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Digital screens made from concrete could mean displays are integrated into the sides of buildings, and make advertising billboards resistant to vandalism, according to Bo Jacobsen, the chief executive of Dupont Lightstone, the driving force behind the EU-funded DIGISTONE project. The project is displaying its first prototype at the EuroScience Open Forum (ESOF) in Copenhagen from 21 to 26 June.
Rethinking aircraft engines and new wing designs have the potential to cut carbon emissions and noise, as well as to boost Europe’s aerospace industry, according to Eric Dautriat, chief executive of the Clean Sky Joint Technology Initiative (JTI).
If we want Europe to gain market share in developing technology for smart devices like phones and tablets, we must embrace public–private partnerships, according to Dr Andreas Wild, executive director of the EU’s new Electronic Components and Systems for European Leadership (ECSEL) Joint Technology Initiative.
The idea that an athlete could change their genes to grow bigger muscles, or increase their body’s production of red blood cells, may sound like the stuff of fantasy, but halting the development of ‘gene doping’ technology is one of the main research priorities of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), according to Dr Olivier Rabin, the organisation’s science director.
European pilots will be able to fold away their maps and free up their radio frequency in favour of more advanced technologies to communicate their trajectories with air traffic control, said Florian Guillermet, the executive director of the SESAR Joint Undertaking. These are just some of the ways in which SESAR, a public-private R&D partnership, is contributing to Europe’s goal of modernising its air traffic management (ATM) system and joining up its fragmented skies.
The ability to store electricity using hydrogen could make wind and solar power a secure energy source, freeing Europe from its dependency on imported fossil fuels, according to Bert De Colvenaer, executive director of the Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking, a public-private partnership.
Climate information should be used not only to address impacts, but also to make agriculture more resource efficient and profitable, starting from regional climate services, according to Professor Riccardo Valentini, a leading author of the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Fifth Assessment Report. He explained his ideas in an interview with Horizon on the sidelines of Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation, an event on 6 May in Brussels to discuss the implications of the IPCC report.
If more girls are to study science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) subjects at university, then attitudes among parents and society at large must change – that’s according to Anne-Marie Imafidon, a speaker at the EU’s Innovation Convention in March 2014. She passed an A level in computing aged 11, and at 20, she obtained a master’s degree. She is the founder of Stemettes, an organisation which encourages girls to get into STEM subjects by connecting them with women working in the field.
Copyright law will struggle to be relevant for 3D-printed material, according to Joren De Wachter, an intellectual property strategist who advises companies and investors on the best way to use, understand and value the intellectual property of 3D-printed goods.
The freedom of running your own company can make it easier to combine work with family. That’s according to human geneticist and entrepreneur Dr Saskia Biskup, the first-prize winner of the EU Prize for Women Innovators 2014. She is the co-founder of CeGaTGmbH, a leading German biotech company that conducts diagnostic testing for genetic diseases.
Scientists are investigating the link between gut bacteria and ageing.
Their ageing rates might teach us how to grow old gracefully, too.
New research could produce better ways to treat anxiety and phobias.
We are entering a second era of lunar exploration, says ESA’s Dr David Parker.
A brain cancer scientist explains why the disease is so hard to treat.
Science is currently undergoing a revolution thanks to a new approach to the scientific process based on openness, inclusiveness and cooperation, known as Open Science.