I am a science journalist with a particular interest in current research and in the application of science to technology, energy, and basic problems of society.

As expected, car sales have decreased world-wide as a consequence of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Over the last 50 years photons, the particles that make up light, have replaced electrons to transfer data in communication networks.

Today’s computer processors are pretty fast. Under optimal conditions, a desktop can come close to teraflop speeds, which is a million million operations per second .

In 2016, for a few hours, all of Germany ran only on renewable energy , demonstrating that one day, the release of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere could really be avoided.

In 1961, the physicist Rolf Landauer formulated a principle that any transformation of information that takes place in a computer requires energy, thus making zero-power computing a pipe dream.

Over the last few decades the energy landscape has been changing drastically in Europe. An increasing amount of electricity is now generated from renewable sources, such as solar and wind energy.

The energy landscape in Europe is changing rapidly and the percentage of renewables is steadily increasing. For example, in Germany solar and wind power provided an average of 33% of the total electricity production in 2015.

Quantum computers, once they become a reality, are expected to provide the capabilities to perform parallel computations on a massive scale. They are subject of intense research in two directions.

Personalised medicine is one of the new developments that is deemed to revolutionise health care. A key component is the detection of biomarkers, proteins in blood or saliva, for example, whose presence or abnormal concentration is caused by a disease.

Until now, few biosensors have had the required sensitivity to detect single molecules. A novel approach for improved biosensor sensitivity has opened new avenues for developing new kinds of biosensors.

Almost every one of our cells has an entire copy of our genome. But only differing subsets of genes are active and expressed in any given cell. Epigenetics is the study of how the activity of our genes is controlled and regulated .

Cancer research could soon benefit from a new technology allowing investigation of how the DNA interacts with the proteins. Recent advances in tackling the disease stem from a change in our view of the genome —all the genes contained in our DNA.

Leishmaniasis is a tropical disease known in Europe because it affects dogs. It is caused by the Leishmania parasite carried by sandflies . However, several types of the parasite also affect humans in several regions in the world.

Visceral leishmaniasis, or Kala-Azar, is a tropical disease caused by several types of Leishmania parasites transmitted by sandflies.

As smart phones are becoming ubiquitous, they increasingly serve as a link to social networks. Networks sharing of large concerts or sporting events with 3D imagery will soon be made possible thanks to a new technology developed under SceneNet , an EU funded project, due to be completed in 2016.

A treatment to directly fight Huntington’s disease could finally be in sight . Until now, therapies for this severely debilitating genetic disorder have only focused on alleviating physical and psychiatric symptoms.

Robots are usually thought off as devices to alleviate the burden of certain repetitive or difficult tasks. Robots welding car bodies and painting them are a classic example.

The construction of a building does not only start with its design by architects and engineers.

Ulrich Filippi Oberegger is a senior researcher in the energy management in buildings group of the Institute for Renewable Energy of EURAC Research . He tells youris.