Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (not all languages do) between translating (a written text) and interpreting (oral or sign-language communication between users of different languages); under this distinction, translation can begin only after the appearance of writing within a language community.
An EU study developed new methods for assessing the ecological effects of Europe's food and drink production. The team showed that most methods cannot cope with regional variation, then recommended database changes and developed a software tool.