Self-Driving Van Makes It To China

I posted about the four electric vans that split for China a couple of months ago. Well, 8 000 miles later, the ghost-drvien machines reached its destination. It went through several countries and the rough terrain Asia has to offer including the Gobi desert, busy motorways, blizzards and rain.

The van is on display at the Shanghai 2010 Auto Expo.

Excerpt from the article:

Using a system called the Generic Obstacle and Lane Detector, or GOLD, these two vans were able to pretty much guide themselves across the two continents.

The vehicles were equipped with four solar-powered laser scanners and seven video cameras that work together to detect and avoid obstacles, are part of an experiment aimed at improving road safety and advancing automotive technology.

Meningitis Vaccine Discovered And Approved

Given how much press meningitis receives, it's odd that the discovery of a vaccine in Italy wasn't reported here in Canada as far as I know.

Excerpt:

An all-Italian team of researchers has produced the first combined vaccine to protect against four of the five most dangerous strains of meningitis, the serogroups A, C, W135 and Y, reports Corriere della Sera.


The Swiss vaccine company Novartis, which also has a branch in Siena and produced a vaccine against meningitis C in 2008, has been given the green light to supply the new vaccine to pharmacies in Italy. It will be available to children over the age of eleven whose parents are in possession of a prescription from a paediatrician. Novartis coordinator Rino Rappuoli has explained that the vaccine contains a protein carrier which increases the body’s defences against the disease.

The vaccine was given a green light from U.S. and European agencies. Not sure about Canada.

Cancer Research Breakthroughs

Dr. Antonio Giordano is leading the way in searching for cures for heart disease, diabetes and cancer. Video at Redorbit.

Rocket Sheep In Space

Claude Ruggieri was a rocket visionary.

From the Rocketry blog (link above):

"Claude Ruggieri sent up a live sheep around 600 feet in the air and succeeded in bringing it back to earth with a soft landing using parachutes. He did this sometime around 1806. He would have sent a young boy up making him the first “astronaut” but the local police put a stop to it. Claude Ruggieri was an Italian living in Paris. He accomplished practical application of rocket propulsion using clusters to lift heavier objects. He referred to them as a rocket necklace."

When In Milan

You may want to check out he Museum of Science & Technology:

"With its twenty-eight sections, from information technology to engines to astronomy, some 40 000 square metres of displays, and a massive 15 000 pieces in its collection, the "Leonardo da Vinci" National Museum of Science and Technology in Milan is one of the most important technical and scientific museums in the world. The museum is made up of three separate buildings: the Monumental Building, which is a former Olivetan monastery whose construction dates back to the early sixteenth century; the Rail Transport Building and the Air&Sea Transport Building."

Spider-Man? Try Spider-Pill

Scientists in Tuscany invented a "spider-pill" that they feel can replace tradtional invasive options in detecting serious diseases such as colon cancer. It's a device that once swallowed can be controlled as it explores the nether regions of your bowels and other parts of the body. See the video here at the BBC.

Polysolver Bids To Enter Gulf Spill Clean Up

"Italy could provide the solution to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill that is currently polluting the Gulf of Mexico.

Polysolver is a product that binds inextricably with hydrocarbons forming a paste that can be used as fuel, or from which the crude oil can be recovered by ‘wringing it out’. The US company responsible for the clean-up operation has requested a sample of the product. The innovation was made by a company called GTA srl, owned by Catania-based Arcobaleno and the National Research Council (CNR) in Rome."

All I know is it's a shame BP had no back up plan.

Medical Breakthroughs In Turin, Pisa And Rome

Turin scientists identify metastasis molecule.

"Italian researchers say they have discovered a molecule that governs the spread of cancers, possibly paving the way for new treatments for millions of sufferers worldwide."

Read more here.

"A mother who gave her daughter a kidney in a life-saving operation had more reason that most to feel nervous... because the surgeon was a ROBOT."

More on robot assisted kidney transplant in Pisa here.

From Life In Italy, doctors discover gene causing diabetes  and another study learns method in detecting strokes in diabetics in Rome.