ESF meeting sets cornerstone for science communication

Scientists are not generally regarded as good communicators when it comes to explaining their research to the outside world. Hence the European Science Foundation (ESF) decided to hold a communications network meeting this week in Strasbourg, France to facilitate a forum for communication...

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Make space for the humanities, says the ‘Vienna Vision’

Representatives from both the sciences and the humanities will present a joint vision on the future of humans in space at an international conference in Italy later this month. The ‘Vienna Vision on Humans in Outer Space’, to be launched at the International Lunar Exploration Working Group...

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New Stem Cells by Reprogramming

By ‘de-programming’ existing specialised cells it might be possible to create cells which resemble embryonic stem cells, bypassing many of the ethical and moral objections to using human embryos

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Stem Cell Research Marches On

Stem cell research proceeds apace, but many challenges lie ahead

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ESF, VR, FORMAS sign MOU to promote Global Environmental Change Research

The European Science Foundation (ESF), the Swedish Research Council (VR), and the Swedish Research Council for Environment, Agricultural Sciences and Spatial Planning (FORMAS) have agreed to join forces to promote Global Change Research through an international, interdisciplinary conference series....

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Unmasking the methane eaters

Soil bacteria that consume the powerful greenhouse gas methane could be important in fighting climate change. A team of European scientists is beginning to understand how communities of them work together in real soils. Methane is a greenhouse gas 23 times more powerful than carbon dioxide. It is...

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Making more hay – what farmers can learn from ecology

Farmers all over Europe could get higher yields and fewer weeds in their intensive grasslands, if they planted more species. A new European study has shown that this basic ecological pattern holds true for planted pastures. It is now well established in biodiversity science that when you lose...

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Nitrogen – the silent species eliminator

Nitrogen pollution from agriculture and fossil fuels is known to be seriously damaging grasslands in the UK. A new European study is starting to show that the effect is Europe-wide, confirming that current policies to protect ecosystems may need a re-think. When Carly Stevens finished her PhD in...

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Buying and selling habitats to help wildlife

Tradable permits are all the rage in environmental policy. They are already used internationally to reduce carbon emissions and improve air quality. A group of economists and ecologists from the UK, the Netherlands and Germany, are working together to find out whether such schemes could work for...

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Astronomers get their hands dirty as they lift the veil on galactic dust

There is more to a grain of dust than meets the eye, at least for astronomers as they attempt to probe deeper into distant galaxies. Until now dust has been a nuisance because it has obscured galaxies, and the stars within them, by absorbing the radiation they emit. But more recently dust has...

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