Topics

The production of this leather-like textile is considered to be zero impact as it is created from grape marc - a waste material from wine production. Image credit - Vegea

environment | industry | open innovation

25 July 2018

Chicken plastic and wine leather – giving waste new life

A fashion collection made from the remains of grapes from the wine industry and plastic made from chicken feathers are two new twists on the practice of making new products from waste, and a growing demand for sustainability from consumers mean there could be a ready market for this type of innovation.

Jérôme Delafosse hopes that hydrogen will replace many of the fossil fuels we use today. Image credit - Energy Observer

interview | transport | energy

24 July 2018

Hydrogen-powered boat plots course for the future of ocean travel

The first day that Jérôme Delafosse stepped aboard the Energy Observer, an experimental catamaran run on hydrogen, he knew the plan of sailing around the world on clean energy was a realistic one, he says. Now, the explorer and documentary maker is one year into a six-year odyssey around the globe with his friend Victorien Erussard, an ocean racer and former cruise ship officer, to prove that the technology can be used for pollution-free ocean travel in the future.

Uncertainty about the effects that many medications can have on the unborn child leave a large number of pregnant women with untreated conditions. Image credit - Greyerbaby, licensed under CC0

health

23 July 2018

Finding drugs that are safe to take while pregnant

Expectant mothers often face a dilemma about whether to take medication when they fall ill due to fears it might harm their unborn baby, but new research is unravelling which drugs are safe to take during pregnancy.

Endometriosis, where the lining of the womb grows elsewhere in the pelvis, affects around one in 10 women. Image credit - KGH, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0

health

19 July 2018

Non-invasive tests to provide quicker diagnosis of endometriosis

Non-surgical ways of detecting endometriosis, such as blood tests, could reduce the time taken for a diagnosis, and researchers hope it will have a significant impact on the quality of life of women who live with the complex and painful condition.

interview | transport

18 July 2018

We need a drone register to ensure privacy and safety - air traffic expert

Requiring drones to identify and authorise themselves before they can fly, which could be achieved by fitting them with SIM cards, could help to protect people's privacy by providing an effective way to register both users and machines, according to air traffic management expert Robin Garrity. He has been working on the U-space plan, which sets out a vision for how drones can be integrated into airspace, particularly in urban environments. It is part of work being conducted by the SESAR Joint Undertaking, a public-private partnership that coordinates EU research activities in air traffic management.

frontier research | social sciences

17 July 2018

Lessons from a real Atlantis

Traces of long-forgotten human settlements claimed by the sea thousands of years ago are being uncovered by researchers along the coastlines of Europe.

Mysterious radiation emitted from pulsars - like this one shown leaving a long tail of debris as it races through the Milky Way - have puzzled astronomers for decades. Image credit - NASA

frontier research | space

16 July 2018

Antimatter plasma reveals secrets of deep space signals

Mysterious radiation emitted from distant corners of the galaxy could finally be explained with efforts to recreate a unique state of matter that blinked into existence in the first moments after the Big Bang.

One of the pressing questions that arise with artificial intelligence is how to account for the actions of machines that make decisions by themselves. Image credit - ITU Pictures, licensed under CC BY 2.0

policy

13 July 2018

Digital age 'desperately' needs ethical and legal guidelines

Digital technologies such as artificial intelligence and robotics, ‘desperately’ need an institutional framework and system of values to help regulate the industry, an ethics expert has told leading scientists and policymakers.

policy

12 July 2018

General public should have more input into scientific advice

The scientific community needs to listen more to people outside academia if it wants to continue to help politicians create good evidence-based policies that will benefit the public, a conference has heard.

interview | health | frontier research

10 July 2018

Study of DNA flags could reignite centuries-old evolution debate

Evolution could be partly based on environmental adaptation and not just random mutations, re-opening a centuries-old debate between Charles Darwin and Jean-Baptiste Lamarck, according to Professor Thomas Carell from Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich, Germany.