Month: September 2019

Better understanding sensory perception could help people with autism and dyslexia

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Investigating less-studied neural structures is revealing insights which could explain dyslexia. Image credit: Pezibear/Pixabay, licensed under Pixabay licence

by Jules Montague Deciphering how the brain processes sight and hearing could have implications for how we understand and treat conditions such as dyslexia, autism and schizophrenia. During her postdoctoral studies, neuroscientist Katharina von Kriegstein was running experiments to see how hearing and voice recognition activated the brain’s auditory areas when she got a surprising … Read more

Basic research to world-changing applications can take 6 months – or 50 years

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The science that made smartphones possible was done in the 1940s and 1950s. Image credit - Pixabay/ 7721622, licensed under Pixabay license

All technology and innovation have a science base but to get there requires patience, as the journey from curiosity-driven basic research to a world-changing technology can take six months or 50 years, a panel of Nobel and Kavli prize laureates has said. Professor Ben Feringa, who won a Nobel Prize in chemistry in 2016 for his … Read more

‘The biggest threat to our oceans is that we’ve taken them for granted’

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There is still uncertainty around the knock-on effects of abrupt ocean changes. Image credit - Pixnio, CC0

‘The biggest threat to our oceans is that we’ve taken them for granted’ IPCC report and oceans take centre stage at EU research event in Brussels. by Joanna Roberts People need to be persuaded that the ocean is not a problem or dangerous for humans, but that we are a problem for the oceans, according to former … Read more

Nantes named 2019 European capital of innovation

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Nantes is the new European Capital of Innovation. Image credit: Pierre Guezingar/Flickr, licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0Nantes is the new European Capital of Innovation. Image credit: Pierre Guezingar/Flickr, licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0

Nantes, France, has been named the 2019 European Capital of Innovation award for its ability to improve the lives of its residents through innovation. The €1 million prize, which is designed to recognise the most innovative cities in the EU and Horizon 2020 countries was presented to Johanna Rolland, mayor of Nantes, by Carlos Moedas, the … Read more

‘I would like people to panic’ – Top scientist unveils equation showing world in climate emergency

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‘As Greta Thunberg would say, I would like people to panic and take action,' said Prof. Schellnhuber. Image credit - PlanetMallika/ Pixabay

A new equation showing that the world is ‘deep in a climate emergency’ was unveiled on 24 September by Professor Hans Joachim Schellnhuber, one of the world’s leading authorities on climate change, who said that people still don’t want to see the truth about the state we’re in. ‘Based on sober scientific analysis, we are … Read more

Shoe-mounted laser to ‘unfreeze’ people with Parkinson’s scoops €1 million prize

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Having an external visual cue such as a line has been shown to reduce the number of freezing episodes in Parkinson's patients. Image credit - Walk With Path

A shoe-mounted laser beam that helps people with Parkinson’s disease ‘unfreeze’ by shining a green line in front of their feet has been awarded the EU’s €1 million Horizon Prize for Social Innovation. The Path Finder device was invented in 2014 by Danish entrepreneur Lise Pape, whose father suffers from Parkinson’s disease. It aims to help people overcome … Read more