Social sciences

New research has shown that the part of the brain that is activated during dishonesty responds less and less to each subsequent lie, providing a new explanation as to how a seemingly innocent white lie can often have the tendency to spiral out of control.

A recently published study supported by the EU-funded EMOTIONS IN CONFLICT project has highlighted how Jewish and Palestinian-Israeli teens cooperate better after being taught that people can change.

An EU-funded project has been helping cities face the future with confidence by tackling climate change, putting the green back into cities, and preventing urban sprawl in new and exciting ways.

As the Halloween season gets into full flow, the English-speaking world is currently experiencing a wave of ‘creepy clown’ sightings that first began in the United States but has now spread to the UK, Canada and Australia. Most have been confirmed as copycat hoaxes but the distress and anxiety caused to victims is very real indeed – and consequently, there has been increased interest in the scientific and psychological reasons as to why clowns are able to instil such a feeling of terror into so many people.

Following its final conference that took place in Brussels on 4 October 2016, the EU-funded HERCULES consortium has provided stakeholders with a detailed set of policy recommendations that will preserve Europe’s diverse heritage in cultural landscapes.

In the aftermath of the earthquake that struck the Italian town of Amatrice and its surrounding region on 24 August 2016, Italian authorities requested the help of the EU-funded TRADR project. The project stepped up to the plate and quickly deployed two Unmanned Ground Vehicles (UGVs) and three Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) to the devastated region.

During its final conference in Brussels from 27 to 28 September, the FESSUD project brought together leading academics, economists and financial experts to disseminate its key results and discuss how Europe’s financial system can be better structured to serve economic, societal and environmental needs.

In a new book, ‘The Bestseller Code: Anatomy of a Blockbuster Novel’, two Stanford academics describe how an algorithm they designed is able to predict, with 80 % accuracy, which new novels will become mega-bestsellers.

A recent study has rejected the idea that reducing the number of official EU languages would be more effective, efficient and inclusive. Rather, it argues that such a policy would exclude approximately four out of five Europeans from having a deep understanding of official EU information.

With the use of affordable, low-tech femtocells, the EU-funded TUCAN3G project is bringing 3G connection to the otherwise unconnected regions of the world.

Launched in January 2016, the EU Covenant on Demographic Change is committed to creating environments that support active and healthy ageing through the exchange of best practices. The AFE-INNOVNET project, which aimed to set up this covenant, managed to bring together 29 partners from 18 countries.

The company continues to make good progress, a little less than a month after having received Fast Track designation from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its QR-010 molecule. Co-funded under H2020, QR-010 is expected to treat cystic fibrosis (CF) patients who carry the common ∆F508 mutation — that is, 70 % of CF patients.

Did you sleep badly on the night between Thursday 18 August and Friday 19 August? Perhaps you had a particularly vivid nightmare or inexplicably woke up much earlier than usual. On that night there was a particularly large full moon, known in August as a Full Sturgeon Moon. Traditionally, a full moon is not only said to be able to turn humans into werewolves, but less excitedly, is a harbinger of a restless night’s sleep.

Research from the EU-funded MIME project has rejected the idea that reducing the number of official EU languages would be more effective, efficient and inclusive. Rather, they argue that such a policy would exclude approximately four out of five Europeans from having a deep understanding of official EU information.

Viewing history through the prism of traditionally unexplored social fields, EU-funded researchers pull back the curtain on what really caused the fall of communist regimes in Central and Eastern Europe.

EU-funded research shows that when climate change policy focuses only on mitigation without considering adaptation costs and residual damages, unintended inequalities result.

Research stemming from the EU-funded TERRAGEN project has found that forest fragmentation has prompted a decline in species sensitive to changes in light, moisture and temperature.

As 13 August is recognised worldwide as International Left-Handers Day, there has been an increased focus over the past week on the biological and genetic causes of left-handedness in humans, as well as the health, social and economic ramifications of being a ‘southpaw’.

The world’s energy needs require a policy approach that addresses both local and international considerations, from climate change and technology transfer to trading with developing nations.

Companies often respond to financial crisis with cost-cutting measures known as adjustment costs that affect the workforce. EU-funded researchers examined the impact of employment adjustment using data from Denmark to answer related policy questions.

Oysters cultivated in the Bay of Biscay make a valuable contribution to the local economy, with gourmets paying a premium for 'green oysters'. The microscopic marine algae responsible for the colouring are the subject of an EU-funded initiative.

EU-funded researchers have developed an autonomous robot to increase productivity in the shipyard industry. In cooperation with human operators, this robot co-worker can perform arduous and repetitive tasks in any large, unstructured industrial environment

Better ways of analysing policy impacts helps policymakers articulate more effective research polities to support growth, the environment and other societal concerns.

The Polish ATLAB Centre is a multi-profile research unit that focuses on the development and application of isotope geochemistry. Thanks to EU funding, the Centre is now able to fully realise its research potential.

An in-depth study of how four European cities absorb immigrants has shed new light on devising better integration policies.