News

Europe takes aim at major metabolic disease with Systems Biology

A major European initiative against major metabolic disorders such as obesity is to be launched at the EuroBioForum conference at Lisbon in December 2007. The aim is to revolutionise the way medical research is conducted by taking an engineering-led approach under the umbrella of systems biology,...

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The winding road from farm to fork: ESF - COST to hold conference on Food Systems

Food is a basic human need. But in an advanced society, it gets to us in complex ways. On November 5-6, the European Science Foundation (ESF) and the European Cooperation in the field of Scientific and Technical Research (COST) will gather experts on the food systems to consider the scientific and...

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IPCC’s Nobel Peace Prize Win underlines International Collaboration spirit, ESF involvement

The awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has not only demonstrated a remarkable commitment to the dedication of the worldwide experts’ effort into climate change research it has also highlighted the spirit of collaboration that has been avidly...

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Microbial biofilms evoke Jackal & Hyde effects

Microbes such as bacteria tend to live in complex colonies called biofilms, where there can resist antibiotics and cause more problems for the immune system. Biofilms comprising millions of bacteria are at the root of many serious chronic infectious diseases such as cystic fibrosis and periodontal...

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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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European lead in reading past climates from ice cores

Climate change is a reality today, but how can we find out about the future dangers it poses? What we really need is a full record of the Earth’s climate for several hundred thousand years, complete with samples of air from different epochs that can be taken to the lab for analysis. Incredibly,...

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