Monthly focus

Digging into Europe's past

01 March 2018

The European year of cultural heritage aims to reinforce a sense of belonging to a common European space. Image credit - Shutterstock/Boris Stroujko

To mark the European year of cultural heritage, Horizon explores how science is helping to uncover more about our past and to preserve our art, landscapes, buildings and ways of life for the future. We discover why prehistoric humans chose to paint rock art where they did, and how farming techniques from hundreds of years ago could help fight climate change today. Plus, we learn how cultural heritage feeds into European identities and what can be done to prevent the destruction of historical sites during wartime.

The 'Fraternal Kiss' mural, by Soviet artist Dmitri Vrubel, emblematic of the Cold War, appeared on the Berlin East Side Gallery, Berlin Wall, 1990. Image credit - Freepenguin, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0

social sciences

26 March 2018

Confronting cultural history leads to stronger European identity

The act of confronting a troublesome past can be challenging by itself, and the Germans even have a word for it — Vergangenheitsbewältigung. Roughly one-third of current EU Member States spent decades behind the Iron Curtain, and many experienced one-party government for decades, but researchers see confronting uncomfortable history as part of a new common European identity — a shared experience that can bring people closer together.

The Holy Aedicule in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem was restored with the help of a high-resolution 3D model. Image credit - Flickr/Jorge Láscar, licensed under CC BY 2.0

social sciences

21 March 2018

Digital innovation can enhance cultural heritage, hears conference

Digitalisation has a role to play in the conservation and promotion of modern-day cultural heritage but should enhance real-life experiences, rather than replace them, experts say.

Dr Margarete van Ess says that educating people on the importance of cultural heritage can help preserve it. Image credit: I. Wagner, German Archaeological Institute

social sciences | interview

13 March 2018

War can destroy cultural heritage twice – in conflict and in clean-up

People can inadvertently destroy cultural heritage for a second time when cleaning up conflict sites after a war ends, according to archaeologist Dr Margarete van Ess, who says that databases and education are the best basis for safeguarding sites for the future.

Geographically defined products such as Parma ham help to assess the social and cultural value of a landscape. Image credit - Pxhere/1165797, licensed under CC0 Creative Commons

environment | social sciences

06 March 2018

Ancient farming techniques could help mitigate climate change effects

High technology is being deployed to uncover long-forgotten irrigation systems and other features concealed in landscapes that farmers developed hundreds of years ago to nurture their land.

Scientists believe that rock art sites were chosen for their visual and acoustic properties. Image credit - Curt Harrell

social sciences

01 March 2018

Shelters with echoes thought to be preferred sites for prehistoric rock art

The acoustic qualities of a rock shelter may have been a key factor in its selection as a site for rock art and indicate a spiritual significance to the practice, according to a recent study, while scientists are also looking into whether some caves were chosen as artistic sites because of the view.

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New ways of recycling and reusing products will reduce the amount of waste going into landfill. Image credit - Flickr/ Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, licensed under CC BY-ND 2.0

Turning trash into treasure

Dumped waste, from used nappies to industrial by-products, have long wound up in landfills and can take hundreds of years to decay. In October we speak to the scientists figuring out how to keep such items in use to reduce rubbish and create a so-called circular economy. We learn about new efforts to mine industrial waste for the rare metals that go into making aircraft parts, pacemakers and bicycle gears, and find out about the culture shift needed to develop a zero-waste society. We also speak to the researchers building a biorefinery to turn soiled nappies into fertilisers and raw materials, and look at whether seaweed could become the next plastic.

Are these 10 000+ galaxies captured by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope moving faster everyday? Image credit - NASA/ ESA/ STScI (S. Beckwith)/ HUDF Team

The expanding universe

The model of our universe as expanding at an accelerated rate has given rise to theoretical constructs such as dark energy and dark matter, which scientists believe could make up 95% of the universe. In September, Horizon takes a deeper look at what we really know about the expanding universe. We speak to Prof. Subir Sarkar, who believes that the Nobel-winning discovery that universe expansion acceleration could be a fluke, and the scientists who are trying to answer the question by allowing us to better measure the expansion rate. We also look at the significance of accurately measuring gravity in deep space, and what dark matter haloes can tell us about the existence of dark energy.

Bill Gates and Commissoner Carlos Moedas committed to establish a fund to get radical new clean energy technologies to market. Image credit - European Commission

Bill Gates and European Commission launch €100 million clean energy fund

Bill Gates and the European Commission have launched a €100 million investment fund designed to bring radical clean energy technologies more quickly to market in order to promote energy efficiency and cut greenhouse gas emissions.

Trucks on Orkney carry hydrogen produced by wind- and tide-powered electrolysis in special lightweight high pressure cylinders, designed to adhere to the low weight limit of the island roads. Image credit: Colin Keldie for BIG HIT

Hydrogen use doesn’t emit carbon but its production often does. That could soon change

Hydrogen can be used to power cars, supply electricity and heat homes, all with zero carbon emissions. The snag is that the vast majority of hydrogen itself is derived from fossil fuels – a fact that scientists are now hoping to change. They plan to clean up production to kickstart a dedicated economy – something that has already found small-scale success in Scotland’s Orkney Islands.

Digging into Europe's past

Republish this content

Confronting cultural history leads to stronger European identity

Digital innovation can enhance cultural heritage, hears conference

War can destroy cultural heritage twice – in conflict and in clean-up

Ancient farming techniques could help mitigate climate change effects