Green light for sexy new car show

by Jonathan Morris BBC News South West

The Axon Eco-M loses its windscreen to lose weight

A new type of car show at the Eden Project in Cornwall is a brave attempt to bring together two things not often seen in the same sentence, sexy and green.

The Sexy Green Car Show, which opened on Friday, claims to have it all, sex and green issues all under one giant biome, or greenhouse.

As well as the tropical vegetation normally seen at Eden the site is also providing a temporary showcase for biofuels and automotive ideas for a more ecologically aware future.

Sexy is certainly here, in the form of rakish sportscars and green is here, in the more dumpy offerings from the major manufacturers.

But sexy and green. Together?

'Bug eater'

Welcome to the Axon Eco-M. If sex comes in the shape of four wheels, a race-tuned engine, a shiny black body and acceleration to knock you back in your seat, then the Axon is it.

Axon Automotive, based in Wellingborough, Northamptonshire, have stripped down a Caterham 7, even taking off the windscreen.

The result is what is called a "bug eater" in the motoring trade.

The Eco One has tyres which are made from potatoes

Recycled carbon fibre has been used in a production car for the first time, and there is a gadget that tells drivers when to change gear for maximum fuel economy.

Combined with what Axon is describing as "eco-driving techniques", the 500 kilo Eco-M should enjoy a 20% improvement in fuel economy over the standard 7, says Axxon.

Perhaps less sexy, but probably more green is the Eco One, an environmentally-friendly racing car from WMG, a provider of innovative solutions to industry based at the University of Warwick.

Not only are its tyres made from potatoes and brake pads from cashew nut shells, it does 0-62mph in four seconds and has a top speed of 125 mph.

Meanwhile, groupBio, a UK-based racing team, has produced a racing car which runs on nuts.

The firm's partner, UK-based D1 Oils, is producing a form of diesel, called biodiesel, from tropical nuts called jatropha.

The D1 will be powered partly by tropical jatropha nuts

And it says that jatropha really is a green alternative to fossil-fuel and to biodiesel produced from palm oil.

Graham Prince, of UK-based D1 Oils, said: "We have always known there are many potential raw materials for biodiesel.

"A lot of those used are soya or rape seed, but we thought it is wrong to make fuel from something that is used to feed people."

The company has planted about 145,000 hectares of jatropha trees in Zambia, Swaziland, India and Indonesia and aims to make it available from next year as part of a blended bio-fuel.

The 200mph racing car, based on a 2004 Lola, runs on diesel blended with up to 50% per cent jatropha biodiesel.

The Eco-M, groupBio and WMG are lining up with the giants from the motoring world at the show, including Saab, Ford, Vauxhall, Toyota, VW and Mercedes.

The Sexy Green Car Show runs to 15 April.

Government 'failing' nanoscience

By Jonathan Fildes BBC News science and technology reporter

Progress has been made to reduce exposure to nanomaterials

The UK government has failed to fund adequate research into potential risks posed by developing nanotechnology, a report by leading advisors has warned.

As well as not spotting possible harmful effects, the UK risked losing its world lead in nanoscience, it said.

The Council for Science and Technology (CST) review examined progress on government commitments made in 2005.

Science minister Malcolm Wicks welcomed the review and said government would "respond fully" to the report in time.

Big business

The word "nanotechnologies" describes an array of technologies from different areas of science including chemistry, engineering and biosciences.

At its most basic level, it involves manipulating molecules and even atoms to make novel materials.

Click here to see a nanotech future

This precision engineering exploits the unusual electrical and optical properties that operate at these small scales, for example.

Governments and big business have high hopes for the tiny science. It is estimated that the industry could be worth $1 trillion (£500bn) by 2015.

The safe development of a new technology should not depend on whether an academic wins a highly competitive research grant John Beringer

The CST report reviewed promises made by the UK government to develop nanotechnology.

The commitments were originally made in 2005, in response to a report commissioned by the government from the Royal Society and Royal Academy of Engineering.

This "seminal" report, published in 2004, outlined possible opportunities and risks from developing nanotech.

Although the new review found that the government had made progress in some areas, notably in measuring and minimising workplace exposure to nanomaterials, it found that not enough had been done to understand the possible environmental and health effects.

"The government made a very clear commitment that research needed to be done to understand more about the toxicology and possible risks that may arise from some of the nanotechnologies," said Professor Sir John Beringer, who chaired the CST review.

"But there has been virtually nothing done by government to resolve this problem."

Global risk

The report points out that rather than outlining a systematic research programme to examine these potential risks, the government has relied on a reactive and ad hoc funding programme that has failed to deliver.

How nanotechnology is building the future from the bottom up In pictures

Over the last five years, government has spent an average of just £600,000 per year on examining the impacts of nanoscience. In 2004 alone, it spent £90m on research and promoting commercialisation of nanoproducts.

"The safe development of a new technology should not depend on whether an academic wins a highly competitive research grant," said Sir John.

Professor Ann Dowling, chair of the working group that produced the original 2004 report, agreed.

"More targeted research to reduce the uncertainties around the health and environmental effects of nanomaterials must be funded - especially in light of the growing number of products on the market containing these manufactured ultra-small materials.

"This is a vital step to ensuring that nanotechnologies are well regulated and inspire the confidence of the public and investors."

Without them, the UK risked losing the competitive edge it currently had in nanoscience, said Professor Dowling.

"The UK is putting itself in a position where it will be unable to take part in international collaborations because very little research is being done on these issues at home."

Huge opportunities

Malcolm Wicks, minister for science and innovation, said that the situation had arisen because more pressing research needed to be done over the last two years.

"Our focus so far has been on the areas which needed to be addressed first, such as the measurement and characterisation of nanoscale materials, and the exposure of laboratory and manufacturing staff," he said.

The government had spent £10m developing the capability to accurately measure and monitor nanomaterials, he said.

"Research is underway into potential health and environmental hazards, but we are disappointed that few researchers wishing to investigate the implications to human health have applied for the funding that is available."

Government and the research councils of the UK were now working on trying to develop the relevant research communities, he said.

"There are also huge opportunities under the EU Seventh Framework Programme (FP7), and we hope that UK researchers will take full advantage of them," he said.

FP7, which runs until 2013, will see more than 7bn euros (£4.6bn) per year handed to investigators to advance scientific knowledge in all areas. A pot of 3bn euros has been set aside for nanotechnology research, but none specifically for impact studies.

The government has said it will respond to the CST review fully at a later date.

The review is the first of two independent assessments of the government's commitments to nanotechnologies. The second will be conducted in 2010.

SOME POTENTIAL USES OF NANOTECHNOLOGIES 1 - Organic Light Emitting Diodes (OLEDs) for displays 2 - Photovoltaic film that converts light into electricity 3 - Scratch-proof coated windows that clean themselves with UV 4 - Fabrics coated to resist stains and control temperature 5 - Intelligent clothing measures pulse and respiration 6 - Bucky-tubeframe is light but very strong 7 - Hip-joint made from biocompatible materials 8 - Nano-particle paint to prevent corrosion 9 - Thermo-chromic glass to regulate light 10 - Magnetic layers for compact data memory 11 - Carbon nanotube fuel cells to power electronics and vehicles 12 - Nano-engineered cochlear implant

Peru 'must protect Amazon tribes'

By Dan Collyns BBC News, Lima

Illegal logging is harming isolated Amazonian tribespeople

Peru must act swiftly to protect isolated Amazonian tribes from illegal loggers, Latin America's top human rights body has ruled.

Indigenous leaders say the tribes have already suffered untold deaths from diseases contracted from outsiders.

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights judged the risk to these isolated communities so great that it bypassed all the usual procedures.

Peru has been given two weeks to take steps to protect the isolated tribes.

If it fails to do so it could ultimately be subject to economic sanctions.

Profitable business

The pan-American human rights body says that although Peru has created reserves for the indigenous communities who live in voluntary isolation, it does nothing to protect them from gangs of illegal loggers who are chopping down the mahogany-rich forests in which they live.

Indigenous leaders say several loggers have been killed in confrontations with the tribes in the last few years.

But they fear many more of the jungle dwellers have died through enslavement, violence or from contracting illnesses from which they have no immunity.

The steady advance of logging has forced the isolated groups, among them the Mashco-Piro and Yora tribes, deeper into Peru's jungle frontier with Brazil and Bolivia.

The hugely profitable but illicit business sees most of the tropical hardwoods exported to the United States.

This has forced the Peruvian state to take notice.

The Democrat-controlled US Congress has said it cannot ratify a free trade agreement with Peru until makes certain changes, among them adopting and enforcing laws on logging mahogany.

Earlier this week, the Peruvian President Alan Garcia provoked criticism from environmentalists when he said the quantity of mahogany which left the country, legally or not, was insignificant.

To many human rights workers the president's statement confirmed their suspicion that there is little political will to tackle the illegal trade and the isolated people's reserves might not be worth the paper they are written on.

Dell gives the go-ahead for Linux

Large firms like Oracle use open source Linux software

Computer giant Dell will start to sell PCs preinstalled with open source Linux operating systems, the firm has said.

The second largest computer maker in the world said it had chosen to offer Linux in response to customer demand.

Earlier this year, 100,000 people took part in a Dell survey. More than 70% of respondents said they would use Linux.

Dell has not released details of which versions of Linux it will use or which computers it will run on, but promised an update in the coming weeks.

"Dell has heard you," said a statement on the firm's website. "Our first step in this effort is offering Linux preinstalled on select desktop and notebook systems."

Currently the company only offers Microsoft Windows on its computers, but sells servers running Linux.

Members of the Linux community welcomed the move.

The fact that Dell is offering a desktop with Linux is no surprise Nick Veitch

Nick Veitch, senior editor of Linux Format magazine, described it as "significant".

"I think it sends a message in two ways," he said.

"One is that a major company is confident enough to be able to offer Linux preinstalled on a desktop - that sends a signal that Linux is usable to the average user - and I think it shows that there is a growing demand for an alternative to Windows."

'No surprise'

Microsoft is the world's largest software maker and its proprietary Windows operating system is found on nine out of every 10 personal computers.

Dell currently only offers Windows software on its laptops

While companies such as Microsoft earn money by licensing and charging for use of their products, Linux code is freely available.

That means anyone can modify it or develop applications for it. As a result, there are many different types, or distributions, of Linux operating systems that offer different functionality.

As Linux is free to download and distribute, the exact numbers of users is difficult to quantify.

However, analysts believe that approximately 6% of computers users run Linux, similar to the numbers choosing Apple Macs.

Big business and governments, particularly in the developing world, are also starting to exploit the flexibility of open source code.

The UK Cabinet Office recently evaluated the operating system and approved it as a viable alternative to proprietary systems. Car manufacturer Peugeot has also rolled it out across its employees' desktop computers.

But until now there has not been a major computer manufacturer willing to preinstall Linux on consumer computers.

"The fact that Dell is offering a desktop with Linux is no surprise," said Mr Veitch.

"The surprise is that it has taken them this long."

Proposal for porn domain rejected

The Icann board rejected the proposal nine votes to five

Plans to create an internet domain specifically for pornographic websites have been rejected.

The proposal for the .xxx domain was voted out by the overseer of the net's addressing system, seven years after the ideas was first put forward.

Board members said they were concerned that approval would put the agency into the position of a content regulator.

Backers of the .xxx domain said they were disappointed by the decision and would pursue the matter further.

It is the third time that the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (Icann) has rejected the bid.

Law-makers

The idea of creating a net domain for pornography was first floated in 2001 and was given approval in June 2005 by Icann which oversees the net's addressing system.

Final approval was scheduled to take place in December 2005 but this was delayed until May 2006 when the proposal was abruptly dropped over worries about how sites signing up to use .xxx would be policed.

We are extremely disappointed by the board's action today Stuart Lawley, ICM Registry

At the time, ICM Registry - the backer of the .xxx scheme - gave pledges that it would ensure sites signing up did not hit users with spam or spyware.

ICM also had to give assurances that it would put in place systems to prevent children seeing the sites and that no .xxx sites would contain images of child abuse.

A final decision on the domain name was taken at a meeting of board members in Lisbon, Portugal.

It was rejected by nine votes to five. Paul Twomey, Icann's chief executive abstained from the vote.

"This decision was the result of very careful scrutiny and consideration of all the arguments," said Dr Vinton Cerf, chairman of Icann. "That consideration had led a majority of the board to believe that the proposal should be rejected."

Many on the board voted against the proposals because they felt that accepting the domain would mean Icann would be seen as a regulator of content, deciding what is pornographic and what is not. This was not the role of the agency, they argued.

"My decision turned on one point and one point only," board member Steve Goldstein told Associated Press.

"The last point in our board's resolution that under the revised agreement that we, Icann, would be forced to assume ongoing management and oversight roles regarding the content and that is inconsistent with Icann's technical mandate."

Others, who backed the schemes, said that content could be managed by local and national laws.

"We are extremely disappointed by the board's action today," Stuart Lawley, ICM's president and chief executive told Associated Press. "It is not supportable for any of the reasons articulated by the board."

ICM Registry argue that a .xxx domain would act as a quality control for the industry and would allow individuals and families wishing to avoid adult content to easily filter it.

Critics have pointed out that use of the .xxx domain is entirely voluntary and some suspect that few sites would sign up to use the suffix.

Icann said it would not take any more proposals for so-called top level domains like .xxx at the moment, but did not rule out more in the future.