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2018
Where does
my food come from?
Consumers want to know where their food comes from, but most of the time they still don’t know – a major problem in the event of contamination. Various solutions could make supply chains more transparent.
10 great African innovations
From fintech to health to the environment, clever inventions are improving the lives of millions of people.
Making labour less laborious
Childbirth may be the most important event in a mother’s life, but it can also be the most traumatic. Technology can help.
The debate over C-sections
The procedure has advantages as well as downsides. Science can help mothers decide what is best for them.
CRISPR scissors editing embryos
Genetic engineering is developing on human embryos, raising both hopes and ethical concerns.
Cryopreservation: a new miracle?
Women who want to delay their pregnancies can now freeze their eggs effectively and safely. But success is not guaranteed.
Europe’s shortage of children
Births are falling across the continent – although not in France. Why do women working in tech have fewer kids? And why are there more premature births?
2017
Barcelona: Costa del sport
The capital of Catalonia is a technology hub with a vibrant start-up environment. A celebrated football team’s innovation hub was the catalyst.
“Our device can diagnose a heart attack in 90% of cases”
A Danish start-up makes artificial intelligence available to emergency-care services.
Silicon photonics: the next revolution
Say goodbye to copper wires. Silicon photonics promises greater energy efficiency, lightning-speed processing and innovative health devices.
Welcome to Health Valley
Building on skills honed over the centuries, western Switzerland has become a world leader in biotech.
Engineering healthier humans
Drawing on their knowledge of algorithms, design and materials, engineers can help improve healthcare in many arenas.
Medicine: the debate over Big Data
Should doctors have access to huge datasets? The potential to improve healthcare is obvious, but privacy remains equally important.
Life-saving lessons
Linking engineering and medicine has led to better diagnostics, drugs and treatments. But it’s not always easy to collaborate successfully.
Avoiding the sound of silence
With Europe’s ageing population, hearing loss will become a major concern for public health. A new generation of technologies can slow the process.
How noise kills
Sound pollution has become one of the main health hazards in European cities. New technologies may provide some solutions.
A new genetic revolution
The ability to modify sequences of DNA with pinpoint precision promises new drugs, healthier livestock and better crops.
Balancing pleasure and health
Our eating habits are often based on accepted wisdom without scientific basis. Researchers are now trying to sort the facts from the myths.
Machines as caregivers
Artificial intelligence has enormous potential for health care – from diagnostics to rehabilitation to services for the elderly.
“People should trust their telephones”
Izanami Martínez is implementing a new, more efficient way to see the doctor – with the smartphone.
The power of nudging
Gently swaying people to act differently is a trick long known to advertisers. Several initiatives have proven its benefits for implementation of private and public policy.
It’s time to eat better
If 10 billion people are to be fed we need to drop fashionable, damaging diets that have no evidence base and get behind rational advances in food science.
Grandma’s mixer gets fancy
Cooking blenders are invading European kitchens, with the promise of healthy and fresh nutrition without time wasted on cutting and stirring.
Challenging innovation
A study has questioned the benefits of robotic keyhole surgery for prostate cancer, so why are some experts still championing the technique?
2016
Power to the people
Citizen science relies on the public’s curiosity and enthusiasm – not to mention computing capacity – to supplement the work of scientists.
Medical solutions inspired by biology
Sharks are a useful model, both for their slick skin and for their antibodies that can be used to treat cancer.
“The tech community can save lives”
A journalist explains how start-ups can improve the day-to-day existence of refugees and help make their dreams a reality.
The rise of open-source prosthetics
Entrepreneurs are tapping into inexpensive electronics and 3D printing to make robotic prosthesis more accessible.
A plane’s dirty little secrets
Careful study of the waste carried by aircraft now offers valuable clues on how infectious diseases spread.
From games to health
Smart glass and phone apps may have been developed for gamers, but now they are among the many technologies crossing over into the healthcare field.
Bikes are back
Cycling is healthy and good for the environment – so no wonder bicycle use in some European cities has doubled since the early 2000s.
Why we don’t sleep
Bad nights are disruptive to a person’s life. Fortunately, scientists are constantly learning more about the causes.
Tick-tock goes the body clock
You can sleep when you’re dead, they say. In the meantime, though, circadian rhythms are best not tampered with.
Why we sleep one third of our time
You may think you’re resting, but your brain is fulfilling critical tasks from building memories to reinforcing learning to clearing toxins.
“Modern life is just too interesting to sleep longer”
We spend one third of our time sleeping, but scientists still don’t know why. A prominent researcher reviews the most likely explanations.
2015
Flu: the disease that won’t go away
Why does the common illness keep outsmarting scientists?
The importance of darkness
For most organisms the absence of light is vital, too.
Human: too much brightness?
One of the basic certainties that unites all life on this planet: night follows day follows night. But then we started to mess with it.
Year of the light
Everywhere you turn, optical engineering is at the heart of new technologies. No wonder 2015 has been named the Year of Light.
When 80 became the new 40
Life spans in the developed world have doubled over the past two centuries — and scientists are working hard to decipher the code of aging.
How old are you really?
Age is so much more than years elapsed since your date of birth.
The sweet smell of sweat
Everyone knows that animals use odours to communicate. Now a growing body of research suggests that humans do, too.
The DNA gold rush
Thousands of labs and hospitals are eagerly awaiting the portable sequencers that will make bedside genetic analysis a reality.
2014
E-cigarettes: the burning question
They definitely help people stop smoking, but they may be just another ticking time bomb. Are they a positive solution or an unhealthy crutch?
Think yourself healthy
The vagus nerve, which connects the brain to various organs, plays an essential role in the mind-body relationship. Can you train it to make you happy?
The invisible killers
With its horrible symptoms and 80% mortality rate, Ebola fever is especially frightening. The cases in Spain and the U.S. served as a reminder that procedures for strict disinfection, while simple on paper, are less so in practise. Even the Western health system cannot entirely protect us from this virus.
Beating the Superbugs
Antibiotic-resistant bacteria are on the rise, but the pipeline for new drugs is drying up. Researchers are developing new strategies to avoid a resurgence of illnesses that once seemed easy to cure.
“The field has finally reached scientific maturity”
Happiness can be understood objectively, says pioneer researcher Ruut Veenhoven.
Happy? Your smartphone will know
New technologies and citizen science offer innovative ways to track and quantify emotions. They are uncovering new ingredients in the recipe for happiness.
New ways of fighting bacteria
Four novel approaches to keep killers in check.
Take it, use it, change it, create
You no longer need to be an electronics wizard to build sophisticated devices. “Makers” like the four profiled on these pages are unleashing their creativity thanks to Raspberry Pi and Arduino boards.
Bzzzz… here come the kamikaze mosquitoes
In an effort to combat dengue fever, Brazil has authorised the dissemination of a transgenic insect. Now the question is: will the critters do their job?
Bacteria, on your plate
Already sold in health-food stores as nutritional supplements, micro-organisms could help feed the world if prices came down.