Monthly focus

20 years of Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions

03 November 2016

Marie Skłodowska-Curie won two Nobel Prizes for her research into radiation, which provides the foundation for many scientific breakthroughs today. Image credit: ‘Portrait of Marie Curie’ is in the public domain

In a series of articles to mark the 20^th anniversary of Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions, Horizon takes a look at some of the cutting-edge science coming out of the training programme for researchers. We hear how scientists are using the Large Hadron Collider particle accelerator to hunt for dark matter, working with robots to monitor changes in the atmosphere and undertaking industrial placements to make their research commercially viable. We also look at the life of Marie Skłodowska-Curie herself and how her scientific legacy lives on.

Lung cancer is one of the diseases that could benefit from new diagnostic methods. Image credit: Scott Wilkinson, Adam Marcus, National Cancer Institute

health | policy

23 November 2016

Light-controlled nanomaterials could hunt out and destroy cancer cells

Carbon nanomaterials could carry out cancer diagnosis and therapy at the same time – and the results could be particularly effective for aggressive forms of cancer, say researchers who are developing so-called theranostic approaches.

The Field Flux prototype can measure the amount of the greenhouse gas nitrous oxide in agricultural fields. Credit: NORA

environment

17 November 2016

Keeping a robotic eye on pollution

Field robots and plane-based remote sensors can patrol the earth and the sky to monitor the gases that cause climate change.

Scientists at CERN’s Large Hadron Collider (LHC), the largest particle accelerator in the world, are searching for dark matter by smashing atoms together. ‘Views of the LHC tunnel sector 3-4, tirage 2’ by Maximilien Brice (CERN) is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0

frontier research | space

09 November 2016

‘Good chance’ of success in dark matter hunt

The Large Hadron Collider (LHC), the world’s biggest particle smasher, stands a good chance of discovering the elusive particle or particles, known to scientists as dark matter, that make up five-sixths of the mass of the universe, researchers say.

Today’s scientists build on the work Marie Skłodowska-Curie and her husband Pierre carried out in the field of radiation. Image credit: ‘Pierre and Marie Curie’ is in the public domain

policy

03 November 2016

What did Marie Skłodowska Curie ever do for us?

One hundred years ago, Marie Skłodowska-Curie was using her scientific knowhow to organise fleets of radiology cars to carry portable X-ray equipment to wounded soldiers on the front line during World War I. Today, thousands of scientists working in fields as diverse as cancer treatment, archaeology and astrophysics continue to build on her work on radiation. As the European funding programme carrying her name celebrates 20 years of operation, Horizon takes a look at her scientific and personal legacy.

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New techniques aim to help Mediterranean wine makers and olive oil producers become resilient against climate change. Image credit: Łukasz Czechowicz/Unsplash

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Repurposing local factories can keep supply chains working during a crisis. Image credit - Marcin Jozwiak/Unsplash

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20 years of Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions

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