3D printing gets a living upgrade

CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, adopted on 30 May a new global strategy for particle physics. The continuing exploitation of the Large Hadron Collider is one of its priorities. But the research body is also proposing to foster cooperation with the US and Japan on other initiatives.

More than half a century after CERN was set up to smash and measure the building blocks of the Universe, it's discovered several new particles, won some Nobel prizes – and invented the world wide web.

The deadly tornado that hit the city of Moore near Oklahoma City in the US on 20 May dramatically highlighted such extreme weather events and their dangers. In Europe, the same phenomenon is under close scrutiny.

Software that can read your fingerprint from a touch-screen phone and 3D face recognition could replace internet passwords and pin numbers in five years, according to an EU cyber security research expert.

It sounds like science fiction, but European researchers are starting work on building a model of a fully functioning human brain after winning one of the biggest research grants ever awarded – and they hope the device will help them tackle diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.

With the ‘Destination Europe’ initiative, the European Union is trying to attract new brains from around the world. The message is clear: research and innovation culture in Europe is vibrant and exciting. Alan Leshner, Chief Executive Officer of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), agrees. ‘Europe is developing a coherent research area,’ he said during the annual meeting of the AAAS. ‘And good science anywhere is good for science everywhere.’ 

Early shoots for the bioeconomy have sprung up through innovative ideas in completely different businesses. And, at the same time, they raise some legislative initiatives.

Dr Conor O’Carroll, Research Director at the Irish Universities Association, argues that the Scientific Visa pioneered by France and implemented as a European Directive in 2005 is in itself a really effective method for attracting researchers to Europe.

Denmark’s best-preserved 17^th century wreck may have gone completely unnoticed if it hadn’t been lying close to the path of a construction project.

Imagine being able to know ahead of time if you will have to wait for your bus due to road works, or if your train is running behind schedule.

European scientists are preparing to launch a satellite no bigger than an office refrigerator that can map the entire Earth every two days.

If the type of patents being filed by Europe’s companies is anything to go by, the economy that will emerge from the financial crisis in Europe may be decidedly green.

Researchers have developed a less damaging alternative to traditional cleaning methods for historic artefacts – the plasma torch. 

Shattered glass. Howling car alarms. Buildings evacuated. On 15 February 2013, the city of Chelyabinsk in the Urals region of Russia felt the full force of a shockwave caused by an unexpected fireball exploding some 15-20 km above it. As the lump of space rock burned up in the sky above the city, windows were blown out and local buildings shook. Hundreds were left injured.

Dr Geneviève Almouzni is Deputy Director of the Institut Curie in Paris, France. She is the laureate of the 2013 FEBS | EMBO Women in Science Award, a joint initiative of the Federation of European Biochemical Societies (FEBS) and the Euro­pean Molecular Biology Organisation (EMBO). Launched in 2007, the aim of the award is to highlight the major contributions made by female scientists to life sciences research. We asked Dr Almouzni what she thinks about such awards specifically dedicated to female scientists.

The Ottoman mansion of Hassan Bey in the seismically active medieval centre of Rhodes, Greece, does not worry civil engineers – even though the building is faulty because its floor isn’t very well connected to the wall.

‘It’s in your genes!’ How often have you been reminded by friends or relatives that you look the way you do because of the genetic code stored in your DNA? But next time you hear this expression used, you might stop to wonder what else could be stored in those genes.

Máire Geoghegan-Quinn, Commissioner for Research, Innovation and Science, urges global collaboration to stop the epidemic. Diabetes currently affects more than 350 million people around the world.

After the discovery of the so-called ‘God particle’, scientists could turn the world's biggest particle accelerator to uncovering dark matter, or even shedding light on parallel universes.

Doctors should routinely test people’s feet to check for diabetes, that’s according to a former UK Health Minister and MEP who has become a campaigner for the disease after being diagnosed with it himself.