Modifying astronauts' microbiome may enhance prevention from commensal bacteria caused infections at microgravity condition

Since in 2020s, astronauts will be expected to build a colony at Mars without return. And in a report named 'Microbial responses to microgravity and other low-shear environments' by Nickerson et al. at 2004, it is stated that Salmonella... continue reading

From global to local: making international sustainable development goals relevant at the watershed scale

In 2015, the United Nations is likely to adopt 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG 15s), with 169 associated targets. These goals are intended to improve on the Millennium Development Goals by addressing key systemic barriers such as inequality,... continue reading

Limiting the Risks and Effects of Dry Cargo Liquefaction with Drying Filler Material

All too frequently, cargo ships transporting bulk cargo sink because of dry cargo liquefaction. By mixing cargo material (CM) with a non-reactive Drying Filler Material (DFM) the cargo hold could be filled completely regardless of the amount of CM... continue reading

Limiting the Effects of Dry Cargo Liquefaction: Ultralight Honeycomb Cargo Hold Separators

Dry cargo liquefaction of cargoes such as nickel, iron or bauxite leads to numerous losses of human lives and shipping vessels. Despite regulatory and technical efforts, it appears very difficult if not impossible to completely prevent dry cargo... continue reading

International Law Challenges of Liability Regulation for Space Elevator Tourism

A Space Elevator raises a number of issues from the legal perspective. Below an altitude of 100km national law and international air law apply. Above, international space law would govern the elevator. Choosing a base station on land or at sea... continue reading

The Austrian Science Fund (FWF): Analyzing Decision Making and Peer Review

The legitimacy of a funding agency in basic research depends at least on the following factors:

  • organization’s ability to minimize distortions in approval probability by its decision procedure
  • the scientific quality of results produced by... continue reading

On centralized vs. decentralized neurotechnologies

Neurotechnology is any technology developed to interface with brain function. It is a rapidly advancing area with important implications for the study of the brain and neurological disorders, as well as consumerization of the connectome and... continue reading

Peak Urbanism, Future Cities and Climate

Over half the global population is already urban, and the UN expect this share to continue rising [[UN 2014]] (http://esa.un.org/unpd/wup/default.aspx). Not only are cities already responsible for about 70% of global CO2, but their concentration... continue reading

Explaining and Overcoming Intellectual Segregation

Among the many insights of Nobel prize-winning economist Thomas Schelling is his model of racial segregation. Observing urban dynamics in the United States in the late 1960s, Schelling modeled how individual preferences can lead to collectively... continue reading

Ecofriendly Management of Plant Diseases by Biosynthesised Secondary Metabolites of Trichoderma spp.

The status of Trichoderma spp. in established research and industry is in view of its twin focal advantages of plant growth promotion and biological control. However, these features are fully expressed in field conditions primarily when an... continue reading

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