Natural enzymes filter hormone-disrupting chemicals from sewage

A new filtration system to remove hormone-affecting chemicals from wastewater

A new filtration system that uses natural molecules to remove hormone-affecting chemicals from wastewater has succeeded in trapping 95 % of these substances before the water goes back into the environment. It’s part of a wave of research into new ways of protecting us against so-called endocrine-disrupting chemicals, which also includes working on different types … Read more

Our 10 favourite science facts from 2017

by Zoé de York From rubber dandelions and toxic crustaceans to anti-vaxxers and the world’s hottest geothermal well, Horizon covered a wide variety of stories in 2017. Here are our 10 favourite science facts that we learned along the way. 1. One sugar-cube-sized chunk of a neutron star would weigh a billion tonnes, or as much … Read more

Accelerators, fab labs and hackathons – the tech tools being co-opted for social good

Using innovation tools in the humanitarian sector.

Picture the humanitarian aid sector and you don’t immediately think of start-up accelerators and hackathons. But aid agencies are co-opting these tools of innovation to help solve global issues – and a new EUR 5 million prize from the EU is designed to boost this even further. Olivier Delarue is the CEO and co-founder of … Read more

The story of a new skin

Fibrin cultured epidermal sheet - © CMR Unimore_resized985

Decades of scientific research into areas including plant genetics and data science helped doctors successfully carry out an experimental therapy to create a new skin for a seven-year-old boy suffering from a rare genetic disorder. Hassan’s doctors had never seen anything like it: a seven-year-old who had lost almost all of his skin due to … Read more

Farmers bank on solar power to stave off European water crisis

Solar-powered irrigation system

Rising populations and climate change are putting pressure on the water needed for agriculture but a solar-powered irrigation system may reduce the amount that farmers use – while simultaneously slashing the sector’s greenhouse gas emissions. Agriculture accounts for almost 70 % of the world’s water use, but with the global population expected to increase to nine billion by … Read more

How soundscapes and vibrations are helping blind people see the world

Eyesynth glasses

Glasses that translate images of physical objects into soundscapes and a belt that turns images into vibrations are helping blind people build up a real-time 3D picture of the world around them, and the technology could hit the market as soon as next year. According to the World Health Organization, there are about 285 million visually impaired … Read more