The world’s oceans do far more than support vital marine ecosystems and provide food and recreation. They help regulate the Earth’s climate, absorbing vast amounts of heat and CO2, acting as one of the planet’s most important buffers against climate change. Yet despite this vital role, scientists still struggle to track exactly how
Outside the mountain town of Sabiñánigo in northern Spain, an abandoned chemical factory stands on land still scarred by decades of Lindane production – a pesticide now banned worldwide – which left behind thousands of tonnes of toxic waste. Production ended in the 1980s, but the pesticide’s main by-product, hexachlorocyclohexane (HCH), continues to
Forty metres beneath the sea off north-western Italy lies one of the country’s best-preserved World War II shipwrecks. The Equa, an Italian cannon-equipped submarine chaser, sank with no casualties after being accidentally rammed by a German ship in 1944. The vessel now hosts rich marine fauna that attracts divers and fishers. The site
When trucks filled with hydrogen arrive outside a Barcelona steel plant next year, most bystanders will barely register their arrival. But for Raquel Torruella Martínez, project manager at the Spanish steel company CELSA, their arrival will be a blessing. She is leading an EU-funded R&D initiative called TWINGHY that is developing hydrogen-powered burners
In March 2025, a low-budget independent animation made history by becoming the first Latvian film to win an Oscar. Flow took home the award for Best Animated Feature, beating Hollywood giants Disney and DreamWorks. Co-produced across several European countries on a fraction of a typical Hollywood budget, the film delivered a powerful message about solidarity
What comes out of our wastewater treatment plants may not be very appealing, but the real problem is what is left behind after water treatment. Wastewater plants produce a liquid sludge that is usually dried and then burnt or dumped. This is costly, polluting, and has long been considered wasteful. A group of
Beneath the world’s oceans, a silent revolution is underway. More than 1.48 million kilometres of underwater fibre-optic cables carry almost all global internet and telephone traffic. Now researchers are showing that these cables can do more than transmit data: they can listen to the planet. By capturing tiny changes in how light travels
One of the biggest challenges in studying how diet impacts disease is understanding what people really eat. Food diaries and surveys are still the standard tools, but they often fall short as people forget, misjudge portions, or play down less healthy choices. To tackle this, EU-funded researchers are testing something new: a discreet wearable
In sunny Tourinha, a small town north of Lisbon, farmer Bruno Neves proudly walks through his fields and greenhouses full of lettuce and cucumbers. Come Christmastime, there will also be the traditional Portuguese Christmas cabbage. Ladybirds, hoverflies and other insects buzz through the air, tiny allies in his mission to grow healthy crops.
Across the billions of galaxies and stars in the universe, only one place is known to host life – Earth. Yet the hope of finding other living worlds drives scientists to pursue ever-smarter methods in their search. Despite cataloguing roughly 6 000 exoplanets, a replica of Earth – a planet similar in size that