Science Spin January 2010

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Where do eels go when they are at sea, and why are their numbers in decline? Christopher Moriarty explains how a project to tag eels may help to solve these mysteries. Ireland has gone from a marine surveying 'no mark' to a world power in the space of a decade. Seán Duke looks back on a historic decade when we began to unlock the secrets of Ireland's vast offshore territory. New deposits of zinc ore are likely to be found in Ireland, according to a report by Tom Kennedy. Elsewhere, researchers in Cork are detecting sub clinical seizures in premature babies that can lead to serious health problems, writes Tom Kennedy. In our Choosing Science Supplement, produced to co-incide with the BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition 2010, we profile the work of some successful Irish-based scientists.

In this issue

Preventing brain injury in newborns

MEDICAL SCIENCE Brain seizures occur in five per cent of all babies born alive. In the vast majority of these cases, the seizures go ...

Meet the 'spaced out' mathematician

CAREERS "I was fascinated by dinosaurs and rocketry as a child. In science, I like the absence of social posturing and social prejudice ...

Where have all the eels gone?

MARINE BIOLOGY Nearly everybody knows that eels breed in the Sargasso Sea, but do they? The world's leading eel experts are no longer sure ...

Bright outlook for Irish zinc and lead

MINING Zinc production at Navan began in 1977, but contrary to what many might think, the mine, Europe's largest zinc and lead mine, ...

Ireland emerges as marine surveying 'superpower'

MARINE SURVEYING We live on a tiny island, situated off the west coast of Europe with a landmass of just 70,273 square km (Republic). ...