Region can lead green development

AS THE snowdrops and daffodils appear, I start looking forward to spring. While it is probably a little premature, such is the strength of my desire to see the end of winter that I can almost see the landscape in Durham becoming green again.

There is no denying that the weather is a hugely important part of our lives, whether it is the sun that puts the smile on our face or the gloom of drizzle and fog.

But there is a much more serious side to the weather and our climate.

Over the past few weeks, there have been stark reminders in Australia and the United States of the impact that the weather can have.

Sector worth up to £40bn is not sci fi

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DID you ever see 2001 – A Space Odyssey with its opening scene of an ape throwing a bone, twirling into the sky, which transforms into a space station gently turning?

That was 1968. A year later, science fiction had turned into fact with Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walking on the moon (pub quiz question – what was the name of the command module pilot?)

Less than a decade later, NASA’s Voyager 1 set off on its odyssey towards interstellar space. It has just reached a distant point at the edge of our solar system where there is no outward motion of solar wind.

Voyager 1, launched on September 5, 1977, is hurtling towards interstellar space, some 17.4 billion kilometres – 10.8 billion miles – away from the sun.

The spacecraft has crossed into an area in which solar wind is thought to have been turned sideways by the pressure from the interstellar wind in the region between stars.

It really is quite incredible to think something built more than 30 years ago – before mobile phones, laptops and the internet changed our lives – is still pushing the boundaries in this way.

But to a music fan like me, what is perhaps just as fascinating as the Voyager’s journey is its cargo.

Among the items on board the Voyager 1 is a recording of a song I played so often in my younger years and still know all the words to – Johnny B Goode by Chuck Berry!

What we often think of as science fiction is in fact a multi-billion pound industry for the UK.

According to The Space Innovation and Growth Strategy (Space IGS), a Government, industry and academia initiative, the UK space sector contributes some £5.6bn to the UK economy, and supports 68,000 jobs.

Space IGS believes that with the right support this sector could be worth as much as £40bn.

We are well placed to take advantage of this. Durham University has been ranked number one in Europe and fourth in the world for its research into space science.

And at the NETPark Research Institute, we have a number of teams from Durham University that are developing innovative technologies pushing space exploration to new levels – proof if we needed it that this sector is far from science fiction when it comes to the wealth creation for mere earthlings in the North East.

PS. Michael Collins was the command module pilot.

:: Stewart Watkins is managing director of the County Durham Development Company

Prepare to change your career path

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APPARENTLY January is the month when people make their New Year resolutions and return from their Christmas break with new hopes and ambitions for the New Year.

he festive break, it seems, opens the floodgates for people wishing to change their life – and a career move can feature prominently in their lists of things to do, as they begin to map out plans for a brand new year.

What if a career in science becomes the aim?

According to futurists, by 2030, jobs that we consider traditional today will be replaced with education and skills which are still in an embryonic state. Thoughts are that as advances in science and technology continue, career paths really will change beyond recognition in the future.

Benefits of playing the long game

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AFTER slowly moving through the gears for several years, the electric vehicles sector is now truly motoring thanks to new, slicker technology and the acceleration of the public’s acceptance of the green driving experience.

I believe the year ahead will be a watershed period for the blossoming industry, as the few trailblazers who have already ditched their gas-guzzlers are followed by an army of fellow motorists joining the green revolution.

We in the North East can enjoy the months ahead witnessing at close hand a region taking a lead role in the rapid growth of electric transport, thanks in part to Nissan, and businesses such as Romag, a Durham- based company that is developing a new solar-powered canopy that could offer a recharging bay for electric cars in open-air car parks.

But to me, as well as an economic pick-me-up and an important environmental step for the UK, I see electric vehicles as proof, if it were needed, that playing the long game is essential in delivering tangible results from innovation.

‘If six turned out to be nine’

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One of my favourite tracks back in the Sixties was Jimi Hendrix’s ‘If Six Turned Out to be Nine’, along with ‘Spanish Castle Magic’, ‘Little Wing’ and ‘Foxy Lady’.  But little did I think, as time has progressed, that six, and particularly nine, would have such significance.

We now live in an age, in which ‘billions’ is the new ‘millions’, and ‘small’ is the new ‘big’.  No longer do we consider a millionaire to be super-rich.  Now, you need at least a billion in your bank before we’re interested.  Nor, it seems, do we want big.  With the exception of bank balances, houses and televisions, there seems to be an insatiable desire to make things smaller – cars are smaller, mobile phones are smaller, computers are smaller – our technology is shrinking.

Science must inspire our youngsters

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MY SON (aged 11¾ years) has just asked me how my iPad and iPhone work with touchscreens and a multitude of ‘apps’.

After a few moments thought, I explained it was all done by magic.

To me they are another of the great mysteries of modern life alongside the inability to service my car any more, digital photos, string theory and dark matter.

But we all know that the beneficial effects of science are serious business. Advancement in this field holds the key to some of the most pressing issues that people face today. But how do we make that appeal to youngsters?

Public sector has a role in recovery

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IN HIS first major speech as Prime Minister, David Cameron posed the question: “Can we re-balance economic power across our regions, across different industries, so that more people have a stake in our success?”

Faced with the aftermath of one of the greatest economic crises the world has faced, Mr Cameron urged a re-balancing of the economy to put the private sector in the driving seat.

Measuring up with the competition

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WATCHING the F1 at Abu Dhabi on Sunday afternoon, I was amazed by the quality of design of the facilities that less than three years ago did not exist.

The Yas Marina Hotel and circuit, Ferrari World and the detail of the blue racing track was very impressive indeed.

It also illustrated the scale of the international competition that we face but we must not be deterred and remain globally competitive.

Reaching for the final frontier

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IT MAY be the most remote object in the universe and exist in the darkest reaches of time, but North East scientists have still managed to shed light on a galaxy that has baffled astronomers for years.

A few years ago, the Hubble telescope spotted a faint spot in the night sky thought to date back towards the earliest days of creation. However, measuring the age and distance of the galaxy from Earth has proved a major challenge given that its light, which is used to assess the data, is incredibly dim and distorted by the time it takes to reach the Earth.

Technology available to everyone

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WE often hear of the Government’s drive for sustainable homes and changes in building regulations, and feel the pressure of the ever-growing demands on us all to live our lives in a more green and climate conscious way.

It’s impossible to argue with the principles of green living but in our ‘everyday’ lives I have often wondered when technology will make it possible to care more for the environment yet live our lives the way we want to.