by the US.

  Desertification a global threat

  Desertification threatens to drive millions of people from their homes in coming decades while vast dust storms will damage the health of people continents away, an international report said last week. "Desertification has emerged as a global problem affecting everyone," said Zafar Adeel, assistant director of the UN University's water academy and a lead author of a report drawing on the work of 1,360 scientists in 95 nations.

  Brazilians uncover `Michelangelo code'
  

  Two Brazilian doctors and amateur art lovers believe they have uncovered a secret lesson on human anatomy hidden by Renaissance artist Michelangelo in the Sistine Chapel's ceiling. Completed nearly 500 years ago, the brightly colored frescoes painted on the Vatican's famous sanctuary are considered some of the world's greatest works of art. They depict Biblical scenes such as the Creation of Adam in which God reaches out to touch Adam's finger.

  Scientists look for new blood
  

  Australian scientists say they have found a way to make blood cells in volume out of human master cells, which could eventually lead to production of safe blood cells for transfusions and organ transplants. Synthetically produced red blood cells would, in theory, overcome the concerns about dangerous infections that can be transmitted from blood donors to patients worldwide.
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