Veena Sahajwalla makes world first “Green” steel a commercial reality

10/11/2007 0 Comments read Environment & Development, Health & Science

By Neena Bhandari

Sydney, 10.11.2007 (IANS): Millions of tonnes of waste plastic will be recycled into steel. The breakthrough Australian “green” steel technology which cuts coke and coal demand and reduces emissions has been invented by University of New South Wales materials scientist Professor Veena Sahajwalla.

Sahajwalla, an alumni of Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, told IANS “Plastic is simply another form of carbon. In making steel there’s essentially no difference between the polyethylene plastic in shopping bags and a natural resource like coal.”

Polyethylene plastic contains carbon, an essential raw material in electric arc furnace (EAF) steelmaking, which recycles steel from scrap metal and accounts for 40 per cent of the world’s steel production. Annual steel production is around 1.1 billion tonnes globally.

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Polio never far away in the jet age

28/07/2007 0 Comments read Disability, Health & Science, Poliomyelitis

By Neena Bhandari

Sydney, 28.07.2007 (The Australian): On a sweltering February day in 1951, one-year-old Maura Outterside’s tiny body was gripped by high fever and muscle pain. As she became non-responsive, her parents wrapped her in cold towels and took her to St George Hospital in Sydney. A lumbar puncture confirmed every parent’s worst nightmare in those days — poliomyelitis, the viral disease responsible for crippling hundreds of thousands of children during the 20th century. Polio epidemics from 1930 to 1970 afflicted 40,000 Australians, including media tycoon Kerry Packer, talkback radio host John Laws and former Labor leader Kim Beazley.

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Women As Science Conductors

02/06/2007 0 Comments read Gender, Health & Science

By Neena Bhandari

Melbourne, 02.06.2007 (WFS): Experts believe that if women are involved in the spread of practices based on scientific principles, society will stand a greater chance at fighting off problems related to health, environment and food security. From communicating the latest technical advancements in agriculture to ensuring access to antiretroviral and other HIV-related treatments, women and children can help transfer the findings of scientific research into communities. This was discussed at the Fifth World Conference of Science Journalists held here recently.

As Rosemary Okello-Orlale, Executive Director of the African Woman and Child Feature Service (AWCFS), a media NGO focusing on development communication in Africa says, “Being the managers of homes, environment and also the majority of agricultural produce, women are critical group for any science findings. But the role of rural women in implementing scientific research findings and innovations as a strategy to reduce poverty and disease burden is rarely discussed. Most of these women tend to be left out because majority cannot read and write.”

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