At low temperatures and high pressures, water behaves strangely, becoming two distinct liquids. With a pioneering use of X-ray lasers, the EU-funded WATER project explored the behaviour of water in this liminal realm. The findings have potential to improve fuel cells and desalination technology, and may even aid the search for life on other planets.
With land resources overstretched or polluted, humans are increasingly exploring offshore solutions to onshore problems such as a lack of clean drinking water. The EU-funded MARCAN project has created tools to better understand the characteristics of offshore groundwater which are not well understood. The work will help sustainably develop maritime resources for the benefit of European citizens.
Identifying the specific genetic mutations that cause cancer has always been a challenge. The EU-funded NONCODRIVERS project offers a solution with a pioneering approach that applies machine learning based modelling to tumour data. This could lead to more personalised therapies that save the lives of thousands of citizens every year.
Materials used in medical implants such as pacemakers and insulin pumps can be hazardous to the body. The EU-funded BISON project seeks an alternative in self-assembling peptide building blocks. These biological electronics offer citizens safer implants that could be powered by the body itself.
Physicists have long wondered if the laws of quantum mechanics also apply to the ‘classical’ world. The EU-funded CAVITYQPD project has shown quantum entanglement between macroscale objects. Harnessing the quantum behaviour of everyday objects could propel citizens from the digital to the quantum age, facilitating our lives with vastly more sophisticated technologies.
Natural disasters threaten citizens around the world with disruption to essential services, damage to property and infrastructure, and the loss of life. The EU-funded ChEESE project uses supercomputing to help forecast accurate disaster scenarios. As a result, authorities in La Palma were able to make informed decisions and save lives when the Cumbre Vieja volcano erupted.
Projects that successfully connect food producers to nearby consumers can struggle to be seen. The EU-funded SKIN project brought together partners from across Europe to share their knowledge. Reconnecting the two ends of the food supply chain benefits farmers and citizens alike, improving access to local resources while protecting the environment.
Ancient European hunter-gatherers have been characterised as mainly meat eaters. Yet the EU-funded HIDDEN FOODS project unearthed clear evidence that they in fact routinely ate plant-based foods. This suggests that alongside protein and fat, glucose was potentially key to the survival of the ancestors of European citizens.
The global economy is dominated by multinational corporations whose sheer complexity is often incomprehensible even to journalists and lawmakers. A pioneering mapping exercise by the EU-funded CORPLINK project has helped to explain how, and why, these corporations have become so complex. This approach could offer citizens greater transparency of modern capitalist systems.
All too often, waste ends up in landfill or is incinerated. The EU-funded DAFIA project sought to address this by exploring ways of converting waste into ingredients to make high-end products. Recovering valuable compounds from waste streams is helping the EU transition away from fossil fuels, benefitting industry, the environment and citizens.
