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Teenagers in countries such as Norway are being enlisted to tackle childhood obesity. Image credit - Therese Wardenær Bakke

13 May 2019

‘Teenagers are going to be the ones to beat childhood obesity’

Teenagers rarely have a say in the public health policies that concern them, but we can’t halt the childhood obesity problem without working with them, says Professor Knut-Inge Klepp, executive director of the mental and physical health division at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health.

Prof. Wendland believes it is possible to restore the Notre Dame in Paris in an authentic and most respectful way by the 2024 Olympics. Image credit - Prof. David Wendland

interview | frontier research

07 May 2019

Notre Dame: Medieval stonemasons built vaulted ceilings to protect against fires

Medieval stonemasons built soaring vaulted ceilings such as those of the cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris, France, using techniques that are still not completely understood today.

There is 'large uncertainty' surrounding the risk from microplastics, pieces of plastic less than 5mm wide, says Prof. Bart Koelmans. Image credit - 5Gyres, courtesy of Oregon State University licenced under CC BY-SA 2.0

interview | environment | policy

30 April 2019

‘We still don’t know enough about the dangers of microplastics’

An estimated 5.25 trillion particles of plastic float in Earth’s oceans, threatening not only the health of marine ecosystems and animals, but that of humans in the water we drink and the food we eat. However, research into the extent of the dangers posed by microplastics is still just in its infancy.

Prof. Merkel says that despite the challenges presented by right-wing populists, democracies in Western Europe remain deeply rooted in strong liberal civil societies. Image credit - Prof. Wolfgang Merkel. Photograph by: David Ausserhofer

interview | social sciences

25 April 2019

Democracy: ‘Inclusion is the future – not exclusion’

The rise of right-wing populism is being fuelled by polarisation in society that we must address without resorting to the claim of moral superiority, or protest voters will become the permanent supporters of these new parties, says Wolfgang Merkel, director of the Democracy and Democratisation research department at the WZB Berlin Social Science Center, Germany, and professor of political science at the Humboldt University of Berlin.

Dr Bonnefon says that governments and regulators, rather than engineers, should make the moral decisions surrounding self-driving cars. Image Credit - JF Bonnefon

interview | transport

02 April 2019

‘Trusting self-driving cars is going to be a big step for people’

Self-driving cars are set to bring one of the biggest changes to our global transportation system in decades, but their potential to increase road safety should not be over-emphasised if we want to increase people’s trust in automated vehicles, says Dr Jean-François Bonnefon from the Toulouse School of Economics, France, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, US. He is a behavioural scientist who studies the ethics of self-driving cars and is speaking at the European Conference on Connected and Automated Driving (EUCAD) in Brussels, Belgium, which runs from 2-3 April 2019.

Prof. McShane's team is trying to simulate an immune response using proteins from the TB bacteria. Image credit - John Cairns

interview | health

22 March 2019

A new TB vaccine is within reach – Prof. Helen McShane

Nearly 100 years ago scientists developed a vaccine for tuberculosis (TB). Today, there are 10 million new cases worldwide and 1.6 million deaths from the disease every year. Increasingly, these cases are becoming difficult to treat as the bug that causes the disease can be resistant to antibiotics. However, several new TB vaccines are under development and there is growing optimism that a new vaccine will emerge, says Helen McShane, professor of vaccinology at Oxford University, UK. This could save millions of lives, she said, but more work is needed to reassure the general public that vaccines are safe and effective.

Europe's attitude toward entrepreneurs has evolved in the last decade, says Nicklas Bergman. Image Credit - Nicklas Bergman

interview | policy

18 March 2019

Q&A with Nicklas Bergman: How can Europe keep its entrepreneurs?

Europe’s position on privacy, regulation and competition could be a key way to attract entrepreneurs who share those values but there is still some work to do in encouraging ambition, according to Nicklas Bergman, a Swedish entrepreneur and technology investor. Over the past two years, he and other entrepreneurs have advised the European Commission on the design of the European Innovation Council (EIC), an initiative to support companies, researchers and entrepreneurs hoping to start their own business or scale up their projects internationally. The second phase of the pilot was launched on 18 March 2019.

Prof. Mace says that we need to address the food system which is the major driver of biodiversity loss. Image credit - Courtesy of Professor Georgina Mace

interview | environment

04 March 2019

Sixth mass extinction could destroy life as we know it– biodiversity expert

Alarming declines in the number of insects, vertebrates and plant species around the world have raised fears that we are in the midst of a sixth major extinction that could cause a collapse of the natural ecosystems we rely upon to survive.

Increasing digitisation will get rid of boring tasks and free people up for creativity and empathy, according to one young leader's vision of industry in 2050. Image credit - ICAPlants, licensed under CC BY-SA3.0

industry | opinion

06 February 2019

Creative, egalitarian, carbon-neutral – the future of industry?

In 30 years’ time, industrial companies will have a social purpose: be completely carbon neutral and give everyone the opportunity to fill their unique potential. At least, that’s what five young industrial leaders hope. We caught up with them as they attended the EU’s Industry Days in Brussels, Belgium, on 5-6 February to find out what needs to happen to fulfil this vision.

Dr David Parker, the director of human and robotic exploration at ESA, says that the lunar campaign’s ultimate mission would be to see if a permanent human moon base can be established. Image credit - ESA

interview | space

05 February 2019

‘The moon is a history museum and we’ve only visited the gift shop’

Humans have not set foot on the moon since 1972, when the last Apollo mission came back to Earth. That could all change in the coming years, however, as entities like the European Space Agency (ESA) are preparing not just to return, but to build a permanent base on the surface.