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Agrofood
NIRS: Let´s not talk about “new technologies” but about good applications
What if we had a tool that we could carry in our pocket and that would allow us to control the quality of the food products at any point in their production? Dear sirs, we have it!! It seems like and advert selling a panacea,I know, but I´m not going beyond...
The Second Green Revolution, or how agrigenomics is transforming agriculture
In the 1960s, the American biologist Norman Borlaug used selective plant breeding techniques to create a dwarf variety of wheat that uses most of its energy to produce grain instead of stalks. This work won him the Nobel Peace Prize in 1970 and, along with that of...
Energy & Environment
Spain energy future: flexibility as the key to a sustainable system
The world is moving towards a future without fossil fuels, and this transformation is already underway. Fossil fuels, which have been the main source of energy for more than a century, are in decline for reasons of both environmental sustainability and limited...
Batteries of the future: beyond lithium
In the vast universe of energy technology, lithium-ion batteries have reignes supreme for decades. From our mobile phones to electric vehicles, these batteries have been the silent engine that drives our daily lives. But, like any technology, lithium also has its...
Environment
From challenge to opportunity: Transforming water management in the Mediterranean
One of the main challenges facing the Spanish Mediterranean basin is the scarcity of water resources, a critical factor for agricultural production in the region. Agriculture is a vital economic sector, dominated by irrigated crops such as vegetables and, currently,...
Wildfires in Spain: A scorching reality fueled by Climate Change
Let’s talk about wildfires in Spain! Spain is well known for its Mediterranean climate, characterized by high temperatures and low precipitation, particularly during summer. These features attract many tourists every year that choose Spain as holiday destination to...
Industry
LASER: from death ray to the swiss knife of technology
"LA man discovers science-fiction death ray". This was the shocking headline that appeared in a Los Angeles newspaper in July 1960. A few weeks earlier, on 16 May 1960, the American engineer and physicist Theodore H. Maiman at Hughes Research Laboratories had...
The evolution of HRIs (Human-robot interaction). More agile and adaptable to different scenarios
In a world where humans perform tasks that involve manipulating objects, such as lifting, dragging or interacting with them (for example, when we use our beloved mobile phones or we eat an apple), these actions are performed subconsciously, naturally. It is our senses...
Health & Quality of life
The passage of time
It is curious how, at the moment we find ourselves, our sense of time has been so disrupted due to the confinement to which the entire population is subjected. Humanity has developed all kinds of tools that allow us to feel we have everything under control. That is...
On World Health Day, #stayhome but do it in a healthy and active way
April 7 is World Health Day. It is paradoxical that this year we will celebrate it confined due to a global pandemic. However, although #Istayhome, life goes on and we cannot let our guard down when it comes to health. Each of us associates the fact of being at home...
Construction and Heritage
METABUILDING Labs, or how to improve the technical and environmental quality of façade components for building construction
The construction sector has evolved over the years and, with it, processes and products have gradually adapted to the needs of the market at all times. At CARTIF we have been researching and working in the field of infrastructures and building around thirty years to...
Talking about everything visible and invisible (I)
The European Collaborative Cloud for Cultural Heritage (ECCCH), created in 2023 and aimed to create innovative tools for digitizing cultural heritage objects, is a trending topic in the UE applied research to ensure the sustainable and affordable conservation of our...
Digitalization
Covid Trackers
For a month, almost since the end of the confinement, we have received daily news about the cases of regrowth, which have not stopped increasing in number and incidence. In Spain we are told, through the media, about how important the work of trackers is to keep...
Improving our cities with ICTs
In the European Union 40% of the total final energy is consumed in residential and tertiary buildings. That is reason behind several European Directives established with the aim that the Member States develop long-term strategies encouraging the renovation of...
Innovating R&D
Food reformulation; a step forward, that it is possible
Do we have the opportunity to make our food better (in every way)? Currently, one of the factors directly associated with disease risk and mortality is unhealthy diets. These diets are characterised by low intakes of fruit and vegetables, whole grains, legumes, low in...
This is about essence..
By essence is meant that which constitutes the nature of things, that which is permanent and unchanging in them. Essence means the unchanging characteristics that make a thing what it is and without which it wouldn´t be what it is. The experience of 15 years working...