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Science in society

Digital replicas of infrastructure such as oil platforms could help prevent accidents by spotting potential ruptures before they happen. Image credit - Akselos
industry | science in society | ict
15 November 2019

How digital ‘twins’ are guiding the future of maintenance and manufacturing

As our world becomes more digitalised and connected, we can actually make a virtual copy of it. And such replicas are now being used to improve real world scenarios, from making aircraft production more accurate to preventing oil spills.

The idea that wellbeing encompasses more than economic growth is widespread, but the problem is deciding what to measure. Image credit - Cherylholt/ Pixabay
science in society
19 September 2019

Prosperity is about more than money. But what else should count?

More than two decades ago, Professor Andrew Oswald worked at the London School of Economics, UK, when he organised what he says was the world’s first conference on the economics of happiness. He put up posters, invited speakers, and waited for the crowds to come.

Reusing historical buildings for new purposes - an urban planning approach known as adaptive reuse - is breathing new life into cities like Bologna. Image credit - Flickr/ Yuri Virovets, licensed under CC BY 2.0
science in society | environment
28 August 2019

Plants and sensors are being used to help Bologna locals rediscover their city

Lining rundown historic areas of cities with plant life and smart sensors and reusing old buildings for new purposes are helping to breathe new life into Europe’s decaying urban spaces.

Sharing best practices can help universities understand how to best work with refugee scientists and researchers. Image credit - Léna, licensed under CC BY 3.0
science in society
22 July 2019

Academia is tough - now imagine trying to enter it as a refugee

Just months after Dr Ahmad Al Ajlan begun a new job as a university lecturer in the Syrian city of Deir ez-Zor, he was forced to flee his country for Europe. When he arrived in Germany in March 2015, after several months of travelling, he was placed in a number of camps before being allocated a cramped apartment with five other refugees.

A quarter of the refugees who entered Europe in 2018 were children, and 40% of these were unaccompanied by adults. Image credit - Kylo/ Unsplash
science in society
08 July 2019

Schools and media literacy critical for teen refugees’ social wellbeing

For a teenage refugee starting a new life in Europe, going to school and using digital media form a big part of navigating an unfamiliar society. But appropriate interventions at school and online could help them feel more at home in a new country.

Free blockchain-based platforms can make bank accounts accessible to those unable to afford regular banking technology. Image credit - Pxhere, licensed under CC0
ict | industry | science in society
13 March 2019

Blockchain could democratise banking, music – but at what cost?

Few technologies have the potential to disrupt old institutions as much as blockchain – a system that maintains records on huge networks of individual computers. As with any new technology, it could be used for social good – such as supporting people who are priced-out of the current bank accounts – but the big challenge is how to limit its unintended consequences.

An ant has the navigation skills to cover hundreds of metres in a single day and still find its way home. Melophorus Bagoti ant. Image Credit - Antoine Wystrach
frontier research | science in society
20 February 2019

Studying ant cooperation is revealing how brains work together

As a child, you almost certainly at one stage spent hours watching ants move about from their nest. Maybe you dropped a piece of food and watched as a group of ants came and picked it up, carrying it home in an impressive display of cooperation.

Pinpointing how accents change and influence each other can tell us how languages form. Image Credit - Eric Bridiers, for U.S. Mission. CC BY-ND 2.0
science in society | frontier research
21 January 2019

Why do people discriminate against speakers with foreign accents?

Listening to someone speaking with a foreign accent makes human brains work harder which can lead to unintentional discrimination against people communicating in languages other than their own, new research suggests. But exposure to foreign accents can also change the way people speak, and over time, the ensuing accents can become new languages.

Sustainability means different things to different people, say researchers. Image credit - Lars Plougmann, licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0
science in society
15 January 2019

The apps that can tell you if you’re buying sustainably

What does sustainable shopping look like? From environmental impact to workers’ rights, the term can cover so many aspects that buying sustainably can be a daunting task. But a new app that helps people select supermarket products by ethical preferences and an online database that brings transparency to supply chains aim to change that.

Through Grassroots Wavelengths, FM frequencies work off a transmitter connected to a mobile phone, broadcasting over a radius of up to 12 km. Image Credit - Andreea Bonea / RootIO, licensed under CC BY-NC
ict | open to the world | science in society
10 January 2019

Hyperlocal radio and do-it-yourself networks bring information closer to home

Modern communications technology means one can find anything, anywhere around the world, on the internet and via mobile phones. But people still live in communities and need information that is relevant to them.

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