First human trials show 'wonder' nanomaterial is safe to develop
Plus: Whale sightings in the Forth; ex-SNP official quits for Labour; and planning delays hamper housebuilding
Revolutionary material tested in Edinburgh has potential to solve multiple global challenges
Scientists working at the University of Edinburgh have found that a ‘wonder material’ can be developed further with little risk to human health.
The world’s first clinical trials - carried out on volunteers in Edinburgh and Manchester - found that controlled inhalation of a type of graphene has no short-term adverse effects on the working of the lungs or heart. All nanomaterials - those so tiny they are measured in microscopic particles - need safety checks before they can be developed for human use.
Graphene has been hailed as a ‘wonder material’ for its potential use on everything from targeted cancer therapies to water purification.
What is it? Graphene is the world’s thinnest, super strong and super flexible material. First isolated by scientists in 2004, it is thousands of times thinner than a human hair.
What can it be used for? The better question might be ‘what can’t it be used for?’ Scientists hope to develop it for use in electronics, phone screens, clothes, paints and water purification, as well as targeted treatments for conditions including cancer. It could be used to create implantable devices and sensors to monitor conditions and provide treatment from within the human body.
What happens next? Scientists say more tests are needed to see whether higher doses or longer exposure to graphene has different effects. In the completed tests, volunteers breathed the material through a face mask for two hours while cycling in a purpose-designed mobile exposure chamber brought to Edinburgh from the National Public Health Institute in the Netherlands.
The scientists say: Dr Mark Miller, of the University of Edinburgh's Centre for Cardiovascular Science, said: “Nanomaterials such as graphene hold such great promise, but we must ensure they are manufactured in a way that is safe before they can be used more widely in our lives. Being able to explore the safety of this unique material in human volunteers is a huge step forward in our understanding of how graphene could affect the body.”
YOUR EDINBURGH BRIEFING
WHALES AND DOLPHINS: There is growing evidence of the flourishing wildlife in the Forth with whales being spotted in the estuary 133 times last year by members of the Forth Marine Mammals Project. The most common whale species recorded were Minke (54 times) and Humpback Whales (31), with two sightings of killer whales and 21 of basking sharks. The group’s volunteers also recorded 200 dolphin sightings and 94 of harbour porpoise. Marine mammals have staged a remarkable comeback in the estuary in recent years. A pod of dolphins were spotted feeding just outside Granton Harbour yesterday.
BALANCING THE BOOKS: City councillors meet on Thursday to approve their annual budget which expected to include a freeze in council tax, a 20% increase in parking charges and steps to avoid leisure centre closures and cuts to schools budgets.
SNP MAN’S SWITCH: Former SNP official Doug Thomson has quit the party after 14 years as a member and joined Labour. The Edinburgh businessman, who is married to Mandy Rhodes, editor of Holyrood magazine, told The Times that he no longer believes in independence and had become disillusioned with the current SNP leadership. Thomson had previously been backed by Humza Yousaf to become an MP or MSP.
SICK KIDS FLATS: The first luxury homes are to go on sale at the site of the former Royal Hospital for Sick Children next month. Square & Crescent’s Royal Meadows development features a mix of 22 townhouses and apartments restored in and around the ex-hospital building, directly opposite The Meadows. The converted buildings, between Sciennes Road and Rillbank Crescent, include the former offices of the Edinburgh Children’s Hospital Charity. Construction on the rest of the residential development on the site is set to be fully completed in around two years.
UNIVERSITY RECTOR PROTEST: Students activists are protesting against the appointment of gay rights campaigner Simon Fanshawe as Rector of Edinburgh University. Fanshawe, who won a Perrier Award for comedy at the Fringe in 1989 and co-founded Stonewall, was elected unopposed to the role representing the university’s students. He has been critical of the trans rights movement, and activist academics have written an open letter saying his appointment ‘creates a hostile environment for the many trans, nonbinary and gender non-conforming students studying at the university’.
CONNERY PRIZE: Audiences at this year’s Edinburgh International Film Festival will decide the winner of the inaugural Sean Connery Prize. Film-goers will vote for the best film out of the 10 feature world premieres at the Festival on 15-21 August. The prize, funded by The Sean Connery Foundation for “feature film making excellence”, comes with a £50,000 prize.
CAPITAL SCI-FI CON
HOY ‘FORCED’ TO REVEAL CANCER: Six-time Olympic champion Sir Chris Hoy has said he would rather have kept his cancer diagnosis private but had felt “forced” to reveal the news. “For the sake of my young family, I had hoped to keep this information private but regrettably our hand has been forced,” he said in a statement. The 47-year-old, originally from Edinburgh, is undergoing treatment, including chemotherapy, which he said was “going really well”.
SAFE DRUG ROOMS: Setting up a series of safe drug consumption rooms would save lives in Edinburgh, according to a Stirling University feasability study commissioned by the city council and Edinburgh Alcohol and Drugs Partnership. The rooms could be established in hot spot areas - in the Old Town, Leith, Granton, Niddrie, Wester Hailes, Gorgie-Dalry and Fountainbridge - following a record high 113 drug-related deaths in the Capital in 2022, according to the BBC Local Democracy Reporter Service. The £1-2m a year cost of running the facilities is likely to result in greater savings for the health service, the researchers said.
HOT SCIENCE: Great British Bake-Off finalist Andrew Smyth will explore the science of baking and you can visit a giant room built from mushrooms at the Edinburgh Science Festival. These are just two of the newly announced highlights of the 35th anniversary event, one of the largest of its kind in Europe, which takes place over the Easter holidays, between 30 March and 14 April.
THE BUSINESS
Planning problems continue to exacerbate Housing Emergency
Efforts to tackle Edinburgh’s housing crisis remain hampered by planning difficulties which the housebuilders’ industry body has described as “unacceptable” in Scotland. The Inquirer raised the difficulties being caused by a shortage of trained planners in October last year, and highlighted plans to recruit 700 new planners over the next decade.
Now the issue has come into sharp focus again as Homes for Scotland, which represents 200 organisations involved in building new homes, has hit out as the latest official statistics for Scotland show a fall in planning applications for major housing developments – down 41% in the volume of applications for developments for 50 or more homes in the first two quarters of 2023/24 compared to the same period a year prior. HFS said this continues the decline in such applications coming forward for the fourth consecutive quarter.
Despite the fall in the numbers of applications, the average processing time for Q1 and Q2 2023/24 was 62.1 weeks – a rise from 36.4 weeks on Q1 and Q2 2022/23 – against a statutory timeframe of 16 weeks.
The number of smaller local housing development applications has also fallen, with average processing times more than double the eight-week statutory timeframe.
HFS chief executive Jane Wood said, “The Scottish Government must get Scotland’s planning system sorted if we are to ensure this and future generations are able to access warm sustainable homes that meet their needs and they can afford.
“These figures highlight the scale of investment in planning services that is required at a time when the Scottish Government has announced a 43% reduction in the planning budget from £11.7m to £6.6m. They also show the critical need for immediate short-term solutions.”
Last Autumn, Ian Aikman, Chair of the Heads of Planning Scotland (HoPS), said planning departments were “under-staffed and under-resourced.” New homes and jobs being delayed by council staffing crisis (edinburghinquirer.co.uk)
BANKS ACCOUNT: The focus will be on banks again this week, after Royal Bank of Scotland parent NatWest Group last week revealed its highest yearly profit since before the 2008 financial crisis.
NatWest reported an operating pre-tax profit of £6.2bn over 2023, up by around 20% compared with 2022, with the bank gaining from rising interest rates pushing up the cost of borrowing for mortgage holders.
In addition, the bank announced the permanent appointment of Paul Thwaite as Chief Executive. He became interim boss in July, following the departure of Dame Alison Rose over the Nigel Farage debanking row.
Barclays, HSBC and Lloyds all report during the week, with keenest Edinburgh interest coming on Thursday when Lloyds – owners of Bank of Scotland – are also expected to announce positive results.
CONFIDENT: Eyes will be on consumer feeling on Friday as the GFK Consumer Confidence index reports its monthly figures. Last month saw the best headline score in two year as optimism appeared to strengthen – up three points to -19 and making it a hat-trick of monthly rises. Following last week’s news that the UK had dipped into recession in the last two quarters of 2023, businesses will be hoping that consumers remain upbeat.
COACHES DEAL: Edinburgh-based multi-award winning bus operator Lothian has announced the purchase of East Lothian coach operator Eve Coaches, based in Dunbar, to expand its own coach and tours offering in East Lothian. Lothian intend to continue to operate acquired services under the Eve Coaches brand in East Lothian. These include a mixture of local bus services, private hire services and school work.
THAT’S ENTERTAINMENT
NEVER ENOUGH: For sheer unbridled joy, although perhaps not note perfect, it is going to be hard to beat Sing-a-Long-a The Greatest Showman at the Playhouse on Saturday. Always fancied being Zendaya or Hugh Jackman in the ridiculously infectious musical? Now’s your chance. Go on admit it, you’re tempted.
DO HO SUH: Taking over the entire ground floor of the Modern Art Galler One, Do Ho Suh: Tracing Time offers a chance to immerse yourself in the work of one of the world’s leading contemporary artists. Born in South Korea and based in London, Suh is celebrated for his life-size ‘hubs’, recreating physical spaces he treasures, and creates in a wide variety of mediums, including paper sculpture, animation, watercolours and technically innovative thread drawings. Entry is free and runs daily at 10am-5pm until 1 September.
MARX COMEDY OPERA: Scottish Opera bring Jonathan Dove’s comedic opera Marx in London! to the Festival Theatre on Wednesday and Friday, 22 and 24 February. The grand farce focuses on the mundane chaos of the philosopher’s life in 1871 London as he tried to find time to write in between evading debt collectors and seeking help from his friend Friedrich Engels.
QUICK BITES
TURNING JAPANESE: A new noodle restaurant Mizu is to open at the OMNi centre later this year. The popular leisure centre has enjoyed a record-breaking year of footfall, with more than 4 million visitors in 2023. Another Japanese eatery, Miju, currently located on Dalry Road since September 2023, is preparing to open up a new venue in West Coates on February 22.
HOPE ARISES: Hope Omurisu on Nicolson Street has closed its doors – and its owners have confirmed it will merge with their recently-opened Hope Izakaya on Queensferry Street at the West End, where their BBQ grill options will still be available, as well as via online delivery platforms.