CORDIScovery – unearthing the hottest topics in EU science, research and innovation

Spotting the difference between flour and cocaine – powerful new detectors are around the corner. The volume of small packages coming into the EU has doubled every year since 2022. In 2024 alone, 4.6 billion small packages entered the EU market. Add in all shipping containers from all over the world and you can see what customs officials are up against. Which is why the work being done by our thre...

A good way to understand what’s coming is to look at what happened in the past – so what can prehistoric polar ice tell us about future sea level rise? The highly uncertain behaviour of the Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets will dominate the future of sea level rise: land ice loss and ocean thermal expansion contribute equally. Our three guests, all of whom have received support from EU research...

Obesity and being overweight is impacting children in the EU, and worldwide, at epidemic levels: in some countries nearly 40 % of children are affected. The International Diabetes Federation projects the number of people in the EU, with the condition, will rise to over 72 million by 2050. How can we stem the tide? All three of our guests have beensupported by EU research and innovation funding. He...

People often forget just how significant the wine industry is in Europe. Across the EU there are about 2.2 million wine‑growing farms looking after roughly 3.2 million hectares of vines, and every year those vineyards turn out something like 150 million hectolitres of wine, that’s around 20 billion bottles a year. But growers are getting squeezed in two directions: more unstable harvests, and weak...

There are advances being made in the area of dementia and cognitive ageing. But sometimes it feels like a race against time, so what can the latest research reveal? Evidence-based solutions may help to foster better coordination between health and social care systems across the Europe. Our three guests, whose projects benefited from EU research and innovation funding, are helping to make a complex...

The EU is intending to have all sectors of the economy at net zero greenhouse gas production by 2050. But heavy industry and transport can be challenging to electrify directly. So renewable, low-carbon hydrogen, and its derivatives, are key tools in the box.  To get there, we need to create a stronger demand for the fuel, boost transport and storage networks and secure the renewable affordable ele...

This special episode of CORDIScovery comes to you from the EU’s Research and Innovation Days . This episode discusses the effort going into making injectionsneedle-free, new diagnostic tools and therapies for heart conditions such as arrhythmias and atrial fibrillation, how wearable technologies are being harnessed to detect life-threatening conditions such as sepsis, and the influence of urban en...

This special episode of CORDIScovery comes to you from the EU’s Research and Innovation Days . Let’s dive into artificial intelligence and machine learning. Our four cutting-edge projects have all received EU research and innovation funding, showcasing the transformative potential of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning in various sectors, including health, environment, industry and c...

This special episode of CORDIScovery comes to you from the EU’s Research and Innovation Days . This episode looks at two key challenges that are deeply connected to our future – food security and the health of our oceans. Researchers, all of whom benefited from research and innovation funding from the EU, are developing innovative solutions to make food systems more resilient and to safeguard mari...

This special episode of CORDIScovery comes to you from the EU’s Research and Innovation Days . The future of energy and mobility – two areas at the heart of Europe’s transition to a greener, smarter and more sustainable economy. From smarter air traffic control to advanced electric vehicles and more fuel-efficient aircraft, research and innovation are helping to reshape our transport and its relat...

This special episode of CORDIScovery comes to you from the EU’s Researchand Innovation Days . Moving from a linear model to a circular economy can lead to a cleaner and more competitive Europe by reducing waste and reusing resources. Our guests discuss how to reach this objective. Mattia Comotto, head of circular economy and sustainability at the Aquafil Group , focuses on using bio-based ingredie...

Artificial intelligence: are we heading for a dystopic future, or one in which a labour force is relieved from menial tasks? Machine learning is second-guessing us; is this making our lives easier, or is it intrusive? Corporates are hoovering up content to train large language models in ways that are hard for users to control. But there is no doubt that AI, and related tools, are pushing back the...

In his novel Animal Farm, Orwell’s character claims: “Four legsgood, two legs bad.” Would the tyrannosaurs agree? Or did bipedalism give them an evolutionary advantage? Examining how birds, crocodiles and other animals move can tell us about the biomechanics of extinct animals, and the impact that had on their survival. Beyond moving, the way in which dinosaurs interacted with their environment sh...

About three quarters of the population in the EU are urbanites. Are you living in an inclusive area, with parks and public spaces you and the other local residents have had a say in designing? Or is that something that seems out of your reach?  Nature-based solutions, or NBSs, co-creation, living labs – what do these terms mean and why are they important? Let’s turn to our three guests today, all...

From early economic activity along the Silk Road to modern-day Brazil, what are the unexpected impacts of the movement of labour and the flow of capital? Taking one market as an example, how can pharma be made more equitable? As the words ‘tariffs’, ‘economic growth’, ‘global trade’ and ‘sanctions’ fly around us, the economy and how markets are interlinked is something we are all growing more awar...

Remember when you could wander around the internet, fairly confident that what you were looking at was probably reliable? Over the years it seems that information is becoming less and less trustworthy and with deepfakes and biased algorithms it’s starting to feel like the disinformation might be around every corner. Here to help us navigate the maze are three researchers, who have all received sup...

Melted cheese over a burger – is your stomach rumbling? How about making that cheese from plant protein and the burger from insects?   We need to develop ways to produce more existing sources of protein more efficiently. Animal-based protein has an important role as part of a sustainable diet and as a contributor to food security. But now is the timefor alternative sources of complementary protein...

What can surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy tell us about the presence of novichok? How can we improve our understanding of how asteroids respond to the tactics we may need to deploy for planetary defence? And as incidences of wildfires grow, how can Europe’s response be more effective?  Listen on to hear the answers to these and many other key questions. Joining us for this episode are:  Patrick...

What can we do to save species under threat from climate change and human encroachment? From the oceans to the forests, today we look at how vital evidence is to preserving biodiversity, a key barometer of the planet’s health.  Biodiversity is under threat, but it is not all grim news: science-based conservation can step in and halt a decline, as shown in a paper published recently in the journal...

Assistive tech, preventing injury at work and biomimetics feeding into the design of future robotic systems – listen on to find out more about the robots of the future. Robotics is a swiftly changing field: Cheaper hardware is making research more accessible, and thanks to advances in AI, the focus is now shifting from feats of physical dexterity achieved by expensive robots, to building ‘general-...

Why is it so hard to find a vaccine that works well against placental malaria? Ever thought about the challenges of irradiating 300 mosquitoes a second! And how do the dynamics of replication play out in our bodies? Malaria is described by the World Health Organization as ‘perpetuating a vicious cycle of inequity’. Listen on to see how EU scientists are working to understand and mitigate the disea...

Leafcutter ants assiduously farming fungus, bumblebees picking up tiny amounts of electricity given off by flowers – all part of an invisible tapestry of interaction that is unfolding all around us. This episode celebrates the intricacy of our natural world.   Did you know that when antelopes browse on an acacia’s leaves, the tree will emit ethylene which acts as an alarm signal to other acacias n...

When you play paper rock scissors, do you try and second-guess your opponent’s next move? This episode looks at mind-reading, and we also have some baby baboons!   It’s a great time to be a neuroscientist: Computational modelling, multimodal neuroimaging and novel brain stimulation methods are producing fascinating new data. This episode looks at some of the latest research that has made the most...

Could the swirling dust storms on Mars impact on space exploration? Could a theory on the origins of life on Earth reveal if there has ever been life on Mars, and how do you get a probe to a small, fast moving, far distant asteroid? If you think space exploration is over your head – you are in the right place!  Fuencisla Cañadas is a geochemist who works at the Centre for Astrobiology in Spain. An...

We see cultural artefacts, hear music composed centuries ago and, if we are lucky, get to handle pieces that were created by long-forgotten makers. But what about bringing to life the smell of a historic scene, or an object no longer made? This episode looks at the novel ways researchers are analysing the artefacts left to us by our ancestors, and the new light that shines on how they lived. Come...