News

  • A robot can operate epilepsies that had no treatment

    The Hospital del Mar in Barcelona have performed five surgeries with a robotic arm which increases the accuracy and effectiveness of interventions to remove the areas of the brain where electrical discharges originate causing seizures.

  • Video-Conference: Leonardo Torres Quevedo: Pioneer of Telecommunications and Computing.

    On May the 14 at 17:00 (18:00 Spanish time), Franciso A. González Redondo, Professor of History of Science at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid, will take part in the video-conference Leonardo Torres Quevedo: Pioneer of Telecommunications and Computing. The event, that will be held at the headquarters of the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas in Madrid, has been organized by the Capítulo Español  de la Internet Society (ISOC) and will be moderated from the  i2BASQUE room in Donostia.

  • Spanish for Spanish speaking children

    In a joint venture between the award-winning La Jolie Ronde Languages for children and the  Instituto Cervantes, Spanish lessons for primary-aged pupils are being offered once again this Spring term.

  • Saica installs one of the world’s most advanced paper mills in the United Kingdom

    The Spanish paper company inaugurates Europe’s most advanced paper mill in Manchester, at a cost of 360 million Euros. The paper mill will produce 450,000 tons of paper annually while being one of the most ecologically friendly and efficient mills in the world. It uses 40% less water than the industry average and 50% less electricity.

  • A new system automatically transcribes ancient manuscripts

    The Universidad Politécnica de Valencia leads Transcriptorium, project funded by the Seventh Framework Programme of the European Union. This initiative develops a system for automatic recognition of old handwritten document images, in order to transcribe them the fastest as possible.

  • Healthier for less

    The Spanish health system  is one of the least expensive per person in the industrialized countries in terms of percentage of GDP allocated to health care. At the same time, the World Health Organization considers it one of the best in the world, according to various parameters such as effectiveness and financial equity.

  • An artificial neural network predicts pollen levels

    A new mathematical model inspired by the functioning of the nervous system, is used in research by the Red Española de Aerobiología. This year foresees a tough spring for those allergic to olives and a productive year for olive growers.

  • Tamara Rojo awarded with the II Fundación Banco Santander Prize to the Spanish-British Relationships

    Tamara Rojo, the First dancer and Creative Director of the English National Ballet will receive the distinction on the 5th of June in a ceremony that will take place at the Spanish Embassy in London.

  • The afterlife of waste

    Valoriza Environmental Services has become, in just seven years, a leading company in the field of waste management and treatment. Its technological expertise has helped to accomplish goals of international relevance and has positioned itself as a reference company among energy recovery plants integrators, one of the sectors in which its activity is mainly focused.

  • Placido Domingo receives the freedom of the City of London

    The Spanish lyric singer Placido Domingo has been awarded with the maximum Award of the city, in honour to the dedication of his career to the opera. The freedom of the City is the maximum distinction which the authorities of London award with. After his interpretation of Nabucco at the Royal Opera House, the lyric singer joined to the circle of the laureates awarded with this distinction.

  • Acciona launches in Australia one of the largest desalination plants in the world

    The Spanish group Acciona has participated in the design and construction of the desalination plant in Adelaide (Australia). The plant is one of the largest in the world, with a production capacity of 100,000 million litres of water per year and can be powered from energy generated by renewable resources.

  • Spain leads the first European network of biobanks

    Biopool, an EU project, turns the dream of many researchers into reality, building a huge collection of tissues histological images with associated clinical information and the development of a number of advanced features to manage and exploit such material.
    This is good news for Spain, as it is the Basque Country where the brain of the entire network will be placed The project was an initiative of the Basque Biobank. The business area Computer Vision (ICT-ESI) of Tecnalia will be responsible for the technological shaping of the brain in Spain

  • Heat absorption by Atlantic and Pacific slows global warming

    Scientists at the Catalan Institute of Climate Sciences have published a study in Nature Climate Change in which they confirm that the pause in global warming detected in the last decade is due to increased heat absorption by the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific tropical band. In this way the effect of natural variability of the climate system temporarily masks the impact of emissions of greenhouse gases.

  • A drug to treat the most common form of intellectual disability

    The most usual cause of intellectual disability is caused by a disease called Fragile X syndrome . The drug developed could improve intellectual performance and, to date, has shown efficacy in animals. The research was led by the Laboratory of Neuropharmacology at the University Pompeu Fabra  in Barcelona, but also involved scientists from the Municipal Institute of Medical Research and the University of the Basque Country.

  • International Symposium Spanish science in the United Kingdom

    Next Monday April 1 will be open  The Spanish science in the UK: I SRUK/CERU International Symposium-Ramón Areces Foundation, organized by The society of Spanish Researchers in the United Kingdom, in collaboration with The Ramón Areces Foundation and the Spanish Foundation for the Science and Technology (FECYT).

  • A geostatistical method predicts urban pollution

    Researchers at the University of Castilla-La Mancha have developed a measurement system that predicts air pollution by nitrogen oxides in a particular place and a particular time. The study is based on a huge database of city centers of the Community of Madrid.

  • To the memory of the future

    A team led by researchers at the Spanish National Research Council has produced three-dimensional magnetic nanowires and studied, for the first time, their properties. The study, published in Nature Scientific Reports, could reshape the way the information is stored and processed.

  • "Change gear" in the understanding of cellular function

    Researchers at the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia have discovered how human cells use two molecules, talin and alpha-actinin, to connect and transmit forces to their surroundings, that is, to communicate with their environment. This discovery represents an important step in understanding cellular function.

  • A Spanish consortium captures a "usual suspect" of the most common leukemia

    Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) destroys the protection of chromosomes to spread throughout the body, according to a study that involved 127 patients.

    The study, carried out by the Spanish Consortium of the Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia Genome, shows that the gene in question is modified "often" in sick CLL, a blood cancer that causes each year about 1,000 new cases in Spain. Study data suggest that changes or mutations are more frequent among patients with more aggressive variants of CLL.

  • A probe records neuronal activity and releases drugs in the brain

    A team of Spanish researchers has developed a microprobe capable of record the neural activity and, at the same time, deliver drug in the brain. The new device, flexible and biocompatible, is made from a polymer which can interact at microscopic scales never before achieved. It has been tested experimentally in vivo in rats.

  • A system to remove nitrate pollution in water is developed

    The Laboratory of Chemical and Environmental Engineering (LEQUIA) research group at the University of Girona has developed an innovative system capable of solving the nitrate pollution in groundwaters. This technology reduces the water consumption required to clean groundwaters and prevents from generating additional waste.

  • World Health Organization (WHO) confirms that Spain has the highest life expectancy in Europe

    The average life expectancy in Spain is 82.2 years. Dr. Claudia Stein, one of the authors of the WHO report on health in Europe 2012 held on 12 March in London, explained that the factors that determine life expectancy are varied, but it is important to have a low infant and maternal mortality rate.

  • Research on the use of robots in the pediatric ward of an oncological hospital

    Introducing a fleet of social robots in a hospital, so that they can interact with children affected by cancer, will be the final outcome of a new international research project that Universidad Carlos III of Madrid (UC3M) is participating in. The objective is to design and build these devices and to advance the study of societies in which humans and robots mix.

  • Spanish companies supply water to a hundred million people worldwide

    The enterprises associated the Spanish Association of water suppliers companies (AGA) are among the best companies worldwide within the industry of water supplier. A number of 20 Spanish companies work on the collection, desalt, provision, distribution, sanitization and depuration of water worldwide, and their benefits outside Spain have ascended in 2012 to a total of 2.000 millions of Euros. More than half of this international activity is developed in America, almost the 20% in Europe and more than a 10% both in Africa and in Australia.

  • The inhibition of a sugar receptor protects against stroke

    A research in which the Spanish National Research Council  has taken part, published in Circulation magazine, shows that the inhibition of the sugar receptor lectin MLB can protect a brain affected by this disease. This protein can participate in the first steps of the process involved in brain damage.

  • The Mediterranean diet can reduce by 30% the risk of heart attack and stroke

    A study, led by Carlos III Health Institute, noted the health protective effects of the Mediterranean diet. The study, published in The New England Journal of Medicine, is the culmination of PREDIMED, the largest clinical trial of Spanish research and one of the most important in nutrition carried out worldwide.

    Scientists from Andalusia, the Balearic Islands, Catalonia, Navarra, Basque Country and Valencia have worked for ten years to collect more than 20 million data from nearly 7,500 participants.

  • PlazaScience, a window to the most important scientific institutions around the World

    PlazaScience is the first digital world map of scientific institutions where students, teachers, researchers and citizens can geolocate photographs and form a shared mapping of science knowledge. It is a collaborative project that allows the participation of citizens in any part of the world through photography. The main goal of the project is to create a network community around universities, research centers, science museums, observatories, etc., bringing scientific activity to all audiences, presenting it as a standard activity, close and accessible to all.

  • A mobile application detects drowsiness at the wheel with sensors and GPS data

    The company Ficosa, the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia and the Polytechnic University of Catalonia have developed a mobile application that detects drowsiness at the wheel using inertial sensors and GPS data. The application will be presented this week at the Mobile World Congress, held in Barcelona these days.

  • The Society of Spanish Researchers in the United Kingdom launches its webpage and starts its cycle of events of 2013

    The Society of Spanish Researchers in the United Kingdom (SRUK/CERU) celebrated its first event of the year last 9th February. The event, organised by the London Constituency, had around 60 attendees and was hosted at the prestigious King’s College of London. The scientific day comprised not only an informative session about SRUK/CERU with the official launch of its website, but also a scientific seminar.

  • The Spanish Government approved the Strategy for Science, Technology and Innovation

    Last February 1st, the Council of Ministers approved the Spanish Strategy for Science, Technology and Innovation and the State Plan for Scientific and Technical Research and Innovation. Both documents are the pillars on which rests the design of government policy on R & D in the coming years.

  • Green light to CALIFA, a Spanish detector for European nuclear physics

    The expert committee of FAIR (Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research), European reference facility in nuclear physics research, has approved the design of CALIFA, one of the detectors of an experiment that will analyze the structure of 'exotic' atomic nuclei and the nuclear reactions in stars. CALIFA’s design is led by the University of Santiago de Compostela, with the participation of the Institute of Structure of Matter (IEM-CSIC), the University of Vigo and other European centres.

  • Spanish industry gets 14 contracts to participate in the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER)

    The Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness has been reported that Spanish companies obtained 14 contracts worth over 200 million euros in 2012 to participate in the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER). This experimental reactor is the largest international scientific project in the field of energy.

  • National Forum for Policy Research in Madrid

    Elsevier, the Institute of Public Goods and Policies (IPP) of the National Research Council - CSIC and the Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology (FECYT) organize the National Forum for Policy Research "Science Policy and Management of Excellence in Research to be held on March 12 in the city of Madrid.

  • Spain moves to give bullfighting special cultural status

    Spanish MPs have voted to consider giving bullfighting special cultural status.

  • Spanish scientists develop more accurate sat-nav system

    Researchers in Spain have developed a system they say can greatly improve the accuracy of car sat-navs. The system was jointly designed and developed by the Applied Artificial Intelligence Group and the Systems Intelligence Laboratory - both based at Carlos III University in Madrid (UC3M). It can be cheaply installed in any car and may eventually work on smartphones, the researchers say.

  • Spain is within the EU candidates countries for the European Prize of Literature.

    The list of European countries selected by the European Union to participate in the EU Literature Prize has been published on the 16th of January, in which Spain is included as a candidate country to be awarded with the Prize. The new and emergent authors awarded with this mention will gain a total fee of 5.000 Euros. This budget for the Prize has been included within the 2007 – 2013 budget of the cultural program of the European Union.

     

  • Metropol Parasol finalist for to the EU Prize for Contemporary Architecture - Mies van der Rohe Awards

    The project Metropol Parasol in Seville designed by the Studio of architecture J. Mayer H. is within the five finalists which are opting to the European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture – Mies van der Rohe Award. The Awards ceremony will take place in June 2013.

  • Katherine of Aragón Commemoration Service in Peterborough Cathedral

    Queen Katherine of Aragón was buried in Peterborough Cathedral on the 29th January of 1536. On the occasion of the Queen Katherine of Aragón Commemoration Service at the Peterborough Cathedral on the 29th of January of 2013, the Ambassador of Spain Mr Federico Trillo-Figueroa assisted to the ceremony to decorate, in presence of the Mayor of the City Council, to the main supporters and initiators of the event, Mrs. Heise and Mrs. Howden,  for her labour through years in the organisation of the Katherine of Aragón Commemoration Service.

  • Call for submissions to EU Heads of State and Governments in support of the budget for the Arts and Culture in the EU

    Open call from the Culture Action Europe team for letters to be submitted to the EU Heads of State and Governments in favour of maintaining the budget dedicated to the Arts and Culture in the EU countries.

    On the occasion of the November summit, more than 6.000 letters were sent to the European national leaders via the campaign website of the Culture Action Europe team.

    The summit during the week of February the 4th will be the last chance for the European national leaders to finalize and adopt a budget in time for its launch in January 2014 and the Culture Action Europe team aims to send more letters directed to the Head of States and/or Governments in Europe and encourages colleagues and friends to do the same.

  • A Spanish video on a computational heart has been awarded by the international scientific journal ‘Science’

    The video Alya Red: a computational heart, filmed in the supercomputing centre of Barcelona BSC-CNS has won the International Science & Engineering Visualization Challenge competition, organized by the journal Science and the US National Science Foundation. The movie explains the project to simulate a human heart.

  • Spanish scientists discover the most complex molecules in the Universe

    A team of researchers from the Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias (IAC) has first found evidence of fullerene complexes, called 'carbon onions', the most complex molecules identified in outer space. This finding has important implications for understanding the Physics and Chemistry of the Universe and the origin and composition of the diffuse interstellar bands (DIBs), one of the most enigmatic phenomena in astrophysics.

  • Two subtypes of the most aggressive liver cancer identified

    The Spanish Association against Cancer (AECC) is funding a study, which is unique in Spain and the first in the world, whose aim is to find effective drug treatment for intra-hepatic cholangiocarcinoma, the second most common tumor and one of the most violent. Experts expect results in about four years.

  • Spain participates in two major European research projects

    The European Commission has selected two projects with important Spanish participation as FET FLAGSHIP initiative, a program in the field of information technology and knowledge driven within Horizon 2020. Each initiative will have a budget of approximately one billion euros over 10 years.

  • The first phones with Firefox OS will be Spanish

    The first phones with Firefox OS will be designed by the Spanish brand Geeksphone

    The Campus Party in Brazil, to be held next week in São Paulo, has been selected by Telefonica to show new smartphones based on operating system OS Mozilla Firefox, an open platform based on HTML5 language, with which both companies want to break the hegemony of Apple and Android. Yesterday had the first two models, exclusively for developers, designed in collaboration by Telefonica and the Spanish firm Geeskphone.

  • Javier Bardem nominated for the BAFTA

    Javier Bardem has been nominated for the BAFTA which the British Academy of cinema awards with.

    He has been nominated for the category of supporting actor for playing the role of Raoul Silva in the last film of James Bond Skyfall competing against the other nominees for the films: Argo, Django desencadenado, The Master and Lincoln. The ceremony will take place on the forthcoming 10th of February at the Royal Opera House in London.

  • The studio of the architect Andrés Luque has been nominated for the Museum of London Design of the Year Awards.

    The piece from the Studio of architecture Andrés Jaque: Ikea Disobedients which is part of the MoMA PS1 New York collection has been nominated in the category of architecture for the prize which the Design Museum of London awards with. Category winners and the overall winner will be announced to the public on the forthcoming 17th of April. The pieces nominated for the prize will be on display at the Museum from the 20th of March onwards at the show Designs of the year.

  • FIRST SCIENTIFIC MEETING BETWEEN SPAIN AND THE UNITED KINGDOM

    With the title “Networking Nations: Scientific opportunities in the UK and Spain”, the Royal Society hosts the first scientific meeting between Spain and the United Kingdom. This meeting contributes to the implementation of the Society’s strategic objective to foster international and global cooperation by strengthening its links with European academies, funders, and governments.  .

  • The Spanish Nursery is now an OFSTED registered nursery

    The Spanish Nursery received its OFSTED (Office For Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills) registration and they will be opening on the 3rd of January 2013. Ingestre Road Community Centre is just minutes from Tufnell Park and Gospel Oak stations making it a very good location for commuters into the City.

  • 8th London Spanish Film Festival

    From 28th September to 10th October is taking place in London the 8th Spanish Film Festival, which organises Tristana Media in co-operation with the Embassy of Spain and other Spanish and British institutions. The Festival takes place at the Cine Lumière, part of the French Cultural Centre, which, equally collaborate with the Festival since 2005.

  • Spain Now! 2012 programme launched

    The annual season that showcases the latest creative talent coming out of Spain has been launched this morning by Teresa Lizaranzu, Director General for Cultural Policy, Industries and Book, Fidel López, Minister Counsellor for Cultural and Scientific Affairs at the Embassy of Spain, and Antonio Molina, Spain Now! Director and founder.

  • The 21st International Festival on the Camino de Santiago

    The 21st International Festival on the Camino de Santiago offers ten concerts, a series of street theatre and a medieval market.

    This Edition, which has been organised with the provincial government of Huesca, wants to claim the importance of the passing through the Puerto de Palo and the return of scenes such as the San Martín de Tours Church, a neoclassic temple with Romanesque origins which will held some of the concerts during the festival, for example the performances of Iagoba Fanlo and Alberto Martínez Molina.

  • A Lifetime Achievement Award For Jordi Savall at York Early Music Festival

    Jordi Savall, the distinguished Catalan viol-player, has been awarded with the fourth biennial York Early Music Festival Lifetime Achievement Award on Sunday 8th July 2012 at the city’s National Centre for Early Music (NCEM). 

  • Gregory Winter and Richard A. Lerner, Prince of Asturias Award for Technical and Scientific Research

    The researchers Gregory Winter and Richard A. Lerner have been bestowed with the 2012 Prince of Asturias Award for Technical and Scientific Research as made public yesterday in Oviedo by the Jury responsible for confering said Award.

  • Appointment of members of the Spanish Council of Science Policy, Technology and Innovation

    The Spanish Council of Ministers approved today an agreement to designate the Members of the Council for Science Policy, Technology and Innovation that represent the Central Government.
    This Council is composed of the heads of the ministerial departments designated by the Government and of the representatives of the Autonomous Communities to be elected by the relevant bodies in each community.

  • Box office records for El Alma de la Roja, a documentary about the Spanish National Football Team

    The documentary about the Spanish National Football Team El Alma de la Roja by Santiago Zannou achieved a great success of public attendance when screened as part of the documentary film festival Ready Steady Doc, in London last February 17th.
    The event was an exceptional occasion to see a very special guest, the coach to the World-Cup winning Spanish National Football Team, Vicente del Bosque.

  • Spanish Scientists discover world's deepest land animals

    In the dark abyss of the world's deepest known cave lurks a newfound species of primitive eyeless insect, one that researchers are calling the deepest land animal ever found. The insects were collected during the Ibero-Russian CaveX team expedition to the world's deepest known cave.

  • Two languages and a global destiny

    The British Council and the Instituto Cervantes united to battle common challenges with a book and plans for cooperation.

  • Blecua, the new Director of the Royal Spanish Academy: America is the future of the Spanish language

    The philologist José Manuel Blecua, elected today as the director of the Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) with a majority vote, has faith in sharing his new responsibility with the American Academies of the Spanish Language, to strengthen unity and develop all ongoing projects.

    "America is the future of the Spanish language, the present and the past", Blecua told the media, minutes after having been elected as successor to Víctor García de la Concha, who will officially leave his role as the director of the RAE on 13th January 2011.

  • Pablo Picasso exhibition at Tate Britain pays belated homage to Spanish genius

    For generations of British artists and art lovers, Pablo Picasso has been the single most important artistic influence, but there has never been a major exhibition examining that influence.

    Tate Britain said on Thursday it would fill the gap, announcing a show next spring which will explore in detail how Picasso helped to shape the artists that followed.