Personal support and user opinions are crucial to ensuring local transport systems become more widely accessible. By Jessica Berthereau When Inez Rastovac, who works for the Dutch municipality of Tilburg, asked 30 women of migrant background in 2021 about gaps in technologies for using local transport, she wasn’t expecting them to request cycling lessons. ‘At … Read more
Compounds found in seaweed may reduce a serious digestive-tract illness. By Vittoria D’Alessio Roberto Saldana was 16 when he developed severe stomach pain and diarrhoea, but two more years would pass before he was diagnosed with inflammatory bowel disease, or IBD. Saldana, now 41 and a resident of the Spanish capital Madrid, said he was … Read more
The precious metal’s role as far back as antiquity offers a window into the rise and fall of past civilisations. By Gareth Willmer Vikings, traditionally depicted as primitive bearded warriors, had a fondness for some of life’s precious things. In Europe, hundreds of buried hoards of silver testify to its attraction for Vikings when they … Read more
Europe is seeking to use emissions and residues from winemaking for new products ranging from animal feed to antibiotic alternatives. By Alex Whiting In Palmela, a wine region near Portugal’s capital Lisbon, Miguel Cachão is focused on an unusual aspect of the autumn harvest. He’s developing a technology for wineries to capture carbon dioxide and … Read more
Extracting gold, silver and other commodities from discarded goods has industrial, geopolitical and environmental benefits for the EU. By Tom Cassauwers Dr John Bediako has criss-crossed the globe his whole life. He was born and raised in Ghana, earned a doctorate degree in South Korea and now works in Finland on a key challenge for … Read more
Humankind’s genetic links to long-extinct relatives are being mapped in a rapidly expanding research field called palaeoproteomics. By Michael Allen They are a fixture of almost every novelty T-shirt shop: humorous pictorials of human evolution, five figures in silhouette – from ape to human – usually with the last replaced by a skateboarder, Darth Vader … Read more