A Special Place for Blog Lovers with a Touch of Science!

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Marseille Declaration

The biggest challenges confronting humanity necessitate countries work together. At the Marseille Conference on 8 March, Europe explored the path forward for international collaboration in research and innovation.

Now more than ever we bear witness to the achievements made possible in research, when countries collaborate closely and gain access to the right tools and expertise to get the job done. Years of international research collaborations in academia and industry underpinned the global response to the Covid-19 pandemic and the development of vaccines.

At the same time, geopolitical developments in the past decade have shown that collaboration sometimes needs to be modulated. The illegal Russian military aggression against Ukraine is a clear example of such developments. The EU has strongly condemned the invasion and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen stated that sanctions would include limiting Russia's access to crucial technology, such as semiconductors or cutting-edge software. The Commission has suspended cooperation with Russia on research and innovation and Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth Mariya Gabriel, issued a statement.

However, with those countries that respect fundamental values, the EU is committed to keep an open approach. This is not just beneficial, it is necessary.

Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Žižek 2015 at the Bookfair of Leipzig presenting his new book "Some Blasphemic Reflexions", photo by Amrei-Marie, under CC BY-SA 4.0

Slavoj Žižek

If you haven't heard about Slavoj Žižek so far, then it is time to get acquainted with his alternative philosophical thought. He established himself as one of the most provocative and prominent thinkers since the end of the 20th century. Dubbed the "Elvis of cultural theory", Žižek became a philosopher super-star. Similar to his Canadian counterpart Jordan Peterson, Žižek has successfully exploited the possibilities of modern social platforms like YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, etc., to address vast international audiences and analytically respond to geopolitical and cultural events. He is famous for his expressive psychoanalytical style, spicy language, and quite often, counter-intuitive ideas.

In this short video below, he manages to turn upside down and shed fresh light on one of the most clichéd philosophical ideas – Happiness. Most probably, you are also involved in the endless search for happiness and well-being. Then you should hear what Slavoj Žižek has to say. Enjoy!

A view of the graben that emerged near the Holuhraun lava field in Iceland; Credit: Stephan Kolzenburg

Research on a young rift in Iceland sheds new light on the process

At the boundaries between tectonic plates, narrow rifts can form as Earth's crust slowly pulls apart. But how, exactly, does this rifting happen?

Does pressure from magma rising from belowground force the land apart? Or is a rift just a rip, created mainly by the pulling motion of tectonic plates that are drifting away from each other?

A study published in the journal Geology explores these questions and sheds new light on how this process works.

Past research has pointed to magma as a key driver in rifting events. But the new findings highlight that "rift processes do not have to operate identically across the entire globe," says lead scientist Stephan Kolzenburg at the University at Buffalo.

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Women still face inequality in the research arena despite decades spent in efforts to improve their circumstances.

Several decades ago, women scientists and engineers were a novelty – an exception. In 2022 the science and tech industries are still asking the same question: where are the women? There are many challenges to advancing a career in science or driving technological breakthroughs – for both men and women. But for many women, it is a real obstacle course.

This month, we hear from gender and science policymakers and researchers in Europe about the important achievements leading towards progress on gender equality. From leaky pipelines and sticky floors to broken ladders and glass ceilings – these are just some of the hurdles women scientists face when it comes to their career progression. Entrenched gender stereotypes and gender bias are a big part of the problem, according to experts on EU policies on gender in research.

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What does symbol mean?

We use a lot of words daily, we know what they mean in a particular case, however, once we go deeper into their meaning, we begin to lose ground under our feet. Here comes the help from Etymology. Some of the most abstract words we use today derive from natural or everyday life objects. For example, the word matter comes from the Latinmateria, which among other things, means "hard inner wood of a tree." Another one is the word electricitythat comes from the Greek ēlektron, which means "amber", or the word energy, which originates from the ancient Greek enérgon -"being active, into activity, working". The world of words is full of surprises, and the best aspect of that is that each one reveals an entirely new perspective towards what is known. Today, we will search for the elucidating history behind another one of these words –symbol.