An EU-funded project is aiming to raise private sector funds for a new space telescope to study exoplanets, potentially becoming the world’s first semi-commercial space mission.

The EXODATA project is aiming to raise as much as half of the cost of a new space mission by selling satellite time and data internationally. If successful, this mission could revolutionise the funding model for space missions which, up until now, have been largely funded by the public sector.

The EU-funded CARNIVORUM project has published research detailing how the Venus flytrap’s genome has allowed it to become an insect-feeding carnivorous plant.

Venus flytraps have fascinated biologists for centuries due to the fact that the molecular underpinnings of its carnivorous evolution have remained largely unknown. Publishing in the journal Genome Research, researchers from the CARNIVORUM project have now cast light on this enduring biological mystery.

An EU-funded project aims to ensure that European mobile telecommunication providers are not left behind as cloud computing becomes the norm.