S'pore invests $700 mln to research cancer, disasters

SINGAPORE-Singapore said on Friday it will invest more than S$1 billion ($724 million) into research to improve innovation in the city-state, including a cancer centre and an institute to research natural disasters such as tsunamis. Singapore, which is shifting its economy away from manufacturing to more services industries, will spend S$350 million to encourage "academic entrepreneurship" in Singapore's universities, S$256 million on a cancer research centre and S$287 million on an "Earth Observatory"."To develop a dynamic economy with a vibrant entrepreneurial sector, we need to make innovation a pervasive culture," said Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in a statement.The Earth Observatory of Singapore, which will receive funding over 10 years, will focus its research on natural disasters such as tsunamis, volcanic eruptions and climate change.Initial research programmes include refining tsunami forecasts for western Sumatra and analysing the impact of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions on the Southeast Asia region.[[[[Indonesia, a Southeast Asian country, suffers from frequent earthquakes as it lies in the so called "Pacific Ring of Fire", an area of instance seismic activity.A huge earthquake off Sumatra caused a massive tsunami in December 2004 killing 230,000 people around the region.]]]]The cancer research centre, which will receive funding over seven years, will focus on cancers prevalent in Asian populations such as leukaemia, colorectal and breast cancers.

http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSSIN23339

As in the days of Noah....