“ Water and Sanitation Services in Europe.

Silicon, the conventional semiconductor used to build up electronics, is processed at very high temperature – over one thousand Celsius degrees - and it is difficult to recycle.

From 13th to 16th September 13 to 16 Barcelona hosted the 2011 ISEE (International Society for Environmental Epidemiology) congress.

A consortium connected to the project ProNano coaches researchers to reach the market with their innovations, by technology licensing or by creating new spin out companies.

Researchers who need help with bringing their innovations to the market can get assistance from established offices of technology transfer .

In a hotel lobby in Madrid we meet Umberto Guida. The 46-year-old works in Brussels for the International Association of Public Transport.

Bacteria and other microorganisms that cause infections are remarkably resilient and can develop ways to survive drugs meant to kill or weaken them.

Whether to go for a deluge system like the one which worked wonders for the emergency services during the 2007 Burnley Tunnel fire in Melbourne, Australia, or rather opt for a water mist model spraying small droplets of about 100 micron with a low terminal velocity and a high surface to volume ratio, several European countries are rethinking fire suppression mechanisms for their tunnels.

90% of the world’s population lives less than 2,700 km from a desert. If less than 1% of the world’s deserts were used to concentrate solar power, enough electricity could be produced to supply the entire planet.

Reducing the energy requirements of buildings is an absolute priority in Europe. The energy demonstration project SARA has developed several public-access eco-buildings in France, Italy, Slovenia, Spain, UK and Uzbekistan.

Guidebooks’ days are numbered. Tourist offices should be concerned. Time Out and the like should worry too. People will no longer need them for directions or to arrange their evenings, whether at home or abroad.

The fact that Finland has staged an annual herring festival ever since 1743 tells you something about the historical and cultural significance of the country’s most populous fish.

Imagine living in a building that once leaked heat in the winter and baked in the summer, now retrofitted to be a haven of comfort and efficiency.

Nutrients like nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium are  a double-edged sword . As key components of fertilizers, they are  essential for life on Earth, but become a threat to human health and the environment when they are in excess and run off into water courses and wastewater.

From homeless, anonymous guy to TV star, at least for one day. Alexandre has appeared on French media , sitting on a bridge in Lyon, while inviting passers-by to give him money by scanning a QR Code with their smartphone .

It began with Angela Merkel. When the former German chancellor opened the borders to refugees in 2015, hundreds of thousands of Syrians and others entered. Many are now settled all over the country.

Imagine visiting a hi-tech museum and being guided by an AI robot. No, you are not experiencing a remake of the “2001.

When we throw a plastic bottle in the right waste container, we feel virtuous because we have done our part for the environment. However, we cannot imagine the huge effort that will be needed to ensure that our bottle is effectively recycled.

The Earth is a sick patient, struggling to survive and feed its inhabitants.

It’s all about connection. This is the key to making a city “smart”, say the smart people working on the subject. And by “connection”, they mean not only the technological kind but especially the human one.