Author: Tom Cassauwers

From his office on the outskirts of the French city of Toulouse, Roland Séférian literally charts out the future of our planet. Working at the National Centre for Meteorological Research (CNRM), the climate scientist designs models that project future climate change. Among the best known are the models featured in reports by the Intergovernmental Panel […]

In a conference space at the edge of Brussels, networking reaches a crescendo as a DJ plays music in the background. On the floor, everyone is showcasing their work – from semiconductor chips to advanced renewable energy technologies and eco-friendly materials. This is the European Innovation Council (EIC) Summit, a yearly event where venture capitalists […]

When Dr Katerina Spranger was a child, she came very close to losing her sight. “I had an accident and had to undergo emergency surgery,” she recalled.  Precision is a key part of such procedures. Even a tiny error can mean the difference between seeing again and going blind for the rest of your life. […]

Hybrid cars are a regular sight on European roads today. Sitting between internal combustion engines and fully electric vehicles, they run on fuel for some of the journey and electricity for the rest. That concept might be about to shake up the aviation industry. Aviation accounts for around 2.5% of global carbon emissions, a share […]

Along a small stream in Spain, groups of teenagers are at work. One hovers around a black tarpaulin covered in wet pieces of plastic. Another stands on a small bridge, fishing with a net. Others sort small pieces of plastic, cigarette butts and various other things they’ve recovered from the stream. What looks like a […]

Stepping inside a supercomputer facility is usually an overwhelming experience. These vast machines contain hundreds of thousands of processors working together to perform calculations far beyond the reach of ordinary computers. They consume huge amounts of energy, generate intense heat and are often extremely noisy. So, when France Boillod-Cerneux from the French Alternative Energies and Atomic […]

A lecture hall explodes with sound as the electronic dance hit I Like to Move It by Reel 2 Real blasts through the speakers. A class of 11-year-olds in fluorescent vests bounce through their own version of jumping jacks, urged on by some of Europe’s leading researchers at the front of the room. The task […]

From his bedroom desk in the Belgian town of Dendermonde, Gert Everaert used to watch the river Scheldt flow past. Barges and small boats drifted by. Birds fished. But the river also carried something less picturesque – a steady stream of litter and plastic waste. “Cars would stop and people threw rubbish straight into the water,” […]