In the spotlight
Sensing food textures is a matter of pressure
eurekalert, 13.06.2019
Food’s texture affects whether it is eaten, liked or rejected, according to Penn State researchers, who say some people are better at detecting even minor differences in consistency because their tongues can perceive particle sizes.
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Diet for one? Scientists stalk the dream of personalized nutrition
nytimes, 10.06.2019
Their preliminary results, presented on Monday at the American Society for Nutrition’s annual conference, documented, for the first time, substantial and surprising variations in how well participants processed fats and carbohydrates, even among identical twins.
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‘I wash all my food like crazy’: scientists voice concern about nanoparticles
guardian, 31.05.2019
France is clamping down on a common food additive that has been shown to be carcinogenic in animal studies. The ban of titanium dioxide, announced by the French government last month, follows a review that could not rule out human cancer risks. The ban is just the latest chapter in a long-running….
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Agriculture & Environment
Climate Action – Time to scale up
eureporter, 17.06.2019
The Finnish presidency of the Council of the EU will place the fight against climate change high on its agenda. One of the challenges will be to unite the 28 member states around this fight and focus on the opportunities that a more sustainable Europe can provide for economic, social and environmental progress.
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Bridging the divide: digital technologies poised to transform agri-food systems
fao-en, 12.06.2019
FAO’s head emphasizes need for a sustainable and inclusive digitalization of agriculture for family farmers to benefit. 12 June 2019, Rome – Digital agriculture has the potential to deliver significant economic, social and environmental benefits and, if promoted in an inclusive manner…
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Transport & Energy
Eleven million people now have jobs in renewable energy
forbes, 17.06.2019
Eleven million people around the world were employed by the renewable energy sector in 2018, the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) reports in the sixth edition of their Renewable Energy and Jobs series. This represents an increase of 700,000 jobs from 2017, growing nearly 7% in just one year.
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Factbox: who stands to lose if Swiss-EU treaty talks fail
reuters-in, 16.06.2019
More than four years of negotiations have failed to yield a breakthrough on a new treaty between Switzerland and the European Union, by far its biggest trading partner. Failure of the talks could send shock waves through Switzerland that go far beyond a diplomatic deep freeze.
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Ford opens Israel tech lab in move toward driverless cars
foxbusiness, 13.06.2019
Ford has opened a research center in Israel, joining a legion of major automakers racing to develop new technologies for the world of driverless cars. Chairman William Ford met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday as part of his visit, where he called Israel “ground zero” for….
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Madrid could become first European city to scrap low-emissions zone
guardian, 05.06.2019
Region’s likely new president Isabel Díaz Ayuso believes congestion is part of city’s cultural identity. Cars pass through Madrid’s Gran Via, with the city hall in the background. Madrid may be about to become the first European city to scrap a….
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Information society
Parents glued to their phones making families ‘less resilient’
thetimes, 17.06.2019
Parents spending too much time on their smartphones and not sitting down for evening meals with their teenage children are making families less resilient, a children’s services leader says. Rachel Dickinson, president of the Association of Directors of Children’s Services, said that parents….
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Tech, data and the new democracy of ethics
forbes, 10.06.2019
As recently as 15 years ago, consumers had no visibility into whether the brands they shopped used overseas slave labor or if multinationals were bribing public officials to give them unfair advantages internationally. Executives could engage in whatever type of misconduct they wanted to behind….
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Food & Health
Wearable devices may help disabled people move comfortably
business-standard, 16.06.2019
Scientists have developed soft, wearable rehabilitative devices that can help elderly and disabled people move with comfort and safety. According to the researchers from University of Bristol in the UK the lives of thousands of people with mobility issues could be transformed with the research.
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Researchers developing AI to stop you from cheating on your diet
nypost, 10.06.2019
Artificial intelligence is putting new teeth on the old saw that cheaters never prosper. New companies and new research are applying the cutting edge technology in at least three different ways to combat cheating — on homework, on the job hunt and even on one’s diet.
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When will technology beat willpower?
forbes, 30.05.2019
With the development of wearable biometric technology like step trackers and heart monitors, individuals can now – albeit clunkily in most cases – analyze every aspect of their body composition, hydration levels and athletic performance with a glance or a push notification from an Apple Watch.
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Science policy & Communication
Russia dismisses accusations of meddling in EU elections: newspaper
reuters-in, 16.06.2019
An official from Russia’s security council described as absurd accusations that Moscow used disinformation to sway voters towards right-wing parties in last month’s European Union elections, Rossiyskaya Gazeta newspaper reported on Sunday.
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App to detect Twitter bots in any language developed
business-standard, 14.06.2019
Researchers have developed a new application that uses (ML) to detect in any language. The study presented at the fourth conference of Digital Humanities in the Nordic Countries shows that the application is able to detect auto-generated tweets independent of the language used.
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EU initiatives
A Europe that protects: EU reports on progress in fighting disinformation ahead of European Council
dg-comm-en, 14.06.2019
Today the Commission and the High Representative report on the progress achieved in the fight against disinformation and the main lessons drawn from the European elections, as a contribution to the discussions by EU leaders next week. Protecting our democratic processes and institutions from….
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Curious news
Live in these apartments and you’ll never have to go outside again
dailypost-co-uk, 10.06.2019
For some it’s a horrible thought – having everything so conveniently provided for you that you never have to do anything for yourself. For others, living in a luxury building with so many amenities that you barely have to stop and think is the dream. That’s just what this apartment building is….
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Amsterdam prepares fleet of roboats to collect garbage and more
digitaljournal, 08.06.2019
Technologists are developing a fleet of ‘roboats’ to operate along the canals of Amsterdam. Such boats could collect garbage or self-assemble into floating structures, signalling the future of transportation in waterway-rich cities. A key development is with technology, which has come from the….
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