IT, Information, Media

60 minutes shaved off the time it takes to travel by air is an attractive proposition and one that an EU-funded project is now eagerly working on. PASSME has identified stress as the biggest bottleneck and is currently developing solutions to make airports more passenger-friendly, including new approaches to the processing of baggage.

New Open Source technology called SwellRT has received a strong boost that will make it substantially easier and safer for developers to produce new applications and online services.

One of the IT debates of the day surrounds the relative merits of data privacy vs. the need for law enforcement agencies to track criminal, online activity. One EU-funded project has set out to find a middle ground, by giving much needed tools to citizens and law enforcers alike.

A real cat can’t be both alive and dead at the same time, Austrian physicist Erwin Schrödinger said. But quantum physics rewrites the rules, a fact now demonstrated by a team of researchers funded by the EU.

Researchers from the EU-funded RATE project have studied more than one thousand press corps deaths across the world between 2002 and 2013. The results paint a stark warning that the deaths of journalists signal a dangerous slide away from human rights adherence and are a potent sign of growing political repression.

Thinner, faster, stronger, more flexible – graphene has the potential to bring a new dimension to technologies in fields as varied as fashion, medicine and transport. EU funding is making sure Europe stays at the heart of the new developments.

The latest research*eu RESULTS PACK– a collection of articles on EU-funded projects dedicated to a specific field of scientific research – is now available in free, accessible PDF. This brochure focuses on how eGovernment is delivering innovation public services for citizens and businesses alike in the European Union.

Many EU-funded projects are working towards advancing robotics to assist people with overcoming societal challenges, such as providing care for the elderly or providing disaster relief. An academic who worked on one such project has now argued that author Isaac Asimov’s Laws of Robotics are not the moral guidelines that they appear and should be updated.

A Polish/Czech research team has demonstrated how even a seemingly ultrasecure form of money, designed using quantum mechanics can have a potentially important security loophole putting it at risk of forgery. But this highlights not the shortcomings of this exciting new technology, but rather its continuing potential to transform human society in the 21st century.

Utility field work can be a real headache even with precise maps at hand. Admitting that they rapidly manage to locate the sought network, workers may end up damaging grids belonging to someone else. This type of scenario will soon be avoidable thanks to an assistive device developed under the LARA project.

Efficiently accessing a wider range of laser spectral regions is a must for the photonics industry. A miniature frequency tripler developed under the MINIMODS project promises to bring conversion efficiencies from 10 to above 30 %.

A new machine called the Watly offers solutions to three of society’s most important challenges – ensuring access to clean water, sustainable energy generation and reaping the benefits of the evolving digital revolution. Supported by funds from the Horizon 2020 project, the innovative SME behind the project is now nearly ready to unveil its first full-scale Watly machine.

EU-funding under the ALTEREGO project has helped researchers develop a ‘mirror game’ using artificial intelligence that could provide an affordable, non-invasive way to diagnose and monitor schizophrenia.

Increasing political polarisation in western democracies was starkly highlighted in 2016 with the UK’s vote for Brexit and the election of Donald Trump in the United States. Such polarisation will likely continue to be a key societal factor as 2017 unfolds and consequently, more attention is being placed on a need to understand the scientific and psychological reasons that drive humans to identify enemies based on race, political beliefs and other perceived threats.

New research part-supported by the EU-funded IQIT project has produced the first-ever industrial blueprint for a large-scale quantum computer that could lead to an entirely new and exciting technological revolution.

Researchers have found that our increasing thirst for digital technology can have negative effects on our mental and physical health, neurological development and personal relationships.

The moment when stroke patients return home after treatment has always been a source of concern for both themselves and their physicians, as the latter are left blind without any feedback. But this is now a thing of the past: a novel suit fitted with 41 sensors is finally ready for commercialisation.

By integrating energy management systems the EU funded BESOS project contributes to the efficiency and sustainability of ‘smart cities’, while further empowering citizens to make informed choices.

Whilst there is no denying the potential of graphene, its mass production has so far been hindered by laborious fabrication methods and the high costs they entail. A new technique developed by partners of the CARERAMM project promises to overcome these problems.

It is a well-known fact that Facebook is more than a social media channel. Each year, the company makes about 4 billion dollars in advertising revenues. What people advertising on Facebook did not know until now, however, is how much profit their own activity actually generates.

In the last Trending Science of 2016 (your writer will be ho ho home for the holidays by the time you read this), we’re reporting on three science-related Christmas stories that have hit the headlines this festive season.

Many contemporary artworks are endangered due to their extremely fast degradation processes. NANORESTART – a project developing nanomaterials to protect and restore this cultural heritage – has created a 3D printed artwork with a view to testing restoration methods.

Six months on from the UK’s decision to leave the European Union, researchers are still trying to ascertain how and why the Leave campaign was ultimately victorious. In new research partly supported by the EU-funded PHEME and SOBIGDATA projects, 3 million tweets were analysed over a 6-month period that showed immigration was by far the most important issue driving Leave voters.

New research supported by the EU-funded IGENEE and EPITARGET projects has discovered a specific gene network in the brain that is associated with epilepsy, raising hopes that new treatments for the condition can be developed.

New perovskite material developed by EU researchers is set to define the next generation of hard drives.