Tipsheet for 21-Nov-2003

1. STORMY TIMES AHEAD - the future climate of north-west Europe

Could the ice sheet in the Arctic be the storehouse for major climate changes over the next century? Research shows, paradoxically, that an increase in freshwater from ice melting in the Arctic could be sufficient to cause cooling of the climate in northern Europe.

2. BODY BUILDING IN BRISTOL - how regenerative medicine will revolutionise healthcare

As the population ages, the concept of 'regenerative' medicine is being recognised as an important new approach to solving many of our long-term healthcare needs. This article describes some of the advances being made towards this brave new world, such as using cells from the cartilage in your nose to grow tissue that can replace the cartilage in your knee.

3. REMODELLING THE EYE - latest developments in preventing blindness

In the UK last year almost 2,300 people had their sight restored through a cornea transplant - two-thirds of which were supplied by the Bristol Eye Hospital. As a result of work done at the University of Bristol, it became the first eye bank in the UK to use a new method of preserving corneas - prolonging their storage time from a few days to a month.

4. SEEING THE LIGHT - using computers to 'rebuild' the past

How can we tell how things would have looked to people in the past? In 1963 the Egyptian temple of Kalabsha was moved to a new site in order to save it from the rising waters of Lake Nasser. Working closely with Egyptologists it has been possible to use computer graphics and information from the archaeological record to recreate the temple, place it back to its original location and orientation, and illuminate it as it may have appeared some 2,000 years ago.

5. RECREATING A LOST WORLD - new perspectives on Chinese history

The cataloguing of 57,000 files from the Chinese Maritime Customs Service sounds a dry and dusty business, but the author believes they will transform our understanding of Chinese history during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

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