In the spotlight
The confounding climate science of lab-grown meat
wired, 22.02.2019
Raising cattle involves CO2 and methane (along with lots of grain and water), whereas cultured meat wouldn’t traffic in much methane. Methane is a far more potent greenhouse gas than CO2, so on the surface that sounds like a win for cultured meat. But it disappears from the atmosphere far faster….
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EU should clarify rules for plant burgers and lab meat
euobserver, 19.02.2019
“The biggest change I have made to my diet in recent years has been to radically reduce the amount of any kind of meat products. I eat meat maybe once every three to four weeks,” she told EUobserver in an interview. On Tuesday (19 February) Chatham House published a new research paper, co-written by….
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Agriculture & Environment
World’s food supply under ‘severe threat’ from loss of biodiversity
guardian, 22.02.2019
The world’s capacity to produce food is being undermined by humanity’s failure to protect biodiversity, according to the first UN study of the plants, animals and micro-organisms that help to put meals on our plates. The stark warning was issued by the Food and Agriculture Organisation after….
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Transport & Energy
Water is not a fuel
forbes, 25.02.2019
That’s the catch with any of these systems that seemingly rely on water as a fuel. Water can’t be a fuel, just like carbon dioxide can’t be a fuel. These are combustion products. They can both be converted into fuels, or into energy carriers, but that requires additional energy inputs. And here’s the catch.
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Parisians wake up to coffee-fuelled urban mushroom magic
timesofmalta, 24.02.2019
From a container wafts the sweetly pungent odour of coffee grounds which, far from being discarded as waste, are being lucratively recycled to produce oyster mushrooms. Grounds, which Parisian brasseries throw out daily by the tonne, are perfect for the job, and a snapshot of a fast-growing urban agricultural trend.
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Information society
Cloud, AI transformations are cultural transformations
forbes, 25.02.2019
Executives are buying into the potential of technology-driven innovation, but are still fumbling when it comes to making it happen, according to a recent survey of 500 executives by Ernst and Young. Cloud computing and the internet of things (IoT) ride high as innovation initiatives, now in place….
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Are you being scanned? How facial recognition technology follows you, even as you shop
guardian, 24.02.2019
Mood is a particularly valuable insight for advertisers, revealing shoppers’ general sentiment towards a brand and how they feel in particular stores at certain times of the day. Unlike gender and age, mood is harder to determine, sitting at around 80% accuracy.
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Food & Health
Novel immunotherapy may treat egg allergy
business-standard, 24.02.2019
An oral immunotherapy can treat egg allergy, allowing patients to safely incorporate the highly nutritious food into their diet, scientists say. For a study, participants completed up to four years of egg oral (eOIT) treatment. immunotherapy According to researchers from University of North….
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Science versus pseudo-science – what really works to prevent cognitive decline ?
forbes, 23.02.2019
If you’re in your sixties, you’re familiar with this scene. A group of friends is having dinner. As the conversation progresses, one by one each person fails to come up with a word they want—the name of a favourite dish, or a town visited on a trip, an actor or the movie he appeared in, a person in the news.
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Expired drugs may remain effective, safe to use in a pinch
reuters, 20.02.2019
That is good news for people working in remote areas of the world where sometimes an expired medication is the only one available and the alternative is having no way to treat a serious illness, the study authors write in the journal Wilderness & Environmental Medicine.
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GMO Labels: what you need to know
biotech-now, 15.02.2019
The labeling of our food has been a conversation for several decades. Whether it’s nutritional facts, ingredient lists, marketing claims, or how appealing one label looks over another, food labels are of interest to almost everyone. Lately the conversation around food labels has moved from name of….
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Science policy & Communication
Online school tool targets pseudoscience, anti-vaxxers
CBC, 16.02.2019
It’s a website designed to help teachers and students call out fake science and counter anti-vaxxer myths, and it’s coming to Alberta. The site, Kids Boost Immunity , which is actively used in B.C., expands on what students in Grades 4 to 12 are learning in classrooms, says the program’s national manager.
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EU initiatives
How robotics will shape Europe – and the policy that will support it
euractiv-en, 19.02.2019
Lawmakers need to focus on solving ethical questions and on the robotics technologies that will improve daily life, writes Eva Kaili. Eva Kaili is a member of the European Parliament for the Socialist and Democrat group and chair of the Parliament’s Science and Technology Options Assessment.
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Curious news
Photojournalism in the post-truth era
JakartaPost, 25.02.2019
In today’s era of fake news, artificial intelligence and limitless computing power, verifying what is true is a hard task for the public. Dutch photography curator Jenny Smets believes that the line between artist and journalist is slowly fading because visual language faces new challenges to change in the digital age.
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Mobile World Congress is about conversations, not devices
deutschewelle-en, 22.02.2019
The Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona is a dizzyingly large event. Over 2,000 companies exhibit their products and services at the event. Most of them claim their latest innovations will change people’s lives, or at least disrupt an industry. There are robots at every turn. Self-driving cars too.
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