The apps that can tell you if you’re buying sustainably

Image credit - Lars Plougmann, licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0

By Emily Waterfield What does sustainable shopping look like? From environmental impact to workers’ rights, the term can cover so many aspects that buying sustainably can be a daunting task. But a new app that helps people select supermarket products by ethical preferences and an online database that brings transparency to supply chains aim to … Read more

Drone jamming system to protect European airports, public spaces

Image Credit - Pexels

Airports could be equipped with technology capable of detecting and bringing down drones that stray into their air space, according to Dan Hermansen, chief technology officer of Danish anti-drone firm MyDefence. The company has developed a drone alarm and protection system that is being installed at a number of prominent sites around Europe, including an … Read more

Intelligent prostheses and electric aircraft – what to look out for in 2019

by Jack Cowls A €30 carbon price in 100 countries, proof that gene editing can correct epilepsy, and the ability to pinpoint the location of fast radio bursts from space thanks to new telescopes are just some of the breakthroughs that European scientists told Horizon would make the biggest difference to their field in 2019. … Read more

‘Big picture’ platforms boost fight against online terror activity

Image credit - Flickr/Takver CC BY SA 2.0

The fight against terrorism-related content and illegal financing online is speeding up thanks to new platforms that join up different internet-scouring technologies to create a comprehensive picture of terrorist activity. The idea is that when an online tool discovers a fragment of information it can be added to a constellation of millions of others – revealing links that … Read more

Digital ‘coffeehouse’ to spark new scientific ideas now ready for use

Image credit - picture is in the public domain

By Annette Ekin The European Open Science Cloud (EOSC), a virtual one-stop shop for researchers to share, access and reuse data, was officially unveiled at the University of Vienna, Austria, on 23 November, giving scientists, open data advocates, research institutions and policymakers a first glimpse of the portal. It is part of the EU’s vision for an … Read more

To reduce food waste, scientists are making labels that track produce as it spoils

This new label mimics the product's decline in freshness by forming a bumpy surface.

A new type of use-by label for milk bottles that decomposes as the liquid inside goes sour could appear on UK supermarket shelves later this year. Labels such as these, capable of telling consumers exactly when fresh produce has gone bad, are being developed by scientists who want to stop food from being prematurely discarded. … Read more