ESMH Media Review – May 7, 2025
€500 million EU package to woo US scientists, killer fungus, breakthrough for quantum and photonics, AI and more: check out the ESMH selection of 22 science and tech news items published recently on the web.
on May 7, 2025
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In the spotlight
EU announces €500 million package to woo scientists away from Trump's America
france 24, 05.05.2025
French President Emmanuel Macron and EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen held a conference in Paris Monday aimed at attracting US researchers. In her remarks, von der Leyen announced a two-year €500 million package to encourage American experts to relocate to Europe. Macron then doubled up on the European message saying: “If you love freedom, come and do research here”.
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‘We can’t wait four years’ - Private firms look to fill research gaps left by federal grant cuts
guardian, 01.05.2025
The federal government has slashed research since Donald Trump took office – hacking away at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and its grants, staff and long-held partnerships with academia. Now, some private companies said they want to pick up strands of research that might have otherwise been funded by the federal government.
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Digital transition
TeleMessage, the Signal-esque app used by the Trump administration, has been hacked
techradar, 05.05.2025
TeleMessage, an instant communications app used by some US Government officials, has reportedly been hacked, with private messages stolen.
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Better at everything: how AI could make human beings irrelevant
theguardian, 05.05.2025
The end of civilisation might look less like a war, and more like a love story. Can we avoid being willing participants in our own downfall?
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Wikipedia says it will use AI, but not to replace human volunteers
techcrunch, 02.05.2025
The nonprofit behind Wikipedia on Wednesday revealed its new AI strategy for the next three years — and it’s not replacing the Wikipedia community of editors and volunteers with artificial intelligence, thankfully.
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Environmental sustainability
AI-powered robots help tackle Europe’s growing e-waste problem
horizon magazine, 06.05.2025
EU-funded researchers have developed adaptable robots that could transform the way we recycle electronic waste, benefiting both the environment and the economy.
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Killer fungus could spread through parts of Europe due to climate change
Independant, 05.05.2025
Aspergillus can cause lung problems when it spreads to humans.
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Two major science organizations unite for vital climate collection
forbes, 02.05.2025
Every author working on a major U.S. climate report was recently dismissed. However, two major science organizations, the American Meteorological Society and the American Geophysical Union, are grabbing the baton and move the climate change science forward with a new "first of its kind science collection", according to an announcement Friday.
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Mobility & Energy
Supermarkets put blackout losses at least 53 million
20minutos, 05.05.2025
When it is an exact week of the massive blackout that last April 28 left the entire Iberian Peninsula without electricity, new figures appear on the economic impact of this crisis. The last one has been put on the table by the supermarket sector and wholesale distribution.
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Fact check: Did wind and solar really cause Portugal and Spain’s mass blackout?
euronews, 02.05.2025
Investigations are ongoing into what went wrong with the electricity system, which impacted some 60 million people.
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Science policy & Communication
Winners and losers: what has changed in the 2025 Horizon Europe work programmes?
sciencebusiness, 28.04.2025
Official drafts of Horizon Europe’s 2025 work programmes have been published by the European Commission, detailing changes in topics and budgets compared with earlier versions shared by Science|Business over the past few months. Here are some of the most striking changes, including the influence of stronger research ties between the EU and India.
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Commission wants Horizon Europe to fund dual-use technologies
sciencebusiness, 24.04.2025
The European Commission is proposing a “targeted exception” to Horizon Europe’s exclusively civilian focus that would allow the European Innovation Council (EIC) to support dual-use technologies. Plans to allow the EIC to invest in technologies with both civil and military applications were previewed in March in the Commission’s .
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Agriculture & Food
EU food safety chief warns of bird flu threat to pigs
finacial time, 05.05.2025
Europe’s swine herds could become a ‘dangerous virus laboratory’, Bernhard Url says.
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UK sand eel fishing ban remains in place despite EU legal challenge
guardian, 02.05.2025
A ban on fishing for sand eels in UK waters will remain in place despite a legal challenge from the EU. The small, silvery eels make up the bulk of the diet of seabirds, but they are fished for commercial pig food. A lack of sand eels means seabirds such as puffins can starve to death.
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PFAS-free revolution: How consumer demand outpaces regulation
forbes, 30.04.2025
Only three labs in the country can rigorously test down to the part-per-trillion level and help brands validate PFAS-free claims with real, third party validated data.
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Health
Early structural changes in the knees common by age 30 – often without symptoms
university of oulu, 05.05.2025
Mild structural changes visible in knee MRI scans are already common among adults in their thirties – even in those without knee pain or other symptoms. A study by the University of Oulu found signs of joint damage in more than half of the 33-year-old participants. A high body mass index emerged as the most common factor associated with these changes.
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Trump halts new NIH grants to international health-research partners
sciencebusiness, 05.05.2025
Stepping up its America-first campaign, the Trump administration has started to cut funding for medical-research projects that involve foreign labs. The move will disrupt clinical trials for new medicines now underway, critics warned.
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Planting more trees in cities could have saved 1.1 million lives in two decades, study suggests
euronews, 02.05.2025
‘Expanding greenness’ could save millions of lives, a comprehensive new study finds.
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EU initiatives
Making light supersolid in a world first
cordis, 06.05.2025
Scientists transform light into a supersolid, an amazing breakthrough that could lead to new quantum and photonic technologies.
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Palestine workshop on Horizon Europe
eureporter, 02.05.2025
On 29 April, the Commission in collaboration with the Ministry of Education and Higher Education in Palestine held a workshop to raise the awareness of Palestinian scientists about collaboration opportunities with their EU counterparts under Horizon Europe.
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Photonics21: EU invests €6M in new networks to power factories of the future
sciencebusiness, 24.04.2025
A new project is developing an ultra-fast, energy-efficient industrial internet using light-speed lasers and next-generation flexible and adaptable wireless to power future smart factories. A new European project supported by the Photonics Partnership that aims to power the digital backbone of modern industry is laying the foundations for ultra-connected smart factories.
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Curious news
Quantum computers don’t always need more qubits – just add chaos
newscientist, 05.05.2025
To create useful randomness in a quantum computer, you could add more quantum bits, but using quantum chaos does the trick too.
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