http://ec.europa.eu//research/index.cfm?pg=whatsnew en Fri, 17 May 2013 13:51:06 GMT http://ec.europa.eu/research/index.cfm?pg=rss For more RSS news feeds click the link above. Fri, 17 May 2013 13:51:06 GMT http://ec.europa.eu/research/index.cfm?pg=rss http://ec.europa.eu/research/infocentre/article_en.cfm?id=/research/star/index_en.cfm?p=ss-lignodeco&calledby=infocentre&item=Infocentre&artid=29996 If the world is to live within its environmental limits, the need to make the most sustainable use of its raw materials will become ever more vital. Increasingly, this will require us to focus on making maximum use of all the components of those raw materials, right down to the waste products. In today's world, everything has to be used. ]]> Wed, 15 May 2013 00:00:00 GMT tag:ch,2013-05-15:/infocentre/article_en.cfm?id=/research/star/index_en.cfm?p=ss-lignodeco&calledby=infocentre&item=Infocentre&artid=29996 http://ec.europa.eu/research/infocentre/article_en.cfm?id=/research/star/index_en.cfm?p=ss-modtrain&calledby=infocentre&item=Infocentre&artid=29955 When Europe's rail pioneers created the first steam engines some two centuries ago, they gave little thought to whether their inventions might be used in other countries: while their ingenuity helped transform travel, they never got round to setting uniform rail technologies across the continent. ]]> Mon, 13 May 2013 00:00:00 GMT tag:ch,2013-05-13:/infocentre/article_en.cfm?id=/research/star/index_en.cfm?p=ss-modtrain&calledby=infocentre&item=Infocentre&artid=29955 http://ec.europa.eu/research/infocentre/article_en.cfm?id=/research/headlines/news/article_13_05_07_en.html&item=Infocentre&artid=29913 The health impact of indoor air pollution is a real environmental health issue, which is believed to have a bearing on respiratory conditions such as asthma. This has prompted a European study to take action. While outdoor pollution is often cited as the cause of many asthma related issues, indoor threats are also being addressed in the light of World Asthma Day.]]> Tue, 07 May 2013 00:00:00 GMT tag:ch,2013-05-07:/infocentre/article_en.cfm?id=/research/headlines/news/article_13_05_07_en.html&item=Infocentre&artid=29913 http://ec.europa.eu/research/infocentre/article_en.cfm?id=/research/star/index_en.cfm?p=ss-multimod&calledby=infocentre&item=Infocentre&artid=29915 There are some problems that are more complicated than others, and some problems that are more common than others. Unfortunately, when it comes to disease, complex diseases are also the most common ones. ]]> Tue, 07 May 2013 00:00:00 GMT tag:ch,2013-05-07:/infocentre/article_en.cfm?id=/research/star/index_en.cfm?p=ss-multimod&calledby=infocentre&item=Infocentre&artid=29915 http://ec.europa.eu/research/infocentre/article_en.cfm?id=/research/star/index_en.cfm?p=ss-cover&calledby=infocentre&item=Infocentre&artid=29914 Road accidents killed almost 35,000 people in the European Union (EU)'s 27 member states in 2009, the latest year for which statistics are available. While this number represents a fall of 38% since the start of the 21st century, there is still great scope to improve vehicle safety in Europe. ]]> Tue, 07 May 2013 00:00:00 GMT tag:ch,2013-05-07:/infocentre/article_en.cfm?id=/research/star/index_en.cfm?p=ss-cover&calledby=infocentre&item=Infocentre&artid=29914 http://ec.europa.eu/research/infocentre/article_en.cfm?id=/research/headlines/news/article_13_04_29_en.html&item=Infocentre&artid=29833 For Kerstin Lindblad-Toh, of the University of Uppsala in Sweden, news that the European Union (EU) was to provide funding for a project aimed at using research into canine genetics as a kind of 'fast-track' to help provide cures for many important human diseases marked the achievement of a long-held ambition.]]> Mon, 29 Apr 2013 00:00:00 GMT tag:ch,2013-04-29:/infocentre/article_en.cfm?id=/research/headlines/news/article_13_04_29_en.html&item=Infocentre&artid=29833 http://ec.europa.eu/research/infocentre/article_en.cfm?id=/research/headlines/news/article_13_04_11_en.html&item=Infocentre&artid=29636 Parkinson's disease is the second most widespread neurodegenerative disease in the world, with an estimated 1.2 million sufferers in Europe alone. One Marie Curie Fellow is carrying out innovative genetic research that could one day lead to a better prognosis for patients.]]> Thu, 11 Apr 2013 00:00:00 GMT tag:ch,2013-04-11:/infocentre/article_en.cfm?id=/research/headlines/news/article_13_04_11_en.html&item=Infocentre&artid=29636 http://ec.europa.eu/research/infocentre/article_en.cfm?id=/research/star/index_en.cfm?p=ss-ice2sea&calledby=infocentre&item=Infocentre&artid=29474 While the global increase of temperature due to our emissions of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere is more or less undisputed among climate researchers, the consequences of the global warming are less clear. Sea-level will rise, but whether we look at half a meter or one and a half meters at the end of the century, is not yet predictable. In terms of impacts on coast and its cities around the globe, these figures correspond to "severe" and "devastating", respectively. ]]> Fri, 22 Mar 2013 00:00:00 GMT tag:ch,2013-03-22:/infocentre/article_en.cfm?id=/research/star/index_en.cfm?p=ss-ice2sea&calledby=infocentre&item=Infocentre&artid=29474 http://ec.europa.eu/research/infocentre/article_en.cfm?id=/research/headlines/news/article_13_03_20_en.html&item=Infocentre&artid=29433 Measuring between 1 and 100 billionth of a metre, nanomaterials may be tiny and invisible to the eye but what they lack in size, they make up for in impact. Engineered nanomaterials are already widely used in technologies and consumer products ranging from toothpaste to paints. ]]> Wed, 20 Mar 2013 00:00:00 GMT tag:ch,2013-03-20:/infocentre/article_en.cfm?id=/research/headlines/news/article_13_03_20_en.html&item=Infocentre&artid=29433 http://ec.europa.eu/research/infocentre/article_en.cfm?id=/research/headlines/news/article_13_03_15_en.html&item=Infocentre&artid=29373 Over the last ten years, high power fibre lasers have moved quickly from the research laboratory into production. In stark contrast to traditional lasers, fibre lasers now offer near perfect beam quality ensuring optimal focus even in long distances. In addition, high efficiency, low operating costs and virtually no maintenance allow for a simple integration into industrial, automated production processes. ]]> Fri, 15 Mar 2013 00:00:00 GMT tag:ch,2013-03-15:/infocentre/article_en.cfm?id=/research/headlines/news/article_13_03_15_en.html&item=Infocentre&artid=29373 http://ec.europa.eu/research/infocentre/article_en.cfm?id=/research/star/index_en.cfm?p=ss-safeast&calledby=infocentre&item=Infocentre&artid=29359 In Europe over 41,000 people die and 1.6 million are injured in traffic accidents every year. However, there are striking regional differences. In Southern Europe the number of traffic deaths is as much as two to three times higher for the same number of vehicles. The project SAFEAST, Towards Safer Road Traffic in the Eastern Mediterranean Region, was set up to examine the reasons behind these differences in October 2004. Universities from Sweden, the United Kingdom, Finland, and Greece participated in the four-year project. ]]> Wed, 13 Mar 2013 00:00:00 GMT tag:ch,2013-03-13:/infocentre/article_en.cfm?id=/research/star/index_en.cfm?p=ss-safeast&calledby=infocentre&item=Infocentre&artid=29359 http://ec.europa.eu/research/infocentre/article_en.cfm?id=/research/headlines/news/article_13_02_27_en.html&item=Infocentre&artid=29314 A groundbreaking European Union (EU)-funded research project has shown that eating high quantities of common foods such as fried potatoes - or even toast – during pregnancy can lead to significant health problems for the new-born child. ]]> Wed, 27 Feb 2013 00:00:00 GMT tag:ch,2013-02-27:/infocentre/article_en.cfm?id=/research/headlines/news/article_13_02_27_en.html&item=Infocentre&artid=29314 http://ec.europa.eu/research/infocentre/article_en.cfm?id=/research/headlines/news/article_13_01_29_en.html&item=Infocentre&artid=29117 Healthy, sustainable forests are vital to Europe’s economic and environmental well-being, and it is regions that must play a leading role in developing new management strategies, a new EU-funded project reveals. ]]> Tue, 29 Jan 2013 00:00:00 GMT tag:ch,2013-01-29:/infocentre/article_en.cfm?id=/research/headlines/news/article_13_01_29_en.html&item=Infocentre&artid=29117 http://ec.europa.eu/research/infocentre/article_en.cfm?id=/research/star/index_en.cfm?p=ss-compnanoald&calledby=infocentre&item=Infocentre&artid=28993 Sun-fired pollution-eating nano-fibres, novel night-vision devices, super waterproofing materials... these are just some of the applications that award-winning Hungarian scientist Dr Imre Miklós Szilágyi came up with in his EU-supported nano-science project exploring new materials and techniques at the molecular level. ]]> Wed, 16 Jan 2013 00:00:00 GMT tag:ch,2013-01-16:/infocentre/article_en.cfm?id=/research/star/index_en.cfm?p=ss-compnanoald&calledby=infocentre&item=Infocentre&artid=28993 http://ec.europa.eu/research/infocentre/article_en.cfm?id=/research/star/index_en.cfm?p=ss-esoa&calledby=infocentre&item=Infocentre&artid=28935 Over the last few decades the use of wireless devices such as cell phones, car keys, and GPS systems has increased enormously. All these devices transmit and receive data at high speed through antennas. "Antennas are where the bottle neck is in all these communication technologies, and with a better antenna you can transmit more data," says Stefano Maci of the Department of Information Engineering at the University of Siena in Italy. This is why students at technical universities and engineering departments of universities need courses in the theory and application of antennas. ]]> Thu, 10 Jan 2013 00:00:00 GMT tag:ch,2013-01-10:/infocentre/article_en.cfm?id=/research/star/index_en.cfm?p=ss-esoa&calledby=infocentre&item=Infocentre&artid=28935 http://ec.europa.eu/research/infocentre/article_en.cfm?id=/research/star/index_en.cfm?p=ss-elsa&calledby=infocentre&item=Infocentre&artid=28934 August 2013 will see the launch of Gaia, a five-year space mission packed with scientific ambition that is quite literally astronomical. The European Space Agency (ESA) aims to chart about one billion stars, or roughly 1% of the Milky Way. It is expected to discover thousands of new celestial objects, from extra-solar planets to failed stars called brown dwarfs. It is an extraordinary endeavour, taking astrometry to a new level of complexity and precision, but it will mean little if Europe's science community cannot handle the volume of data that Gaia space mission is expected to send back to Earth. And this is where ELSA comes in. ]]> Thu, 10 Jan 2013 00:00:00 GMT tag:ch,2013-01-10:/infocentre/article_en.cfm?id=/research/star/index_en.cfm?p=ss-elsa&calledby=infocentre&item=Infocentre&artid=28934 http://ec.europa.eu/research/infocentre/article_en.cfm?id=/research/headlines/news/article_12_12_28_en.html&item=Infocentre&artid=28833 Showcasing the most exciting areas in research and innovation in Europe is the premise behind the 'Destination Europe' events, which take place several times a year. The events help researchers from around the world discover the opportunities available for working in Europe, why Europe is an ideal place for career development and the funding opportunities for scientists. Likewise, they provide a unique insight into what European countries are doing with regards to innovation transfer.]]> Fri, 28 Dec 2012 00:00:00 GMT tag:ch,2012-12-28:/infocentre/article_en.cfm?id=/research/headlines/news/article_12_12_28_en.html&item=Infocentre&artid=28833 http://ec.europa.eu/research/infocentre/article_en.cfm?id=/research/star/index_en.cfm?p=ss-sustaincomp&calledby=infocentre&item=Infocentre&artid=28793 Sustainability in the plastics sector will become a more pressing issue in the future as legislation and public demand force companies to manufacture more environmentally friendly products. A European project has been developing alternative materials, production processes and even products like a composite bus seat which could, in time, replace oil-based plastic versions. ]]> Fri, 21 Dec 2012 00:00:00 GMT tag:ch,2012-12-21:/infocentre/article_en.cfm?id=/research/star/index_en.cfm?p=ss-sustaincomp&calledby=infocentre&item=Infocentre&artid=28793 http://ec.europa.eu/research/infocentre/article_en.cfm?id=/research/star/index_en.cfm?p=ss-canceromics&calledby=infocentre&item=Infocentre&artid=28759 Advances in microarray or lab-on-a-chip technologies have significantly improved our ability to study human cells and tissues. However, in order to develop novel therapies to combat such diseases as cancer, understanding the underlying molecular mechanisms is required and this is only made possible by developing new technologies. ]]> Wed, 19 Dec 2012 00:00:00 GMT tag:ch,2012-12-19:/infocentre/article_en.cfm?id=/research/star/index_en.cfm?p=ss-canceromics&calledby=infocentre&item=Infocentre&artid=28759 http://ec.europa.eu/research/infocentre/article_en.cfm?id=/research/star/index_en.cfm?p=ss-polysurf&calledby=infocentre&item=Infocentre&artid=28765 Nanotechnology, the manipulation of matter on a molecular scale, brings together different sciences. It is not just about the physics of atomic arrangements, but also about the chemistry of each element involved. The mix becomes yet more complex when living organisms interact with the tiny structures. But by embracing this complexity - bringing together chemists, physicists, biologists and engineers - a research project has provided new insights into nanotechnology. ]]> Tue, 18 Dec 2012 00:00:00 GMT tag:ch,2012-12-18:/infocentre/article_en.cfm?id=/research/star/index_en.cfm?p=ss-polysurf&calledby=infocentre&item=Infocentre&artid=28765 http://ec.europa.eu/research/infocentre/article_en.cfm?id=/research/star/index_en.cfm?p=ss-eatris&calledby=infocentre&item=Infocentre&artid=28673 All too often, researchers who secure medical breakthroughs in the laboratory find themselves at a loss when it comes to turning their findings into health products. This blockage is due to the slow, cumbersome and failure-prone testing and approvals mechanism, which involves lengthy inter-disciplinary dealings amongst basic scientists, clinicians, regulators and more. But a new European project is simplifying the system and speeding the journey from science to therapy. ]]> Thu, 13 Dec 2012 00:00:00 GMT tag:ch,2012-12-13:/infocentre/article_en.cfm?id=/research/star/index_en.cfm?p=ss-eatris&calledby=infocentre&item=Infocentre&artid=28673 http://ec.europa.eu/research/infocentre/article_en.cfm?id=/research/headlines/news/article_12_07_30_en.html&item=Infocentre&artid=26253 Researchers in Finland and the United Kingdom suggest that the warming Arctic climate could turn existing shrubs into trees in the coming years. The finding, presented in the journal Nature Climate Change, reveals that patches of forest can emerge across the tundra, which in turn could speed up the planet's warming. The study was funded in part by the ECOCHANGE ('Creating conditions for persistence of biodiversity in the face of climate change') project, which has received a Marie Curie 'Promoting sciences' grant worth EUR 173 400 under the FP7.]]> Mon, 30 Jul 2012 00:00:00 GMT tag:ch,2012-07-30:/infocentre/article_en.cfm?id=/research/headlines/news/article_12_07_30_en.html&item=Infocentre&artid=26253 http://ec.europa.eu/research/infocentre/article_en.cfm?id=/research/star/index_en.cfm?p=a25&calledby=infocentre&item=Infocentre&artid=25473 Protecting maritime and land borders is a daily challenge for Europe. Researchers have been examining how to use lasers, gamma rays and neutron beams to address that challenge. ]]> Tue, 26 Jun 2012 00:00:00 GMT tag:ch,2012-06-26:/infocentre/article_en.cfm?id=/research/star/index_en.cfm?p=a25&calledby=infocentre&item=Infocentre&artid=25473