CORDIS-JRC

Weather forecast, navigation or communication – in our daily life we depend on many functions of satellites. To tackle these and other challenges of unmanned space flights more effectively, 13 Fraunhofer institutes have now joined their expertise into the Space Alliance.

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How many types of proteins are there in a cell? How many of each type are there and where are they at any given time? New methods may shed light on these fundamental biological questions.

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In Europe, we have a vast wealth of research results that support standards in relation to environmental aspects such as air, water, soil and waste. SIPE ('An environmental Standards Information Portal for Europe'), an EU-funded project, brings all these results together and combines them with information on standards and policies in a single dedicated web-based portal.

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Torrefaction - the slow roasting of biomass material to improve its energy content - has been touted as part of a solution for the large-scale implementation of bioenergy. The industry says that torrefaction technology is working and is available but uptake has not been as quick as expected. Experts, researchers and manufacturers gathered in Brussels earlier this month to discuss progress and prospects for torrefaction at the recent European Biomass Association (AEBIOM) conference.

Since the beginning of the HIV epidemic, almost 75 million people have been infected with the virus and about 36 million people have died of HIV. In 2012, a total of 29 000 new cases of HIV were reported in the EU and the European Economic Area. However, this week, media are reporting that researchers have discovered a method for using the virus as a tool in the fight against hereditary diseases - and in the long term, against HIV infection itself as well.

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Online identification and authentication keeps transactions secure on the Internet, however this has also implications for your privacy. Disclosing more personal information than needed online when, say, you log in to your bank website may simplify the bank’s security at the cost of your privacy. Now, thanks to research by the EU-funded project Attribute-based Credentials for Trust ABC4Trust , there is a new approach that keeps systems secure and protects your identity.

The growth of blue-green algae in our lakes, large ponds, water reservoirs and public waters constitutes a problem for our environment and for our health. These types of algae often result in a deterioration of the water quality and emit a distinctly unpleasant odour. The algae consume a lot of oxygen in the water, leaving little for other animals like fish. They also produce toxins which can cause skin irritations and are suspected to be involved in the occurrence of liver cancer.

Satellite de-orbiting and re-entry is essential to halt the continuous increase in orbital space debris. The BETS project, which ends this month, is making waves with a new tether solution that is faster and more resistant to damage than any other existing technology.

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Accurately predicting the mechanical behaviour of composite aircraft structures on impact could reduce the need for physical tests, cut industry costs and ultimately save lives through better aircraft design. This is the focus of the EU-funded CRASHING project, which aims to develop new methods of testing materials through multi-scale computer simulation.

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Clinicians face the challenge of gaining informed consent from the parents of very small preterm babies in an ethical way without causing them unnecessary stress.

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As result of European cooperation a solution is developed and commercialized to monitor and control algae with ultrasound

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Satisfying the increasing consumer demand for natural cosmetics will be a challenge for the beauty industry. The new EU-project OPTIBIOCAT aims to replace chemical techniques currently used for cosmetics production with eco-friendly biocatalysts. OPTIBIOCAT is backed by €7 million of EU-funding and builds upon a highly interdisciplinary consortium of 16 partners from eight European countries.

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Microsatellites have to be very light – every gram counts. The same applies to the gyroscopes used to sense the satellite’s orientation when in orbit. A novel prototype is seven times lighter and significantly smaller than earlier systems.

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Researchers from CIC nanoGUNE, in collaboration with ICFO and Graphenea, introduce a platform technology based on optical antennas for trapping and controlling light with the one-atom-thick material graphene. The experiments show that the dramatically squeezed graphene-guided light can be focused and bent, following the fundamental principles of conventional optics.

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The first results of the European LIFE I+DARTS project reveal that plants that abound in our environment, such as the birch, the willow or the yellowhead can accumulate heavy metals and arsenic

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European heart specialists develop new concepts to prevent stent thrombosis.

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Thanks to a new lubricant, small gears can run with virtually no friction. Made from liquid crystalline fluid, these lubricants drastically reduce friction and wear.

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A person can be identified unambiguously based on his or her retina. Researchers are working to make it possible for anyone to use this technology. With the prototype of a compact, portable retinal scanner, they are one step closer to this vision.

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The world's oceans contain many foreign objects floating in the surface layer, putting ships and offshore platforms at risk. An EU-funded initiative is developing a state-of-the-art system capable of clearly observing these threats.

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Air conditioning in the summer months is putting more and more pressure on the electrical grid. To address this problem, a new research project has developed a low-cost, solar air conditioning unit.

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