Europe has gone from thinking music could stop plagues 400 years ago to realising it can help prevent cardiovascular disease today. By ANTHONY KING The opening of a Beethoven symphony thrills the heart – but not just figuratively. While music touches us emotionally, it stimulates the heart physically and can lower blood pressure. More than one … Read more
Greater diversification could help agriculture withstand climate, economic and geopolitical crises. By ETHAN BILBY ‘Items in this section have limited availability due to supplier production issues,’ ‘Sorry, temporarily out of stock’ and ‘Sold out’ are all signs that became familiar as recent global upheavals exposed how precarious our food supply is. The COVID-19 pandemic led to … Read more
Technological developments in evidence gathering hold out promise of fewer offences going unpunished. By ALI JONES The global success of television dramas like CSI: Crime Scene Investigation has lulled many into thinking that forensic analysis is an all-seeing, speedy science. The reality is that it’s much slower than TV lets on, with more limited scope for success. Not … Read more
Researchers are joining forces with the food and health industries to tighten controls and improve nutrition for infants and children. By DANIELA DE LORENZO If we are what we eat, as the saying goes, food quality is key to our health. And as food production and trade increase in response to greater global demand, controls on … Read more
Europe is striving to cut the costs of operating wind turbines on water. By MICHAEL ALLEN Off the coast of Portugal, a team of underwater robots is scanning the base of turbines on a wind farm and looking for signs of damage while aerial drones check the blades. The activity is part of a project to … Read more
Growing awareness of microplastics in the ground and in freshwater highlights the need to tackle an environmental threat generally associated with oceans. By GARETH WILLMER On a recent stroll to his local supermarket in the southern German town of Bayreuth, Christian Laforsch decided to count how much plastic trash he passed. ‘It was 52 pieces on … Read more