High-tech tools cracking the case of Chile's lost children
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Building's hard problem: Can concrete go green?
Concrete is the most produced material on the planet. Used as a building material for centuries, production of its crucial ingredient cement accounts for eight percent of global emissions. Reporter Alasdair Keane visits a Rotterdam-based startup producing an alternative material to make concrete more sustainable. This video is from Tech Now, the BBC's flagship technology programme.
Daily Record
2 days ago
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Scots chemist believes drugs to treat Alzheimer's will be available in five years
Professor David MacMillan won the Nobel Prize in 2021. A Scots chemist believes drugs to treat Alzheimer's disease will be available within five years. Professor David MacMillan, 57, who is originally from North Lanarkshire, said "phenomenal things" are happening within medical research into neurological diseases. He won a Nobel Prize after developing a new way of building molecules, leading to developments in drugs for Alzheimer's, cancer and heart disease. MacMillan told the BBC: "I would bet my house that within five years that we have marketed drugs for Alzheimer's. "My father died of vascular dementia and my aunt had dementia. I think that's such a horrible way to go." The Princeton University professor said winning the Nobel Prize in 2021 has made a massive impact on his life. "On a Tuesday morning, I was a chemist that nobody, including half my pals, had been interested in talking to," he said. "Then on the Wednesday, I was talking to like the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal. "It was crazy - and I thought it would slow down but it just keeps on going." MacMillan was awarded a half share of £842,611 and used it to set up The May and Billy MacMillan Foundation, named after his parents, where he funds Scottish students, providing educational opportunities to underprivileged young people.
Glasgow Times
2 days ago
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Scottish Nobel chemist predicts Alzheimer's drug in 5 years
Professor David MacMillan, originally from North Lanarkshire and now based at Princeton University, told the BBC's Scotcast podcast: 'I would bet my house that within five years we have marketed drugs for Alzheimer's.' He said the rapid pace of development in neurological research gave him confidence that major treatment breakthroughs are close, calling the progress "phenomenal". READ MORE: Meet the 63-year-old 'Summer Santa' zip sliding along the Clyde for cancer care READ MORE: Huge new park and ride opens at busy train station near Glasgow MacMillan, whose father and aunt both suffered from dementia, was awarded the 2021 Nobel Prize in Chemistry alongside Professor Benjamin List for developing a revolutionary method of constructing molecules. Their discovery has already contributed to new approaches in treating Alzheimer's, as well as cancer and cardiovascular disease. He used his share of the prize money to launch The May and Billy MacMillan Foundation, named after his parents, to fund educational opportunities for underprivileged young Scots. Education, he said, was his 'passport to the world". Born in New Stevenston, MacMillan studied chemistry at the University of Glasgow before moving to the United States for postgraduate research. After academic posts at Harvard and Berkeley, he joined Princeton in 2006. While he has long praised the scale and ambition of American scientific research, MacMillan expressed concern about recent political pressure on universities. His Princeton research group, he said, has gone without government funding for seven months for the first time in 25 years. He attributed this to growing hostility towards higher education to the Trump-Vance administration. He warned that the cuts could reflect a broader attempt to exert political control over academic institutions, describing the trend as 'quite sinister.' Despite these challenges, MacMillan said he has no immediate plans to return to Scotland, though he visits regularly to see family and, now, a close friend. After winning the Nobel, he received an unexpected congratulatory call from Sir Alex Ferguson. The two Glaswegians have since become friends and plan to attend a Manchester United match together later this year. MacMillan's achievements have also been honoured in Scotland's National Portrait Gallery, where a new painting by Christabel Blackburn depicts him in his Princeton office. A lab coat from his former school, Bellshill Academy, hangs in the background – a quiet reminder of how far he has come.
