Solar-hybrid car explodes, killing two Italian researchers

Jun30
by on June 30, 2023 at 10:03 am
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Two Italian researchers have died after a solar-powered hybrid car prototype they were test-driving exploded last week near the city of Naples. The vehicle, a rejigged VW Polo, was being developed as part of an EU-funded project to convert old combustion engine cars into solar-powered hybrids. The prototype caught alight last Friday during a test drive, leaving the two occupants in critical condition. Maria Vittoria Prati, a researcher at Italy’s National Council of Research (CNR), died of complications from third-degree burns on Monday.  Earlier this week, the CNR paid tribute to Ms Prati as “a brilliant researcher” and “an expert…

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Opinion: We can’t engineer ourselves out of the climate crisis

Jun30
by on June 30, 2023 at 5:09 am
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Let’s face it — climate change is humanity’s greatest screw-up. We’ve known about it for almost a century. The science is clear. And yet, we’ve done nothing. It’s a f**king embarrassment.  Now, finally, global leaders are scrambling to clean up the mess. But, even though most of the climate solutions we need already exist, we can’t seem to get our arses in gear to deploy them at the pace and scale required.  In short, the world is heating up, and we are failing to cool it down. Humans emitted more CO2 into the atmosphere last year than ever before (uh…WTF?).…

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UK taps digital twin in bid for world’s first fusion power plant

Jun28
by on June 28, 2023 at 4:26 pm
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The UK’s dream of having the world’s first commercial nuclear fusion power plant has taken a digital turn. As part of plans to put fusion energy on the grid by 2040, a digital twin of the reactor is now being built. The virtual model will be used to design the power plant, which aims to unleash the immense promise of fusion energy. With the potential to provide abundant clean energy, fusion is frequently called the “holy grail” of power sources. Unfortunately, it’s also immensely complex. Across decades of experiments, only tiny quantities of fusion power have ever been generated. An illustration…

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Meet the robots attending the UN’s ‘AI for Good Global’ summit

Jun27
by on June 27, 2023 at 4:25 pm
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Some of the world’s leading human and robot minds are heading to the United Nations. At a UN summit in Geneva next week, tech luminaries ranging from futurist Ray Kurzweil to DeepMind COO Lila Ibrahim will discuss AI for good. It’s a stellar lineup of speakers, but the real stars in our eyes are the robots. Over 50 of the beasts — the majority from Europe — will be in attendance. All of them merit places in your dreams and nightmares, but we’ve narrowed the roster down to a list of our 10 favourites. 1. Sophia Sophia is arguably the planet’s most…

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EU set to approve ‘disturbing’ new media surveillance law

Jun27
by on June 27, 2023 at 8:57 am
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EU member states have approved draft legislation allowing governments to spy on journalists in the name of “national security.”  The Council published a draft of the European Media Freedom Act (EMFA) last week that would extend media surveillance powers, including placing spyware on journalists’ phones. The original purpose of the EMFA was to safeguard media independence and pluralism. First presented by the Commission last September, the act was hailed as a major step forward for the protection of press freedom.  But earlier this month, France introduced an exception to the ban on deploying spyware against journalists, provided it was used…

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