CORDIS EXPRESS

With fine spring weather across Europe, CORDIS Express is back again with a week’s worth of news, project results and EU-funded research. European researchers deliver a vital component for a next generation telescope. Historical buildings may soon be energy efficient and sustainable. Researchers are close to double ionisation. Read about recycling old tyres to produce impact-absorbing carpeting. A team of researchers have discovered 32 previously unidentified genetic regions linked with osteoporosis and fractures. Finally and Briefly links virtual gophers, business models and Facebook.

European researchers deliver vital component of next-gen telescope

European researchers are once again making sure that their mark will be made, even when it comes to the farthest reaches of space. They have completed the MIRI or the Mid InfraRed Instrument - a pioneering camera and spectrograph so sensitive, that it will be able to see a candle on one of Jupiter's moons. This achievement was commemorated at a special handover ceremony - from the European consortium that constructed the device to the European Space Agency (ESA) - at the Institute of Engineering and Technology in London on 9 May.

Portholes into the past: building energy-efficient windows for heritage sites

An international team of experts is working on an EU-funded project that hopes to make historic buildings more energy efficient by reducing the amount of energy that is lost through windows. While we often seek ways to make our homes and public buildings more energy efficient, it is less often we spare a thought for the energy lost at badly insulated historical sites. The project 3ENCULT ('Efficient energy for EU cultural heritage') wants to change all that.

EU-funded researchers get up close to double ionisation

Normally, when an intense laser pulse interacts with an atom it generates agitation on the micro-scale and this interaction produces a single ionisation, where one electron is ejected from the atom. Sometimes, however, two electrons can be removed from the atom at the same time, which results in the more complex process of double ionisation. Now researchers from Germany and the United States have observed this process at attosecond time scales (an attosecond being a billionth of a billionth of a second), and they present their findings in a new study published in the journal Nature Communications.

Making old tyres into new surfaces

After rigorous testing, a much more cost efficient and safer way to transform used vehicle tyres into rubber surfaces has been produced. Old tyres are being recycled to produce impact-absorbing carpeting, but the high costs and hazardous chemicals involved have implied a need for a better recycling solution. The EU-funded project 'Innovative manufacturing process for added-value car tyre re-use into safer surfaces' (Impact-USS) addressed the issue.

Scientists find link between biological processes and young breast cancer patients

An international team of researchers has discovered 32 previously unidentified genetic regions linked with osteoporosis and fracture. Presented in the journal Nature Genetics, the study identified that variations in the deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) sequences in these regions confer either risk or protection from the disease that weakens bone. Most regions encode proteins involved in pathways that concern the health of bone. The study was funded in part by the GEFOS ('Genetic factors for osteoporosis') project, which has received almost EUR 3 million under the Health Theme of the EU's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7).

Jog and give your life a boost

Have you been mulling over ways to increase your life expectancy but have not yet determined how? Researchers in Denmark say jogging is the answer. The findings of their Copenhagen City Heart study were presented at the recent EuroPRevent 2012 meeting in Dublin, Ireland. Researchers at the Bispebjerg University Hospital in Denmark say embarking on a regular jogging route could increase life expectancy by 5.6 years for women and 6.2 years for men..

Partnership event for FP7 NMP and PPP calls, Lyon, France

A partnership event for FP7 NMP and PPP calls will take place on 12 June 2012 in Lyon, France. Ahead of upcoming Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) calls in nanotechnology, nanosciences, nanomaterials and new production technologies (NMP), and public-private partnerships (PPP) for research, the event will help attendees to network and organise project proposals.

'The week of innovative regions in Europe', Krakow, Poland

An event entitled 'The week of innovative regions in Europe' will take place from 4 to 5 June 2012 in Krakow, Poland. The conference will be a forum dedicated to development based on knowledge and innovation addressing issues related to the effective implementation of EU headline targets at the regional level. The main challenges and barriers to regional innovation development will be addressed, with a view to making elaborate recommendations for European and regional policymakers.