“The truth is: the natural world is changing. And we are totally dependent on that world. It provides our food, water and air. It is the most precious thing we have and we need to defend it.” ― Sir David Attenborough
SUSTAINABILITY
Researchers have found evidence of a natural O2 factory that needs neither the Sun nor the lifeforms that harness its power. The source is a chemical reaction taking place in rocks lying on the lightless seafloor thousands of feet beneath the surface of the Pacific Ocean, releasing what the researchers have dubbed "dark oxygen. DETAIL
Microbes living in the bark of trees are absorbing methane from the air, making trees about 10 per cent better for the climate than previously thought. Methane is a greenhouse gas that is responsible for about a quarter of human-caused global warming. DETAIL
The German research project 'Re-use' has gotten the green light from the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, which supports the undertaking. Researchers from the University of Wuppertal and their partners will test how old EV batteries can be used in second-life projects. DETAIL
In a landmark climate case, Friends of the Earth and two people whose lives have been severely affected by the changing climate are suing the government of the United Kingdom over its failure to safeguard people, property and infrastructure against foreseeable effects of the climate crisis, a press release from Friends of the Earth said. DETAIL
Azerbaijan, host of the United Nations COP29 climate summit, has announced the launch of a new Climate Action Fund with the goal of mobilizing $1 billion for the support of new national climate targets in developing nations. DETAIL
Scientists have detected cocaine in multiple sharks off the coasts of Brazil, according to a new study. In the study, which was published in the journal Science of the Total Environment, researchers set out to analyze the levels of cocaine as well as benzoylecgonine, a metabolite of cocaine, in Brazilian sharpnose sharks (Rhizoprionodon lalandii). DETAIL
A team of researchers has revealed alarming amounts of fiberglass particles in marine bivalves found off the coasts of southern England. According to the researchers, this is the first study to determine that fiberglass, or glass-reinforced plastic (GRP), particles can make their way into human food sources. DETAIL
The world’s wealthiest countries, including the US and the UK, are “leading a stampede of fossil fuel expansion in spite of their climate commitments”, the Guardian reports on its frontpage. DETAIL
HEALTH
Nico Dosenbach, an associate professor of neurology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, got to find out firsthand what happens to the brain when it's on psychedelics. For science, of course. He got a high dose of psilocybin from his colleagues — what else are friends for? — And as he started tripping, he entombed himself in the claustrophobic confines of an MRI machine. At first, Dosenbach actually did n't know whether he'd taken psilocybin or the stimulant Ritalin as a placebo, because his colleagues did n't tell him which one it'd be. DETAIL
As the Olympics began to kick off, a paralyzed tennis player carried the Olympic flame through Paris — using a robotic exoskeleton that helped him walk again. DETAIL
DIGITAL / TECHNOLOGY / SCIENCE / ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
Messaging app Telegram has reached 950 million active users, and it aims to cross the 1 billion mark this year, the company’s founder Pavel Durov said on his channel on Monday. The company is also planning to launch an app store and an in-app browser with support for web3 pages this month, Durov said last week. DETAIL
Elon Musk announced the artificial intelligence training cluster, which he described as "the most powerful in the world." This super cluster, called Memphis Supercluster, contains 100 thousand liquid-cooled Nvidia H100 graphics processing units (GPU). DETAIL
Daniel Ek acknowledged that a significant portion of Spotify's 246 million Premium subscribers want higher quality audio. Spotify CEO Daniel Ek said that they are still in the early days of plans to bring hi-fi support to the platform. It's no surprise that Spotify is working on a high-resolution audio layer, as the platform's competitors such as Apple Music, Amazon Music and Tidal already have this feature. DETAIL
Tesla's humanoid robot Optimus will be used in factories next year. Elon Musk aims for Optimus to go into mass production and for each robot to cost less than 20 thousand dollars. DETAIL
ENERGY / TRANSPORTATION
The Pyhäsalmi mine used to yield wealth from zinc and copper, but it is about to monetize the power of gravity. As the deepest metal ore mine in Europe, it is an ideal spot for what's known as a gravity vault. UK-based company Gravitricity plans to dangle a heavy weight down a mine shaft and connect the mechanism to a generator. It will store power as potential energy by pulling up the weight, then generate it again by letting it plummet. DETAIL
Geely subsidiary Farizon Auto, which specialises in electrified commercial vehicles, is presenting its new ‘Black Tortoise Battery’. It is said to offer a service life of ten years or 800,000 km and presumably uses LFP cells, but this has not yet been confirmed. DETAIL
Together with partners, GKN Aerospace has launched the UK government-funded H2FlyGHT project to develop a 2MW cryogenic hydrogen fuel cell propulsion system for aircraft. DETAIL
CYBERSECURITY
Israeli cyber-security firm Wiz has rejected a $23bn (£17.8bn) takeover offer from Google parent company Alphabet, in what would have been its largest-ever acquisition. DETAIL
CrowdStrike, the cybersecurity firm behind last week's epic global computer meltdown — seemingly the largest IT outage in history — is offering its partners a hilariously inadequate mea culpa: a $10 Uber Eats gift card in apology. DETAIL
HUMAN / CURIOSITY
A panel at the Japanese labour ministry has decided to raise the national average minimum wage by about 5% to 1,054 yen ($6.85) per hour this fiscal year, the biggest ever jump, public broadcaster NHK reported on Wednesday. DETAIL
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