Background
UCD science film fest
UCD Science Expression – Ireland’s first and only dedicated science film festival – kicks off tomorrow, Thursday 31st October.

If you love science, have a soft spot for scientists and relish the innovative thinking of researchers worldwide, UCD Science Expression is for you.

The 2013 edition of UCD Science Expression showcases some of the most exciting filmmaking inspired by and excavating science. From classic movies seen in a very different light to world-class features and shorts premiering at UCD Science Expression. We present screenings, events and debate for enquiring minds of all ages.  Festival 2013 takes a unique journey through key themes including The Curious Mind, Land & Identity, Frontiers of Discovery and Biodiversity and Ecology in The Lighthouse, IFI, Botanic Gardens and The Ark from October 31stNovember 3rd.

Click here to find out more…
N13163

A software reminiscence therapy for sufferers of Alzheimer’s disease and other dementia called Rempad has won the Clinical Innovation Award 2013, sponsored by Enterprise Ireland and Cleveland Clinic, Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Richard Bruton TD announced on Wed 23rd Oct.

Julia O’Rourke, a senior speech and language therapist, was presented with the award by Minister Bruton at the Enterprise Ireland Med in Ireland event in Dublin today (Wednesday).

Rempad is a new software tool which uses multi-media content to connect carers and residents with memories from the past to enhance the overall wellbeing of nursing home residents suffering from Alzheimer’s.

There are 35 million people living with dementia worldwide, and this will triple by 2050. Rempad’s reminiscence therapy software uses historical artifacts such as photos and broadcast footage to stimulate memories from the past and help individuals or groups to communicate.

O’Rourke collaborated with the Adelaide and Meath Hospital and researchers at CLARITY in Dublin City University to develop Rempad.

 

Click here to find out more…

dart

Science isn’t about memorising equations and battling with proofs – it’s how we see, and understand and shape the world around us. Over the course of eight weeks, starting on the 21st of October 2013, Prof Shane Bergin, Prof Colette Murphy, Dr Jessamyn Fairfield and The Science Squad’s Aoibhinn Ní Shúilleabháin turn Dublin’s DART into a laboratory and get the city thinking and talking about physics.

Discover and learn scientific concepts through tricky teasers, mind-melting facts and seemingly illogical questions that will be scattered throughout the DART. All you’ll have to do is look around you on your journey.

And if you want to know more, check out the website here

Genomic Selection - Cows in Field

Tyndall National Institute has launched a US-Ireland animal health research project, AgriSense, to diagnose Bovine Respiratory Disease (BRD) – Ireland’s No.1 cause of calf death.

The research will be conducted under a €900,000 R&D partnership between Tyndall, Georgia Institute of Technology and Queen’s University Belfast. The team will work to develop a sensor-based diagnostic kit to enable simultaneous testing for the four primary viral agents responsible for the disease and could facilitate field side testing for the first time with results in as little as 15 minutes.

Speaking at the launch, Simon Coveney TD, Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, said “Bovine Respiratory Disease is responsible for in the region of 30% of deaths in stock under one-year old in Ireland and costs Irish farmers millions of euros each year in treatment and lost time to market. Affecting both beef and dairy herds, it is also a major source of lost revenue to the global agri-food industry. We need innovative ways of tackling this scourge and I am delighted that Tyndall has been chosen as a lead partner to lend its expertise in sensor technology to revolutionise farm-side testing.”

Dr Alan O’Riordan, Nanotechnology Group, Tyndall National Institute said: “The AgriSense project will explore the application of nano and sensor technology to provide a low-cost yet extremely precise and quick method of testing for use in animal health and disease diagnostics. The international team will work across Ireland, the US and Northern Ireland to explore how this technology can help in the fight against BRD, with livestock testing planned within the next three years.”

The sensors will be fabricated on disposable plastic testers to keep costs down and could reduce diagnosis time by up to four weeks. It is hoped that early detection and diagnosis will enable infected cattle to be isolated and could also facilitate more tailored treatment programmes eradicating the current practice of costly indiscriminate dosing to stop the spread of infection.

For more, click here