Europe’s valuable wine and beer industries are working to retain their competitive edge with an expanded range of aromas and blockchain-based fraud prevention. BY DANIELA DE LORENZO The debate over whether fermentation was a more important human discovery than fire will continue forever. In the meantime, with Europe as the world’s premier producer of wine … Read more
By Sofia Strodt Global food supply faces a range of threats including climate change, wars, pests and diseases. An organism too small for the human eye to see – microalgae – could offer some answers. Feeding a growing world population that will reach 9.8 billion by 2050, according to United Nations forecasts, and the need … Read more
Scientists are seeking ways to treat spinal injuries with graphene-based implants while VR gaming could help stroke recovery. BY VITTORIA D’ALESSIO Few human injuries are as catastrophic as those to the spine. An accident, disease or act of violence affecting the spine can result in poor function – even paralysis – almost anywhere in the … Read more
Regenerating lost body parts is impossible for humans, but cracking the cellular code of salamanders could help to treat serious wounds. Salamanders are remarkable creatures. If one of these amphibians loses a finger, it grows back. Furthermore, if you chop away a piece of heart or spinal cord, it will regenerate. Perhaps most impressively, they … Read more
For parts of southern Europe, extreme heatwaves are now the rule, not the exception. New accurate and reliable weather prediction models could help regions better ‘anticipate, prepare for, respond to and recover from’ these increasingly extreme weather events. To paraphrase a popular song from the early 2000s, ‘it’s getting hot in here’ – especially in … Read more
Every summer, thousands of tourists travel to Greece’s idyllic islands to enjoy their sunny beaches. Even the global pandemic couldn’t keep visitors away, but water scarcity might. Many Greek islands survive on water imports and are struggling to meet residents’ and agriculture’s water needs – let alone those of tourists. These islands illustrate the difficulties … Read more