24. December 2008
Understanding how infectious diseases spread depends on unlocking secrets held in existing data
Often experiments are needed to make scientific progress, but sometimes the answers lie in data already collected, requiring new analysis tools to unlock the secrets. This applies to infectious disease transmission, main topic of a recent workshop organised by the European Science Foundation (ESF),... [more]
23. December 2008
Computers team up with evolution to design novel enzymes
The dream of designer drugs highly specific in action with zero side effects has come closer by combining atomic level computer prediction with natural selection in the laboratory. Following the 2008’s first design of an artificial enzyme for catalysing a chemical reaction, there is increased... [more]
15. December 2008
Pigs and dogs can bridge gap between mice and humans in developing new therapies
Human and veterinary medicine could receive a big boost through the use of larger animals, especially pigs and dogs, in research, with Europe at the forefront. There is the prospect of bringing drugs to the market more quickly at less cost, as well as accelerating progress in other forms of... [more]
9. December 2008
Computation and genomics data drive bacterial research into new golden age
A potent combination of powerful new analysis methods and abundant data from genomics projects is carrying microbiology forward into a new era. Bacteria in particular are shedding light on fundamental molecular and signalling processes of interest not just within microbiology, but across the whole... [more]
2. December 2008
Rivers are carbon processors, not inert pipelines
Microorganisms in rivers and streams play a crucial role in the global carbon cycle that has not previously been considered. Freshwater ecologist Dr Tom Battin, of the University of Vienna, told a COST ESF Frontiers of Science conference in October that our understanding of how rivers and streams... [more]
26. November 2008
Solar energy as a sustainable source of European economic growth
European researchers call for paradigm shift towards clean fuel technologies [more]
24. November 2008
Europe Cores in EUROCORES – Ocean Drilling in EuroMARC
The oceans are our climate regulators, cover the sites of fundamental geodynamic, geochemical and biological processes and have high-resolution records of the Earth’s history in store for us. Scientific marine drilling and coring is crucial to cast light on both the deep and shallow (sub-)... [more]
19. November 2008
Understanding Europe’s Topography
The EUROCORES programme TOPO-EUROPE kicks off [more]
19. November 2008
Systems biology brings hope of speeding up drug development
Almost every day brings news of an apparent breakthrough against cancer, infectious diseases, or metabolic conditions like diabetes, but these rarely translate into effective therapies or drugs, and even if they do clinical development usually takes well over a decade. One reason is that medical... [more]
18. November 2008
Alpine rivers hold important clues for preserving biodiversity and coping with climate change
Marginal plants, particularly trees, play a crucial role in sustaining the biodiversity of Europe’s big river systems, according to a recently held workshop organised by the European Science Foundation (ESF). This finding provides important clues for protecting Europe’s rivers against a combined... [more]
ESF provides the scientific, administrative and technical secretariat for COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology).