In the spotlight
What caused deadly floods in Spain? The impact of DANA explained
Reuters, 04.11.2024
Catastrophic flash floods that have killed at least 217 people in Spain are caused by a destructive weather system in which cold and warm air meet and produce powerful rain clouds, a pattern believed to be growing more frequent due to climate change.
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Digital technology and climate action to join forces at COP29
itu, 04.11.2024
First ever Digitalisation Day, and Declaration on Green Digital Action to make history at COP – marking digital tech’s efforts to lower emissions and counter climate change.
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‘Why did so many die in Spain? Because Europe still hasn’t accepted the realities of extreme weather’ – Friederike Otto
guardian, 04.11.2024
Severe flooding is, unfortunately, inevitable. What isn’t inevitable is how ready we are, from early warning systems to emergency services. Friederike Otto is a climatologist and co-founder of World Weather Attribution.
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COP29: Clashes over cash are set to dominate the climate conference
NewScientist, 04.11.2024
The focus is on finance at the UN climate summit in Baku, Azerbaijan, this month, but countries are a long way from any kind of consensus.
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Digital transition
Mind-reading tech? How private companies could gain access to our brains
guardian, 03.11.2024
Social media companies can already use online data to make reliable guesses about pregnancy or suicidal ideation – and new BCI technology will push this even further.
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Viewpoint: Europe’s data strategy risks leaving some behind
sciencebusiness, 31.10.2024
Participation in the Common European Data Spaces (CEDS) varies across member states in parallel with disparities in research and innovation capacity, economic development and regulatory frameworks. This disparity in capacity between east and western Europe is a brake on the full realisation of a unified data sharing framework across the EU.
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Are you over 18? The EU’s plans to spot underage internet users
euronews-en, 30.10.2024
As online child protection rises to the forefront of the European Commission’s agenda, the EU faces a significant challenge: how to accurately verify users’ ages while safeguarding privacy.
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Environmental sustainability
Malaysia struggles to halt plastic waste imports from Europe
deutschewelle-en, 30.10.2024
Despite pledges to curb plastic waste imports, Malaysia remains one of Europe’s top dumping grounds. Will the EU’s upcoming export ban make a difference?
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Thin cool ocean surface enhances carbon absorption
spacedaily, 29.10.2024
New research, funded in part by the European Space Agency (ESA), shows that the cool, thin layer at the ocean’s surface – known as the “ocean skin” – allows oceans to absorb significantly more atmospheric carbon dioxide than previously estimated.
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Mobility & Energy
EU to announce ‘social readiness’ pilot under 2025 Horizon Europe plan
sciencebusiness, 31.10.2024
A flurry of climate, energy and mobility projects in the 2025 work programme for Cluster 5 in Horizon Europe are to be subject to a “societal readiness pilot”, to test their likely acceptability to society at large, according to a draft document obtained by Science|Business.
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Health impacts of global warming hit record levels but governments continue to fund fossil fuels
elpais-en, 30.10.2024
The climate crisis has direct impacts on human health, and an international team of scientists from various academic institutions and organizations has been analyzing these effects since 2016. The latest Lancet Countdown report, featuring contributions from 122 researchers, reveals “the most concerning findings yet in the collaboration’s eight years of monitoring.”
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Science policy & Communication
Arming democracies against conspiracy myths – University of Passau coordinates new EU Horizon project TaCT-FoRSED
idw-online, 04.11.2024
Researchers across Europe have joined forces under the coordination of a team from the University of Passau to investigate persistent conspiracy beliefs. The researchers hope to gain new insights into how democracies can be made more resistant to conspiracy theories. Liberal and constitutional democracies are under pressure in Europe and worldwide.
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Can democracy work without journalism? In the US, we may be about to find out
guardian, 03.11.2024
It is commonly claimed that democracy can’t work unless you have journalism, and a free media at that. How are people to decide how to cast a vote if they don’t access independent, reliable information?
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Why parents are buying £19 ‘brick’ phones
telegraph, 01.11.2024
A growing movement to protect kids from harmful online content is bringing back old tech.
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Agriculture & Food
US expert advises how Europe should name ‘fake’ meat
euronews-en, 01.11.2024
Although not yet approved for sale in the EU, lawmakers will be soon decide how to label lab-grown meat. In an interview with Euronews, a US expert proposes a solution for how to name this novel product.
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Mercury levels in tuna present ‘risk to public health,’ NGOs say
euronews-en, 29.10.2024
They found that all of the products contained mercury and 57 per cent exceeded the limit of 0.3 parts per million (ppm) that applies to other fish. “What we end up with on our dinner plates is a colossal risk to public health that’s not considered seriously,” Karine Jacquemart, CEO of Foodwatch France, told reporters.
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Health
Why are cancer cases surging among under-50s?
standard, 04.11.2024
An international team of scientists has been given £20m to solve the puzzle of rising cancer rates.
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Mpox 2024 mapped: All the countries where cases of the new strain have been confirmed
independent-UK, 30.10.2024
The outbreak comes as a new strain is identified, named clade 1b, said to be spreading mainly through sexual networks. WHO says it has been identified in Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda – all countries that have never reported cases of mpox before.
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Cancer atlas reveals how tumours evolve inside the body
NewScientist, 04.11.2024
A massive undertaking to map cancer tumours is providing new insights into how the disease forms, evolves and develops resistance to treatments.
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EU initiatives
Draft Council declaration sets R&I spending target at 4% of GDP
sciencebusiness, 31.10.2024
EU leaders are considering setting a target for public and private research and innovation spending to reach 4% of GDP, even as they cut national research budgets and show no signs of meeting the current 3% target. The objective is included in the draft ‘Budapest Declaration on the New European….
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Commission allocates €16 million to support media freedom and pluralism in Europe
ageu, 22.10.2024
On Tuesday 22 October, the European Commission launched three calls for proposals under the Creative Europe programme, with a total budget of €16 million to support media freedom, pluralism and media literacy in Europe.
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EU to invest EUR 1.4bn for European deep tech research
eubusiness, 30.10.2024
The EU’s innovation council, part of Horizon Europe, announced Tuesday it would be supporting European deep tech research and high-potential start-ups to the tune of EUR 1.4 billion next year.
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Curious news
The surprising truth about the health benefits of snacking
NewScientist, 04.11.2024
We get about a quarter of our calories from snacks and new research shows that this isn’t necessarily bad for us. Done right, snacking can boost our health.
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