Science
Research and
Innovation
in our
daily lives
EUROPEAN COMMISSION
Directorate-General for Research and Innovation
Directorate A – Policy Development and Coordination
Unit A.1 – Internal and external communication
Contact: [email protected]
European Commission
B-1049 Brussels
EUROPEAN COMMISSION
Science
2014
in our
daily lives
Directorate-General for Research and Innovation
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Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union, 2014
ISBN978-92-79-40054-4
doi10.2777/88802
© European Union, 2014
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Table of Contents
Foreword......................................................................................................................................................................... 4
1. Let there be light!.................................................................................................................................. 6
2. Brushing up................................................................................................................................................ 8
3. Keeping fit................................................................................................................................................10
4. Digital life.................................................................................................................................................12
5. Getting about.........................................................................................................................................14
6. Cleaner and greener.........................................................................................................................16
7. Life through a lens.............................................................................................................................18
8. Flying high...............................................................................................................................................20
9. Healthy lifestyle...................................................................................................................................22
10. Home comforts.................................................................................................................................24
11. Let’s play a game............................................................................................................................26
12. Sleep well..............................................................................................................................................28
Sources.........................................................................................................................................................................30
S c i e n c e
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Foreword
When the Large Hadron Collider at CERN in Switzerland smashed particles together at nearly
the speed of light, it captured the world’s imagination. Experiments like these are designed
to answer big, fundamental questions about our existence: what are the building blocks of all
matter and the scale of the universe around us?
So science helps us understand our surroundings, from the bottom of the oceans to the far reaches
of the universe. But science also helps us explain our daily lives, and is everywhere in our daily lives.
When we switch on the lights or stream a video on our smartphone, science (and technology) is a
big part of that. Science helps us travel safer and faster, live healthier and longer.
The examples chosen for this brochure are just that – examples. Science affects our daily lives
in many and varied ways. So what I do hope is that these examples will encourage you to look
for the science in your own daily life, and share it with others. The internet – which we also
have thanks to science – is a great tool for this.
Maybe you have a blog where you could write about it, or you could post a story to social
media. What do you think science contributes most to our lives? What are the big issues
that science should be addressing? How can we improve on the examples in this brochure? If
you want to tell us, we’re on Twitter at @innovationunion and on Facebook at facebook.com/
innovation.union.
A big part of EU research funding is helping Europe meet the many challenges we face in the
years to come – from securing our energy and food supplies, to protecting the environment and
coping with ageing populations. This is why the brochure also highlights how some EU-funded
research projects are contributing to further breakthroughs that could transform how we live.
Nowhere has the depth and breadth of science struck me more than at the annual EU Contest
for Young Scientists (EUCYS). Contestants come from all corners of Europe, indeed from all
over the world, with all kinds of backgrounds and all kinds of projects. What they have in
common is a burning curiosity and the ingenuity to find new knowledge or new solutions to
everyday problems.
So I want to take this opportunity to send a special message to young scientists and those who
want to be scientists: we need you! We need you to push the boundaries of our knowledge, and
make the science in our daily lives even better.
Máire Geoghegan-Quinn
European Commissioner for Research, Innovation and Science
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Let there
be light!
Every morning of every day, in bedrooms, bathrooms, living
rooms and kitchens, we tap into the energy grid from the
moment we get up. Coffee makers, computers, radios and
televisions get the world buzzing, but it all starts with light.
Chances are, when your lights go on, the bulbs in your sockets are compact
fluorescent light bulbs. The incandescent bulb is disappearing in favour of
more energy-efficient lighting, including those fluorescent bulbs.
Science lights the way
Compact fluorescent bulbs are based on the results of research going
back over a century. The lamps consist of a tube filled with gas, along with
necessary electronic elements in the base of the lamp. Inside the tube, an
electric current excites mercury vapour which produces short-wave ultraviolet
light. This, in turn, causes a phosphor coating on the inside of the tube to
fluoresce, producing visible light.
In the early 1980s, the first commercially successful fluorescent screw-in
replacement for an incandescent lamp was developed. More recently,
advanced electronic elements have eliminated the flicker and slow start of
older-model fluorescent tubes, making them virtually indistinguishable in
terms of performance from their predecessors.
While fluorescent lamps cost more to buy, they use only one-fifth to onequarter the electric power compared to old-style light bulbs and last 6 to 10
times longer.
6
LED-ing lights
Compact fluorescents offer energy and cost savings, but many people are troubled by
the mercury vapour contained inside fluorescent tubes. In response to these concerns,
researchers delivered new alternatives. These include light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and
organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs), which you can now find easily in shops and which do
not contain mercury. LEDs and OLEDs still offer the many advantages over incandescent
light sources including lower energy consumption, longer lifetime, and smaller size.
Instead of emitting light from a heated filament (as in an incandescent bulb) or a gas (as
in a compact fluorescent bulb), LEDs emit light when electrons are made to move around
within a piece of solid matter such as a semiconductor. LEDs are now used in applications
as diverse as aviation lighting and automotive headlamps.
OLEDs are made of a film of organic compound (instead of a semiconductor), which emits
light in response to an electric current. OLEDs are lighter and more flexible than LEDs, and
consume less power, making them more useful for displays.
EU-funded projects developing new types of lighting include Light.Touch.Matters, which is
developing a new generation of smart materials that combine touch sensitivity with luminosity.
Sources
▶▶
‘Energy-saving lightbulbs’, European
Commission.
▶▶
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‘Green paper: Lighting the future accelerating
the deployment of innovative lighting
technologies’, European Commission.
Light.Touch.Matters
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Brushing up
Now that you’re awake, it’s time to freshen up. Step into
the bathroom, turn on the tap, grab your toothbrush and a
bit of chemistry in a tube – that is to say, your toothpaste.
The key substance in toothpaste is fluoride, which helps prevent tooth decay
by making your enamel more resistant to acid erosion. It also reduces plaque
bacteria’s ability to produce acid, which is the cause of tooth decay. Toothpaste
can also contain chemical particles that help remove plaque.
But even the water we use in our homes has come a long way since the
Romans started funnelling water along aqueducts to public baths, fountains
and some privileged homes around 2,300 years ago. Above all, the water is
a lot cleaner!
Water treatment plants mostly use screens and filters to remove everything
from large debris to sediments, algae, plankton and some smaller particles.
Aluminium and ferric salts may be added to make remaining particles clump
together so they become big enough to remove easily. Chemicals or aeration
can be used to remove dissolved iron and manganese.
The water may then be passed through tanks full of increasingly finer beds of
sand, gravel and charcoal to remove even finer particles. Suppliers then use
small amounts of chlorine or ozone gas to kill any remaining organisms or
bacteria in the water.
Keep it clean
Scientists are looking at new ways to improve oral health. Work on the
NUTRIDENT project has isolated teeth-protecting elements occurring naturally
in foods and drinks. Companies are now working to develop new products such
as chewing gums, mouthwashes and even food products that are enriched
with these substances, as a means to improve oral health. Still – you shouldn’t
stop brushing your teeth just yet!
8
Why it’s good to live in modern times
Anthropologists tell us ancient civilisations used everything from pumice to crushed bone
to ground oyster shells (and worse) to clean their teeth, usually with questionable results.
It wasn’t until 1824, when a dentist named Peabody started adding soap to his concoction,
that modern toothpaste was born. Chalk was added in the 1850s. In 1873 soap-based
toothpaste in jars appeared in the shops.
The first ‘tube’ of toothpaste appeared when Dr Washington Sheffield introduced his Crème
Dentifrice in 1892. Fluoride, widely seen as the most significant anticavity ingredient to
date, became a common feature after a company added it to toothpaste in 1956.
Fresh water is a precious resource:
• 70% of the Earth is covered by water.
• 2.5% of it is fresh – the rest is salty and in oceans.
• 1% of freshwater is easily accessible – the rest is trapped in glaciers and snowfields.
Sources
▶▶
▶▶
‘Fluoride’. National Health Service.
‘First dental school’, The Ohio Academy of
Science.
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‘Potable water treatment’, The Open University.
Nutrident
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Keeping fit
You might decide to go for a run this morning, or pack
some things to go for a swim or play sports later in the
day. Today, sportspeople have access to some of the best
available technologies. For instance, shoes are lighter and
have been engineered to better support the foot’s structure.
Shoe chemistry
Many shoe soles are made through a process called vulcanisation. The
process, invented in 1839, uses sulphur or other chemical curatives or
accelerators to convert natural rubber obtained from trees into more durable,
flexible materials. These additives modify the natural polymer by forming
crosslinks (bridges) between individual polymer chains.
Good ball or out?
Staying in the world of tennis, technology has changed officiating with the
introduction of the Hawk-Eye system. The system uses 2D vision processing
software to identify the centre of the ball within each frame of a number of
different cameras. The system then triangulates the information to provide
the 3D position of the ball. A flight trajectory is calculated and the exact area
of the ball’s contact with the court is shown quickly and clearly using virtual
reality software – almost as quickly as you can shout “out”.
Future wear
Though not yet widespread, so-called ‘smart’ fabrics are now being used to
create clothing that allows wearers, including athletes, to monitor various
bodily functions such as heart rate and temperature. Some of these
technologies are already available in armbands and other devices.
We can expect more smart and green garments and shoes that can be
customised for individual use. They might let a diabetic know when they need
to take their medication or send a message to a carer when an older person
has suffered a fall. EU-funded projects working in this area include MyWear.
Another is the Biotex project, which has developed miniaturised biosensors in
a textile patch. The patch can analyse body fluids, even a tiny drop of sweat,
and provide an in-depth assessment of one’s physiological state.
10
The strangeness of the very small
Today, nanotechnology is at the forefront of virtually every scientific or engineering activity,
from medicine to spacecraft design to microelectronics and building construction, and, of
course, sports. The term refers to the manipulation of materials at the nano scale (1–100
nanometres; one nanometre is a billionth of a metre).
Some unique and often very strange phenomena become pronounced as size decreases. The
‘quantum size effect’, for example, involves alterations in the electronic properties of solids
when size is greatly reduced. Roger Federer won Wimbledon while using a racket reinforced
with nano-sized silicon-dioxide crystals incorporated into its frame.
Sources
▶▶
▶▶
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‘Nanotechnology’, European Commission.
‘Nanotechnology’, Science Museum.
MyWear
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Digital life
Before you leave for work or school, you might want to look
at the weather forecast, read the latest news headlines, or
buy a digital book to read on the train. So you pick up your
tablet or smartphone.
New mobile technologies and the ongoing switch from copper wire to
optical fibre have boosted access speeds considerably compared to
the internet’s early days.
An optical fibre is made of high-quality extruded glass or plastic,
slightly thicker than a human hair, that transmits data bits in the form
of pulses of light. This allows fibre to transmit much more data per
second than copper wire of the same diameter.
Light going in at one end of an optical fibre is repeatedly reflected inside
the fibre until it emerges at the other end, and is then transformed into a
digital electric code that can be interpreted by a computer and translated
into information we can understand.
Still, sending data-intensive media such as high-definition video or
music files over the internet eats up a lot of space. One solution is
to compress the media into a smaller package using a computer
algorithm. The algorithms reduce the size by systematically removing
some nonessential information. The files are restored close to the
original state when received.
What’s next? – 5G
Current third-generation (3G) mobile networks provide on-the-go access to the
internet – and launched the age of the smartphone. But 3G technologies are
reaching their capacity as more people demand data-hungry services, such as
live TV and video streaming, through their portable devices. In response, 4G
was launched in 2012 to provide download speeds about 5 times faster than
3G. Researchers are now working on the technologies needed for even faster
5G networks. They expect 5G to be available by 2020 and offer speeds of up
to 100 times faster than 4G. This challenge is currently keeping EU-funded
researchers busy, in projects such as Metis or iJOIN.
With this kind of speed, people will be able to access online services,
for example allowing them to monitor, protect, and control their home
environments, to monitor and maintain their health, and to stay safe in
their cars.
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Secret communications system
The ‘secret’ that makes wireless communications work in mobile phones is known as the
‘spread spectrum’. Hedy Lamarr, an Austrian film star, was the co-inventor. She and American
composer George Antheil patented the idea for a ‘Secret Communications System’ in 1941.
The invention works by manipulating radio frequencies at irregular intervals, forming
an unbreakable code to prevent other people from intercepting messages. The
systems’ advantages were not realised until 1962, when the military started using
it to encrypt messages.
Their patent also led to the use of a spread spectrum technique. This is an efficient way of
using multiple radio frequencies at the same time while avoiding interference with each
other (and making it harder to intercept or jam them). The technique is one of the building
blocks in current and next-generation wireless systems.
Sources
▶▶
▶▶
▶▶
‘Optical fibres’, BBC GCSE Bitesize.
HEVC Hybrid Broadcast Broadband Video
Services. H2B2VS project.
Metis
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Famous women inventors, InventHelp
‘Towards 5G’, European Commission.
iJoin
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Getting about
It’s time to go to work or school. Getting there is now
easier and safer. Satellites orbiting the Earth provide
uniform, reliable and quickly updated signals across large
geographical areas. The signals keep road vehicles, ships,
aircraft and even people on the right track and deliver many
current and new services.
In-car navigation systems taking their location from satellites make it
easy to get from A to B – if your map is up to date! Satellites (and local
mobile phone networks) can also be used to deliver real-time traffic and
safety services. For example, an application can automatically call for
help when an accident happens.
For those who take public transport, new developments are just as
impressive. More advanced electric trams, trains and buses, and intelligent
traffic management systems help get you to your destination on time. Solarpowered information panels and smart phone apps are able to tell you in real
time when the next bus or tram will arrive at your stop.
What’s next?
Look, no hands! Well, that could be one way to cope with the hassle of traffic
congestion. EU researchers are looking at ways to introduce autonomous
or driverless cars as a solution. The self-driving vehicles would use radar,
satellite navigation, computer vision and other developing technologies to
navigate safely through traffic. You can then catch up on work, or just relax
and watch the world go by.
Other researchers have been working to develop more efficient freight
delivery in cities. For example, the CityMove and CityLog projects have
teamed up to develop a range of modular delivery vehicles better-suited to
narrow city streets. They have also developed communications technologies
to help companies deliver goods more efficiently as a way to reduce
congestion and greenhouse gas emissions.
Sources
▶▶
▶▶
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‘How does GPS work?’, Institute of
Physics.
‘A question of timing’, Institute of
Physics.
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CityMove
CityLog
38 microseconds to getting lost
Albert Einstein got it right with his general and special theories of relativity, as shown by the
atomic clocks on board navigation satellites.
Navigation satellites send out signals indicating their positions and the time their signals were
sent. A navigation device on Earth receives the signals and calculates the satellite’s distance
(using the speed of light and the time the signal was sent). With the distance and position of at
least three satellites, the device uses geometric calculations to determine its location on Earth.
But we would still end up getting lost if the highly precise clocks on the satellites were not
adjusted to account for relativity.
Einstein’s special theory says that relative to Earth, a clock traveling very fast will appear
to run slowly from the perspective of someone standing still. As navigation satellites orbit
the Earth at about 14,000 kilometres an hour, their atomic clocks would seem to run
7 microseconds slower each day (1 microsecond = 1 millionth of a second).
Meanwhile, general relativity predicts that clocks closer to a massive object will seem slower
than those located further away. From our position on Earth, the atomic clocks would seem
to speed up by 45 microseconds a day. The combination of both relativistic effects amount
to 38 microseconds a day and would lead to errors in location amounting to more than
10 kilometres a day.
Without Albert, we would all be lost!
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Cleaner
and greener
Now that you’re outside in the real world look up at the sky
and take a deep breath. If you live in a city, chances are the
air quality is better today than it was 20 years ago, and
that’s down to research and technological advances.
For instance, road vehicles are now much cleaner, thanks to inventions
like the catalytic converter. It was invented by Eugene Houdry, a French
mechanical engineer, and after advances made by other developers it
was first used in vehicles in 1975.
This ingenious device oxidises carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons
in vehicle exhaust emissions to produce carbon dioxide (CO2) and
water, and also reduces nitrogen oxides to nitrogen and oxygen.
The challenge of clean energy
How we generate energy – finding new and more environmentally
friendly energy sources as we seek to prevent climate change – is a
fundamental challenge today.
Promising sources include tidal, solar and wind energy. Research is under way
on how to deliver energy from these sources more efficiently to local users.
One replacement for traditional oil-based fuels is biofuels, produced
from plant matter. However, questions over the sustainability of some
biofuels have led to the search for alternative sources – such as waste
agricultural materials and algae.
One more sustainable alternative – cellulosic ethanol – is produced from
the non-edible parts of plants. Cellulose makes up cell walls of all green
plants. Ethanol is produced by turning the sugars contained in cellulose
into alcohol. This can be made from waste — such as the wood chips,
grasses, leaves and stalks leftover from harvesting crops.
Making biofuels in this way would avoid putting energy production in
competition with food production for land and scarce fresh water, as
has happened with first generation biofuels. It also turns agricultural and
forestry waste into a valuable resource.
16
What’s next?
EU-funded projects carrying out research and development on alternative energy include Nacir and
Digespo, which are developing more efficient solar energy capture technologies. The Babethanol
project is working on more efficient ways to produce ethanol from sustainable sources, such as
agricultural waste. Meanwhile, the Biofat project seeks to demonstrate a sustainable way to turn
microalgae into biofuel.
Solar energy from space?
Looking further ahead, the concept of space-based solar power is being examined by countries
such as the US, Japan and India. Under this scheme, satellites comprising large arrays of solar cells
are assembled in orbit. These then use low-power radio waves or lasers to transmit solar power to
large receiving antennas back on Earth. The main obstacle has been economics – how to develop
a scheme that can be cost-competitive with other energy sources.
The algae alternative
Another alternative is seaweed and other forms of algae. Researchers envision a world in which
such sources could be harvested from cultivated sea ‘forests’ or ‘farms’ to produce biofuels.
In 2012, researchers produced genetically modified bacteria that can feed on the sugars
found in brown seaweed and transform them into ethanol. Other researchers are studying
microalgae, which naturally convert sunlight or sugar into oil within their cells.
Sources
▶▶
▶▶
‘The science of catalysts and catalytic
converters’, Dr Emma Schofield, Johnson
Matthey, The Naked Scientists, University of
Cambridge.
Nacir
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Digespo
Babethanol
‘Algal Biofuel Developments in the EU’, Biofat
project.
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Life through
a lens
See something interesting? Pull out your smartphone and
take a photograph. That tiny lens and the sensor used
to transform light into a digital image is a marvel of
miniaturisation.
The ability to create images and video relies on one of the oldest of
human technologies – the lens.
The task of a photographic lens is to focus an image as clearly and
accurately as possible on film or a digital sensor. It’s not easy, because
the geometry of a lens invariably prevents light rays from converging
perfectly to a single point. This leads to what are called aberrations, or
different types of blurring. One technique of lens design used since the
19th century is called ray tracing. This makes it possible to determine
the likely aberrations generated by a particular lens design.
Today, computerised ray tracing allows lens performance to be modelled
quickly, so design concepts can be rapidly developed and refined to
reduce aberrations.
Lenses serving science
Better lenses have in turn led to a lot of discoveries. These span the full
range of scientific fields, from the microscopic to deep space.
The first compound optical microscope appeared in the Netherlands in the
late 1500s, probably an invention of eyeglass makers. This fundamental
instrument has been responsible for numerous discoveries underlying
today’s medicine, biology, geology and anthropology. Without the invention
of the microscope, living cells would not have been discovered.
We can turn our attention to the cosmos thanks to optical telescopes, also
an invention of Dutch eyeglass makers.
Galileo built his own telescope in 1609, greatly improving on the design.
Important discoveries due to the telescope include the heliocentric solar
system (with the Sun – not the Earth – at its centre), the moons of Jupiter,
the phases of Venus and the existence of the Milky Way and much beyond it.
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Films and rainbows
Many people have noticed the strange and beautiful patterns of colours (sometimes forming
rainbows) generated when light interacts with an oily substance, as when light is reflected on a
soap bubble or on an oily patch of pavement. This happens because the thin film of the oil filters
out certain frequencies (colours) of light due to the effect of interference. This phenomenon has
many optical applications where light needs to be filtered, for example in your sunglasses, lenses
for binoculars or cameras, and even visors for astronauts.
What’s next?
In the near future, you may be able to read your e-mail and text messages superimposed on the
world around you – right in front of your eyes on your contact lenses.
Researchers are working to create a contact lens that is comfortable to wear with a display that
does not obstruct the user’s vision. Initial tests involve a plastic contact lens with a tiny LED
embedded in the centre.
EU-funded research includes the Metachem and Nanogold projects. Both projects focused
on nanochemistry. The research could eventually lead to the development of new and more
energy-efficient types of optical tools and displays for lighting, information processing, lasers
and consumer devices.
Sources
▶▶
▶▶
▶▶
‘Optical Instruments’, University of Reading.
‘Early microscopes’, The College of
Optometrists.
‘The Origins of the Telescope’, edited by Albert
Van Helden, Sven Dupré, Rob van Gent, Huib
Zuidervaart. Knaw Press, Amsterdam, 2010.
▶▶
▶▶
Metachem
Nanogold
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Flying high
It’s lunchtime and you’re thinking about getting out for
something to eat. You look out of your window and see an
airplane flying into the distance. You wonder where it might
be going – New York, Cape Town, maybe Beijing?
Few activities can better illustrate the ways in which science and technology
have transformed our lives than air transport. And it starts with how an
airplane flies.
The force of ‘lift’ is created when air flows more quickly over the top of an
object than below, causing a lowering of pressure over the top surface. This
is achieved by the familiar airplane wing design – in cross-section the lower
surface is flat while the upper surface is curved, a design that forces air to
flow more quickly over the top than it does underneath.
Towards cleaner skies
In recent years, concerns have been raised about the impact of modern air
transport on the environment.
This has led to Europe’s Clean Sky initiative. The mission of this ambitious
aeronautical research programme is to develop breakthrough technologies
to dramatically slash an aircraft’s output of carbon dioxide, noise and
oxides of nitrogen (NOx).
The research includes developing cutting-edge engine components and
improving wing aerodynamics. Researchers are also working on lighter
composite structures, smarter flight trajectories and more efficient onboard energy systems.
What’s next?
Greener, more sustainable sources for jet fuel are on the horizon. For example,
the EU-funded Solar-Jet project has resulted in the world’s first “solar” jet fuel.
This is synthetic kerosene obtained directly from water and CO2. The process
uses concentrated sunlight to power a solar reactor.
The breakthrough could mean that, in the future, any liquid hydrocarbon fuel
such as kerosene could be produced from just CO2 and water. It would leave
us less dependent on fossil fuels and turn CO2 – one of the main greenhouse
gases responsible for global warming – into a useful resource.
20
Breakthrough!
One is tempted to imagine that the Wright brothers simply stumbled upon the design
of their flying machine. After all, it was way back in the primitive 1900s, and they were
uneducated bicycle makers. Well, not exactly.
They didn’t finish secondary school, but they had worked for years with printing presses,
motors, and other machinery. They had also built their own wind tunnel, which helped them
to design wings and propellers.
But it was their work with bicycles that led them to believe that an unstable vehicle
like a flying machine could be controlled and balanced with practice. Their fundamental
breakthrough was ‘three-axis control’, which allowed a pilot to steer the aircraft and
maintain its equilibrium. This method became the standard for all fixed-wing aircraft and
it remains so to this day.
Sources
▶▶
‘The Wright Brothers and the Invention of the
Aerial Age’, Smithsonian Institution.
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Clean Sky
Solar-Jet
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Healthy
lifestyle
It’s afternoon – time for a break from your desk and a brisk
walk outside. You take the stairs rather than the lift. Before
you get back to work you call your doctor to set a date for
your annual check-up.
Like you, more and more people are taking greater responsibility for their
own health and science is helping. Chemical reactions are behind most selfdiagnostic kits, for instance to keep track of conditions such as diabetes and
high cholesterol levels.
Many kits for diabetics use glucose oxidase, an enzyme. Diabetics used to
test themselves by pricking a finger to get a blood droplet and putting it on
a test strip containing the enzyme. The strength of the chemical reaction
depends on the concentration of sugar (glucose) in the blood.
This whole process is now quicker and easier, with most diabetics using
a handheld electronic glucometer to accurately measure this reaction.
Within seconds, diabetics can know whether they need some insulin or
a quick snack.
What’s next?
One of the major changes in recent years is the development of tailored,
personalised treatments – based on more accurate assessments of an
individual’s risk of getting a particular disease, such as cancer or a heart
condition. The complete mapping in 2003 of the human genome – around
20,500 genes that form a human being – was a big step in this direction.
For example, the EU-funded APO-Decide project is using computational
approaches to understand the complexity of gene and protein interactions
in cancer patients. The project aims to help doctors adjust treatments for
colon cancer to the specific needs of individual patients.
Meanwhile, TREAT-OA extended knowledge of the genetic aspects
influencing osteoarthritis, the most common form of arthritis. This has
helped to refine an existing test used to predict whether individual patients
are likely to develop a severe form of the disease.
22
A look inside
Medical treatment improved dramatically with the discovery of the X-ray in 1895. X-rays
are a type of radiation, similar to rays of light. But while light is absorbed by skin, X-rays
can pass through the human body. Bones and organs look lighter or darker in the resulting
image as they absorb X-rays at different rates depending on their density. The image allows
doctors to tell whether a bone is broken or an organ is diseased.
A computerised (axial) tomography scanner – also called a CT or CAT scan – combines a
series of X-ray views taken from many different angles. Powerful computers process them
to create cross-sectional, 3D images of the body.
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanners use strong magnetic fields and radio waves
to obtain an inside look. MRI scans do not expose the body to X-ray radiation. This means
vulnerable people, such as pregnant women and babies, can use MRI.
An ultrasound machine transmits high-frequency sound pulses into the body to get an
image. The machine records the echoes as the sound waves bounce back. It calculates the
distances and intensities of the reflected sound waves to form a two-dimensional image. As
no radiation is involved, ultrasound is commonly used to check on a baby’s health while it
is in the womb. Surgeons can also use ultrasound for operations that require high precision.
Surgeons can also use a laparoscope. This is a small tube with a light source and a video
camera, which is put through a tiny incision in a patient and sends live images to a monitor.
Sources
▶▶
▶▶
‘A history of blood glucose meters and their
role in self-monitoring of diabetes mellitus’,
British Journal of Biomedical Science, 6 March
2012.
‘Keeping a lid on pressure’, British Heart
Foundation.
▶▶
▶▶
▶▶
▶▶
Human Genome Project information archive.
‘History of radiology’, British Institute of
Radiology.
APO-Decide
TREAT-OA
23
S c i e n c e
i n
o u r
d a i l y
l i v e s
Home comforts
Your work day is over and you get home, looking forward
to dinner.
Pull out a frying pan. What’s that non-stick coating called?
Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE). You might know it by its brand name Teflon,
discovered in 1938 by scientist Roy Plunkett. In 1954 French engineer Marc
Grégoire first coated a cooking pan with PTFE, under the brand name Tefal.
He had been using it on his fishing rod’s reel to try and make it run more
smoothly. His wife Collete urged him to try the material on her cooking pans
to make cooking and cleaning easer.
PTFE, made of carbon and fluorine, is very non-reactive with other
substances. This makes the compound highly useful as a coating for
containers and pipes that carry reactive and corrosive chemicals. It is also
used as a lubricant for machinery and as a graft material in medical surgery.
Get cooking
Now put your pan on the ceramic hob and turn it on. Some of the more
advanced ‘vitroceramic’ hobs heat by induction. Energy is transferred
electromagnetically to your cooking pan, efficiently heating the iron base of
the pan which then cooks the food.
This is a much safer way to cook, as the temperature of the glass hob
remains low, reducing the chance of an accidental burn. And when the pan is
removed from the hob, heat transmission is immediately interrupted, saving
energy.
Wash those clothes
High-tech cooking systems aren’t the only way to save energy. Take a
washing machine created by a University of Leeds spin-out company. It
uses small reusable polymer chips or pellets and just a cup of water to clean
clothes. The pellets can be used for up to 100 wash cycles.
The university says the system uses less than 2% of the water and energy
of a conventional washing machine.
24
It’s enzymazing
Many washing powders use enzymes. These are molecules that catalyse or speed up chemical
reactions. A single enzyme will typically catalyse around 10,000 chemical reactions per second.
This means that tiny amounts have a huge effect.
A range of enzymes are used. Proteases, for example, break down proteins, like blood, egg
and gravy. Amylases break down starches, and lipases break down fats and grease. Washing
powders can contain one, two or all three types of enzyme.
Using enzymes means being able to wash laundry at a lower temperature while getting the
same results – clean clothes! You save energy and help the environment. Enzymes can help cut
washing temperatures from 60 °C to as low as 20 °C – reducing energy.
What’s next?
Self-cleaning plastics could cut costs and help the environment by reducing the need for cleaning
products. The EU-funded project Nanoclean took its inspiration from the leaves surrounding the
lotus flower. Their surfaces have waxy, water-resistant nanostructures – known as micropillars
– that ensure rainwater washes away dirt without leaving any traces. Nanoclean’s scientists
synthetically engineered these nanostructures and applied them to plastics used for cars. Now,
several companies are working on bringing the innovation to the market.
Sources
▶▶
▶▶
‘Enzyme Technology’, Martin Chaplin and
Christopher Bucke.
Nanoclean
25
S c i e n c e
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o u r
d a i l y
l i v e s
Let’s play
a game
Now that you’re home for the evening, how about a game?
Today’s computerised gaming consoles are complex,
innovative and exciting, supporting high-resolution graphics
and video that really put you in the middle of the action.
Handheld gaming devices have swept through the industry, and now
people play games on the internet, using many types of devices
including smartphones.
Make it fast
Central to computing is the central processing unit (CPU), a complete
computation engine that can now be manufactured on a single integrated
circuit or “chip”.
The CPU’s form, design and capacity have changed over time, and
computational speed has increased dramatically. High-powered
microprocessors also keep getting better.
The rise of the microprocessor
The first microprocessor was the Intel 4004, introduced in 1971. It was
not very powerful, but it did manage to run one of the first portable
electronic calculators.
The first microprocessor to make it into a home computer was the Intel
8080. The subsequent versions and the Pentium microprocessors were
improvements on the same basic design with increasing speeds.
The future of gaming is now
Online gaming devices can already tap into Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, 3G and 4G
connections, and together with wireless controllers, they allow gamers to
engage in mobile gaming. It is a growing business.
26
Make it real – physics engines
A physics engine is a computer program that simulates the physical behaviour of objects. The
simulations are based on scientific knowledge about the real-life behaviour (or dynamics) of
materials, whether rigid, soft or a fluid. Sometimes used by scientists in laboratories, physics
engines are also incorporated into video games.
Complex mathematical models take into account whether virtual objects are soft or rigid and
how they behave when two or more touch or collide. The models also calculate the forces that
affect the objects, such as mass, speed, direction, gravity and friction.
In most computer games, the rate of game play is more important than the absolute accuracy of
a simulation. That’s why these so-called real-time physics engines typically produce ‘perceptually
correct’ but simplified simulations. Some game engines however, go all the way, simulating
physical behaviour extremely accurately, allowing for very realistic action sequences.
With an integrated two-way satellite navigation receiver/transmitter, today’s handheld devices
allow players to play location-based games with other people in real environments – a street, a
building, and an entire city. Geocaching is one such example. In this popular real-world treasure
hunt, people use satellite navigation and coordinates provided online to find objects hidden by
other players.
Next-generation games will allow gamers to feel more a part of a virtual world. Developers are
working on providing an immersive experience. Gamers would be attached to equipment and
sensors that allow them to walk, run, jump and do other movements. They would see these
actions mimicked in the virtual world via their 3D headsets.
27
S c i e n c e
i n
o u r
d a i l y
l i v e s
Sleep well
Well, it’s been a long day. Time to lie down, turn out the
lights and drift off to dreamland. Human beings spend
about a third of their lives asleep. We know we need to
sleep, but most of us don’t know why. In fact, no one does,
but scientists have spent many sleepless nights trying to
explain it.
The stages of sleep
Scientist Alfred Lee Loomis and his colleagues first described the stages of
sleep in 1937. Using electroencephalography (EEG) to study brain activity,
they divided sleep into five levels (A to E), representing a spectrum from
wakefulness to deep sleep.
In 1953, scientists realised that deep sleep (when rapid and random
movement – REM – of the eyes occur) was really very different. They
reclassified sleep into four non-rapid eye movement’ (NREM) stages and
rapid eye movement (REM).
As we know them today, the stages of sleep are:
• NREM stage 1: Between sleep and wakefulness, the muscles are active;
the eyes roll, lazily opening and closing.
• NREM stage 2: It gradually becomes harder to awaken the sleeper.
• NREM stage 3 & 4: ‘Slow-wave sleep’ or ‘deep sleep’; many outside
stimuli, such as noises, no longer produce any reactions.
• REM: The sleeper displays REM, while most muscles are completely
immobilised.
Sleep features cycles of NREM and REM, usually four or five of them per
night. There is more deep sleep earlier in the night, with REM increasing just
before natural awakening.
Sources
▶▶
28
‘Sleep matters: the impact of
sleep on health and wellbeing’,
Mental Health Foundation. 2011.
▶▶
‘Natural patterns of sleep’, Harvard
Medical School.
To sleep, perchance…
We all know what dreaming is, but did you know that it is mostly associated with the REM phase
of sleep?
REM sleep is also referred to as “paradoxical sleep”, because the sleeper shows EEG activity
similar to a waking state. However it is harder to wake a sleeper than at any other stage. Vital
signs indicating arousal and oxigen consumption by the brain are higher than when the sleeper
is awake.
The function of REM sleep is still uncertain, but many studies have shown that a lack of it will
impair normal functioning.
What’s next?
Scientists at the Textile Research Institute in Spain have uncovered a range of variables that can
affect your nightly slumber, including the texture of sleeping clothes, temperature and even odours.
So, in the near future, you may be able to buy and wear softer-than-ever sleepwear that is more
comfortable and better for your skin. Your future mattress may be able to automatically adjust
to ambient temperature changes and release suitable sleep-enhancing scents.
Now there’s something you can sleep on!
Science around you
As you can see, there is a lot of science behind everyday things – the ones we use now and the
ones we will use in the future. You can learn more about the astonishing science around you by
asking questions and then seeking the answers, either on the internet or at your local library.
Start with something you use regularly. How did it come to be the way it is now? How does it
work? How could it be made better to meet our changing needs? You might come up with some
new ideas yourself!
You just have to be curious. After all, that’s how many scientists took their first steps towards
understanding the world around us. One might even be able to catch a glimpse of a “world in a
grain of sand”, as William Blake put it.
29
S c i e n c e
i n
o u r
d a i l y
l i v e s
Sources
1. Let there be light!
‘Energy-saving lightbulbs’, European Commission.
http://ec.europa.eu/energy/lumen/index_en.htm
‘Green paper: Lighting the future accelerating the
deployment of innovative lighting technologies’,
European Commission.
htt p: / / e u r- le x.e u ro p a. eu/l egal -c o nt en t /EN /
TXT/?uri=CELEX:52011DC0889
Light.Touch.Matters
www.light-touch-matters-project.eu
Famous women inventors, InventHelp
http://www.women-inventors.com/Hedy-Lammar.asp
‘Towards 5G’, European Commission.
http://ec.europa.eu/digital-agenda/en/towards-5g
Metis
https://www.metis2020.com/
iJoin
http://www.ict-ijoin.eu/
5. Getting about
2. Brushing up
‘Fluoride’. National Health Service.
http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/fluoride/Pages/
Introduction.aspx
‘First dental school’, The Ohio Academy of Science.
http://www.heartlandscience.org/medhs/pdf/dental.pdf
‘Potable water treatment’, The Open University.
http://www.open.edu/openlearn/science-mathstechnology/engineering-and-technology/technology/
potable-water-treatment/content-section-4.2
Nutrident
http://www.ucl.ac.uk/eastman/x/nutrident/funding.php
3. Keeping fit
‘Nanotechnology’, European Commission.
http://ec.europa.eu/research/industrial_technologies/
policy_en.html
‘Nanotechnology’, Science Museum.
http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/antenna/nano/
lifestyle/114.asp
MyWear
http://www.mywearproject.info/
4. Digital life
‘Optical fibres’, BBC GCSE Bitesize.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/science/
aqa_pre_2011/radiation/sendingrev1.shtml
HEVC Hybrid Broadcast Broadband Video Services.
H2B2VS project.
http://h2b2vs.epfl.ch
30
‘How does GPS work?’, Institute of Physics.
http://www.physics.org/article-questions.asp?id=55
‘A question of timing’, Institute of Physics.
http://www.physics.org/article-questions.asp?id=77
CityMove
http://www.citymoveproject.eu/
CityLog
http://www.city-log.eu/
6. Cleaner and greener
‘The science of catalysts and catalytic converters’,
Dr Emma Schofield, Johnson Matthey, The Naked
Scientists, University of Cambridge.
http://www.thenakedscientists.com/HTML/content/
interviews/interview/569/
Nacir
http://www.ies.upm.es/index.php?id=549
Digespo
http://www.digespo.eu
Babethanol
http://babethanol.com/
‘Algal Biofuel Developments in the EU’, Biofat
project.
http://www.biofatproject.eu/Background/
7. Life through a lens
‘Optical Instruments’, University of Reading.
http://www.met.reading.ac.uk/pplato/resources/h-flap/
p6_4t.pdf
‘Early microscopes’, The College of Optometrists.
http://www.college-optometrists.org/en/college/
museyeum/online_exhibitions/microscopy/early.cfm
‘The Origins of the Telescope’, edited by Albert Van
Helden, Sven Dupré, Rob van Gent, Huib Zuidervaart.
Knaw Press, Amsterdam, 2010.
http://www.dwc.knaw.nl/wp-content/HSSN/2011-12Origins.pdf
Metachem
https://www.metachem-fp7.eu/
Nanogold
http://archiveweb.epfl.ch/nanogold.epfl.ch/
8. Flying high
‘The Wright Brothers and the Invention of the Aerial
Age’, Smithsonian Institution.
http://airandspace.si.edu/exhibitions/wright-brothers/
online/who/
Clean Sky
http://www.cleansky.eu/
Solar-Jet
http://www.solar-jet.aero/
10. Home comforts
‘Enzyme Technology’, Martin Chaplin and Christopher
Bucke.
http://www1.lsbu.ac.uk/water/enztech/index.html
Nanoclean
http://www.nanoclean-project.eu/
12. Sleep well
‘Sleep matters: the impact of sleep on health and
wellbeing’, Mental Health Foundation. 2011.
http://www.howdidyousleep.org/media/downloads/
MHF_Sleep_Matters_Report.pdf
‘Natural patterns of sleep’, Harvard Medical School.
http://healthysleep.med.harvard.edu/healthy/science/
what/sleep-patterns-rem-nrem
9. Healthy lifestyle
‘A history of blood glucose meters and their role in
self-monitoring of diabetes mellitus’, British Journal
of Biomedical Science, 6 March 2012.
http://www.bjbs-online.org/pdf/pp83-93%20
BJBS69%282%29.pdf
‘Keeping a lid on pressure’, British Heart Foundation.
http://www.bhf.org.uk/heart-health/conditions/highblood-pressure/blood-pressure-research.aspx
Human Genome Project information archive.
http://web.ornl.gov/sci/techresources/Human_Genome/
index.shtml
‘History of radiology’, British Institute of Radiology.
http://www.bir.org.uk/patients-public/history-ofradiology/
APO-Decide
http://www.apodecide.eu/
TREAT-OA
http://www.treatoa.eu/
31
How to obtain EU publications
Free publications:
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via EU Bookshop (http://bookshop.europa.eu);
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from the European Union’s representations (http://ec.europa.eu/represent_en.htm);
from the delegations in non-EU countries (http://eeas.europa.eu/delegations/index_en.htm);
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Priced subscriptions:
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KI-01-14-760-EN-N
Have you ever wondered what’s in your
washing powder, or how the tiny lens in your
smartphone can take such good photos? Do
you know what satellite navigation has to do
with Einstein’s Theory of Relativity?
Science, technology and innovation are never
far away — find out how they are making our
everyday lives healthier, happier and more fun.
You’ll even discover how nanotechnology can
help win Wimbledon!
ISBN 978-92-79-40054-4
doi:10.2777/88802