Europe

The EU is moving to put the brakes on the problem of plastic pollution. Under proposed new rules that would apply to the entire bloc, it has taken aim at the plastic products most commonly found on its beaches and seas, which together account for 70 percent of the continent’s marine litter.

Ford has reinvented the Fiesta as the all-new Fiesta Active, which the company says is the first in a family of “Active crossover” models. Inspired by sport utility crossovers, the Fiesta Active jumps into the active sport activity vehicle market popularized in Europe by BMW.

The Leaning Tower of Pisa has stood at a precarious angle for more than 600 years, surviving numerous large earthquakes without damage. Now, a team of engineers has identified how it managed that feat.

Researchers from the Netherlands have managed to grow model mouse embryos by combining stem cells. The technique can help us better understand the early days of life, and may lead to more effective ways to treat infertility or genetic diseases.

Neonicotinoids are bad news for bees and we've known it for a while. But the situation regarding bee populations and the world's most widely used pesticide has now become so dire that the EU has placed a complete ban on their outdoor use, and it's expected to take effect by the end of the year.

The Swedish Transport Administration has just opened a 2-km (1.2-mi) stretch of electrified road that works like slot cars. The project, dubbed eRoadArlanda, involves embedding electric rails into the road surface to power electric vehicles through a contact arm hanging down from under the car.

The dinosaur Archaeopteryx is widely regarded as one of the earliest ancestors of modern birds, but the question of whether or not it could actively fly has been debated for decades. Now, scientists have taken X-ray scans of fossil specimens, and concluded that the answer is yes – sort of.

In many parts of the world, the daffodil is a symbol of hope in the fight against cancer, but now the flower could take on a more proactive role. Researchers at ULB have found that an alkaloid extracted from daffodils can help shut down the “nanomachines” that tumors exploit to grow out of control.

​​Putting the brakes on our plastic waste is going to be anything but straightforward. Eliminating single-use plastics would be a huge step forward, and thats the direction taken by the European Union, which is launching a new strategy whereby only recyclable versions will be in use by 2030.​

The pre-historic world was full of strange creatures. Now, palaeontologists have uncovered a bizarre new species of dinosaur that seems to blend together a swan, a penguin, a crocodile and a Velociraptor.

Antibiotic-resistant bacteria are threatening to cast us back into the dark ages of medicine. To fight back, a new “evolution machine” directs the evolution of bacteria by making changes to their environment, guiding them to produce molecules that could lead to new drugs.

Snøhetta has revealed plans for a novel new underwater restaurant named Under. Hailed as Europe's first underwater restaurant, it will be installed on the southernmost point of Norway's rugged coastline and offer guests a view of the seabed as they tuck into their dinner.