Category: Uncategorized

BEETLE MIMICRY. "Today, engineers are looking at how these random networks and particle arrays can give rise to strongly colored and high-opacity materials. Pete Vukusic ... (has) mimicked the cuticle of Cyphochilus beetles in random porous networks made from interconnected filaments of the minerals calcium carbonate and titanium dioxide." https://lnkd.in/d3_ruXz View in LinkedIn

NHS FAIR GAME FOR TRUBUNALS. "The TTIP negotiations threaten new powers, less accountability and a huge shift towards putting corporate profits before public health. Prime Minister David Cameron has explicitly ruled out excluding public services such as the NHS from its remit." https://lnkd.in/dsTub_g View in LinkedIn

LAZER CRYSTAL FABRICATION. "Being somewhat 'scaled-up' versions of the natural nanostructures, these had photonic band gaps in the infrared part of the spectrum. Current telecommunications operates mostly at infrared wavelengths, and these structures could find uses there." https://lnkd.in/d3_ruXz View in LinkedIn

CURRENT SECRET TRUBUNALS. "Tobacco companies are already using ISDS arrangements ... to bully governments. Philip Morris is using ISDS to sue Uruguay for increasing the size of the health warnings on cigarette packs, and to bring a case against Australia over its introduction of plain, standardised tobacco packaging two years ago." https://lnkd.in/dsTub_g View in LinkedIn

LAZER CRYSTAL FABRICATION. "Inspired by the butterfly structures, Mark Turner has used laser beams to 'write' these intricate three-dimensional photonic crystals directly into a commercial light-polymerizable 'photoresist' material." https://lnkd.in/d3_ruXz View in LinkedIn

SECRET TRIBUNALS. "From ASH Scotland’s perspective, initiatives to reduce smoking could be a prime target of future legal challenges." https://lnkd.in/dsTub_g View in LinkedIn

SECRET TRIBUNALS. "These challenges to regulations deemed to impact on industry profits would not be heard in the normal public courts but in secret tribunals known as investor-state dispute settlements (ISDS). Rulings would be made by trade lawyers rather than judges." https://lnkd.in/dsTub_g View in LinkedIn

TREATY SHOPPING. "ISDS includes some 3,000 bilateral trade treaties and has existed since the 1950s. Companies like Phillip Morris do what is called “treaty shopping,” searching for a bilateral-investment treaty by which they can sue a country." https://lnkd.in/d5WRu9r View in LinkedIn

TREATY SHOPPING. "Under the TPP, if a three-member ISDS tribunal that oversees disputes decides in favor of a company, the tribunal can order taxpayer compensation. The decision cannot be overturned by national governments." https://lnkd.in/d5WRu9r View in LinkedIn

TOBACCO SUITS VS GOVERNMENTS. "It’s a chilling prospect – the tobacco industry getting a green light to use its vast wealth to sue our Government for introducing health measures that reduce its profits." https://lnkd.in/dsTub_g View in LinkedIn