European science conversations
by the community, for the community
Many of our daily products are made from pollutant materials, which have proven to be extremely difficult to recycle. Recently, there have been a number of high profile campaigns to raise awareness about the global plastic waste crisis. Specifically to raise awareness of single-use plastics (microbeads, packaging, bags, disposable products etc.), which make up approximately 40% of the now more than 448 million tons of plastic produced every year. In an effort to do their bit to help, some biotechnological companies within the healthcare sector have focused their efforts on the search for alternative materials to fabricate diagnostics products. Paper has emerged as a possibility, but is it actually a real option for the market? Read more [...]
Abstraction
Cancer treatment has evolved and improved over time. Within the past few years, many new options have become available for patients that were just a dream no more than a decade ago. Some of the new methods on the forefront of cancer treatment Read more [...]
What if patients and clinical experts could spark and define the direction of multidisciplinary science projects without knowing the scientific literature? The Ludwig Boltzmann Gesellschaft (LBG) — a Austrian research organisation located in Vienna — is currently experimenting with Open Innovation in Science to systematically steer missions for their future research groups. Open Innovation in Science has been a vital part of innovative R&D units in large companies, however the science side of things are just starting to develop. LBG is currently at the forefront of this development. Read more [...]
The Internet of Things has been a big buzz word in technology for a couple years now. The Internet of Things refers to how everyday devices are becoming connected or digitised with technology. Who would have thought that pills could be digitised and that prescribed medicines could become part of The Internet of Things? It happened this past November when the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) approved the first pill with a digital sensor. What does this mean for medicine? It means that the prescribing doctor can be notified when a patient takes their medication; or maybe even more importantly, if they didn’t take their medication as prescribed. Read more [...]
Patients are the end users of health research; however, they are still rarely implicated in health research. In the 80’s HIV patients have revolted against this position and have invited themselves to scientific conferences and they have contributed to a major change in patient involvement in HIV research. How have other fields of biomedical research, like rare disease research or cancer research, been inspired by this unique experience? Read more [...]
Recently, there has been an increasing amount of attention paid to the mental health of researchers. Research is an activity that aims to confront the boundaries of human knowledge: it demands excellence from all researchers, who aim to publish in peer-reviewed publications, submit grant applications, achieve tenure or defend a PhD thesis. Researchers identify with and are dedicated to their work to a very great extent. A recent report noted that researchers simultaneously demonstrate high levels of job satisfaction and high levels of stress and depression. Nevertheless, hard work does not have to lead to suffering. Read more [...]
The accuracy of free online medical information is important for public health. Of the competing free sources online, traffic to Wikipedia is the highest. Read more [...]
Airport runways have the potential to cause long-term noise disturbance for those living in their vicinity. Associated health problems could also affect these neighbours. In the past 14 years, an EU Directive designed to measure the level of environmental noise and mitigate its effects on people's health has been in place. However, its implementation in each Member States has watered down the provisions designed to empower citizens to force further noise reduction measures. EuroScientist investigates what could be done to give citizens living near noisy transport environments the means to get back an acceptable level of peace. Read more [...]
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Experts will discuss the latest research on healthy populations at the forthcoming EuroScience Open Forum event to be held in July 2016 in Manchester. The trouble is, until recently, often people who may be impacted by health research did not have a say in it. Several session organisers share their views on the new avenues that are explored to improve the link between health research and citizens. Read more [...]
The shift towards prevention or wellness has now been operated a few years ago in health policy. Particularly in the field of chronic diseases, which is the focus of our independent coverage in this issue and of a campaign orchestrated by the REIsearch project. This has led to a number of policy experiments over time. As yet, there is no magic bullet to entice people to try and take greater care of their health. It appears that a combination of voluntary actions by citizens, with prevention campaigns from interested groups, and regulations can help. But too much of any of these ingredients may affect the fragile dynamic between them. Read more [...]
As Easter is looming, some of us already know that eating large amounts of chocolate eggs will be too much of a temptation to resist. This Easter chocolate binge is symptomatic of our approach to health. And to preventing chronic diseases that may affect us later in life. Until we actually see the damage done by such often irresponsible behaviour, we are not going to change. Clearly, we are our own worst enemies, when it comes to keeping ourselves in good health and taking preventative steps. Read more [...]
