How the Internet Opens a New Era of Creative Expression Beyond Geographic, Social, Economic and Political Boundaries “Censorship is saying: ‘I’m the one who says the last sentence. Whatever you say, the conclusion is mine.’ But the internet is like a tree that is growing. The people will always have…

Combating the Pandemic: How a novel approach helps combat the COVID-19 pandemic With almost five million suspected deaths worldwide and counting, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has been one of the deadliest disasters in human history. Once its global spread and destructive force became clear at the beginning of 2020, scientists…

The rapid integration of AI into all aspects of society raises urgent questions and presents significant dangers. AI technologies have been introduced in a range of sectors, with claims that automating sensitive social decisions improves outcomes and increases efficiency. From facial recognition and predictive policing data to automated HR –…

In geometry, sphere packing refers to the arrangement of non-overlapping spheres within a containing space. An everyday example would be how oranges may be stacked as closely and thus efficiently as possible. What appears to be a rather ordinary task, has stumped mathematicians for centuries. It was only in 1998…

Proteins are essential to life, supporting practically all its functions. Yet, the structure of these complex molecules has stood as a grand challenge in biology for the past 50 years. However, with the recent developments in the field of artificial intelligence, it has become possible to predict the three-dimensional structure…

How Architecture can provoke New Thoughts The economic impact of buildings with a high ‘wow factor’ on cities like Bilbao, Manchester and Chicago has brought back in vogue the debate on the role of architects in society, and produced neologisms such as ‘starchitect’ with regard to their media relevance. With…

Since its beginnings almost half a century ago, gene sequencing has become indispensable for basic biological research. Thanks to new techniques, tens of thousands of genomes have been sequenced to this day, including the human genome. Traditionally, the process relied on analyzing dozens of DNA fragments in individual reactions. Shankar…

How fast-charging batteries work and why they matter In order for the European Union to achieve its goal of zero net emissions by 2050, the speed at which devices can be charged needs to increase significantly. Clare Grey, Professor of Chemistry at Cambridge University, sees her work as an important…

The massive extraction and exploitation of personal data is having a profound impact on the world’s economic systems. Shoshana Zuboff names and analyses this ‘surveillance capitalism’, a born-digital logic of accumulation that unilaterally claims private human experience for unprecedented processes of production, commodification and sales. The digital dream once promised…

What are black holes? Where do they lead and are they a threat? Questions such as these have captivated the imaginations of scientists and the public for decades. Up until recently, only simulations and illustrations could help to envisage what black holes might look like – which is why the…

When we consider the capabilities of neuroprosthetics today and compare them to prostheses used only 50 years ago, we can only marvel at the level of advancements in surgery and engineering. New cutting-edge technologies that work to control the brain’s function have revolutionised the field and brought hope to millions…

How a Bacterial Defence System Revolutionizes Biomedical Research Many past scientific revolutions started with basic research, curiosity and a surprise moment. When Emmanuelle Charpentier and her co-workers were busy studying the defence system used by bacteria to shake off attacking viruses, they knew that this discovery was relevant way beyond…

The negative effects of our digital habits, our propensity to skim-read texts and our lack of mental focus have been widely reported. However, the real impact on our reading abilities, which extends to the impairment of crucial structures in the functioning of our brain, has consequences far greater than we…

Despite some remarkable breakthroughs in the neurosciences, the human brain remains largely a mystery. Thanks to technological advances in the last few decades scientists have begun to unravel its secrets, and key discoveries promise to transform the treatment of neurological conditions. When it comes to fully comprehending the basic mechanisms…