Alan Shapiro

“Critically Extant” is a project that explores just how little we know about the natural world by testing the limits of the data openly available to us. To achieve this, AI algorithms were trained on millions of open source images of nature and some ten thousand species. The resulting models…

Anas Niaz and Bioniks are addressing the challenges faced by individuals with limb differences by introducing the Bionik App, an AI-powered mobile application providing remote troubleshooting and support for advanced bionic arms. This innovative solution enhances accessibility, offering convenience, personalised recommendations, and ongoing assistance, ultimately empowering individuals to regain independence…

Guided by a theologician, a team of Industrial Design students set out to redesign core rituals of the Catholic religion. They created seven objects – a weight-shifting seesaw that counterbalances people’s weight, a color-changing flame as a feedback system for prayers, a remotely lid light that gives people a sense…

How Climate Science Calls For Radical Changes in Energy Policy On the long and winding road to more sustainable energy and climate policies, the year 2015 saw several unexpected and positive developments – the largest fossil fuel divestment campaign in history reached its peak and led to trillions of dollars…

The nominating institution SLAC on the Science Breakthrough: ChEM-H at Stanford brings together Chemistry, Engineering and Medicine to address long-range challenges in Human health. The institute focuses on molecules, allowing researchers to study human biology at a more fundamental level than cells, thereby paving the way for new tools to…

How Technology and Innovation Will Invent a New Future of Old Age Since 1900, the industrialised world has gained nearly 30 extra years of longevity. Ageing has become a disruptive force in many countries and economies, not only because there are more walkers and wheelchairs than baby buggies in some…

Jaime Celedón has developed a biodegradable and compostable shirt that purifies the air through its photosynthetic coating.

Thomas Gasser: Breaking the Wall of Parkinson – Falling Walls Science Summit 2023 Neuroscientist Thomas Gasser was awarded the Breakthrough Prize in Life Science in September 2023 for his groundbreaking research into genetic risk factors for Parkinson’s disease. He has been head of clinical research at the German Center for…

Our rich sites, monuments and artefacts are talking, but we cannot understand their stories. By using innovative digital technologies and linking together their multimodal data available we can recover their memories. Therefore, with the EU’s financial support we are developing ground-breaking ICT solutions to analyse this complex data, retrieve, reconstruct,…

Evidence gathered by lay people through forms of citizen science are becoming more and more accurate, reliable and credible as the ‘civic sentinels’ performing environmental monitoring follow scientific protocols, seek advice from experts and confront their results with official measurements. This is a truly constructive form of ordinary people’s engagement…