Social sciences

With EU nations throwing away 88 million tonnes of food a year, a group of experts from 13 countries have launched a platform to share knowledge with consumers, producers and retailers in the hope of bringing that figure down.

Scientists analysing earthenware jugs say residue contains wine compounds dating back 8 000 years.

Around 20 million people in the EU suffer from eating disorders with an annual associated cost of EUR 1 trillion. Debilitating and stressful at best, at worst fatal, those suffering can face long delays in getting treatment. But smart tech could speed things up.

With fake news, alternative facts and false beliefs currently damaging our social and political landscape, EU researchers are examining whether journalists can be effective as adjudicators, pointing out untruths and separating facts from fiction.

With uncertainty around the risks of nanomaterials hampering the EU’s innovative potential, researchers are working on a safety concept to better monitor this emerging technology.

When quantum computers become available, an existing algorithm will challenge current encryption techniques now considered secure. Work being done by an EU-funded project is laying the grounds for a solution.

Researchers have identified serious data privacy vulnerabilities in the increasingly popular wearable devices, that threaten their trustworthiness.

New research shows a positive state of mind can boost the effectiveness of vaccines such as the flu jab.

The 2017 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine has gone to three scientists for their discoveries of the molecular mechanisms that control circadian rhythms.

According to a study recently published in the ‘The Lancet Planetary Health’, global warming could impact about two-thirds of the European population a year, 351 million people, by 2100, resulting in 152 000 deaths annually.

Haptic sensors, connectivity and efficient telecommunications are some of the factors that enable the uptake of medical telerobotic systems. Technical capacity is timely as demographics put pressure on health services, while in remote areas, patients of all ages can find it hard to get appointments with specialists.

Tech leaders have written an open letter to the UN asking for a ban on lethal autonomous weapons which, they state, could permit armed conflict to be fought at a scale greater than ever, and at timescales faster than humans can comprehend.

A new study led by the University of Plymouth and funded through the EU-funded TRACY project has advised governments to do more to develop transport policies that allow those over the age of 65 to remain mobile and active.

As a debilitating heatwave, nicknamed ‘Lucifer’ by the press, currently engulfs southern Europe, a new study part-supported by two EU-funded projects has warned that a rise in global temperatures of three degrees would reverse Europe’s dedicated efforts to reduce ozone pollution.

Part-supported through the EU-funded RE-AGEING project, researchers offer population forecasting studies which encourage societies to break from outdated ageing measures and instead start categorising on how we live our lives.

The European Commission, DG XVII, has published the July 1994 issue of "Energy in Europe" on energy policies and trends in the European Union.The multilingual report presents a series of articles on energy policy and programmes in the European Union and in an international c...

New research led by Columbia University using multiple datasets, including those gathered through three comprehensive EU-funded projects focused on ageing, has highlighted how women''s cognitive functioning improves in countries that emphasise the importance of gender equality.

Part-supported through the EU-funded NUDGE-IT project, researchers have undertaken a detailed study which shows how obese people are able to crucially discount future meal times.

Against a backdrop of increasing concern about both obesity and depressive illness amongst European populations, an EU-funded study contributes pioneering research about the link between high-sugar intake and mood disorders.

The function of ecosystem services is to to label the benefits that humans derive from natural ecosystems and biodiversity in order to include their value into decision-making. The area is attracting much research, but a variety of definitions and underlying paradigmatic assumptions can pose a barrier to effective interdisciplinary research.

Shocking new research suggests that Western men’s sperm count has more than halved between 1973 and 2011, an average of 1.4 % per year. Scientists are still uncertain as to the cause of the dramatic drop but have argued that their findings must be taken seriously and that action must be taken to address what could become a major public health crisis.

Climate change is increasing water scarcity around the world and the inter-dependencies of global trade mean that the impact could ripple far and wide, including across Europe, as the EU-funded project IMPREX warns.

A new book written by the project coordinator for the EU-funded TRUST project, along with a former president of Iran, unravels the different meanings of dignity, as part of a wider effort to raise the bar for international research ethics.