24. December 2008
Understanding how infectious diseases spread depends on unlocking secrets held in existing data
Often experiments are needed to make scientific progress, but sometimes the answers lie in data already collected, requiring new analysis tools to unlock the secrets. This applies to infectious disease transmission, main topic of a recent workshop organised by the European Science Foundation (ESF),... [more]
23. December 2008
Computers team up with evolution to design novel enzymes
The dream of designer drugs highly specific in action with zero side effects has come closer by combining atomic level computer prediction with natural selection in the laboratory. Following the 2008’s first design of an artificial enzyme for catalysing a chemical reaction, there is increased... [more]
23. December 2008
Muslims embrace performing arts to heal cultural rifts and reach out to their people
The Danish cartoon affair was an important milestone in Europe’s ongoing integration of its fast growing Muslim population. The fallout from this affair, along with other events such as the July 2005 bombings in London, has increased the urgency of achieving a long lasting accommodation between... [more]
20. December 2008
Dream of quantum computing closer to reality as mathematicians chase key breakthrough
The ability to exploit the extraordinary properties of quantum mechanics in novel applications, such as a new generation of super-fast computers, has come closer following recent progress with some of the remaining underlying mathematical problems. In particular, the operator theory used to... [more]
19. December 2008
How mirror neurons allow us to learn and socialise by going through the motions in the head
The old adage that we can only learn how to do something by trying it ourselves may have to be revised in the light of recent discoveries in neuroscience. It turns out that humans, primates, some birds, and possibly other higher animals have mirror neurons that fire in the same pattern whether... [more]
19. December 2008
Going digital – new challenges for community radio
Community broadcasting, which is owned and managed by citizen groups and members of civil society, has gained foothold on local FM and AM radio across Europe since the 1980s. These media outlets have not only been serving as valuable tools for local empowerment and cultural diversity,... [more]
18. December 2008
Humanities research key to the future of European policy making
Research and debate at the "European Diversities - European Identities" conference in Strasbourg on October 8-9 has reinforced the importance of humanities research in helping to deliver social policy in the next few years.The fourth annual HERA (Humanities in the European Research Area) conference... [more]
17. December 2008
Students show red card to cheating researchers
A group of French research students is launching an online register to flag up scientific papers that have been tainted by fraud and other types of scientific misconduct.Claire Ribrault, a PhD student in neurobiology at Ecole Normale Supérieure in Paris, unveiled the Scientific Red Cards project... [more]
16. December 2008
Global challenges and global collaborations – lessons learnt from global change
2nd ESF Science Policy Conference held in Stockholm, Sweden [more]
15. December 2008
Pigs and dogs can bridge gap between mice and humans in developing new therapies
Human and veterinary medicine could receive a big boost through the use of larger animals, especially pigs and dogs, in research, with Europe at the forefront. There is the prospect of bringing drugs to the market more quickly at less cost, as well as accelerating progress in other forms of... [more]
