Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries

A study supported by the EU-funded SPACERADARPOLLINATOR project reveals the roles that visual experience, visual learning and foraging activity, have on the neural structure of bumblebees.

Food sharing as a means to both reduce waste and boost urban sustainability is clearly a good idea. But what works where and how can it be made more effective? Just some questions one project is answering.

European aquaculture is a vital industry employing thousands of people and generating billions of euros in turnover. But there is scope for greater development.

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.

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 provides a detailed snapshot at the EU’s wide array of research interests with regards to the Earth’s marine environments.

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

As most cities-dwellers know, urban environments offer both challenges and opportunities. But when it comes to birdlife, can telomeres provide an insight into which tips the balance?

Humans evolved their big heads to manage their complex social structures, an idea called the social brain hypothesis. Now a new study conducted by British and American researchers suggests that whale and dolphin brains evolved in much the same way.

European aquaculture production provides direct employment to 80 000 people and has an estimated EUR 3 billion annual turnover. But parasites can cause severe disease outbreaks leading to high economic losses in finfish aquaculture.

With food security issues becoming ever more pressing, much research is being done to strike the right balance between high yields and low environmental impact. A major EU-funded project has run a successful pilot bringing together data from sensors and satellites to boost yields while accurately identifying levels of fertilisers needed.

Fish population dynamics models are essential tools used to estimate fishing impact and provide key indicators of exploitation. A EU-funded project is helping to provide a new generation of models harnessing the progress made in monitoring using in situ and satellite data.

The ability of the crow family, corvids, to use tools and plan tactically to solve problems has fascinated many researchers from those studying self-recognition in magpies to the New Caledonian crow’s accurate crafting of tools. Now EU support has enabled a Swedish researcher to study ravens’ abilities to barter and plan.

Just like great wine needs time, great grapes require continuous attention and reliable assessment tools. Noting the absence of a convincing alternative to manual sampling and analysis, an EU-funded consortium has developed VineRobot, an ‘Unmanned ground vehicle’ (UGV) equipped with non-invasive sensor technology.

The WINESENSE project has successfully developed a novel extraction process for grape marc, resulting in higher polyphenol content. The consortium is already working on products for the cosmetics industry.

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.

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.

How best to defend the rights of small-scale fishermen, ensure they receive fair pay and boost their competitiveness? The EU-funded SUCCESS project thinks one key step is to raise awareness and they are proposing to do so by labelling.

A new study, building on a previously funded EU project, explores the influence of groundwater locations on East African ancestral survival, with the suggestion that they also acted as a spur for evolution.

A technology able to accurately predict future yields, without human intervention, would be a dream come true for vine growers across Europe. If all goes as planned, such technology should be available to them in less than two years.

The latest Research*eu Results Magazine is now available in free, accessible PDF.

With ULTRAWINE, Spanish SME AGROVIN promises a revolutionary ultrasound equipment for wineries, one that will accelerate the grape maceration process and reduce energy use drastically — all this whilst guaranteeing the great wine colouration and quality.

The EU-funded FLOTEC project’s tidal turbine has now matched the performance of established offshore wind turbines, generating over 18MWh (megawatt-hour) within a continuous 24 hour testing period and heralding an age of more competitive tidal energy supply.

Anyone doing their best to get their children to choose a banana over biscuits might want to read on. Research supported by EU funding has fed into the development of a computer game that could help children to go for healthy snacks over chocolate and sweets.