In the spotlight
Electric ‘flying taxi’ prototype unveiled by German start-up
guardian, 16.05.2019
Daniel Wiegand, co-founder and chief executive, said: “We are taking another huge step towards making urban air mobility a reality.”
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U.S. to take ‘fresh look’ at opening automakers’ key spectrum band
4-traders, 15.05.2019
The U.S. Federal Communications Commission plans to vote in June on launching a new review of a key spectrum band reserved for automakers that could boost Wi-Fi use, a person briefed on the matter said on Tuesday.
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China Focus: Shenzhen pioneers new dimension in urban transport
xinhuanet_en, 14.05.2019
Pressing a button to call a helicopter to a rooftop, once the stuff of sci-fi stories, could soon be a reality in China’s southern metropolis of Shenzhen. An urban air mobility (UAM) project is expected to make the Chinese innovation…
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Agriculture & Environment
Drones to help fight spread of wildfires
independent-ie, 17.05.2019
Under the plan, drone technology to be used for the first time in Ireland to survey areas and spot fires to prevent spread and a pilot project will be initially rolled out in the Dublin Mountains.
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Save our soils: finding ways to stop erosion
fao-en, 15.05.2019
FAO hosts global symposium to catalyze efforts to reduce depletion of a non-renewable resource. 15 May, 2019, Rome – Wind, rain and industrial farming techniques accelerates soil erosion and can be mitigated before the world faces calamitous losses in terms of agricultural yields and critical ecosystem functions.
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Transport & Energy
City simulator wins VC backing as investors seek driverless car exposure
reuters, 21.05.2019
Venture capital investors backed Immense Simulations, a British software company which creates interactive replicas of cities, on Tuesday in the latest sign of money pouring into firms that stand to gain from driverless vehicles becoming more mainstream.
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Information society
Big tech firms are racing to track climate refugees
technologyreview, 17.05.2019
To be an undocumented refugee, these days, is to exist in many places and to not exist at all. It is to have your movements, words, and actions tracked, archived, and multiplied. It is to live between fences, tents, and databases – one new entry per doctor’s visit, per bag of rice, per canister of water.
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Food & Health
Schools should have one meat-free day a week, says charity
guardian, 17.05.2019
All state schools in England should offer pupils a compulsory plant-based menu one day a week, under new recommendations to the government that aim to make school meals more environmentally friendly and reflect changing dietary advice.
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Science policy & Communication
Google, Facebook, Twitter rapped for not doing enough in EU fake news fight
trendnews-az, 17.05.2019
Facebook, Google and Twitter were reprimanded by the European Commission on Friday for not doing enough to tackle fake news plaguing the election campaign to the European Parliament, seven months after promising to do more, reports Trends citing to Reuters.
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After false Notre Dame, vaccine stories, Facebook takes fake news fight to EU polls
zdnet, 17.05.2019
Here are a few of the stories circulating on social networks, addressing issues raised in campaigns for the upcoming European Parliament elections: “The Italian government has the biggest approval rating in the EU.” “A European Commission VP wants to erase mono-cultural states.” (…)
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WhatsApp rushes to fix security flaw exposed in hacking of lawyer’s phone
nytimes, 14.05.2019
An Israeli firm accused of supplying tools for spying on human-rights activists and journalists now faces claims that its technology can use a security hole in WhatsApp, the messaging app used by 1.5 billion people, to break into the digital communications of iPhone and Android phone users.
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EU initiatives
EIB to support EUR 3.4 billion new investment in business, innovation, agriculture and tourism
sciencebusiness, 17.05.2019
The Board of Directors of the European Investment Bank (EIB) approved a total of EUR 3.4 billion of new financing that will strengthen research and innovation and enable companies to expand and improve access to water, transport and education.
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Paving the way to a bio-based future for the European chemical industry
idw-online, 16.05.2019
How can the share of bio-based raw materials used in the European chemical industry be increased to 25 % by 2030? As conclusion of its two-year work, the EU project RoadToBio has published a roadmap that outlines how this goal could be achieved.
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Curious news
Police week ends on a fun note
pnc, 17.05.2019
Police sometimes get a bad rap, especially with kids as it is not uncommon for a parent to say, “You better listen or the policeman is going to get you.” But today, the police showed kids just how cool they are! Wrapping up Police Week, Guam Department of Education students were treated to a…
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Want to curb your robocall agony? Try these 3 things now
azcentral, 17.05.2019
Assign contacts. This is pretty simple, but not everyone does it. When you get a call, go to phone settings, pull up the number and that’s probably all you’ll see, a bunch of digits and the location of the call. On iPhone, click ‘create new contact’ and add the name of the caller. Click ‘done’. On Android phones, it’s even easier.
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Tea factories switch to greener energy to cut costs
nation-ke, 15.05.2019
Above the factory’s roofs, chimneys puff clouds of smoke into the sky as workers feed more wood into the boiler. The firewood is used to wither fresh tea leaves before they are oxidised and crushed. The withering process which is the major energy consumer in the factory, reduces the moisture content…
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